Business as usual

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Geo: 13.4691, 104.041

Last week I had to take a trip to the border of Cambodia and Thailand to renew my visa, this can usually be done through a travel agent but as I was applying for a Business visa I had to leave the country and come back in again.
The closest border to Siem Reap is a small grotty little town called Poi Pet (pronounced Poy Pay) about 150km away by road. It is renowned for its beggars ,its Casino's and for its "Ladies of the night" this is due to the fact that it is illegal to gamble in Thailand, so a lot of the Thai nationals come across the boarder into Cambodia to do it and of course this attracts all sorts of unsavory characters.
Its not a place for sight seeing.
There is a few ways to get to Thailand, you can catch a bus, which is extremely cheap but they are notorious for their scams.
For example what commonly happens is that the bus leaves Siem Reap and about half way to the border in the middle of nowhere the bus mysteriously breaks down, what usually happens next is the driver and his crew inform the passengers that they have to pay an additional cost to get another bus to take them to the boarder, if you don't pay you are left behind.
There is a shared "private taxi" this is basically some body's car and a willing driver. The driver then rounds up and charges as many people as he can fit in the car between $10 -$15 for the trip. The problem with this is that you may be in a car that you have to share with up to 10 people, their luggage and quite possible some livestock; passenger comfort is not a priority.
Or alternatively you can hire a "private taxi" for yourself for about $50, you are guaranteed of a seat and the driver waits for you at the border to bring you back. This is the option I took; mainly because I have seen the shared taxi's and the prospect of sitting in a vehicle for 2-4 hours looking after some body's grandmother, chicken or pig was not what this trip was about, maybe next time but I wanted to get to and back from the border as quickly as possible.
And you know what they say, be careful what you ask for you may just get it.

I should have noticed before I got in the car that something was not quite right but everything looked in order, the car was clean and in good condition and the driver eager to get this over and done with.
It wasn't until we were hurtling down the road horn blaring and attempting to over take everything that it occurred to me what was wrong.
The Cambodian driving and road system (that term is used very loosely) was set up by the French and as a result they drive on the left hand side of the road, well most of the time anyway. This means that the steering wheel is on the left side of the car or as I found out that is not always the case, because the car I was in was a right hand drive vehicle.
Should be no big deal really, that is unless you want to over take the vehicle in front of you and you cant see past him to see if the road is clear.
For the driver to do this he has to literally get onto the opposite side of the road.
So picture this you are in the passenger seat traveling at between 80km/100km/hr and can see any oncoming traffic, the driver cannot see what you do but decides to over take the vehicle in front regardless, so instead of asking if the road is clear (probably because you don't speak the same language) he swerves out into oncoming traffic and then makes his decision whether to proceed or not.
Usually by that stage its too late to change your mind so he accelerates toward trucks, moto's,bicycles and cars with the hope they make allowances for you.
Not recommended for those with a nervous disposition or a history of heart disease.
I took a book and Mp3 for entertainment but there was no relaxing.
For some reason the mind wants to know if the body is in danger and trying to disconnect from your present environment with adrenalin constantly surging through your veins is like trying to make sense of a George W. Bush speech.
On the way we do pass cars, trucks, moto's and bicycles but never a bus.
The bus is the king of transport in Cambodia and because they hurtle down the middle of the road like a people carrying missile with a horn ,everybody gets out of their way.
The drivers seem to derive an enormous amount of pleasure from coming up behind smaller vehicles at breakneck speed and then beeping their horn continuously, indicating that you should move immediately or face the consequences.
Within seconds they are past you and disappearing in a cloud of black diesel exhaust.
The road to the boarder is still under construction and has been for several years.
Apparently a Thai airline has been paying officials in the Cambodian government large sums of money to ensure that the road is not completed. The rationale behind this is that if the road is in such bad condition then people will choose to fly instead of drive and I'm sure because of the reasons mentioned above this is what most people end up doing. So everybody benefits except the paying public.
All the way to the boarder there are houses and stalls and inexplicably people, usually young girls sitting on chairs under a beach umbrella in the middle of nowhere with nothing else around them. I was too scared to ask what they where selling for fear of the truth.
Unfortunately there is very little that cannot be paid for in Cambodia.
So after traveling over every kind of road surface you can imagine (and if you haven't been to a 3rd world country before, some that you cant) we eventually arrive at the Thai boarder 2hrs after departing, but I'm pretty sure I aged 5 years in that 2hrs.
For the next 2 hours I jump through official hoops to try to obtain a business visa for Cambodia.
Firstly I have to leave Cambodia, which consists of filing out the required paperwork, lining up, presenting my passport and exiting through an unmanned doorway.
The next step is to get into Thailand.
Thailand issues 14 day visa's automatically at the boarder, I go through the same scenario as above except in Thailand somebody is there to open the entry door for you.
I got my Thai visa and then I walked across the road to the Cambodian Boarder Control office to go through the exact same sequence again, that was until I hit the final hurdle and this being Cambodia I should have seen it coming.
The Boarder Control Guard points out that because I want a business visa I have to go to another office, he gets on his radio and with a big smile informs somebody at the other end that he is sending somebody up and that they are applying for a "Business Visa"
I go to where I am sent and am greeted by a man who seems just a little to happy to see me. He asks me do I have this do I have that all of which I produce, then finally he says
"What documentation do you have to show you are working in Cambodia" Unfortunately I hadnt't printed off the letter from the NGO outlining what I was doing. When I informed him I had none he said I could not get the Business visa as that was a requirement and to prove this he produced a faded photocopy listing 5 things that somebody needs to provide in order to get a Business visa, and there down the bottom of the list was "Proof of employment".
What could I do I was stumped, well I would have been had this not been Cambodia.
The uniformed guard then informed me that for a "Processing Fee" I was still able to apply for the visa and that usually if you pay the "Processing Fee" it is likely that a visa will be granted. And surprise surprise after 15minutes and paying an additional $10 US I got granted a "Business Visa".
Once my passport was returned to me I headed back to the boarder crossing where I showed the original guard my newly processed visa, he asked me if I had to pay a "Processing Fee" when I informed I had, he smiled at me, stamped my passport and pointed me toward the unmanned door leading to Cambodia.

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Comments

[damon_thompson]

Only difference is who's ripping you off? Sounds like a laugh... similar thing in South Africa. Black fellas offering to 'guide' you to the train station (even though you are already following the train tracks) and then 'asking' you for
money when you get there. Bit hard to refuse when there's 3 of them! Still, my mind is more at ease knowing that money is going to the common man instead of going to the government, like in this country! :)Sounds like you're having the time of your life!-Damon