I have had an INSANE year and it was written in the stars that it was going to end a little nuts as well...
Unless you have special visas in Thailand you have to leave the Kingdom every 30 days. I had already been given a 15 day extension and had to leave for a border run today to get another 30 day stamp.
My passport was TOTALLY FULL all the way up to page 23, but it had a small tear in it and 24 and the last page 25 had Kid Rock and Joe-Cs autograph on it from way back in 1999. Bad and stupid thing to do.
So leave Thailand and get my exit stamp no problem. I enter Cambodia at Poi Pet (aka biggest shit hole on earth) and hand my passport over with the money, photo and tell him I am going back to Thailand. They know the drill so went about his business. I am told to sit and wait. They come out to me about 20 minutes later and explain to me that they can not put a sticker (full page Cambodia stamp / sticker) in my passport because it is torn and has writing on the other pagers. They needed a full black, un-torn page. And since I did not have one, they could not let me enter the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Thailand would not let me return because I needed that Cambodia stamp to show that I was in another country in order to be able to re-enter Thailand and get my 30 days. Fuck.
After talking to several immigration officers, attempting bribes and everything else the situation escalated from both ends and they ended up having some police come over to take care of me. Fuck again. So there I am with the police for several hours, not allowed to leave for the bathroom, food or anything. I find humor in this so start SMS texting people I know just to let them know where I am and what's going on because it really was funny. I text Dugmor who is in Thailand to give him a laugh and his reply was "I guess you'll have to find some roadside whore...." and my other friend says "enjoy your stay in Cambodia, sounds like your gonna be there for a while. HAHAH!"
After a few house some immigration ht shot shows up and sets down a black sheet of paper and some other form I had to fill out. ON the blank page I had to write a request to the Kingdom Of Cambodia to give me a stamp and that it was OK to place it over an existing page with stamps. I also had to tell them in writing that it was my fault and that I would not return to Cambodia until this problem was fixed. An apology letter. It was like one of those confession papers you have to sign before your hauled away for 40 years for smuggling Opium. It was kind of scary.
The request and apology letter was complete, the form filled out and they gave my the sticker and escorted me back to Thailand where I got back in without a hitch.
I left my room at 7am and I just got in about 30 minutes ago (10:00pm). It is a four hour drive each way to the border from Pattaya, Thailand to Poi Pet, Cambodia. Fuck, what a day I have had.
Moral of the story... don't be a dumb ass like me and deface or tear any page in your passport or you just may get stuck in some shit hole city in South East Asia.
26 hours to go until 2006 and I still have to meet back up with Dugmor and Jscott...
Unless you have special visas in Thailand you have to leave the Kingdom every 30 days. I had already been given a 15 day extension and had to leave for a border run today to get another 30 day stamp.
My passport was TOTALLY FULL all the way up to page 23, but it had a small tear in it and 24 and the last page 25 had Kid Rock and Joe-Cs autograph on it from way back in 1999. Bad and stupid thing to do.
So leave Thailand and get my exit stamp no problem. I enter Cambodia at Poi Pet (aka biggest shit hole on earth) and hand my passport over with the money, photo and tell him I am going back to Thailand. They know the drill so went about his business. I am told to sit and wait. They come out to me about 20 minutes later and explain to me that they can not put a sticker (full page Cambodia stamp / sticker) in my passport because it is torn and has writing on the other pagers. They needed a full black, un-torn page. And since I did not have one, they could not let me enter the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Thailand would not let me return because I needed that Cambodia stamp to show that I was in another country in order to be able to re-enter Thailand and get my 30 days. Fuck.
After talking to several immigration officers, attempting bribes and everything else the situation escalated from both ends and they ended up having some police come over to take care of me. Fuck again. So there I am with the police for several hours, not allowed to leave for the bathroom, food or anything. I find humor in this so start SMS texting people I know just to let them know where I am and what's going on because it really was funny. I text Dugmor who is in Thailand to give him a laugh and his reply was "I guess you'll have to find some roadside whore...." and my other friend says "enjoy your stay in Cambodia, sounds like your gonna be there for a while. HAHAH!"
After a few house some immigration ht shot shows up and sets down a black sheet of paper and some other form I had to fill out. ON the blank page I had to write a request to the Kingdom Of Cambodia to give me a stamp and that it was OK to place it over an existing page with stamps. I also had to tell them in writing that it was my fault and that I would not return to Cambodia until this problem was fixed. An apology letter. It was like one of those confession papers you have to sign before your hauled away for 40 years for smuggling Opium. It was kind of scary.
The request and apology letter was complete, the form filled out and they gave my the sticker and escorted me back to Thailand where I got back in without a hitch.
I left my room at 7am and I just got in about 30 minutes ago (10:00pm). It is a four hour drive each way to the border from Pattaya, Thailand to Poi Pet, Cambodia. Fuck, what a day I have had.
Moral of the story... don't be a dumb ass like me and deface or tear any page in your passport or you just may get stuck in some shit hole city in South East Asia.
26 hours to go until 2006 and I still have to meet back up with Dugmor and Jscott...
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