Bribes and Tourist Taxes — Daniel & Kimberly

After nearly zero sleep, Kimberly and I rolled out of bed in Bangkok, Thailand at 4:30 in the morning and packed a bag for our weeklong stay in Cambodia. Without a second thought, we left the other half of our belongings in the wide-open “storage” of our 2-star hotel and hailed the first taxi we saw. After some back and forth, the driver set his price, clearly not interested in turning on the meter so early in the morning. Knowing that our train left within the hour, we grudgingly agreed to his fare ($3) and arrived at the station a handful of minutes later.

A rare, fresh-air wave hello while traveling by train through the farmlands of Thailand.

Using the guidance of Seat61.com, we purchased our tickets with no problems and grabbed a smoothie and croissant before finding our way to rail 6 for the Standard 275 train. With no assigned seats, we walked through four cars before finding one with two bench seats open. The seats were hit or miss on comfort—think school bus bench seats in a third class train car. Joining us for the ride were a healthy mix of backpackers and locals, most of whom were quietly enjoying their coffee or aimlessly staring out the window.

A few minutes after the scheduled departure, we crawled forward and started slowly heading east through the heart of downtown Bangkok as the sun began to paint the buildings and the day anew.

As we settled in, Kimberly and I took note of our surroundings and started to do the math on our travel accommodations and the 5+ hours ahead of us. “You get what you paid for” certainly applied, as our tickets were only $1.50 a piece. The train stopped more than a dozen times, each bringing on a new wave of travelers as well as vendors selling anything from pre-made Pad Thai to bubble gum.

About half way into our trip, we were introduced to a distinct campfire smell and noticed ash start to flow into the windows of the train and collect on our clothes. We had read about this: during the months of March and April, Thailand burns crops throughout the country to reset for a new growing season. Some we talked to said the pollution this time of year wasn't bad at all, others said to stay away entirely. We were pressing forward and taking the risk...sorry, lungs.

Tuk-tuks await passengers near the border of Thailand and Cambodia.

After nearly six hours and with flared sinuses and bloodshot eyes, we arrived at our final destination, a small town about ten minutes from the Thailand/Cambodia border. Our research indicated that several tuk-tuks (motorcycles with an attached cart for passengers) would be waiting for us and that we should expect to pay between 80 and 100 Thai baht for two people—depending on our bargaining skills. After shopping around for about 30 seconds, we found another couple from South Africa who shared a ride with us for 75 baht. Done deal.

During our short tuk-tuk ride to the border, we began to prepare for again, what our research had told us would be the biggest "scam central" of all of our travels--the border town of Poi Pet, Cambodia. Scams to watch out for included: tuk-tuks taking you to travel agencies to sell you higher priced visas, money exchanges telling you that the country doesn’t accept US dollars and giving you terrible rates for their Cambodian Riel (when in fact, Cambodia practically accepts only USD), and worst of all—the Cambodian Border Police taking bribes in the form of additional administration and processing fees on top of the listed visa prices.

Kimberly fills out her visa-on-arrival paperwork. In the background, notice the "Tourist Visa - $30" sign.

Our first stop was for our Thai exit stamps. There was a small line in an air-conditioned building and we were in and out with no problems. Next, we walked about 50 yards across the border and found the “visa-upon-arrival” building and started filling out the necessary paperwork for Cambodia. We approached the window under the “Tourist Visa - $30” sign and handed over our complete paperwork and $60 in crisp, twenty-dollar bills. The policeman at the counter and the policeman behind the window almost immediately pointed at a handwritten note on the counter that said “Visa - $30 + 100 baht.” Here we go, scam time.

Trusting websites researched prior and hoping they were correct, I firmly but calmly held my ground and pointed at the sign above the window stating that I was only going to pay $60. The policeman rebutted and we went back and forth two more times before he handed me our paperwork and told us to stand aside. After a moment or two, another policeman came out from behind the door, looked over our paperwork, thumbed through the three $20 bills, and without saying a word, took our passports away.

From the other side of the window, I noticed the same policeman hand our documentation to another gentleman and whisper something to him. As our passports were getting processed, we observed other travelers fall victim to this 100 baht bribe. Some seemed completely oblivious that they were getting “robbed” in broad-daylight, others seemed like they wanted to question it but didn’t want to argue with a policeman in a country where arguing or losing your temper in public is a huge no-no.

After 10 minutes, the policeman brought out our passports, complete with Cambodian visas. Upon inspection, we learned what our “bribe avoidance” had earned us: our visas belonged to Grayson and Ann Heaton, our middle names. After an uncertain chuckle, we left the visa building and started walking to the Cambodia Immigration Office, figuring that the seemingly witty police were patiently waiting for us to return, challenge the visas, and pay the bribe in order to correct them. Instead, upon arriving at immigration, we filled out our immigration forms as our “new” identities and confidently presented our documentation for review. A few anxious moments and a half dozen passport stamps (seriously, Cambodia has a three-part entry stamp) later, we were granted access into the otherwise inviting country of Cambodia.

As we settled in for the night in Siem Reap, Kimberly and I had a little debrief on the day. Far too many times we’ve seen “tourist taxes” or scams meant to take advantage of outsiders and [my] slight defiance today was purely out of principle.

From the bus driver in Split, Croatia who didn’t think I knew basic math, or the diner owner in Amsterdam who told me the bill was “EUR 8” and then conveniently changed her mind to “EUR 10” when I handed her a 10 Euro bill—these people leave sour tastes in travelers minds making it difficult to remember the otherwise spectacular experiences of a country or place.

Without getting too political, my final thought is this: Cambodians are some of the friendliest people we've met and their arms appear wide open to tourism in an attempt to regrow from the troubles of the 70's. I doubt though that locals, especially in small towns, would be happy if they knew that their borders were “abusing the uniform” by taking upwards of $12 per traveling family that visits. In some towns, that's double what a skilled trade worker or shop owner may make in a day. Not cool.