There were certainly many differences in the standards of Cambodia construction but we were more surprised at the many similarities in Contractor "shenanigans". Here in the U.S., labor cost is usually the biggest expense for Contractors and, therefore, the productivity of their employees is key to a successful project. In Cambodia, the Contractor we have been dealing with owns the equipment, the laborers are paid a few dollars a day to live and work on site so their biggest expense is fuel. It was common for several laborers to be napping in hammocks throughout the day.
However, even with all of these differences in cost structure our Contractor is playing a lot of the same games as Contractors here in New York. For example, the site superintendent did not speak English while asking for a time extension but was miraculously able to communicate with us over beers a couple of days later. It appears that playing the "dumb contractor" card is an internationally known tactic.
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