We have arranged this trip through a travel agent in White Sand Beach. We did a bit of a shopping around and managed to get tickets for 500 Baht / person one way Koh Chang Ferry ticket included. Most agents had it for 600-650 Bath but We got quotes as high as 950 Baht one way. There were several bus changes on the way but I will talk about that in detail later. The minibus leaves at 7:30am from White Sand Beach took us to the mainland where an other minibus was waiting for us to take us to Siem Reap ( change No 1 ).
The driver of this bus was a bit of a boy racer he was driving like a lunatic and taking over every vehicle that was in his way :D. Finally We go to the border city of Popiet where the intensive scamming started. We had to get our visas arranged through a travel agency that was in contract with the driver. This did cost us 1200 Baht / Person for this fee they go to the consulate for you and get the visa stamped. It takes about 2 hours in total to get the visa, meanwhile We could have a meal at the restaurant next to the agency. Needless to say it was owned by the same group of individuals … at least the food wasn’t overpriced.
After 2 hours of waiting they drove us with the same minibus to the border where our Cambodian tour guide was waiting for us with our passports. The minibus was leaving at that time as there is a bus change across the border for some reason you have to walk to cross the Thai and Cambodian border. The tour guide did make a bit of a presentation on his country what to do and what not to do. Later it turned out that he was lying about most of the things.
Scam No 1: Withdraw Thai Bath in Thailand and exchange that into Riel on the other side of the border. Do not change anything into Riel actually. Just change Baht in Thailand into US Dollars ( or whatever currency u have ) as you will not need Riel. You can pay in Riel everywhere but prices are based on US Dollars so they actually sell stuff for dollars and forex it for you into Riel if you are trying to pay Riel. The current exchange rate is somewhere between 4000-4300 Riel / 1 US dollar. Dollar cents are not in use so when you are paying $1.50 for example using 2 dollar bills, you will get your change back in Riel which is exactly enough to cover small expenses like buying water on the streets or anything like that.
We were told to change Bath at the local bus station and We were severely ripped off…
Scam No 2: There are no ATMs in Cambodia and you can not use your credit card… There are many ATMs in Siem Reap and most restaurants do take credit cards… I am not sure what comission is being taken though.
Scam No 3: The visa on arrival costs 20$ so there is no need to pay the 1200 Baht.
The border crossing had 4 checkpoints
1: Checking bags before leaving Thailand. This was just a minute for us as the Guide took us through without any checks.
2: Passport check upon leaving Thailand
3: Health check if you do not have bird flu or symptoms of any kind of flu. They actually won’t check you … just have to sign a declaration that you do not have a flu 😀
4: Passport and visa check entering Cambodia.
The entire process of border crossing took us about an hour. There are several casinos and clubs in between the 2 border crossings. This is the place where Thai and Western man can gamble away their family’s fortune. As gambling is forbidden in Thailand this is the only place where they can play. The funny part is that Cambodians are not allowed to play. Only foreign people are allowed to use the casinos.
After entering Cambodia we had to wait for the official government bus that took us to the central bus station then an other bus change to the one that took us to Siem Reap. This was a really shitty bus. They packed as many people into the bus as they could to maximize income. There was no baggage hold on the bus so all the backpacks where stored
on the bus corridor making moving around impossible.
The trip to Siem Reap took us around 3-4 hours on stop on the way. I asked the one local guy on the bus that could speak english to call our hotel and arrange a free pickup for me. He actually didn’t do that he said that the hotel guys never showed up but he will give us a ride for free to the hotel. Now scam No 3 comes… He never made the call.
He wanted to get business for himself and for the tuk tuk driver We were going with to take us to Angkor Wat the next day… So the tuk tuk ride actually wasn’t free at all. Whenever u are offered with a free pickup from a hotel make sure that YOU make to call to the hotel to arrange this.
To summarize this:
Have very little trust in tour operators and tour guides, they will try to lead you on whenever they can.
Take US Dollars with you and do not change money into Riel.
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