Border Scams In Poipet, Cambodia

[shdevine]

i hear and read a great deal about the scams that abound after crossing the border from aranyaprathet, thailand to poipet, cambodia. it appears however, that the vast majority of these scams relate to the continuation of the journey from poipet to siem reap or phnom penh.

for those who are not transiting thru poipet for one of these destinations, but instead are just visiting the casinos for a night or two, and returning to thailand, is there less of a concern? in my particular case, i will be accompanied by my thai girlfriend (and i'm certain she's not part of any scam ). she is from isaan and speaks some thai khmer, but has never been in cambodia before.

without discussing the merits of casino gambling, i was just wondering if there is anything else that i should watch out for especially as it relates to in and around poipet. we plan to stay in one of the main casino hotels near the border.

i spent a night or two in poipet with a group of thai friends a number of years ago, and we didn't fall victim to any scams whatsoever. it's just that this time, it will be just me and my girlfriend, so a bit more vigilance might be called for.

i appreciate any suggestions/warnings.

thanks.

[crudy21]

Well since you are not travelling onwards i guess the only scams you may be targeted for are money changers, fake visa offices and overpriced transport from Aran to the border.

Just use your loaf and dont change money on the street, either get an e visa or a $20 note for visa on arrival and dont go in any fake visa offices. Go straight to the border.

Not sure how you will avoid the overpriced tuk tuk ride but it should be only 80 Baht or so, good luck in the casino.

[nong38]

On my last 2 visits, everything went fine until I left Thai customs, when you leave and head for the Cambodian border, the Thai Police and their "spivs" are waiting to try and extort money from you, to process your visa quicker, so beware. As you are going to the Casino, just say thats where you are going and it might be worth waiting until there is a group passing through so you are not caught on your own.

If you get an e-visa you can avoid all this and have your own queue at the Cambodian crossing, its also cheaper. I dont use this crossing anymore so my experiences are about 1 year out of date, but they were trying to put up the prices of exiting Thailand even then. I used the Burma crossings at Mae Sot and Mae Sai after the corruption I saw at the Aran crossing. Eyes open and keep your wits about you, dont hand over your passport to anyone other than the exiting officer and entering officer and do check before you leave that you have the correct number of days on your re entry, dont assume they pick up the right stamp all the time, they dont!

[rfukata]

there's a ton of counterfeit cigarettes, liquor, merchandise on the streets leading to the casino area as well as

beggers, hawkers, and fake visa expeditors. Just ignore them and proceed to the proper immigration authorities.

[pattayadingo]

I have to agree about the E-visa. It is so simple and cheap. No hassle from anyone if you show the visa as you walk through.

One thing to note about the E-visa, do not copy and paste it to print it out, as you lose the bar code.

With the ciggies, viagra, kamagra and such like, it can be a bit hit and miss according to some reports regards counterfeits but I have never encountered any problems with them so far.

The beggars and touts. I wave them away and continue walking. Those touts that continue at your side hoping for some money on the Cambodian side get rather disappointed when you flash your E-visa

[ocean268]

Yes, It's very easy. I just made the journey. Don't stop for anyone. Just keep walking until you reach the Thai immigration office. You will be approached and followed all the way to the Thai immigration office. Exit the Thai immigration office and it's clear sailing. Walk south across the street and continue walking east to the Cambodia visa office. Per the official, it's "one thousand baht" so fill out the Cambodia visa card and hand over your passport photo and passport. Your passport will be ready in a few minutes. Walk outside turn right and walk east passing the two casinos to the Cambodia immigration office. Fill out the immigration card and wait in line. When you finish walk north across the street to the Cambodia immigration office to exit Cambodia. After that you are free to visit the two casinos or you can walk west passing the casinos to the Thai immigration office to enter Thailand. Good luck.

[surayu]

With the E-Visa you will pay only 750 Bahts, even if you show it to the people pestering you on the way in and out, they will try to convince you that you need some more extra stuff, just ignore them, even the police might try to give you an excuse to extort more money from you, just don't give up and decline any "shortcut/help" as you will soon notice there is absolutely no such need.

Edit:

added the words "they will try to convince you that you need some more extra stuff"

Edited April 18, 2012 by surayu

[pattayadingo]

Yes, It's very easy. I just made the journey. Don't stop for anyone. Just keep walking until you reach the Thai immigration office. You will be approached and followed all the way to the Thai immigration office. Exit the Thai immigration office and it's clear sailing. Walk south across the street and continue walking east to the Cambodia visa office. Per the official, it's "one thousand baht" so fill out the Cambodia visa card and hand over your passport photo and passport. Your passport will be ready in a few minutes. Walk outside turn right and walk east passing the two casinos to the Cambodia immigration office. Fill out the immigration card and wait in line. When you finish walk north across the street to the Cambodia immigration office to exit Cambodia. After that you are free to visit the two casinos or you can walk west passing the casinos to the Thai immigration office to enter Thailand. Good luck.

With the E-Visa you will pay only 750 Bahts, even if you show it to the people pestering you on the way in and out, they will try to convince you that you need some more extra stuff, just ignore them, even the police might try to give you an excuse to extort more money from you, just don't give up and decline any "shortcut/help" as you will soon notice there is absolutely no such need.

Edit:

added the words "they will try to convince you that you need some more extra stuff"

No need for the 1000 Baht as Surayu says - if you have an E-visa.

The other thing to note is that with the E-visa you get small entry / exit stamps in your passport, not the full page one the Cambodians issue you with for the 1000 Baht. Passports are expensive these days so no-one really wants full page visas in them. So you have a dual saving (money and passport).

[edwardandtubs]

The biggest scam is on the Thai side. There's a fake Cambodian visa office that the motos take you to, even if you insist you don't want to go. This is far away from the border so it's not so easy to just walk away. You have to just stand and laugh as these clowns come out with some of the most ridiculous nonsense to get you to part with your money. I suppose a lot of these backpacker types fill their pants and hand over the money but you really just have to insist the moto guy takes you to the border. He'll obviously need permission from these goons before he can leave. One of the clowns even told me they'd moved the border!

Edited April 18, 2012 by edwardandtubs