Border Crossing- Thailand to Cambodia

Border Crossing:

There's tons and tons of info out there on crossing the border from Thailand (Aranyapathet) to Poipet (Cambodia). With a little research, my partner and I felt adequately equipped to take on the border crossing which is famed for its scams. If you're doing the crossing and don't read any thing else that I write, read this: The Cambodian Consulate on the Thai side is a scam. Your visa will be official, but you will pay $30 (1000BHT) instead of the $20 charged at the actual border. Tell the tuk-tuk driver to keep moving.

Part 1: BKK to A

5AM: arrive at bus stop and start waiting

5:25: Get on bus

5:50: Arrive at train station, sprint inside, buy ticket.

5:52: Secure seat as my partner runs to get breakfast

5:55: My partner boards the train seconds before it pulls away.

Part 2: A to Market at Border

Roughly 12pm: Arrive in Aranyapathet. Tuk-tuk drivers swarm the train. We secured one for 20 BHT. Not sure how that happened. As expected, the driver brought us to the rip off consulate and we told him to keep going. Didn't even think about getting out. He gave in pretty quickly and took us to the border.

Part 3: the Market

This is the part where we bought some (over priced) rations and some jet fuel coffee. We also marveled at the cattle cars. Tourists do this crossing as part of a group tour bus thing (SCAM). I thought it most appropriate to photograph the name tags these tourists were sporting. The name tags were pretty much equivalent to "rip me off please." tags.

Part 4: The Visa

Just a little ways past the market is where you get your Cambodian visa for $20. There's a sign that says it is $20. They ask you if you want the "express" service and if you decline, they may or may not try to charge you more than $20 anyway. We stayed firm on the $20 and did not pay for an express visa. They told us we would have to wait 'very long time' which turned out to be 3 minutes and 46 seconds. Bring a passport size photo. Piece of cake. Continue the stroll into Cambodia.

Part 5: Taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap

Basically, everyone takes taxis. There's a 'free bus' to the bus station out of town but no one really goes there. And if they do, they don't get anywhere else. Taxi intermediaries tried to negotiate with us while we were waiting for our visas. Starting price is $15/person and they'll take groups of 4.

Finding friends at the crossing is not hard. Everyone (the backpackers) are excited to share what they read or heard or where they've been, etc. It is quite understandable since traveling alone or even with just 1 other person can leave people sort of deprived of social interaction (in english). It is just really funny to observe.

There's really no need to negotiate with an intermediary b/c that's not helping the price go down. My partner and I found the two only other people willing to walk down the road and find the taxi drivers and deal with them directly. Some people didn't even want to negotiate. Our taxi buddies turned out to be inspirational negotiators. The taxi driver followed us for 1 or 2 kilometers while we discussed the price and told him we didn't mind walking. Our biggest accomplishment of the day was talking him down to $25 for the whole trip. That's $6.25/person instead of $15. We got to Siem Reap in under 3 hours with only one unplanned stop. As always the transpo guys stop at a store or restaurant where the passengers are supposed to buy stuff. With a little preparation, it's always possible to avoid spending any money on overpriced food. The road is absolutely fine. It's a little bumpy during one little part, but we chattered away oblivious to any discomfort.

Part 5: Success

My border crossing experience included one weak attempt at charging too much money for the visa. Based on the ease of the crossing and the much lower transport prices for independent travelers I wonder how so many people actually get ripped off. There is so much information online- including current road status updates. Doing a little research can really go a long way. Oh and I just looked at the newest Thailand LP which details this entire journey. HA