u/ZealousidealMonk1728

My Facebook feed has been completely hijacked by these grifter barang influencers.

Post endless “Khmer food is the best / Khmer people have the purest hearts / Cambodia is paradise on earth / Cambodia is underrated / Cambodis is so safe” content (or some lazy anti-Thailand ragebait) and watch the likes and comments explode. Then use this attention to advertise stuff or make dealsa with the ministry of tourism or whatever other government department.

Their personalities are so forced and plastic it’s embarrassing to watch. Everything is exaggerated, performative, and clearly designed for the algorithm. They’re running a full-time “I love Cambodia” business model.

It’s starting to look exactly like the Philippines, where this exact type of foreigner praise-merchant has already turned into a proper industry. Did they learn this annoying business model from PH influencers?

How come so many people are still falling for this shit? It's so cringe. At least make some funny or informative content but all I see is literally the most unimaginative slop.

I own an LX470 myself and love Land Cruisers but can't help but notice that all the ones with IFS seem to have a tendency to break CV axles very easily. On top of that the 100 series has weak front differentials but thats another matter.

It seems like every second video about IFS land cruisers off-roading on youtube ends in a broken CV axle. Especially the LC250 seems very prone to that.

Somehow no one talks about this and people continue to claim how great these vehicles are off-road. How come?

I am usually not someone who gets annoyed by insane job postings on sites like Upwork but this one here takes the cake for its audacity. US-based agency, millions spent but the rate for German copy is 0.02 USD a word?

https://i.postimg.cc/4xWq5ZY3/lolwhat.png

If you are thinking of becoming a copywriter, just don't. It has always been hard but the last 2 years it has just been getting absurd. I used to work for this agency and got paid 0.1 USD a word before and their work was never easy. Very short term deadlines for every single task.

I know this is not for English copy but that doesn't make it any better. It is simply ridiculous to pay experienced copywriters 2 cent a word for complex tasks. Too bad there are still people applying for this shit.

I know this will be unpopular but please hear me out. Everywhere on the internet you hear how indestructible and reliable 100 series Landcruisers and LX470 are. Many people buy these vehicles thinking they will get something reliable despite the age but this is non-sense IMO.

If you buy these vehicles you NEED to have a lot of money available for potential repairs and maintenance. NOTHING about owning them is cheap or easy. Please be realistic.

I went into ownership with the expectation that things will go wrong at some time but the amount of stuff going wrong with my LX470 within the last 9 months is simply crazy and would even make the average Range Rover ashamed.

The biggest problem with this is that the car seems to be getting worse instead of better. Every fixed problem results in two new problems occuring a few day/weeks later. And no, not because mechanics break the car. Just new things occuring constantly. Would I not love my LX as much as I do I would have traded it in for something else already.

Just to give an overview of the things that were fixed or are currently wrong with the car in not even 9 months of ownership:

- AHC pump died, replaced the system with aftermarket suspension causing new issues that haven't been fixed yet (this one is my fault, should have never removed AHC)
- transmission shudder in 4th gear (still not fixed, transmission fluid and shudderfix lubeguard tried out, I guess new transmission soon?)
- doors and windows malfunctioning
- sun roof drains
- oil pan stripped (by previous owner/mechanics but I only realized after buying)
- front differential replaced
- oil filter housing leak
- various vacuum leaks, causing ECL
- fuel pump replaced, ECL because of lean fuel mixture
- ignition coils replaced, ECL because of misfire
- throttle body randomly malfunctioning once (no response but has been fine since)
- exhaust manifold leak (not planning on fixing it as it does not cause issues other than the ticking after cold start)
- starter replaced

Keep in mind, on top of fixing these things I did a lot of maintenance stuff as well.

I can't wait to see what goes wrong next.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501932337/govt-cancels-phnom-penh-water-festival/

Does not make sense to me why it is cancelled again this year. The official explanation is obviously non-sense. So what theories are there to why it is actually cancelled?

I arrived in 2024 after visiting in 2022 and many years ago in the early 2010s.

Ever since the "problem with the neighbor" broke out it feels like the country is really going in the wrong direction. What made Cambodia attractive to me, the freedom, feeling of the country moving forward, the relaxed atmosphere, the welcoming attitutes seem to be getting lost.

It seems like the leadership is trying to push for nationalism and increasing police state in a really blund way. People are not questioniong this and seem to have a really fanatic view on the neighbor. Great example is the conscription law. Most people support it but I have to wonder, all of this is really about a few meters of land and an old temple? Seems more like both goverments are trying to get the people to "rally around the flag" instead. Forcing young people to do 2 years of military service instead of actually letting them contribute positive to the countrys development is not a good move.

There are endless news reports (maybe I should just stop reading) about the supposed crackdowns on scams and "illegal foreigners", giving me an uneasy feeling even though I have nothing to do with scams. Police going door to door in condos. Shoot outs with scammers in Sihanoukville. Police arresting other police in Kampot etc.

It also seems increasingly unclear if people below the retirement age will be able to stay long term, unless they are employed or own a Cambodian business. There are no appropriate visas for remote workers or people who simply want to live off savings/investments etc.

Then you have the economic issues. I live in an area with lots of tourism and you can really tell how many businesses are struggling. The vibe and energy is just not as good as years ago. For Phnom Penh it feels like a real economic disaster could strike the real estate market and retail any time. How Sihaounkville and Poipet will survive the crackdowns, I have no idea at all.

The way the government allowed Chinese scammers to prosper and then once the economy depended on them, decided to cut them off seems incredibly "unwise". From the news reports it also seems that most of the arrested people are low-level scammers from poor countries but not the Chinese bosses themselves. The narrative went from "kidnapped foreigners" working for Chinese gangsters like human slaves to generally "bad, evil foreigners". Thousands of foreigners get placed in some camps waiting for deportation. Are they victims or criminals? No one in the government gives a shit.

Many people struggle to get visas or remain in Cambodia because immigration is overly harsh on everyone not from North America or Europe. Some of the stories are crazy especially from land borders. I wonder how this will effect tourism and economic development in the long term? For Indians for example it's almost impossible to enter but even Vietnamese married to Cambodians can barely enter the country.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501903461/cambodias-international-tourist-arrivals-plunge-45-in-the-first-quarter/

Shockingly bad numbers. But thank god they built these gigantic airports far outside Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.