By 9.am we packed into the car and headed towards Aranyaprathet, border to Poipet of Cambodia to do our visa. The Company was going to cancel our workpermit, so, we had to leave the country within 7 days and return as a tourist.
To go towards Aranyaprathet, we had to take the Chonburi highway to Sa Kaew / Kabin Buri. The journey took 3 hours. We were suggested by Hubby's ex-colleague to stay at Poipet. Apparently there are nice hotels there. This area is called "No Man's Land", a very popular gambling area. Bus loads of people go there everyday to gamble. Its the Genting Highland of Thailand/Cambodia.
The plan was to stay overnight at one of the Casino Hotel.
The border between Thailand and Cambodia
The Friendship Bridge
Kingdom of Cambodia sign. If you notice, there are Casino hotels just across
Using this cart to transport goods to and fro Thailand / Cambodia
We parked our car in the carparkUpon reaching, we drove into a carpark which cost THB150 per day. So expensive! Even Siam Paragon doesn't cost that much.
A "guide" tailed us and pretended to be helpful whilst he had ulterior motives. We must have looked like the most gullible tourist around. He took us to an office after the Thailand border to a dingy hut with 2 police officers. Eventhough we were told by friends that we did not have to pay any fees because we intended to stay overnight at one of the hotels but still they insisted we pay.
Anxiously making a call to double confirm the information given by the "guide"... we were tricked!Sensing that there were something fishy, we realised that the "guide" was obviously deceiving us. Fearing for the safety of our family, Hubby gave in and paid. We were not about to be quarrelsome whilst being surrounded by both Thai mafia-look-alike and Cambodian police officer. Money was the least of our concern at that point in time. Safety was.
Interesting cart... huge! What's in there? Immediately upon having our passport stamped, we quickly left and journeyed towards Bangkok. We were not going to stay. We had the most uncomfortable feeling in our stomach...
Walking back towards the border of Thailand.... Let's get out of here! On the double!! God was definitely protecting us that day.
Eeee..... Don't want to go there anymore!!!!!!
Eeee..... Don't want to go there anymore!!!!!!
2 comments:
Now you know what I meant by nothing to see there? LOL! We went there once too and my kids freaked out. Maybe it's because of the pushy officers and locals, and also the child beggars. It's definitely not a safe place to go.
I am glad that all of you are safe and that you have managed to get your visas all done too.
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