Exiting Thailand At The Koh Khong Border

[midas]

On a trip to Cambodia just a few days ago I witnessed a strange and somewhat suspicious

occurrence regarding visas for Cambodia.

Because my 90 day stay in Thailand had ended under my APEC Business Travel Card

I needed to exit and re-enter so I decided to make a return journey to Sihanoukville.

to see how many changes occurred there since my last visit 12 months ago.

For those of you who have made the trip from Koh Khong on the fast ferry you will

know after disembarking and walking down the long wooden jetty you need to report

to the immigration officer who sits in what is essentially nothing more than a wooden hut

next to the booking office where he records your passport and visa number in writing in a book as having

arrived in Sihanoukville.

I was number 3 in line and when he got to the second person who was British -a guy in his

50 's - he casually said to the immigration officer that he hadn't bothered to get

" one of those stamp things " at the Thai / Cambodian border and would like one now !

It was clear that the Cambodian immigration officer hadn't immediately understood

what this guy was trying to say so the Brit repeated it saying that when he walked over

from Thailand into Cambodia nobody had advised him he firstly needed to get a visa

for Cambodia !! When the Cambodian immigration officer understood all this he said

" do you realise you are in this country illegally ?" and then he told him to

wait while he processed all the other of new arrivals.

Another foreigner standing near me looked at me and I looked at him with utter amazement!

I was intrigued what might happen to this guy- it was even being discussed during the day

in various bars and restaurants around Sihanoukville but later in the day in occurred to me

there was something suspicious about this story. I say this because again for those

who have undertaken this trip you will remember that after leaving the Cambodian

immigration office you either go by car or motorbike along the newly constructed

road to Koh Khong but a short distance from the immigration offices

all vehicles must firstly stop at a checkpoint where your passport

and visa is re-examined. So how did this guy get past a checkpoint as well ?

The biggest surprise of all is that this person seemed to be totally oblivious to the seriousness

of entering a country without completing necessary formalities and he had

continued travel for quite some distance before he apparently thought about

undertaking visa formalities. He said he lived in Thailand which made it even more surprising

knowing how strict things are in this country, why he would be so carefree regarding this

matter in Cambodia ? I don't know but something doesn't sound right about this story.

Later in the day I had heard he was taken to the most senior immigration officer

in Sihanoukville but I don't know what happened to them after that.....................

Someone even suggested for some reason he might have traveled between

Trat Thailand to Cambodia by boat and then joined the genuine travelers on the boat

to make it look less suspicious ? Who knows ?

[Briggsy]

Acting nonchalant and clueless is a fairly standard technique in trying to extracate oneself from a sticky situation. Doesn't always work though.

[naka]

Sounds like the guy was one cool dude, unlike the frenetic poster !

Naka.

[astral]

Having crossed the border at Koh Khong, I do not understand how he got through

without a visa and stamp in his passport.

I wonder if he had an exit stamp from LOS.

[Guderian]

I say this because again for those

who have undertaken this trip you will remember that after leaving the Cambodian

immigration office you either go by car or motorbike along the newly constructed

road to Koh Khong but a short distance from the immigration offices

all vehicles must firstly stop at a checkpoint where your passport

and visa is re-examined. So how did this guy get past a checkpoint as well ?

An interesting story.

I'm a regular visitor to Koh Kong and Snooky. It's easy to pass the checkpoint after the casino - it happened to me last year. My taxi driver was so excited that I (and my wallet ) had returned to Cambodia again, that he just drove straight past it while he was trying to persuade me to purchase various illegal substances from him! I reminded him that I needed to get an entry stamp at the checkpoint, and so he simply did a U-turn on the dual-carriageway and we went back and completed the formalities. Everybody - including the guards - thought it was very funny. I don't think you will find that sense of humour on the Thai side of the borders any more. I was back there a few months ago, and they give you the entry stamp now at the Cham Yeam office where you get the visa sticker, the checkpoint is only that - a check that you have a visa.

It does indeed sound like the guy was up to something though. Have a read of Amlit Gilboa's "Off the Rails in Phnom Penh". He went illegally by boat from Hat Lek to Koh Kong, a long time ago admittedly, made his way to Phnom Penh, and then reversed the journey to get a boat back to Thailand with nary a Thai nor a Cambodian visa or entry stamp! But if, for example, you were a criminal wanted by Interpol or whatever (mentioning no names), this would still be a viable way to escape Thailand and lie low in Cambodia. A pity he didn't know about the extra check on the pier at Snooky - Doh!

Cheers

[permanent_disorder]

one and a half years ago there was a guy, british passport, in front of me at the thai cambodian border, for entering thailand. he was on his visa trip same as me.

the immigration officer take a little bit longer time to stamp his passport and ask him a few questions. later i ask the gentleman, why i take so long time and what the officer ask him. his answer was the problem seems to be that he had a lot of this 30 days stamp in his passport and the officer wants to know what he is doing in thailand. and our british passport holder explained to the immigration officer that he works as a teacher in bangkok. WT... surprise, i gave that fellow the advice, to tell always that he is just a tourist and that he needs a working permit and a other form of visa to work as a teacher. nobody had told him before (okay the thai immigration officer 5 minutes ago for the first time), nobody a his school where he was working, neither he made himself savvy on the subject.