A new dollar battle? The Cambodian-Thai border

Total distance: 7060 km
Battambang - Pailin - Cambodian-Thai border

Since our last bad experience at the land border crossing from Laos to Cambodia we had been curious about our next border crossing. Would it be again a dollar battle? From Battambang we had two possibilities to enter Thailand. First option was Poipet in the Northwest and second option Pailin in the Southwest. We knew from other travellers that Poipet was a problem. Bribery was a certain thing. And since there was no rush for us to arrive in Bangkok too soon we chose Pailin and thus the more interesting beaches of Thailand.

Two days before our visa ran out we said good-bye to my family in Battambang and set off. When we waved goodbye in front of my aunt's house, people on their scooter stopped and looked at that little spectacle. They had never seen tourists on such bicycles and were surprised how easy our pedaling seemed. Struck by the fact that our bicycles were more expensive than their scooters they left. My cousin Hong Ly on his scooter showed us the way out of Battambang and to Pailin. He mentioned that years ago the road had been so bad that riding a scooter had been horrible. That was years ago so we were full of hope. There we were, back on the bicycles after three weeks!

Hong Ly and Peter on the way out of Battambang

From Battambang to Pailin it was only about 85 km. Normally an OK distance for a day. But after 50 km we really felt pain in our legs. It became even harder when hills popped up some 30 km before Pailin. And lucky as we were, the road was partly under construction. Dirt road and dust accompanied us all the way. We stopped several times to relax and eat our snacks. The evening before our departure Chhay had baked muffins for us. They were delicious! Also my aunt stuffed krolan into our bags. Both gave us the energy for this strenuous day.

Eventually we made it to Pailin. We stayed one night in Pailin and continued to the border the next morning. The border was another 18 km from Pailin. When we arrived there we were very surprised about the little border station. We thought we would find accommodation only in Pailin but there in this little border town was a huge hotel.

After the battle in Thailand

Battle start, score counter reset: 0:0, and one USD notes at hand.

First hurdle, Cambodian immigration. We handed over our passports. The official reviewed our departure card and corrected our handwriting because some letters were apparently not clear to him. The yellow health declaration cards were simply ignored. Why had we paid one USD for them if they were so useless? Then he stamped our passports and returned them. That was it! No bribes! This immigration office was very professional. In contrast to the immigration office in Trapaing Kreal all officials had name badges. In addition there was even a locked suggestion box. 

0:0

Second hurdle, Thai immigration. On the Thai side we had to fill out our departure card. We were asked for one passport photo and a copy of our passport. Not sure why this was required (we have a 60-day tourist visa and had already given our photos etc. to the Thai consulate in Phnom Penh) but we were prepared for that. We had read about that on the internet before. People who do not have a photo and copy of their passport at hand can have their photos taken and passport copied just next door for a lot of money. Proudly did we present our photos and copies our of passports. The photos were accepted, but the copies refused. We had DIN-A5 copies but they wanted DIN-A4 copies. They pointed at the next door and said "Copy, there!" Well, bad luck for them, we also had some DIN-A4 copies in our panniers. We got our arrival stamps and could pass.

0:0 and it felt like victory!

We are in Thailand, the last Asian country on our tour! One big change: driving on the left.

---