Day 4B Bike/Taxi: Who Needs a Document?

January 31, 2024

The border town ended up having a relaxed feel. The taxi driver helped get my bike and bags offloaded and gave me a big thumbs up. I then took the change he gave in riel and immediately found a mobile phone shop to get that changed it into baht. All told I was now left was 14,000 riel, basically $3.50. The mission was to find any restaurant that was open and empty that cash out.

It took some searching but I found one and the food happened to be for that exact amount of cash. It couldn't have been any better. This is actually a huge deal because the minute you cross that border the currency becomes worthless outside of Cambodia.

The remaining two kilometers to the border, now on my bike, passed by in the blink of an eye. The Cambodian official was super friendly. He asked me lots of curious questions about my trip and then said, "I can stamp you out, but please make sure to check with the Thailand side first. I don't know if that border is set up for foreigners or not." This wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but I appreciated his polite attitude.

So I left the bike in Cambodia and walked across to check things out. The Thailand side was a lot more officious. The immigration officer flipped through my passport and asked the more bureaucratic questions like where my trip started, where I was going, why I was riding a bike to Pattaya, and how I got the bicycle to Cambodia. Then he wanted a document for it. In over 15 years of touring, nobody has ever asked for one.

When I said I didn't have one, he said, "You're allowed entry into Thailand. That part is fine. But you need to go ask customs first and see what they say about a document for your bicycle." So I did that. Customs looked at me as if to say what the fuck are you on about. They politely said, "Who needs a document for a bicycle?" That we all knew.

I went back to find the immigration guy and tell him this. But he was nowhere to be seen. While being bounced around, it dawned on me that I was making an illegal border crossing while leaving my bicycle and pannier bags behind in another country. Still, nobody seemed to care. So I made another illegal border crossing back to Cambodia and explained all this to the officer. He then stamped me out, smiled, and said "I'm really happy you enjoyed my country, good luck on your journey"

Now with the bike in tow I went back to Thailand immigration and the guy kept insisting on the document. He even went to talk to customs himself. Finally all sorted he gave me a form to fill out and I was stamped in. Then it was a smile and a wai. He said it was all good. Fair enough, welcome to Thailand.

It was pure bliss and peace to cycle the 10 kilometers to Khlong Hat. This was the pivotal part of the journey. I had arrived. It was a homecoming. I felt like kissing the ground. Army soldiers manning the myriad of checkpoints were all smiles and waved me through. The fact these military checks exist is a necessity given how Thailand faces illegal immigration from three neighboring countries. But I had no idea of the true welcome that was about to happen.

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