I've heard Cambodian immigration is blatantly corrupt at the Poipet border, so as a trump card I'd like to find out who is responsible for them and has the authority to punish corruption.

Do I plan to be a jerk and waive the threat of calling them out in their face in a threatening way? No, I understand the value of going along with everything and not making a fuss. I'd just like to be prepared for the worst case.

I think the name your looking for is Hun Sen

Actually the head of Cambodian immigration at the Poipet crossing is called Daniel Smythe.

Not just in Poipet. (There I've been asked for a "100 B tip" and they used to have a small office where they would rip off foreigners, never accepting the official $ 20 fee, wanting 1,000 THB).

But then, even at their embassy in Bangkok, they had a man who would overcharge, then demand the receipt back. And I thought I had seen it all!

First impression when dealing with officials of a country. Can it get any worse?!?

Has anyone observed Cambodian touts being allowed to cross over freely as if they were Thai Immigration officials? ** Once, they cause an artificial bottleneck to make money off those who wouldn't want to queue for an hour. Makes one wonder who really runs things at this border.

e-visas at all borders would be a start.

Poipet is never a pleasant experience. Even if you have not been ripped off, you have the feeling that you are going to be.

Why not go to Laos instead? Or are they just as bad?

Why not go to Laos instead? Or are they just as bad?

No Laos is OK, apart from small US$1 "overtime" fees they officially post and issue a receipt for, or in the case of the Vietnam/Lao border crossings where Vietnamese automatically put a 10,000 or 20,000 Dong note in their passports on BOTH sides of the border, despite not being legal. Westerners and other third party foreigners are not normally asked for this nonsense though.

BTW as far as Poipet is concerned - I paid the US$20 recently without much fuss at all. As long as you aren't on one of the cross border buses (only Bangkok-Siem Reap or Bangkok-Phnom Penh) there is no rush, you've got all the time in the world to wait for your visa, which won't take much longer than 5 minutes anyway. All you need to do is point out the official price and that's what you'll pay. Worked for me twice, once for a tourist visa, once for a business visa. Or if you really want, pay an extra 20-50 Baht on top of the official price for "fast" processing. They won't refuse it. Only a noobie tourist parts with 1000 Baht or gets intimidated by border officials on the Cambo side.

I'd be much more worried about Thai immigration there. Unlike on the Cambo side, you can't bribe them and they can actually refuse you entry.