Cambodia VS Vietnam VS Thailand

Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand are all countries in what was once known as Indochina, the region of Southeast Asia influenced most by both Chinese and Indian cultures, and which were all influenced greatly by the Khmer Empire and the French colonization. The three nations are all devoutly Buddhist in religion, and have many similarities in the forms of their Buddhist religion, which show in the various ceremonies and rituals performed.

As neighboring countries, they share similar climates in general, and have many similarities in the geography and geology of the landscapes. Culturally, there are as many similarities as there are differences, and as such, while modern cultures may differ, much of the cultures have come from a single source.

Cambodia vs Vietnam vs Thailand Cultural Comparison

Religion has been the major cultural inspiration throughout the long history of Cambodia, and has had a profound effect on he way of life in the country. The nation has developed a unique belief system dating from the time of the Khmer Empire that has combined the ancient animistic religion of the people with the influences of Buddhism and Hinduism that were brought into Cambodia from India.

Similarly, Thailand’s religious and cultural beliefs have been largely influenced by Buddhism from India, as well as from China, that have been overlaid on the former animistic form of religious worship that was predominant on the Indochinese Peninsula thousands of years ago. However, the main difference in Thailand is that they have only recently adopted a trend of nationalism and centralization from Europe at the start of the 19th century, which formed a religion based around the ruling Chakri Dynasty and controlled by a council of monks.

Thailand monk

Vietnamese culture, in contrast, has been mainly influenced by the Han Chinese culture from around the 2nd century BC to the present day, and has changed very little over the last 2,000 years. With a millennium of Chinese Han rule, Vietnamese culture has taken a turn that neither of the other two cultures did, in terms of politics, governance, and the Confucian moral and social ethics.

Cambodia vs Vietnam vs Thailand Scenery Comparison

Cambodia is a land that is mainly made up of tropical rainforests and fertile agricultural lands, with lush green highlands to the northwest and southwest. Central to the landscape is the abundance of rivers and lakes, with a central lake, Tonle Sap, providing the water source for most of the country.

Cambodia rainforests

Thailand has a very varied landscape, characterized by the mountains in the north, civered with lush rainforests in the central northern area, and the sub-tropical coastal regions in the south, which are sometimes dry and desolate with less rainfall than most coastal areas due to the narrow width of the peninsula. The center and eastern regions of Thailand are flat, rice-field filled areas with intense dry seasons that cause drought and heavy monsoon seasons that cause flooding and landslides.

Vietnam also has a very varied topography, with high mountains and lush rolling hills in the north of the country, which have a very different climate to the rest of the country due to their altitude. The central area of Vietnam has hills down one side and coast on the other, with farmlands in between in the flat Terai-like region between the two. To the south, the landscape is flatter, with rolling plains dotted with small green hills.

Cambodia vs Vietnam vs Thailand Beach Relaxing Comparison

Cambodia is well known for its temple complex in the north, but less well-known for its beaches, despite having some of Asia’s best beaches on its short coastline. Sihanoukville, the main area of good beaches, lies in the southwest of the country, and while popular with some tourists, is not a major reason for visiting the country.

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Vietnam is renowned for having some of Asia’s best beaches, and it is even said that the best beach in the world is in Vietnam. Beach vacations are a predominant tourist attraction in Vietnam, and with its long eastern coast, the country has more beaches than both Cambodia and Thailand put together. While they are not yet as popular as the Thai beaches, they are growing in popularity as more people discover them.

Vietnam Nra Trang

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Thailand is well known for having some of the best beaches in the world, and places such as Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui, and Krabi are world-renowned for being popular beach-vacation destinations. Thailand also has a more relaxed atmosphere on its beaches, though a change occurs when night falls to one of partying and fun.

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Cambodia vs Vietnam vs Thailand Tour Time Comparison

Cambodia is one of the countries that, while having only a few interesting attractions, inspires long vacations to explore the immensity of those few attractions, However, spending more than a few days at each location can sometimes bring on a boredom of too much of the same thing, so it is really the place with the shortest required time of the three.

Thailand, in contrast, has a huge number of interesting attractions, though most of them are centered around the beaches and adventure sports areas. While the country is much larger than Vietnam and Cambodia, traveling to the outlying areas in the north is long and arduous, and mostly avoided by the average tourist, despite having great landscapes and interesting people.

With its long, thin shape and variety of climates and topography, Vietnam is the place to spend most of the tour of the three Indochinese countries. In the north there are the islands of Halong Bay, which really require 3-4 days to explore, and even that is not really enough. However, cruising around islands can become tiresome after several days, after which time it is on to the other attractions, While the country does have some great beaches along its eastern coast, this is also the place where most of the ancient history of Vietnam happened, and when you move back from the beaches, the inland areas of the cities are a wealth of Vietnamese history and culture. In the south, the vast plains leave little to be admired outside the vastness of the landscape, except for the stunning area of the Mekong Delta. A huge tract of land with a vast network of natural canals and rivers, this amazing area requires a few days to explore just a small part, and you could spend a week or more in this awesome scenery without feeling over-delta’d at all.

Cambodia vs Vietnam vs Thailand Tourism Development Comparison

Thailand has been a major tourist destination for more than 50 years, and shows no sign of dropping in the global tourism rankings. As the main economic contributor in Thailand, development of the tourism infrastructure is constant and ever-expanding, often taking up areas of former farmland to convert to tourist resorts. Tourism in Thailand has been increasing year on year since the 1960s, generating more than 78 billion dollars in 2017. Thailand is ranked as number 35 out of 141 tourist nations around the world, yet Bangkok actually ranks second in the world’s top 20 most-visited cities, right after London, England.

While tourism is one of Cambodia’s most important economic sectors, the country has only been open to tourists since the mid-1990s, but has grown exponentially since then to become a major player in Asian tourism. Starting out with less than 100,000 tourists in the beginning, Cambodia now sees around five and a half million tourist arrivals every year, and those figures are increasing annually. However, travel outside the most popular tourist areas is still hard, and in some places impossible due to the vast number of landmines that are still concealed in parts of the country.

As a whole, Vietnam is a relative newcomer to international tourism, which began with Nha Trang, Doi Moi, and Phan Thiet in the late 1990s. While you could say that it started in Nha Trang during the 19060s and 1970s, as recreation for the soldiers stations in Saigon, at the end of the war, international travelers were banned from the country. @,000 saw the real take-off of Vietnam’s tourist industry, and it has gone from strength to strength since then, with around 6.8 million visitors by 2012, and increasing to more than 10 million in 2016.

Vietnam tourists

Cambodia vs Vietnam vs Thailand Tour Cost Comparison

Of the three countries, Cambodia is undoubtedly the cheapest of the three countries to travel through. With is low economy and cheap travel fares, it is the ultimate in budget travel destinations. On average, for travel, food, and accommodation in Cambodia, you can expect to pay around 10 to 12 US dollars per day, though if you travel to explore the ruined temples of the Angkor Temple Complex at Siem Reap, then than can increase to around 20-30 dollars per day, due to the higher costs in the tourist attraction and the city of Siem Reap.

Next would come Vietnam, with an average cost of around 15 to 20 dollars per day. Accommodation and travel can be really cheap in Vietnam, but it is let down by the higher cost of food and drinks, with a cup of coffee costing around two dollars, and a simple baguette reaching as much as 3 dollars. If you include a tour of Halong Bay on a boat cruise, and a short trek in Sapa, you can increase that cost to around 25 dollars per day.

Thailand, despite being a cheap place to live, is not as cheap for those just on vacation. However, if you steer clear of the real tourist traps in Thailand, you can make it a good budget location. The beach areas are always more expensive than the rural areas, and if you are staying in Pattaya or Koh Samui, expect to pay around 50 dollars per day. Try moving out of the touristy location and into the heartland of Thailand, where the real people are, and if you travel to the north to Chiang Mai or east to Sakon Nakhon, you can expect your daily costs to drop to around 30-35 dollars per day.

Conclusion

The best place to go depends on what you want to see and do while you are on vacation. If you love beaches and just cannot get enough of that white sand and rolling breakers, then central Vietnam is the place to go. Beaches are cheaper in Vietnam than in Thailand, where they are more commercialized.

If you are looking for a relaxing break, try northern Vietnam’s Hanoi and Halong Bay or head to the Temple Complex at Angkor or the hinterland of Thailand, where rural farmers still stand in their rice fields with a water buffalo to fertilize the crops. For that great city break, Bangkok, Saigon, and Phnom Penh are all great places to visit.

For a lifetime Indochina tour, traveling Vietnam Cambodia Thailand together is most recommended.