Getting Scammed While Crossing the Thailand-Cambodian Border

“This should be simple,” I thought. ”No big deal. Tons of travelers do it, so it should be easy.” Well, it wasn’t what I expect it at all. On one hand, it wasn’t THAT hard, but on the other, I wasn’t expecting to get ripped off right off the bus…literally. It all started like this….

Before leaving for Southeast Asia with my three friends and my 77-year-old father, we purchased an E-Visa to Cambodia. I thought this was great, because it would lessen our wait time in Customs, which in some ways it did. However, I don’t quite remember actually showing my E-Visa at all the customs stops, but I’m sure I did.

Rainy season in Bangkok. No joke, it rained super hard for an hour, then poof, sunny skies.

My friend, M, has been to Thailand and Cambodia a couple of times and suggested that we take a mini bus to Cambodia. Since we were on a budget, it sounded appealing and somewhat adventurous. In the backpacker’s mecca of Bangkok, Khao San Road is filled with travel “agencies”. Some of them are nameless or may appear so, because of the over-crowdedness of all the street vendors selling the same t-shirts over and over again.

M has a theory when it comes to finding a good deal, “The Rules of 3.” She believes that you should never settle on a price until you have checked three different locations. You know what, she is right. For an A/C mini van to take us from Thailand to Cambodia, we were quoted 1,000 THB (roughly $33 USD) to 400 THB (roughly $14 USD). No company was offering anything more for the price difference, so of course, we took the 400 THB deal.

We were told to be downstairs of our guest house by 8AM. We were downstairs ready to go by 7:30AM. The bus was late by 20 minutes, which made my dad very anxious. Finally, the bus arrives, where I stupidly misplaced our receipt. After 10 minutes of me sweating and unpacking my whole suitcase on Khao San Road, we finally find the ticket! Of course, the bus driver made sure to make us feel bad for making him late. *rolling my eyes*

The drive thru Thailand to Cambodia

The drive there was uneventful. Let’s see. I saw a lot of the countryside of Thailand, which is very different than Khao San Road, Si Lom, or Siam. Traffic seemed nonexistent once you left Bangkok. I did see the aftermath of a car accident. Did you know, rubber necking is not a thing in Thailand? Instead of rubber necking, they will just pull over and walk to see what happened. It is quite weird, but then again, rubber necking is no better either.

After four-five hours, we finally make it to the Thai-Cambodian “border”. Here, we left our Thailand mini bus and hopped into the Cambodian bus. Each bus, we had our own guide. Our Thai guide was not nice, which is so odd for Thai standards. However, our Cambodian guide was a young 20-something and was eager to please. He was very charming and convincing. I should’ve been cautious, but with that five-hour bus ride, my defense was very low.

With my E-Visa ready, we didn’t have to wait at the first border stop. Our group, plus the charming tour guide took us to the actual custom border. While waiting for our bus, our guide started telling us the history of Cambodia. He is so proud of his country that it was refreshing to see. I’m proud to be an American, but the look he had in his eyes. I wonder if I would look the same. I doubt it.

Going through the Cambodia customs was nothing that I’ve experienced before. Instead of seeing one agent, I saw three. I started with one agent, who could careless about her job, like a true government/state worker. Then I walked a block down to another building. This guy cared a little bit more than the last lady, but still could careless. Walked another half of mile on the streets of Cambodia….finally, entering in a hot box with three long lines of travelers trying to get into Cambodia. Imagine, waiting in line for a Costco hot dog. It’s like that, except no A/C and instead of a warehouse, it’s a small, elongated Starbucks bathroom.

After waiting 20-30 mins, I got to show my E-Visa. The custom guy, again, could careless, didn’t ask me any of those typical customs questions. Basically, grunted and asked for my fingerprints. Then the universal head nod of, “you are good to go…now, scram.”

My first step into Cambodia was filled with excitement that I fell headfirst, then somehow managing to land on my ankle. Did I mention that was in front of a Cambodian police officer and the busy street of Cambodians. Needless to say, I was laughed at by the locals. No worries, the fall looked much worst than my injuries. My injuries: bruised pride and ego. That’s all.

After two hours, our group was ready to go to our guesthouse, which we haven’t decided where yet. Our tour guide started talking about the Cambodian currency, the Riel. It’s a lengthy explanation, which I’ll save for another post. Basically, he said that the only way we can receive riel is from a money exchange, because ATMs only carries USD. (That should’ve been a red flag when he said that, but I’ll explain that in another post.) What do you know; we just happened to be on the way to a money exchange right now.

It’s hot. I haven’t eaten all day. I’m tired. So, I believed him. I exchanged my money via ATM. I pulled out around $200 USD. What do you know…this money exchange doesn’t have riel. Say what?!? A money exchange place not having the currency in which it is from. Okay, onto the next money exchange.

While driving to the bus depot, our guide assured us that (a.) there will be mini busses to take us to our guesthouse (where ever that may be) and (b.) there will be a money exchange with riels.

When arriving to the bus depot, there were riels, but no mini-busses, but what do you know, there are more than a dozen taxi drivers just waiting for us “abandoned” travelers.

During this whole time, we (well, everybody except for Illusyon) thought nothing of it and just went with it. In the end, we ended up paying $30 USD more for the cab ride and about $20 USD (maybe more) conversion fees from all the money exchanges we went to. Since riels are ridiculously numbered (4,000 riel = $1 USD), I’m pretty sure we didn’t get the correct amount of riel.

And the cherry on the sundae, our Cambodian guide reminded us that he “works” for tips only. I tipped him generously with a 100 THB. Granted, it’s only $3 USD, but I’m sure he is not working only for tips and is getting a cut from all these money currency places.

Since I was delirious from all the traveling, I didn’t quite understand that I got scammed, until Illusyon nicely pointed out that we in fact did get scammed.

My final verdict: I love Cambodia. I didn’t care one bit. In the end, I would go again, but I would fly into Cambodia.

Question: Have you been scammed while traveling? Tell me about it!