A Good Trip Ruined by Police in ShitsVille!

[manpet]

Just returned from a fact finding bike trip to Sihanoukville, this was for a planned bike ride in the new year with about 20 bikes from Pattaya, ( now cancelled!) So 2 bikes & 1 pick-up off we go with the correct paper work through Koh-Kong to Sihanoukville, the road is bad in places but manageable were happy & enjoying the break from Pattaya untill we reach the outskirsts of Sihanoukville & the 1st police check,( I should say we are all long time ex-pats & used to shit! ) so here we go bullshit ! more bullshit ! extorsion ! threats! from about 10 police who think Christmas has come early for them ! Sorry boys you can have a little bit of cash because your sad! sick ! way of life wearing a police uniform & extorting money , But the mention of 200$ !! Sorry go fuck yourself ! here have some money 400baht & fuck off out of my face, this took about 30mins to reach this point waisting our time & insulting us also leaving a bad Welcome to ShitsVille taste in our mouth, not the money ! the time & bullshit! 5 more times this happened in ShitsVille that was just entering & leaving as we left the bikes & pick-up at the hotel parked there because of this bullshit, yes it would have been nice to explore the area with our own transport & freedom for our larger planned new years trip but why bother ? we just dont need this bullshit ! 1 of our guys did try he got 100meters from the hotel on his bike before being stopped, i was passing in a tuk-tuk so here we go again 8 police full of shit ! another 30mins of wasted time , You scum are getting ZERO !! buy us 1 box of beer ! fuck off scum! we finish work at 5pm no police in ShitaVille stop you if you buy us beer ! & so it went on & on , We would have been stoped more that the 5 times but just had enough of ShitsVilles police force by this point so a few times more when Mr stupid fuck was waving his stick in the air for us to stop it was Fuck you ! & just carried on,
There are some good people there trying to establish a sound tourist industry & no better place than where we stayed at a very clean well run hotel with fantastic service & food , but we wont be back with our bikes or any Thai regestered car ever, our planned new year trip is canceled & word & mouth amonst the ex-pat & Thai bikers here will be Dont Go! untill the tourist board or someone with a brain cell straitens out the idiot police there! or go & get shit every few hundred meters boys but shit you will get 100%, so Why Go?

[taxexile]

what did you expect, its cambodia, of course you will get that kind of trouble.

for long time expats you sound pretty naive.

should have spoken with the first cops, told them you will be in town for x days and bought them a few crates of beer to ensure a hassle free time.

might have enjoyed your trip then.

[manpet]

Not naive at all, went down that road the 1st time ,but i am not the type of person to be shook down for 200$ ! are you?

[taxexile]

not if i can help it, but sometimes a few beers can work wonders, and if it meant the difference between a good trip and a bad trip, then a crate or two of beer would definately have been in order.

[liveinlos]

Long time expats should have learned long ago how to avoid all the police drama. It is what it is, it won't change, the police won't change and if you want to get around you have to change your approach. That is the way it works.

[Butterfly]

the Thai plates on the vehicles,

don't forget they were at war only a few months ago,

they hate each other,

[Carnwadrick]

I gave up trying to read this after the 11th or 12th line (no sentences or paragraphs!) lost the plot and could not identify the problem, the location or even the country...suggest you sober up and try posting again

[terry57]

Having to pay the cop scum extortion money is fuked up but unfortunately we all know we must if we want to take a vehicle over to the border to shitsville.

Maybe should of pre empted this and got all the boys to make up a kitty to pay the wankers there wedge just for the sake of the ride.

Anyway some great riding to be had in Thailand.

[ribblerat]

I agree a couple of slabs is nothing in the scheme of things to smooth things over , price of a slab of Anchor $10 or so ? Go figure ..
If you would have bought them a couple of slabs and some smokes as is the traditional introduction with the Khmer BB, you would have had a great time ...

[Thetyim]

The Ex-Pat guide to touring Cambodia

[khmen]

For starters, you shouldnt have stopped at all. Police in Cambodia NEVER give chase. If forced to stop, you should have got a receipt to show to all the other cops that you'd already been fined.

Secondly, Sihanoukville is probabably the worst town in Cambodia for foreigner guaging, comparable to Phuket in Thailand, but not as bad. The police and tuk tuks are all wankers, and so are most of the foreigners who live there. In a word, shithole.

Point being, if you're planning a bike ride in Cambodia don't let the police in poxy Snooky put you off as you won't come across any police on your ride at all once outside town, and there are some great rides in Cambodia. IMO, dont bother with snooky at all, start from Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, as the best riding is in the north/northeast anyway.

[Neo]

we wont be back with our bikes or any Thai regestered car ever, our planned new year trip is canceled & word & mouth amonst the ex-pat & Thai bikers here will be Dont Go!

Such a great loss...

[Khun Custard]

The Ex-Pat guide to touring Cambodia vbrep_register("1946678")

[at]

Fabulous ....I want one!!

[LukDod]

Just returned from a fact finding bike trip to Sihanoukville...<snip>... but we wont be back with our bikes or any Thai regestered car ever, our planned new year trip is canceled & word & mouth amonst the ex-pat & Thai bikers here will be Dont Go! will get 100%, so Why Go?

Interesting. Having biked to Snooky many times and upon reading of your experience I contacted a number of friends who reside there. I also scanned the Snooky and other Cambo websites. NONE of them indicated the police have been increasingly harrassing anyone with a Thai bike entering Snooky. Yes, sometimes one gets stopped, often for illegal turns or maybe claimed illegal driving, yet it is always either no charge or you negotiate and pay $1 or 2 dollars...and continue on your way.
OTOH...ATTITUDE play a big part in dealing with the local Khmer's as well as the police. It's seems apparent yours might need some adjusting before ever returning to Cambodia. Your post will not discourage any knowledgeable bikers or other visitors from going to Cambodia!!

[boloa]

[Mr Earl]

I rode my big fat ugly ass red BMW into Sihanooky a couple of years ago, and not once was I stopped by local coppers! I had to dodge the ex-khymer rouge assholes driving the big black late model Landcruisers on the highway.(those fucks actually aim for you! If you see them coming get the fuck out of the way!)

Things must have change big time for you bozos to be shaken down by the local police, perhaps those tatoos on your forehead saying "fuck me I'm stupid" aren't the best ideas!

[Looper]

When I hired a mocy in Sihanoukville the shop gave me a map with times indicating when the police patrols would be at certain junctions and to avoid them at that time and I rode round for 2 days and was never hassled.

In Siem Reap cops tried to stop me on a long straight country road and I swerved out and ignored them and rode on and they did not bother shouting or chasing me and I was doing 9km/h on a rickety old pushbike.

[Phuketrichard]

rented a bike for 3 days in shv last week and was not stopped or hassled even once and in fact only saw 2 or 3 cops at a gas station.
No idea what bad road ur talking about as i have taken my car many times on that border crossing and it was always fine and that was over 18 months ago. it couldn't have gotten that bad.

Mod I am Curious; I started a thread on my recent trip to Cambodia. Why was it pulled out???

[cambtek]

I have been here five years,including long stints in snooky riding a moto.
I have never heard of a problem with thai plates.
But the coppers want a local licence($33) and sometimes rego card.
The usual fine for no helmet or licence is 4000 riel-a dollar!
They do have checkpoints often,but always at the same places.
I have never heard of police searching anyone for drugs or anything else.
How good is that compared to thailand?
A little local knowledge have have helped-did it occur to you that a local barang may have smoothed things over.
If a big gang of motos is coming to town then of course the coppers will rub their hands.
A contribution of ten dollars for a carton of beer on entry would have kept them very happy.
Stay in thailand and deal with thai police,I am quite happy with the local plod who nearly always leave us alone.

[navigair]

I'm in Snooky at the moment, rented a scooter no problem and staying just down the road from the infamous Golden Lion roundabout . No problems with Police ,just a caution about locking he bike up as people need money for Cambo New Year.

[kingwilly]

here have some money 400baht & fuck off

and you wonder why they stopped you ?

an easy 400 baht each time.

[Phuketrichard]

here have some money 400baht & fuck off

and you wonder why they stopped you ?

an easy 400 baht each time.

should read 4000 RIEL or $1

[starpony]

Drove my malaysian registered motorbike through thailand (15 police stops for money) to ko kong, checked out or through 5 different people in thailand then had to back and hand in teh papaer to some other person, then had to deal with idiot Khmer Immigration demanding 35 dollars for a vis, got down to 30 and caved in, too hot, too tired. They only looked at my registration and said go through, lets see if i can get back out again. Wne to Sihanoukvile, didnt care for it, then to PP, what a toilet, how can anyone live there? Now up in Siem Reip. never stopped once by police since here. NGO's sure look fat and rich. So many dirty poor helpless people here, tey dont really need to be fed and given medicine to make more children and more misery do they?

[Phuketrichard]

star, exit back to thailand via Osmach and on to Surin. friendly border and no problems.

I Lived in Phnom Penh for 10 months in '08-09 and loved it there.
am now in Luang Prabang heading south to Vientiane and downwards on to Cambodia via my trusty Honda civic.

[jobsworth]

NGO's sure look fat and rich. So many dirty poor helpless people here, they dont really need to be fed and given medicine to make more children and more misery do they?

right on brother