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The Cambodian Visa Run
By Casper | March 30, 2008
Well after two months in Sihanoukville, I’ve decided that I’d like to stay around for a little while (I knew I would). So the next thing to do, was to travel back to the border and pick up a Type ‘E’ Business Visa.
Business Visas in Cambodia, unlike Thailand, are very easy to obtain. Exit Cambodia into Thailand, then return sameday and ask for one at immigration. The ‘official’ price is just 25 USD, however, the actual amount you pay can vary depending on your port of entry / border crossing point.
I decided to make the journey to Koh Kong for my Business Visa. I booked the return coach journey via Ana Travel (Ekreach Street), with VET.
On previous trips to this border with Thailand, i’ve always used the ferry and on all but my last trip, the waters have been calm and the journey extremely pleasant. The last trip was last October and during the worst rain of paticularly damp ‘rainy season’. It was not fun, the boat felt all too frequently as if it was about to ‘roll’ any second and I’m sure the constant ‘jarring’ from bouncing wave to wave wasn’t doing my spine any good.
Despite the good weather currently (late March) I decided on the Coach. I’d heard that at least two of the bridges are not completed as yet and that the ‘minibuses’ have to be ferried across the rivers. Not sure about how a 43 seater would cope with this, but it sounded like fun!
Now, i’m not really a great ‘planner’ and occasionally come up with some pretty ‘dumb’ ideas, the night before this trip was no exception.
Since my coach was going to be leaving from Sihanoukville Bus Station at 7:45am, I decided that, seeing as though a couple of friends were ‘up for it’, I’d drink and socialise through the night and sleep on the bus during the 6 hour journey to Koh Kong.
Big mistake, huge. I managed the drinking till 7:00am without a problem, but decided to return to my room and do a quick ‘freshen up’ and change before getting on the bus …….. I woke up at 4pm later that afternoon, best laid plans eh?
Ok, I decided to try my luck and just turn up with the out of date, but unused tickets the next morning. Low and behold, some people i’d met in the Hard Rock Bar were returning home to Finland the next morning and were actually catching the same coach as me in the morning.
So …… we decided to drink through the night and sleep on the coach (haven’t I been here somewhere before?!). This time though, I managed it, problem now was …. would they accept my out of date tickets. I smiled and looked humble in the presence of the ‘Boss’ of Sihanoukville VET. Basically I played ‘dumb’, something that I seem to have very little trouble doing.
He accepted that it was a genuine mistake made between myself and the booking agent, I could still use the tickets. Wonderful! Just saved myself 36 USD, not a fortune, but better in my pocket than anyone elses.
Coach loaded and off we set.
Most of the journey is through relatively flat countryside, it’s pleasant enough, but nothing to write home about. That is until we come to the first ‘incomplete’ bridge.
The ’span’ of the bridge is finished, but the surface and barriers are yet to done. Nevertheless, we were all asked to vacate the bus and take the walk across the bridge platform.
The views from the bridge are wonderful and well worth making the journey for. All in all, you have to walk across two unfinished bridges and this was, for me, the best part of the trip. Once over the bridge, another coach was there waiting to take us on the next ‘leg’ of our journey.
Arriving in Koh Kong I saw a side of it that I hadn’t noticed on previous occasions as I was sped quickly from the port to the border in the back of a truck ……. it really is a ‘dust bowl’ of a place. It lacks soul and personality ….. it’s bland and uninspiring.
This is my personal opinion based on a short moto tour I conducted in the hope I’d find something worth photographing …… I returned to my hotel disappointed.
Since the coach dropped me off at their branch in the town and I could see a hotel / guesthouse in easy walking distance, I ended up staying at the ‘Dugout Hotel’. Far from a 5 star resort and curiously charged in Thai Baht. Very strange I thought.
It did kind of click into place though when I was told that the conversion rate to dollars was 30 baht to the USD. What a scam. Unfortunatly, it’s one that is performed by just about every business that deals with Farangs.
The Dugout has a Pool and a number of the more expensive AirCon rooms are situated around it. At 500 baht though, not too over the top and reasonably comfortable. I actually ate there that evening too, I was tired and didn’t see a more attactive option during the day. The food was actually pretty good, I had Fried Noodles with Chicken, which came as a generous portion and tasted really good.
Anyway, the whole point of this trip was to sort out my visa, so I flagged down a local Mototaxi and asked the price to the border and back …. “200 baht”, I tried to haggle but he was made of stone or probably just a better haggler than me, i’m really not very good at it.
Anyway, the 200 baht which was 6 USD in my mind, came out to be 7 dollars 50 cents. I guess he’d caught on to the 30 baht exchange rate scam too.
At the border I was instantly pounced upon by on the ‘helpful’ “Come with me, I help you with Paperwork” guys ….. I don’t really mind this to be honest, I know I can take a lot ’sharper’ to him than I could to the officials.
I passed out of Cambodia without problem, but when I explained to the Thai Immigration Police that I would be heading straight back to Cambodia, they refused. “Go and spend money in Thailand” one bellowed at me. Since he refused to give me my ‘exit stamp’ until I did, I was left with very little option.
The stalls and market shops just inside Thailand are filled with people that truly ‘hate’ their work, they are not like the friendly smiling Thai’s i’d met before during the two years I’d lived in the country. Their goods are overpriced and they are surly in their response to you.
The best I could manage was a fruit juice in one cafe ….. still I managed to drag it out for 20 minutes.
Returning back to the Border Control, I was duly stamped up and allowed to return to Cambodia …… this is where the ‘fun’ really started!
My little ‘admin’ friend informed me that they would only accept Thai Baht at the border in payment for the Visa. The Business visa is normally 25 USD, so I was expecting him to say 1k baht which is something i’d heard happening to others. But no, 1500 baht. That’s 45 USD, or even more at their fictitious exchange rate of 30baht to the USD!
I explained that I don’t have any Thai Baht and would have to pay in Dollars, they told me to go back to Thailand to the cashpoint …… I refused. I want to pay in USD I explained.
As some sort of a compromise and to save face for everyone, I agreed to pay 500 THB and 25 USD …. this was the best I could do. Somewhere around 40 USD against the 50 USD they originally wanted. Way more than the Official 25 USD it should cost though!
Still I was through immigration and had my Visa, I could now extend this for up to one year and would never have to deal with this guys during that time.
I paid my little helper 2 USD for his assistance, he wanted 3 USD, but i explained that the border guys have taken all my money ….. i’m not a rich man now. He smiled and accepted this.
The return trip the following morning was pretty uneventful, a few near misses with other vehicles and Cattle with a deathwish …… but this is generally ‘everyday’ news every time you take to the road in Cambodia.
All in all, NOT a fun journey though and one that I will probably never take again. Koh Kong is disappointing to say the least and the coach journey, whilst offering some photo opportunities, has now been done and doesn’t warrant a repeat.
Next time i’ll probably fly from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, or at the very least, get back on the boat, it’s quicker than the coach and that’s really what it’s all about.
Topics: Sihanoukville Blog, Travel Information |
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