CORRUPCIÓN EN LA FRONTERA - CORRUPTION AT THE BORDER

Los timos en los cruces de frontera son algo normal en ciertos países del sudeste asiático, e intentar eludirlos es algo casi imposible. Desde luego, en Bolivia fue mucho más sencillo…

Border crossing scams are something normal in some of South East Asian countries. Avoiding them is somewhat impossible, not like in Bolivia, where a few dollars mixed with some crocodile did the trick.

Los oficiales de Laos se despidieron con un "stamp, 2 dollards", y los de Camboya nos recibieron con un "stamp, 5 dollards, pay now". Por supuesto, pedimos un papel oficial o recibo por esos 2 y 5 dólares de más que intentaban cobrarnos, y ellos nos respondieron cerrándonos la ventanilla en las narices. Volvimos a llamar, toc, toc, y les preguntamos si la tinta empleada para sellar era de oro. De nuevo, cierre de ventanilla. Toc, toc, esta vez les pasamos un dólar y un paquete de galletas Oreo. Cierre de ventanilla (parece que los oficiales estaban a dieta o que no les gustaban las galletas). Pero probemos de nuevo. Toc, toc, 1 dólar y un paquete de cigarrillos. Cierre de ventanilla (parece que no fuman). Toc toc, 1 dólar y unas gafas de sol que nos habíamos encontrado hacía unos días. Esta vez cogieron las gafas, les echaron un vistazo y al ver que no eran de su agrado, nos las devolvieron y... cierre de ventanilla de nuevo. Tras mucha paciencia y tiempo de espera, no tuvimos más remedio que pagar los 2 dólares. Esperamos que al menos brindaran a nuestra salud cuando, gracias al dinero extra que nos habían sacado, se bebieran esa cerveza "beer lao" fresquita.

Con el sello de salida de Laos en nuestros pasaportes, nos dirigimos al puesto fronterizo de Camboya. "Stamp, 5 dollards, pay now". Misma jugada, mismas repuestas. Desafortunadamente, no nos quedó más remedio que aceptar la situación y entrar en el trapo. "Pay now", "pay now", "pay now", "pay now", una coletilla que los camboyanos utilizan a todas horas. 

Días más tarde, conocimos a alguien con una nueva estrategia. El truco era decir que salías o entrabas al país por motivo de negocios, y que necesitabas un recibo que justificara ese pago extra. Esta persona en concreto consiguió no pagar el timo. No podemos garantizar que funcione, pero al menos, hay que intentarlo...

Cambodian border. photo by: lifesgreatadventures.com

The police in Laos said goodbye to us with a "exit stamp: 2 dollars". They had obviously been inspired by the Cambodian police on the other side of the border with their: "Stamp, 5 dollars, pay now" approach. We tried outsmarting the officials on both sides of the border by asking them for a receipt or an official document that clearly stated the amount to pay. On the Lao side, we were answered with the silent treatment and the shutting of the window, cutting our way to communicate with the border officials. We knocked on their window and asked why the 2 dollars and if the ink they used was made out of gold. Bad move. Once again, SLAM! The window closed in our face. We knocked again and this time offered them a dollar and a pack of Oreos. The window closed again. During a second and third attempt, we tried with a dollar and a pack of cigarettes first and Miguel's sunglasses after. "We don't smoke!" and a quick review and rejection of the sunglasses was enough to make them close the window again and again. We had no choice, after being there over an hour,we had to pay the 2 dollars each. We hope they at least drank to our health with their cold beer Laos bought with our "bribe money".

With our exit stamp in our passports, we crossed no mans land towards the Cambodian border. "Visa 20 dollar, stamp 5 dollar, pay now!" Same shit different toilet. Again, we had no choice but to pay. With the bus waiting for us, we had to play along with scam, swallow our pride and cough up the 5 dollars each. We discovered that many Cambodians use this "pay now" tagline fearing that foreigners will forget to pay.

A few days later, we met a person who claimed to have avoided these scams. The method was to explain they were entering the country for professional purposes and needed a receipt to justify the payment at work. It seemed to work, but we can not guarantee it. One way or another it's always worth a try.