Eekthecat

I went through Cambodia Immigration recently in Siem Reap and was surprised by a request for "money" at the immigration desk.

When you first land in the airport, you can apply for a visa at the airport on the left hand side as you walk in. Cost is $20 USD for private and $25 USD for business Visa. I queued up, filled out my application and handed over my $20 USD and my passport along with everyone else.

The officers than manually attach a visa to your passport their and then. They give your passport back to you at the other end of the table.

I was in the middle of the queue but was surprised to have my passport come out last and was the last person to receive his passport back.

Once you have your passport [with visa] you then proceed through immigration as normal. When I arrived at the immigration desk the officer started going through my Passport page by page and started speaking in Cambodian. Her Colleague from the other desk then came over and started looking at my passport and talking to me in Cambodian. I explained to him that I did not understand and he then discreetly and repeatedly made the "money" symbol with his fingers and thumb.

I continued to smile and laugh [as you do when stressed in Asia] and pretended to not understand.

This went on for a good 10 minutes until I was saved by another plane load of people arriving into arrival hall and they hurried me through immigration [fresh meat i suppose]

I just wanted to let people know that they should not give in to this type of corruption in Cambodia. It sends the wrong signals and encourages the gatekeepers to pick on vulnerable independent travellers.

I spoke to some locals and they agreed that corruption is rifle in positions of authority. But I suppose thats the same everywhere.

Incidentally, I found the Cambodian people lovely and generous to visitors. This more than made up for the welcome I recieved. =)

Eek

Kathie

Thanks for this report. I haven't heard a lot of complaints about this at the airport, but it is rife at the land entry point at Poipet.

Scotters

Sorry to hear about your experience. Never heard about having to pay extra at the airport for a visa. Quite common at land boarder crossing where they will ask for $25 or more.

Agree about corruption in high places and police but no worse than in Thailand.

offwego

I noticed this the last couple of times I was at the airport and have heard a lot of visitors complaining about it. I have a multiple entry visa so don't have to go through that queue but the officer at the final desk was asking people for money too. He asked me discreetly and I gave him that same quizzical face like I didn't understand. Then he made the gesture and I said (in khmer) money? for what? Then he said "for service" and then I said "The money I paid for the visa is for your service". Then he took me out of line and let me cool my jets for a while until my suitcase was the only one on the belt. I didn't care. I told him I'm happy to sit there in the air con all day. I sat down, got out my book and read for a while, made a few phone calls on my cell to a few friends talking loudly about being held up at immigration. That got their attention.

They need to stop that crap.

If everyone keeps paying it thinking "who cares about 5 bucks, I need to get out of here" then they will just keep doing it.

nibblette

This is bad news. I'm headed to SR for a teaching mission later this year. I hope I won't run into this scam. last time I arrived with at very full flight, 2 flights arriving about same time. Lots of people.

Unfortunately corruption is quite common in SE Asia. It's not just Cambodia but Thailand (see airport duty free scams), Laos, Vietnam, China (I know not technically SE Asia).

Kathie

nibblette, are you referring to the discredited report by the Birtish tourists that they were falsely arrested for shoplifting in a duty-free shop at the BKK airport? If so, you might want to view the video of the woman shoplifting. There is a long thread (actually, two threads) here about all of the details.

Eekthecat

Rough day Hanuman?

=)

Hanuman

Rough YEAR!

kuranosuke

and you still have 132 days left. lol.

silverwool

Between my wife and I we've entered Cambodia to see our daughter by air 6 times in the last 4 years. (We travel separately because we have a farm to look after.) Neither of us have had any problems. While I do not deny that scams occur I would not worry too much if you are planning a visit. I suspect it was probably an isolated incident. There has not been a flood of comments saying 'yes they did the same to me'.

If you travel on the so called 'scam' bus from Bangkok then beware!!!

marya_

Thanks, Eekthecat and offwego, for sharing these stories. These are the kind of anecdotes that I find extremely helpful in preparing to travel. They don't diminish enthusiasm for travel, they just open our eyes a little wider to the kinds of things that CAN go wrong. Very helpful preparation for handling the inevitable mishaps.

We were not approached for money by Cambodian immigration officials. We did have another experience though that unfortunately reflected poorly on the professionalism of airport personnel and it might be helpful to others to read of it. As we were leaving the country through the SR aiprport in 2006, my then 18-year old daughter was pulled out of line and taken somewhere out of our sight. (I forget now if it was in a cubby, behind a screen, or in a separate room; the point was, she was completely out of our sight.) The rest of us (mother, father, brother) waited awhile until she emerged.

Her account was that he began by asking if she was married, then proceeded to, as we say, hit on her, enthusiastically suggesting that she at least give him her email address so that they could correspond. So there's another tale of a different form of rogue behavior and abuse of authority. You will note that the young woman treated this way was escorted by her parents and brother.

retiredinflorida

at 10:50 AM
This is bad news. I'm headed to SR for a teaching mission later this year. I hope I won't run into this scam. last time I arrived with at very full flight, 2 flights arriving about same time. Lots of people.

Unfortunately corruption is quite common in SE Asia. It's not just Cambodia but Thailand (see airport duty free scams), Laos, Vietnam, China (I know not technically SE Asia).


Don't forget India, and the rest of South Asia.

Kathie

retired, you might want to take another look at the so-called Bangkok duty-free scam. There are a couple of long threads here with video of the woman shop-lifting. So the biggest scam is that this couple convinced the western media that they were innocent.

BuonMeThuot

AVOID the scams - get your visa on-line

< http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/e-visa/vindex.aspx >

P.S. You'll need a SCANNED copy of a passport type pic ON YOUR COMPUTER to upload BEFORE GOING TO LINK.

WillJame

Kathie, I notice that the people above who referred to "airport duty-free scams" in Thailand did not mention either Bangkok or the dubious case of the British couple. The possibility of scam doesn't stand or fall on that case, as widely publicized as it may be. There are other complaints of similar scams including this first-hand account by a Fodor's poster that you probably read on the same thread:
"Last year while at the Phuket airport, my husband was browsing in the duty free shop he tried on a pair of sunglasses. He dropped them and picked them up and put them back on the rack. A shop girl rushed over, accused him of damaging the sunglasses and said he'd have to pay for them. An armed cop came over and my husband had to pay $225 for the sunglasses that were not damaged. There was nothing wrong with them, but the cop threatened my husband if he didn't buy them.Never touch anything in a Thai duty free shop. In fact, don't step foot in one."
I am glad to get advice from other travellers about such situations. While the best-known case might be discredited, the bottom line remains that a prudent traveller should avoid even browsing in a Thai duty-free. I'll now find other ways to put in time between flights in Thailand.

LeighTravelClub

A prudent traveller will reap rewards shopping at Thai duty free.......so long as he / she behaves honestly.

There are many bargains to be had and there are also some unique shopping opportunities.

My wife, Lynda, has bought loads of clothing at Bangkok airport, much of which elicits the response 'Where did you get that dress' etc. when on display at home.

However....anyone who steals goods, should expect severe sanctions.

Hanuman

WillJame,

So it's a scam if someone is force to pay for an item that he dropped? Who's to say if it was damaged or not, micro fracture of the lens or the frame can happen.

Try going to a store in your town and drop a pair of $200+ sunglasses in front of the owner or clerk and see what they say. By the way, most cop in Thailand, when on duty, are armed.

Kathie

Will, you are quite right that I was assuming "retired" was referring to the much-publicized story about the British couple.

I have read the account by the Fodors poster you cite, but was not impressed that it was a scam. In the US lots of stores have signs posted that if you pick something up you are responsible for any damage. If I was buying an expensive pair of sunglasses, I wouldn't be happy if they had been dropped by a previous shopper - and that's all it takes to put them out of alignment. Your take-away lesson is "a prudent traveller should avoid even browsing in a Thai duty-free." My take-away lesson would be that handling expensive merchandise anywhere entails a risk of damage, for which I would be held liable.

WillJame

For sure, in my town the rule "If you break it, you've bought it" rule widely applies. But not "If you drop it you've bought it"--unless there's obvious damage. The store might reasonably be expected to show that damage has occurred. But then expensive items like $225 sunglasses are usually in glass cabinets and tried on only with a clerk's assistance. And certainly no armed policeman is standing by to enforce payment if an item is dropped.
But let's not lose sight of my central point in the rush to defend against any possibility of duty-free shop scams in Thailand. There's widespread evidence beyond these two cases that such scams are occurring and travellers need to be forewarned. Here's another example, though I suppose one could argue that this Irish doctor was somehow to blame for her misfortune: http://www.advertiser.ie/kilkenny/article/15534

Hanuman

You have no armed policemen or security officials at your airport?

Being an Irish doctor, obviously a well educated person I hope, shouldn't the doctor inspect her receipt and know how much she has spent before leaving the duty free shop? If it had happened in Ireland will she not be arrested or stop?

I think all these airport "scams" being reported are one sided story and without reading the other side's version or seeing the proof you can make all kind of accusation.

After the first story made the news I spoke to some key people at King Power, the company with the duty free concession in Thailand, and they told me that they have a huge problem with shoplifting by tourists. They even went so far as to name the countries in each continent where the most shoplifters come from.

I really think that these shoplifters did not fully understand Thai laws and only expect a small fine like in their own countries. Once caught, and are face with jail time, they bribe their way out and once back at home they can makeup any story they like. There will always be people who believe them since in these people's mind - it's inconceivable that tourist do shoplift and commit crimes.