Our first impression of Cambodia was not a very good one. Anyone who has been to the Thai-Cambodian border at Aranyaprathet/Poipet can probably understand why.
Poipet is one of the most heavily trafficed border crossings between Thailand and Cambodia. Since gambling is prohibited, but very popular in Thailand, a lot of Thais go to Poipet to visit the casinos there. The casinos are located between the Thai and Cambodian border control, so Thais can gamble without having to actually enter Cambodia. We have been told that Cambodians are generally not allowed into the casinos as paying customers, even though they make up most of the work force.
Our hotel in Siem Reap had warned us about the border being corrupt, they told us not to trust anyone, not even the police. Apparently, the taxi drivers and all transport companies have formed a cartel with very high fixed prices for transport. You would have to pay 48 US dollars to get from Poipet to Siem Reap, a two hour drive. We arranged transport through the hotel and payed 40 dollars.
8 dollars might not seem like a lot but here in Cambodia 8 dollars will get you quite a long way. For $ 5 you can go by bus from Siem Reap to Battambang (a four hour ride) and $ 8 will get you a three course lunch in Siem Reap. So the eight dollar difference is not really a small one.
The price quotes brings me to Cambodian currency. Officially, the currency in Cambodia is Riel. 4000 Riel equals one US dollar and almost every shop (even the smaller shop at the market) quote their prices in dollars. Here in Siem Reap, you only get dollars out of the ATM (it is probably the case in all major towns and tourist areas). The US coins are not used, so you always get small change back in riel.
I thought it was a bit curious that an entire country starts using the US currency just like that, but the explanation was very logical.
Between 1975 and 1980, Cambodia did not have a monetary system since money was abolished during the Khmer Rouge regime. When the riel was reinstated in 1980, the people did not really trust the currency and many preferred foreign currencies or gold.
No wonder, I would not trust banknotes to keep their value if I had lost all my savings once because the money turned out to be worthless.
One more thing worth mentioning: every other car in Siem Reap is a Toyota Camry. I have never seen so many Camrys at the same time before. It almost makes me wonder if Toyota had a major charity project and sold off all their excess Camrys really cheap to Cambodia in the 80's?
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