Phnom Penh Safer than Bangkok

by Anne
(Phnom Penh)

I agree that Phnom Penh is not nearly as dangerous as many people have it in their heads. Maybe it's because of the genocide done by that infamous Pol Pot. Everyone seems to know him and yet are clueless about the genocide that took place in Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh.

More Vietnamese people died in his "Re-Education" camps than during combat with the Americans!

If you take a miss on Phnom Penh or any part of Cambodia because you heard it was dangerous then you are missing out.

Please don't miss seeing Angkor Wat while it is still pristine and not yet destroyed by the growing number of tourists.

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Comment from Travel-Budget-Asia.com

I get a lot of people telling me they would rather head up to Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand than trek into Cambodia. It makes me sad to hear that because of what they are losing out on.

I'll give you 3 I've heard in the last month:

1. "Some friends told me they were stopped in the middle of the road by bandits and robbed while on their tour bus."

2. "I heard that one in 3 people have AIDS."

3. "Someone told me that people carry guns openly as sidearms attached to their belts. Something like the wild West Movies. I ain't goin' there!"

Maybe that is not exactly what people said word for word but it is not far off. Fear for ones personal safety is the reason why tourists stay out of Cambodia. It's a common misconception fueled by wild rumors.

I dunno where the rumors come from. They aren't the truth so someone is making it up.

Maybe it is a government conspiracy (Wink). They don't want us to go to Cambodia and see how well these "Poor" people live. We may never come home to pay taxes again!