Popagandhi

I did that before lunch, and I’m not sure how some farangs do it every month: bus it to a border, leave Thailand, stamp into another country, turn around and walk back into Thailand. I needed to do that dubious visa run (though I’m only at 14 days in Thailand, my flight back to Singapore is more than 30 days after arriving in Thailand) today. The first choice border which sprang to mind was the Nong Khai/Friendship Bridge border that leads into Vientiane, Laos — my favourite border crossing. Very chill, very simple, and it helps that I really like both Vientiane and Nong Khai. I’m not sure why but I eventually wound up this morning at the Cambodian border at Poi Pet — that infamous one. I’d crossed there before and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Poi Pet has been described in many traveller reports as the “Wild West”, and it wouldn’t be too far from the truth.

Consider the peculiar arrangement at this border. You take a motorbike taxi to the border (50 baht), clear Thai customs, and before you reach Cambodia (marked by the three stupas that say “Welcome to the Kingdom of Cambodia”) and Cambodian customs, there are… as best as I could count, three large casinos in No Man’s Land. The Aranyaprathet/Poi Pet crossing used to be one of the more stressful this side of Asia (though personally I find Hat Lek/Koh Kong worse); today it can still be quite taxing on first timers. I boarded the bus at Mochit at 6.30 am, left Thailand and came back in by noon. I suspect one of the reasons why Poi Pet wasn’t too stressful this time around was that I did not have to deal with the visa office this time — Singaporeans now enter Cambodia visa-free — as old hands at this will know, the US$20 visa at each land border automatically becomes 1000-1600 baht (officials pocket the difference in the exchange), plus any bribes necessary.

Today was one of those days I was grateful for my Singapore passport. Thailand’s been quite strict on law enforcement of every sort these days; every bus I’ve boarded (and that’s a few of them) has been boarded by military at at least two checkpoints, checking for illegals and God knows what else. The new ’show your return ticket or don’t come in’ rule has also been surprisingly enforced at borders. A wave of the red passport in both cases was always sufficient. My rudimentary understanding of Thai managed to overhear customs officials speaking to each other “Do I ask her to show her return ticket?” “Where’s she from?” “Singapore.” “It’s alright then.” Because you know, there aren’t any Singaporeans who stay on in Thailand almost illegally for years teaching English, working in guesthouses, stringing it in Pattaya, etc; we’re pragmatic people who’d probably marry someone there first for the visa.

By 6pm, I was back in Bangkok. I would have been more impressed with myself and my tenacity (32 hours on buses since I came to Thailand), had I not sat next to a British guy who had cycled from Sisophon to Poi Pet this morning — a route I know to be horrid, even by bus. Cycled! Through Vietnam, too, for 6 weeks. I can’t even cycle 100 metres without having something horrid happen.

Next time I need a visa run, hopefully never again, I’m going to Nong Khai. At least there’s a place with great ribs.

P.S. Travelfish.org’s Singapore coverage has gone live — head over to check out what I’ve been working on — still working on it.