You cannot judge the content of my articles from the headlines... for a good reason: member information is for members, not for non-members who think they get the feel of where to go from reading the free-access articles and the headlines of the member articles.

The headline of this article, The potential of Cambodia, may sound as if Cambodia has "potential". But for the lifestyle this site is about, Cambodia actually has very little potential.

But I really don't mind if readers who were "smart" enough to save on the Serge Kreutz membership fee go there... and waste much, much more money, time, and possibly even their health and freedom, on a country that I really can't recommend. At least, if they go to Cambodia, they don't get into the way of members who go to the better countries.

When it comes to sexual relationships, Cambodia is a destination either for formal marriages or for brothels, and there isn't much in between.

Your chances for having a sexual relationship with a non-prostitute girlfriend are very slim indeed, as Cambodia is very, very traditional. A woman in a man's bed is either his wife, or a prostitute. There is absolutely no culture for sex between unmarried boyfriends and girlfriends.

Marriages in Cambodia are probably more serious than, for example, in Thailand, or the Philippines, or Indonesia, or China, or Japan. Typically, marriage decisions are made by families. Young women are almost always married to people their families have known for some time.

Marriage decisions can be made rather fast in Thailand, and marriages often are not registered with the government. Anyway, if the marriage doesn't last, it's not that tragic. My guess is that meanwhile, Thailand probably has the highest divorce rate in Southeast Asia. 20 years ago, it may have been higher in Indonesia, but the urbanization and Islamization of Indonesia has worked against the traditional culture of switching marriage partners easily.

Cambodia may have the largest number of husbands who abuse their wives (and go to brothels), and it has parents who sell their daughters into prostitution, but it doesn't have boyfriend / girlfriend relationships.

Foreigners in Cambodia typically cannot have a local non-prostitute girlfriend for a sexual relationship, but as marriage partners, foreign men are highly welcome and rank higher than local men.

But only as officially registered, formal marriage partners, not as an informal marriage partners. And the idea is always that the foreigner takes his Cambodian wife to America, Europe, or Australia.

You can easily find a Thai wife in Thailand, and she will be all the more happy if you want to stay in Thailand with her, as Thais usually are of the opinion that there are few countries as good as Thailand.

But Cambodian wives, like Philippine wives, want to go to America, Europe, or Australia, and if you announce to a would-be bride and her parents that you want to live in Cambodia, and above that, that you don't want to register the marriage with the governments in Cambodia and your home country, then it is most likely that the marriage plans will not push through.

But if you do want to marry formally, and if your plan is to take a Cambodian wife to a Western nation, you are king: you can choose the most beautiful, never married, never kissed Cambodian girl you find, and you can be pretty sure that she'll be yours.

This is another difference to Thailand: in Thailand, being a Western foreigner will not be enough to avail of the most beautiful local girls. In addition, you will have to have a youthful appearance, be attractive looking, and at least drive a good car. You also have to speak Thai reasonably good. And even then, it will take you some time to find a beautiful girl who isn't currently in a love relationship. An officially registered marriage will not be needed, but if the girl wasn't married before, you will have to pay the parents 5000 dollars upwards in dowry.

1000 to 2000 dollars will be enough when you marry a Cambodian girl. Anyway, the expected benefit is not the dowry but the foothold in a Western country.

There is a third way, for example in Indonesia. As in Cambodia, if you intend to marry, you can have practically every girl, and Indonesian girls are much more likely than Thai girls to switch to a Western man, even if they have a local boyfriend. They will also be happy to live in Indonesia. And in some parts of Indonesia, you may even have the opportunity for premarital sex. But if you refuse to marry thereafter, she could report you to the police, and you could be arrested, even if she is older than 18.

But this article primarily deals with Cambodia. And sex with a non-wife in Cambodia would almost always be sex with a prostitute.

I can't tell you much about sex with prostitutes in Cambodia. But I've been told that in brothels, it costs 5 dollar a go, and that many of the prostitutes are Vietnamese.

There also is a scene of freelance prostitutes who target a special market segment: Western backpackers who stay at guesthouses in Phnom Penh. Like on Ko Samui in Thailand, on Bali, or at various Philippine backpacker destinations, these girls attach themselves to backpackers and typically do not demand payment per occasion. Rather, they invent financial emergencies in order to obtain help from their "boyfriend", or they wait for the opportunity to steal something, or they try their luck and aim for a real steady relationship or even a marriage.

Young Western backpackers often have a very poor judgement of the background of these girls. Often they have a past prostitution career, often after separating from a husband. Typically, these women on the backpacker scene are considerably older than they appear to the young backpackers who have a hard time judging the age of Asian faces..

I have also been told (and this is supported by media reports) that there is a lot of trafficking going on: girls that have been newly procured allegedly cost 500 dollars for a week, or one can buy them for a permanent relationship for 1000 dollars.

I have read on ageofconsent.com that an elderly Japanese in the Siam Reap area has "married" more than 40 poor local girls, most of them below 18. I doubt that he got them by proposing marriage arrangements to the parents. It's more likely that he obtained them through a procurer who would otherwise have supplied brothels.

That small-scale non-formal marriage ceremonies were held is probably rather a protective measure, so that it is on record that the subsequent sexual relationship was consensual. If there is a sort-of wedding, it also doesn't look so much like trafficking.

In Thailand, if you speak enough Thai, you can go anywhere and mention to ordinary people that you are without a intimate partner, and people will introduce you to female relatives and friends, with the genuine intention to help you not to be alone. Most of those introduced will be divorcees. But it's genuine, and while some of the young women may be sex workers (typically the more beautiful ones), others are not.

You can even be introduced to girls that have never been married, but to obtain them, at least a non-formal marriage and dowry of 5000 dollar upwards will be requested.

Nothing like that in Cambodia. Non-procurers will not offer to introduce you to female relatives and friends for rather quick fixes of your loneliness problem, especially not if you state that you do not want to take your quasi would-be wife abroad.

So, really, Cambodia does not have much of a sexual potential. And apart from that, the percentage of attractive young women is much lower than in Malaysia, the Philippines, or Thailand. And for many practical reasons, too, Cambodia is a bad choice indeed.

The country is one of the dirtiest and unhealthiest in all of Asia (though Phnom Penh now has some modern streets), and it has the worst crime problem. It is untypical for Asia in that robbers may still hurt you physically, even if you fully cooperate and surrender all your valuables (you may be stabbed only at the time they make away).

Furthermore, the local food is the worst in all of Asia, good houses are difficult to rent, and if you own a car or motorcycle, the chance that it will be stolen is greater in Cambodia than any other Asian country.