Thanks for the read. Older links about the trip are on
http://rectravel.com/kkz
@X. wrote in message news:<539ntv0mn3de016sggru9covl5nbf4ort7@4ax.com>...
> On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 23:41:59 -0000, "Jan"
> wrote:
>
> >We're considering travelling along the Thai coast towards Cambodia, can we
> >get Cambodian Visas at the border?
> >
> >If this route is possible does anyone have any recent experiences/ advice
> >they would care to share.
> >
> >TIA
> >Jan
>
>
> Went through there 3 weeks ago. Yes you can get visas at the border
> at Hat Lek/Koh Kong. Below is a rather long account of my trip from
> Pattaya to Koh Kong Cambodia that I wrote for another forum. I later
> took the speedboat ferry to Sihnokville and then the Bus to Phom Phen
> and then flew to Sien Riep and back to Bangkok. Koh Kong seemed
> fairly safe. Scams are prevalent but no violent crime I could detect.
> The people are very friendly. The speed boat ferry to Sihnookville
> was awesome. Ride on the roof or deck for the view. Way faster and
> more comfortable than by minibus. BTW people in Koh Kong will lie and
> say the speed boat ferry is canceled to sell you minibus tickets so
> they can get commission. Don't believe it unless the weather is
> clearly bad and the boat is actually absent in the morning.
> Sihnookville has some crime problems but is relatively safe if you use
> common sense. Day is safe. Night in dark secluded areas bad things
> happen. I had no trouble.
>
>
> Repost...................
>
> From Pattaya
>
> I checked out of my hotel and at 7:30am was waiting in the lobby with
> my luggage ready to go. The travel agent I bought the minibus ticket
> from had given me a ticket for the driver complete with instructions
> written in Thai so he knew where I was supposed to wind up. Minibuses
> to the Cambodian border are readily available from any travel agent in
> Pattaya. They are very commonly used by expats for "visa runs". When
> their visa is almost expired and can no longer be extended they hop in
> a minibus to the Cambodian border and stamp out of Thailand, into
> Cambodia, then out of Cambodia back into Thailand with a brand new
> Thai visa stamp and come back to Pattaya. Just walk into any travel
> agent and say you need a minibus ticket the Cambodian border at Hat
> Lek (the town on the Thai side of the border) Cost was 670 baht ~$17
> one way. Round trip is even more common but I don't know if you get a
> break on the one way price if you go round trip. You can get a minibus
> strait to the border but I had to leave on Monday and Tuesday was the
> first day they had all the way to the border so I would ride from
> Pattaya to Trat and then change minibuses and go from there to the
> Cambodian border.
>
> If you were coming from Bangkok you could make almost the same trip
> even cheaper on the air conditioned bus. Just go to Eikimei bus
> station. Go to the window that says Trat and buy a ticket. Make sure
> it is the express bus and not the one that stops in every town along
> the way. In Trat, across the street from the air conditioned bus
> station slightly to the right near an open air market there are
> minibuses that leave for Hat Lek every 30 minutes or so throughout the
> day. Price from Bangkok would probably be ~200 to~300 baht for the AC
> bus and the minibus is clearly posted 100 baht from Trat to Hat Lek.
>
> My minibus arrived about 15 minutes late. It was a BMW van and there
> were about 5 people inside. The seats were quite comfortable, but a
> little cramped on leg room, as is almost any kind of public
> transportation in Asia. Thai sized, not 6' American sized. Still, it
> wasn't to uncomfortable. While the driver loaded my backpack in the
> back a German lady told me the driver had been driving up and down
> various streets for the last 20 minutes looking for my hotel. The
> driver got in. Headed to a gas station filled up with gas and we hit
> the road.
>
> I was a little surprised at how GOOD the roads were in Thailand. I had
> expected them to get worse the further I got from Bangkok but that was
> not the case. 4 lane divided highways in excellent condition most of
> the way. As good as many American highways. Thailand has obviously
> spent allot of money on the roads along that route. After about an
> hour and 45 minutes we stopped at a very modern rest area where there
> was a 7-11 convenience store, a very good open air coffee stand, Thai
> restaurant and decent restrooms. We stopped for about 15 minutes to
> stretch our legs then back in the van and on to Trat. In Trat the
> driver pulled up to the minibus stop across from the bus station. He
> paid my fare, 100 baht, that was included in the 670 baht I paid to
> the travel agent, to the operator there and explained to him in Thai
> where I was headed. I just had a seat and waited. This is also what
> you would do if you had arrived from Bangkok on the AC bus.
>
> After about 20 minutes we started loading in the minibus. It was a
> full load. All Thai locals. I was the only falung on board. The people
> who were on the original minibus from Pattaya all had different
> destinations and did not get off with me. We headed out of Trat on a
> two lane paved highway. Not as nice as the road to Trat bus still very
> good. Heading towards Hat Lek we passed through several Thai army
> checkpoints. Nothing more than a cursory look-over by the sentry.
> Along the way the local Thai passengers got off one by one at there
> destinations. By the time we reached Hat Lek we were down to me and 4
> Thai's. The driver drove around town dropping then one by one until
> finely one Thai lady and me were all who were left. The end of the
> line.
>
> The Thai lady grabbed her stuff and wandered away. I loaded up my
> backpack and ask the driver which way to the border and he pointed
> down the street. I couldn?t see it but set out that way all alone and
> after a quarter of a block it was pretty obvious. There was a Thai
> immigration shack with a walk up window, barriers, a couple of bored
> looking solders and bunch of touts, children running about, and other
> nuisance type people. I will admit it seemed a little more
> intimidating than it really is and my heart was beating a little hard
> at that point. This was for real, I was on foot, walking alone into
> Cambodia at a somewhat remote border crossing for the first time. Not
> another westerner to be seen anywhere. I proceeded to the Thai
> immigration window and handed my passport through to a real asshole
> looking bureaucrat in a uniform. No land of smiles here. He more or
> less ignored me for a while as he slowly shuffled papers and then with
> out even looking up or acknowledging me he picked up my passport, very
> slowly looked at the exit form. Methodically stamped me out of
> Thailand and handed it back to me without so much as a single word or
> a friendly look. I walked from there towards the border.
>
> A soldier at the barrier looked at my passport to verify I had been
> stamped out properly and passed me through into a no mans land between
> the Thai and Cambodian border posts. I was immediately set upon by a
> pack of very aggressive touts offering to sell cigarettes, carry my
> bag, sell me weed, get me a taxi, help me with immigration forms, find
> me a hotel........... They were quite annoying and quite aggressive
> but harmless otherwise. Probably wise to lookout for hands in your
> pockets or in your backpack though. There was no sentry or border
> guard on the Cambodian side. You just walk right in. Your first stop
> is in an office to visit the health quarantine officer. You can?t miss
> it because about 12 touts will point you towards it. Inside there was
> a guy in a dirty white coat seated behind a wooden table and another
> guy standing around for no apparent reason. He had a simple health
> questionnaire about SAR's symptoms and have I traveled in countries
> where there is yellow fever and such. Then he asks if I had an
> "international vaccination certificate" which of course I did not
> since you DO NOT need such a certificate to travel in Cambodia. He
> said since I do not have it I must pay him 50 baht. This is total
> bullshit and do not fall for it. I said I had contacted the Cambodian
> embassy in Washington DC before my trip and ask about that and they
> told me I did not need the certificate. (My own bullshit) He thought
> about it for a minute, and then signed my paperwork. I did not have to
> pay him the 50 baht bribe.
>
> Next, on to the visa office. A couple of doors down you walk into a
> dirty, barren office, and there are several asshole looking
> bureaucrats in uniforms sitting behind a scarred up old wooden table
> with a single chair in front for you to sit in. The back door of the
> office was partially open and you could see into a dimly lit room
> where there were several men in military uniform along with women and
> children all sitting around a big dinner table eating and loudly
> talking. The visa application is simple and after I filled it out I
> handed it to the asshole bureaucrat with my passport and the required
> passport sized photo. (don't forget to bring two passport photos with
> you for your visa) He didn't even look at it and said the visa was
> 1,100 baht. This is more bullshit. The official price set by the
> Cambodian government is 20 US dollars (funny that even the Cambodian
> government sets official fees in Dollars not Riel) The semi official
> price in Thai Baht is 1,000 which was set at a time when the exchange
> rate was better. That is of course closer to $25 today. The Cambodian
> border agents have long capitalized on the spread and demanded payment
> in Thai Baht rather than the official US dollar amount. If you force
> the issue they have to accept the $20 payment but they can keep you
> there half the day while you paperwork is sent to Phom Phen by carrier
> pigeon for verification so I was prepared to pay in baht but not the
> 1,100 he ask for. I handed him 1,000 baht, gave him a friendly smile,
> told him I know it is 20 dollars and that 1,000 baht is a very good
> deal for him. He again stated it was 1,100 and I again smiled and said
> 1,000 baht is a very good price for him. He said he would have to ask
> the commander and then after a word or two in Khmer shouted to the
> back room and an answer from a disembodied voice that sounded like it
> had a mouthful of rice, he waited for several minutes and said the
> commander had agreed 1,000 baht was OK. Damn corrupt Cambodian border
> officials. He placed the visa sticker in my passport and directed me
> to the window next door to have my passport stamped. There was a
> typical entry/exit form to fill out. I did this, handed it through the
> window, the agent stamped my passport and handed it back. No money was
> asked for at this point.
>
> The touts have to wait outside the offices but at the window you have
> about 4 touts hanging over your shoulder the whole time. I needed a
> ride to town and one of the touts spoke good English and was soft
> spoken and less annoying than the rest so I ask him if he had a moto.
> He of course did. I offered 50 baht for a ride into town. The correct
> price is 30 to 50 baht and I was tired and did not feel like
> bargaining so I offered the high end of a fair price. He immediately
> accepted. Once you hire a motodop the rest of the touts leave you
> alone. It was worth the 50 baht just to get rid of all those touts. I
> let him carry my bag to his moto. He loaded it on the moto, started it
> up, and I hopped on the back.
>
> Riding on the back of a motodop (Cambodian motorcycle taxi) in
> Cambodia is not nearly the hair raising experience it is in Thailand.
> (Except in Phom Phen) If you are not the adventurous type you will
> probably still be quite comfortable on a Cambodian motodop. Cambodian
> motodops are very cautious drivers and traffic is very light. They
> rarely get over 20 miles per hour they and never rev there engines
> above a very low rpm or accelerate quickly. I almost suspect they
> drive that way to conserve gasoline and to prevent wear and tear on
> there engines. You can probably get a car taxi but in my opinion
> motodops are the most efficient way to get around.
>
> Koh Kong is several miles from the Thai border across a river. The
> road is a brand new narrow two lane concrete road. Very smooth and
> with almost no traffic. Along the way there is yet another checkpoint
> where you hand your passport through a window and they verify you have
> your visa and are properly stamped. No hassles or demands for money
> there. At the river there is a brand new toll bridge. You pay the
> toll. I think it was like 10 baht, I don't remember for sure. The toll
> is clearly posted and paid to a girl in a booth. Then on into town.
> Koh Kong is on the other side.
>
> It was about noon. I left Pattaya around 7:50 am and was in Koh Kong
> Cambodia in about 4 hours of fairly easy travel. The total cost was
> 670 baht ~$17 for the minibus ticket from Pattaya to the Cambodian
> border. 1000 Baht ~$25 for my Cambodian visa. 50 Baht ~$1.25 for the
> Motodop to Koh Kong. and 10 Baht 25¢ for the toll bridge.
>
> I didn't have a hotel in mind. There are good hotels in town for about
> $15 but I wanted to see how cheap I could go so I told the driver I
> wanted a hotel with a bathroom and shower in the room near the boat
> dock for no more than $3. He said no problem and took me to a hotel
> that was more or less what I expected. Upstairs, a ceiling fan but no
> AC. Bathroom with a shower, sink and a squat toilet but no hot water.
> It was a little worn but was clean, quiet and secure. What do you
> expect for $3. I was satisfied but probably most would want to splurge
> on a $15 room with fancy AC, TV, sit down toilet, and hot water.
>
> As I was checking in the motodop ask if I was planning to take the
> speedboat ferry to Sihankville tomorrow. I told him yes. Then he ask
> if I would buy the ticket through him rather than the ticket office
> since the price was the same either way for me but he would get a 40
> baht sales commission if I bought it through him. I wondered if it was
> a ploy to get my money and I would never see a ticket so I hesitated
> but I did appreciate his honesty in admitting he would be getting the
> commission. Motodops in Cambodia get a commission on almost anything
> you buy if they are the one who brings you in so you always have to
> read between the lines of any thing your motodop does. More often than
> not his commission is more important to him than your satisfaction.
> Often it does not affect your price and is just how they do business.
> Other times it can be added to your bill or can result in bad advice.
> I didn't really mind the guy getting a commission so long as it didn?t
> affect my price. He could see I was hesitating so he said I could get
> the hotel to issue a receipt for the money and take responsibility for
> making sure I received my ticket. I had read this is a common and
> legitimate practice so I agreed. Since the motodop driver was being
> honest with me about the commission and I did need transportation
> around town I ask him how much to hire him for the day. He just said
> "whatever you think" and wouldn't list a price. I ask, "is $5 OK?" he
> seemed a little disappointed but readily agreed. I had my hotel and
> transportation for the day. I locked up my stuff in my hotel room, and
> then ask the driver to show me around town. |