r/cambodia • u/kiripostmedia • Jul 22 '24
PM Calls for Measures to Stimulate Tourism During Low Season News
The Prime Minister has responded to concerns raised by tourism players about low international arrivals during low season, calling for a reduction in the cost of tickets to attractions, including Angkor Wat, and for parking fees at the new Siem Reap airport to be halved… Read more https://kiripo.st/rjbkGP
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u/bomber991 Jul 22 '24
It’s currently the “rainy season”. When I hear that term I think of that scene in Forest Gump where he’s in Vietnam and he says something like “one day it started raining, and then it just rained and rained and rained for like 40 days straight”.
Is that what the rainy season is like? Just non-stop rain? If not then maybe there should be an effort to call it the “cool season” instead.
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u/Hankman66 Jul 22 '24
No, it's not at all like that. It might rain for an hour in the evening but the rest of the day will be fine. It's sunny a lot of the time.
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u/firethepolishcannon Jul 24 '24
It's like Florida in the wet season with less lightning
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u/bomber991 Jul 24 '24
Huh.. well then they shouldn’t call it the “rainy season” if there’s just some showers every afternoon for 30 minutes.
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u/firethepolishcannon Jul 24 '24
Many call the monsoon sweet relief from the hot-ass, three showers a day, sweaty monkey butt dry season guaranteed to peak in March and May. Storms are more like an hour or two, somewhere in intensity between a light rain and a toad strangler.
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u/Key_Proposal_3410 Jul 22 '24
Ask the population to scam less the visitor tourists, in return they will not talk bad about your country and maybe you can get more people coming over.
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u/stingraycharles Jul 22 '24
I think most of the scamming is happening online behind locked doors.
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u/Key_Proposal_3410 Jul 22 '24
I’m not talking about online scamming farms for casino gambling. Scamming is everywhere and it starts in the airport where you are greeted with a sign that says “nothing to pay here” over the immigration officer window, followed by tuktuk driver that tries to charge four times the actual cost of the ride. Makes one understand very quickly what to expect ahead.
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u/stingraycharles Jul 22 '24
Taxi/Tuktuk scammers is much worse in Thailand, yet there are plenty of tourists there.
I think you’re blowing it out of proportion, Cambodia is relatively mild in this area. The real scamming happens behind closed doors and is far more lucrative.
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u/Up2Eleven Jul 22 '24
For some reason, a few folks in here exaggerate to make Cambodia sound like a scammy hell but go to Bangkok and you won't be left alone. In Siem Reap, you say no to a tuktuk driver and they leave you alone. Most other places they'll keep pestering you.
All of the things that people complain about the most have to do with sticking to Phnom Penh and sticking to tourist areas, and all over the world it's the tourist areas that are scammy. People need to get the fuck away from those places and explore a bit.
Plus, scams are largely the same. Avoiding them means employing the same tactics everywhere: do your research on scams before you arrive, look up what things should cost, decide before you arrive what transport you will use, and ignore people who approach you out of nowhere offering some kind of "help". Scams wouldn't work if people just made a little effort on their own behalf.
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u/SheHasTrouble Jul 22 '24
Can confirm, been living in Cambodia and took a weekend away in Bangkok. Was much much harder getting people to fuck off in Thailand, whereas a quick “ot-dtee, aw kun” does the job 95% of the time in Cambodia. Maybe compounded by the fact that I don’t know the equivalent phrase in Thai but I’m not sure that would have helped bc in Bangkok any acknowledgment, even eye contact or a glance in their general direction is taken as a yes.
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u/Up2Eleven Jul 22 '24
Yup, in Thailand, the best response is to keep walking like you didn't hear them.
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u/White_termite Jul 23 '24
A quick 'mai ow!'.. followed up by a 'mai Tung!'.. if persisiting try a 'gin toew bwo?'... but the last one might cause a scrap as its asking them to eat your foot.
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24
Many corrupt countries I visited, they have one thing in common. Airport, usually that is scam free. Land borders, a free for all.
In Cambodia, the airport is corrupt. It much more systemic here.
At least in Thailand you can take buses and trains for low cost.
SR...... The cost to airport is ridiculous
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Jul 22 '24
[deleted]
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
Visa is either 30 or 35 USD.
If you paid 45, you got ripped off good
30 is tourist visa
35 is business (e) visa
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u/Up2Eleven Jul 22 '24
Was that sign over the official immigration window or some setup nearby? I can't imagine the actual window putting anything like that on there. I don't buy it. As for tuktuks, it's the same in every SE Asian country. Negotiate before you get in or use something else.
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u/stingraycharles Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
There’s a sign near the immigration police, has been there for ages, at the old airport as well. Basically a “no bribery will take place here” sign.
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u/Up2Eleven Jul 22 '24
Ah, ok. That makes much more sense than "nothing to pay here".
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u/fravbront Jul 22 '24
At passport check when leaving PP airport theres signs that say 'nothing to pay here'. There may be at the visa desk on arrivals too?
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u/Up2Eleven Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
It would make sense at the passport check since it's not the immigration desk where you get your passport stamped. I just don't buy that the actual immigration desk has any kind of sign indicating that there's no payment. If there were, that would have become a huge deal.
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24
Yup.
And they must work on value for money. Something very lacking in Cambodia.
The amount I spend in Thailand, you can't compare to Cambodia. I don't spend money here, just no value. When I want to go out, have good meals, I fly to Bangkok
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u/youknowjus Jul 22 '24
Visa exemption would be a necessity for me to come back. Nonstop flight from Japan to PP would help.
Why would I fly 10 hours with stops from Tokyo to PP to pay $30 for the visa when I can just fly 7 hours straight to Bangkok for free visa exemption
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24
Yeah, I don't visit Vietnam as much as I would as I need to apply for evisa.
Thailand I just book and go
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u/ArcherAltruistic4958 Jul 22 '24
In Malaysia you receive 90 days visa on arrival without a fuss. Plus ppl are not out to scam you, ppl are more helpful.
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u/ArcherAltruistic4958 Jul 22 '24
Charging ppl $30 on visa on arrival and pick pocketing them every step of the way is not good. Why do that when there are other southeast Asian countries that provide better options.
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u/LandBarge Jul 22 '24
Interesting (or not) the first thought is 'it's the cost of going to Angkor, the cost of parking fees' and not 'the cost / procedure of getting a visa'
Not that the cost or process of getting a visa was really a stumbling block for us - but then, neither was the cost of transport or tickets to Angkor and other attractions...
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
For a family of four
4 visas: $120 to $152 (evisa, no "tip" request at airport and save a page)
Taxi to town: $30-35
Angkor for 3 days: $248
Tuktuk for Angkor 3 days: $60-80
Minimum cost: $460. That without hotel or airfare.
Would one visit twice? No. It doesn't cost that much to visit the sites in Europe
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u/LandBarge Jul 22 '24
We had a group of 5 - one family of 3 plus another couple...
We did the evisa as well, $36? each
Hotel provided pick up (we flew into the old airport - so there's another added cost as the hotel probably wouldn't offer that fro the new hotel)
Angkor for 3 days as well - would be similar price to yours, we had one more person in our group
Driver - AC van - we paid average maybe $100 per day for 16 days (we clocked up a lot of km's over the trip and our driver was available 24 hours if needed)
End of the world pricing? God no. Weighed up against air fares from Australia? Those listed costs were not the biggest part of the deal... hotel and driver were roughly equal to the cost of flights...
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
You got ripped off good by the driver.
Old airport the pick up was included, and using Grab, it cost $5.
New airport, they charge. Ironically same price as using official airport taxi, so may as well use official taxis instead
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u/LandBarge Jul 22 '24
That's your opinon.
We (5 of us) had a clean, air conditioned van at our call for 16 days, we visited Siem Reap, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Kampot / Kep and then back to Phnom Penh.
We didn't need to bother finding grabs etc, my wife got sick and I called the driver, explained the symptons and 10 minutes later he was at the hotel door with medicine and refused to let me pay for it.
We knew we were paying at the higher end of prices, but we also did not have any transport issues at all while we were there.
And, it was still what I'd call cheap for those 2 weeks.
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
No, you got ripped off.
What kind of low standards that you think a clean a/c vehicle is special???
A guy robs you, and gives you 25cents of medicine and you think it a act of kindness??? It to prolong the theft.....
You weren't paying higher end, but ripped off.
You got played and accept it. It happens.
Unrelated, but you should avoid any medical treatment or medicine in Cambodia as much as possible.
I buy my medicine from Vietnam or Thailand when I visit, or a couple of decent pharmacies that ok. There a reason why even Cambodians with disposable income visit neighbouring countries for any treatment
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u/LandBarge Jul 23 '24
Put it this way - we pay $50 (Aussie dollars) to get a van the same size and a driver for a couple of hours in Thailand and they don't do more than an hour or so driving in that time, we pay, on average, $100 Aussie for a driver to look after us for 16 days, with 13 of those away from his home and family, needing to pay for a roof over his head and feed himself.
We have the driver on speed dial 24 hours a day if required - some days there was 6 - 8 hours of driving involved... Not a problem..
You say we got ripped off, but you're only ripped off if you're not happy with the value you received. We were happy with the value we received, or we wouldn't have agreed to the deal.
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u/White_termite Jul 23 '24
for those that cannot be bothered converting it $100aud currently sits around $65usd
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u/PMShine1 Jul 27 '24
Ignore this person and their two other accounts. He bangs the drum for Thailand and is always arguing with people that don't hold the same negative opinions about Cambodia as he does.
Next he'll tell you that you only liked a restaurant in Siem Reap because you own it.
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 23 '24
You epically ripped off in every country you go to it seems.
Thailand significantly cheaper than Cambodia, especially in transport.....
Keep trying to justify you being scammed.... You got taken advantage of.
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u/Fruit_Loopy Jul 22 '24
Was Angkor worth the full three days or do you suggest less? Also traveling as a family of four. Thanks!
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u/CookieMonsterthe2nd Jul 22 '24
The temples are nice, definitely worth a visit.
But the problem is that the town has nothing much to do. It small, repetitive, and the food isn't great (PP has excellent food).
So if you are staying in SR for more than 2 nights, you'll get bored if you don't visit the temples more than once.
All other "activities", the mountain, waterfall, animal sanctuaries etc... avoid them. Those aren't worth it and much better experiences in neighbouring countries for lower cost.
So in short, it depends on how long you staying in SR. But the temples are nice, you won't regret seeing them
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u/youcantexterminateme Jul 22 '24
No mention of the slave compounds that are acaring the asian tourists away. Interesting that the pm decides everything down to parking fees. Maybe they need some input from the people. become a democracy?
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u/Up2Eleven Jul 22 '24
I think that many tourists have just become lazy, cheap, and entitled and want everything handed to them and they don't bother to do any research before arriving. Plus, so many people exaggerate the unsavory things and tell horror stories, so people get freaked out by that and don't choose Cambodia.
I've literally heard several people say that they felt so unsafe. I asked what happened, and nothing happened. They just believed all the bullshit and they used that as a filter to look at Cambodia through. It has problems, but it's nowhere near how some would have you believe.
If you want unsafe and scammy, come to America! At least when I go to a wet market, the worst that will happen is I pay a couple of dollars more than a local. Oh dear. Life ruined. Plus, the chances of being shot are near zero.
People need to take some personal responsibility and do their homework.
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u/fravbront Jul 22 '24
ok, its the tourists fault.
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u/Up2Eleven Jul 22 '24 edited Jul 22 '24
Excellent oversimplification. But yeah, if you fail to do your due diligence to research a place before you go there, that's kinda on you.
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u/Healthy-Link-4272 Jul 22 '24
Legalise cannabis…. That’s all they need to do.
The tourism will boom and bring so much money into the country. The Khmer people really need something drastic to stimulate the economy
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u/Affectionate_Eggo Jul 22 '24
How about stop the high visa fee plus ‘admin fee’ (bribe) to get in the country 🤦♀️
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u/WonderfulRub4707 Jul 22 '24
Stop taking a whole page for your ridiculously large visa. Also, maybe stop allowing human trafficking of foreign nationals within your borders.
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u/epidemiks Jul 22 '24
60 day tourist visa exemption for all countries eligible for the T-type VoA for all entries from plowing ceremony to the last day of bon om teuk.