So I have to get out from Thailand because my visa is expiring. The best, cheapest and easiest way, one staff told me, is to act like Gamblers and hop into the Bus specially for Gamblers to go to the Casinos at the Cambodian Borders. Yeah, 9 Casinos are there right after the immigration office.
Well, when I said best, cheapest and easiest, you can imagine the disadvantages of that. People from around the world will flow in to get stamps from the officer just to stay longer in Thailand for example. It is not the safest place to start off with.
First Incident was the bus. Getting up the bus is easy, but they have to charge double the price because I am not Thai. " We will have to explain to the officer, " They said. Thai price- 100Baht, Me- 200Baht. It wasn't exactly rip off since its so cheap still. So I didn't mind it.
3 hours later, I arrived at the border.
It wasn't at all the border I was imagining in my head. It was more of like a market place with full of locals(Cambodians) wandering around, muddy, with kids carrying babies, begging.
The signs were not really clear that it is a border instead of a market. Once in a while, English words popped out and say " Foreigners, turn here", then it got lost again.
Getting from the departure hall is easy, but in the Cambodian borders, things were starting to get messy. I have locals following me and tell me that they are showing me the way to the immigration office. But what really happened is they will lead me to a room where all the officers are chatting and eating, and then occasionally looked up at me.
"500 baht", they said, " Then you can leave here at no time".
I have read from the internet that it is totally free for Malaysians to get stamps and we don't even need a visa to stay in their country. So I refused , saying that I have no money, and then I walked further down the road, still one person is following me.
Still no English plates. I guessed I looked lost, that is why this guy is ' trying to help', only to asked for tips at the end. Then the prices started to decrease as I walked further down the road. 300, 200, but I still refused to do that.
Finally, I met with two kind Malaysians who has been working in Minburi, Thailand for a while. I felt relieved right after hearing them speaking Hokkien, the chinese dialect that I am familiar with. Immediately I asked for rectification in Chinese. They said the officers will always do that if we tell them I am only here for the day, since we are "taking advantage" of them.
The officers, having my passport, waiting for my payment, got the clue that I understand after I talked to these two men. So , he just quickly returned my passport without any word.
I walked myself back to the Bus. Again they charged me for 200 Baht, which I have expected. Then, I thought I will be going home comfortably. How stupid, borders are always full of surprise and adventure!
One officer went up the bus and checked our passports. Turns out that one Cambodian has sneaked in to our bus. Aiks! More questioning and checking for the rest of the hour before the bus can really continue the journey.
All these , including the dramas, took me 10 hours to get back to Bangkok. I am still thankful I guess, because , it is still the cheapest, fastest, easiest way to get out and in from a country.
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