Jan 22
I will never be stepping foot on that Country again, are words from an angry tourist who was a victim of corruption in Cambodia. As a Khmer I feel ashamed, but still not knowing what to do.
Oct 15
"All 80 troops will remain in the disputed area because Thailand has overseen that area for 20 to 30 years," AFP quoted Sompong as saying. "Of those 80 troops, 20 of them are mine clearance workers and the rest offer protection for the mine clearance troops."
Help me explain, if the Thai has overseen that area for 20 to 30 years, why would there be land mines left in that area? And why wait until now to clear the land mines? Does this mean the area is inside Cambodia during the Khmer conflict? Do the Thai have war inside its territory too, so that there are land mines inside Thailand?
Oct 14
Border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand is the central problem for both. But easy way out of conflict for both side, remain impossible. No matter how long the talk’s going to take, the result is the same "Both side cannot make any compromise". Even the Prime minister for both nation do not have the authority to make decision or any compromise, leave alone the Foreign Minister talks. Politician cannot make any agreement when both sides remain firm that "This is our land".
Clearly the situation cannot be solve through bilateral means. But why the world is turning a blind eye on the conflict? In a conflict like this the only way out is a 3rd party that is acceptable for both sides. The International Court of Justice maybe. But, right now the world is busy with the crisis everywhere. Is the UN waiting for the first 50 or 100 missile to land on both side first, then they start to put the dispute on the discussion?
Can any of you think of a better way out? Cambodia is enough with war, the only way out is to go to the International Court of Justice. Why wait?
Tags: ASEAN, Border, Cambodia, Conflict, Court, Dispute, international, Justice, khmer, Nation, Of, Preah, Siam, Thailand, un, United, Vihear, War
Sep 30
Every time I cross border between Cambodia and Thailand I have new complaint about fraud, corruption, and bad services the Cambodian provide to the tourism. You can talk about reform a hundred year, if thing on the ground doesn’t improve, you’re still poor. So here’s the story:
- Departure: Arriving at the Poi Pet Border at 12.30pm. My new passport is biometric, so I don’t have to fill the departure and arrival form. But, the door to the immigration computer was locked, because officer is busy having lunch. I waited 15 minutes for the lazy officer to arrive. He begun by asking for 100 bath each. He said it will be used to pay for electricity. What kind of government office require the officer to collect fund to pay for the electricity them self? I replied that I won’t pay a single bath. The officer is silent, but let us go. Next there are people telling us that we need to copy our passport, other wise the Thai immigration won’t let us into Thailand. The copy is 5bath for a passport, to my surprise the Thai immigration police do not require any copy of the passport. If they need to copy traveler’s passport they must have a copier them self.
- Arrival: Arriving at the border my friend need to apply for visa entering Cambodia. Even though the sign said the visa is 20$, they asked for 1000 bath for the visa. Threatening the tourist that they must go back to Thailand if they don’t pay 1000 bath. We managed to pay only $20. But with the frowned face of the police, it is scary in a land of lawlessness like this.
In the end we managed to get a car back to Phnom Penh, only to hear endless complaint from the taxi driver about many of the scary thing at the Border. If you have bad or good experience please share with us.
Tags: Border, Cambodia, Corruption, fraud, immigration, khao san road, khmer, Poi Pet, Thailand, Visa
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