My husband and I are currently travelling through south-east Asia and a friend of ours who is an expat in Siem Reap suggested I post our recent experiences of crossing the border from Laos on this Forum. I should also say that we are in our 50's and well traveled. We had booked a through ticket from Don Khone island to Siem Reap and the scam started the moment we got off the boat and onto the mainland.
Everyone on the boat was immediately pulled into a cafe where our tickets where changed and we were given Cambodian visa papers to complete. We then waited for half an hour or so – some people were told to hand their passports over here – we didn’t. Then we were told to walk up to the bus station, another half an hour wait. Then the bus arrived “quick, we are late”, as if it’s our fault!
On the bus the fix it guy says he needs all our passports and $40 each. We refuse and say a Cambodian visa is $30. He, quite openly, says that this border is “corrupt” and it’s $35 here, plus $2 for Laos departure stamp plus money for “quarantine/health check”. We refuse to hand over our passports and he says we’re going to delay the whole bus – divide and rule?! There were 5 of us who refused.
At the border we 5 got off the bus and the others stayed on it – how do the Laotians know who’s leaving their country when they don’t even see them – a security joke! We had to pay $2 for our departure stamp – scam 1 and no alternative. A French couple refused to pay and tried to get into Cambodia without the stamp but they’re obviously in cahoots as the Cambodians checked for their departure stamp and wouldn’t give them a visa without it.
Scam 2 – the quarantine/health desk – we filled in the forms but said, from the start, we had no money. We had our ‘temperature’ scanned and left without paying. The French couple just said they had all their vaccinations and walked on! They were trying to charge $1 per person.
Scam 3 – the Cambodian visa was $30 for the visa and $5 for the "stamp". I argued at length and even showed them my visa from Siem Reap airport in January which clearly says $30 and they just kept repeating $30 for the visa and $5 for the stamp. We only had $60 so ended up paying the stamp fee in kip – they wanted 100,000 (well over $10) but accepted 85,000 which was all we had. It went straight into their top drawer. Then got the “stamp” but the visa doesn’t say how much we paid for it!! The French couple managed to get away with only paying $3 each for the stamp by simply saying they had no more money.
We then joined our fellow bus passengers in another cafe by the road – again, the Cambodians hadn’t verified any of them against their passports – security, what security? We got in our bus and waited and were then told that everyone going to Siem Reap should get in another bus – clearly some kind of deal was being done by the drivers.
We were then taken to Stung Treng and another “cafe” behind someone’s house – definitely not an official bus station. Again, we were told it would be about an hour and many people bought food – they even had the nerve to charge for the toilets! After about an hour our tickets were changed again and we were all piled into 2 mini vans which had been sitting there all along. When we complained that we had paid to go on big buses we were told that we were now so late we'd missed them.
Both minivans were overloaded and they picked up more locals off the roadside, which we all kicked off about - the other van driver even tried to put someone on his lap as he was driving but realised he couldn't change gear. Our van broke a suspension pin with a hell of a bang at speed, which they fixed on the roadside and carried on - absolutely terrifying. We were dropped in some back street area in Siem Reap.
We think these scams are careful co-ordinated and planned from Laos to Cambodia. We were all told we would be on a Sorya bus in Cambodia and we think they’re taking the money for the big buses and then putting us in their unlicensed and, most probably, uninsured minivans. The border officials and the bus drivers etc are all in cahoots and obviously sharing the loot. I saw paper folded over and stapled to make an envelope and full of dollars on the desk of the “stamp” desk, clearly someone’s share. Most people just pay the $40 so they're making $10 for everyone going through that border but never checking the passengers against their Passports. The minivans don't use the "new" road as advertised but a variety of back roads so it's impossible for the passengers to know where they are - clearly they are trying to avoid being pulled over.
The problem is that once you’re a piece of cargo in their scam it’s impossible to get out unless you’re happy to be left at the roadside and pay twice – and they know this.
Ultimately what really concerns us is:
- the blatant corruption of the border personnel in both Laos and Cambodia;
- the lack of security on this border as passengers are never checked against their Passports; and
- these un-maintained minivans will have a major accident (as we nearly did) and travelers will die.
Laos to Cambodia Bus and Border Scams - Corruption and Commercial Kidnapping
A very detailed story telling it how it is, it's shit of course.
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- Phuket2006
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hey it is what it is,
pay up and be on ur way,
is it really worth the pain and aggravation for $10
Your NOT in Kansas anymore
pay up and be on ur way,
is it really worth the pain and aggravation for $10
Your NOT in Kansas anymore
"We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer." HST
Agree with Phuket, it really isn't worth the stress.
It's not going to change because nobody cares.
Surely traveling by bus from Laos to Cambodia was stressful enough.
It's not going to change because nobody cares.
Surely traveling by bus from Laos to Cambodia was stressful enough.
The outrage does feel a bit over the top for the amount in question but i guess it's the principle that is more bothering.
Although kudos for them for riding the taxi buses and surviving the trip.
I'll take a company's minibus or a 9/12-seater but never one of those deathtraps.
Also, OP could maybe report that on the app Bribespot. It's not going to have an immediate impact but if there's enough reports, maybe it could be ammo for NGOs.
Although kudos for them for riding the taxi buses and surviving the trip.
I'll take a company's minibus or a 9/12-seater but never one of those deathtraps.
Also, OP could maybe report that on the app Bribespot. It's not going to have an immediate impact but if there's enough reports, maybe it could be ammo for NGOs.
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- Jumped Up Little Oik
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I sympathize with the OP. I've had the same bullshit coming from Koh Kong. Pay for a coach and get a series of fucked-up, full-up, stop every 2 minutes, local minibuses for the same $7 that you got an air-conditioned bus when you went the other way round. If they are going to insist we do it by a series of the local village buses, I suggest they inform us before we travel. And I ain't paying no $7 for it neither.
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