Border crossing

I bordered a government bus to head to Cambodia. We were given a cookie and a cup for hot water and coffee for our early departure. We drove for almost 4 hours before we stopped in front of this travel agency where a man boarded and said anyone who doesn't have a visa must get off and get one inside. I read this was a scam so I stayed on the bus, but apparently others knew this too because we demanded we wanted a visa at the border (this is one of their ways to make extra money). The Thai eventually got off and we drove a couple minutes more and tested the border. Everyone got off and walked across the border. Immigration had a long line, but no problems. Afterwards I went to get my visa-on-arrival. I read they scam you out of a few extra dollars here as well. There's a sign posted above saying, tourist visa $20 USD. On a paper below was poorly hand written, Visa $20 +100 baht. I told them I would not pay the 100 baht. They said I cannot enter if I do not. 1) I knew this was a scam and I don't like being taken advantage of and 2) I spent all my remaining baht except for 20 ($0.65). They said I could pay in US dollar to conver the 100BahtThat I didn't have, but I still declined. Remember these are immigration police. I stood by the principle. They should Not be able top talk advantage of all these people. And the government isn't going to do anything to stop them. They are all quite corrupt. Anyway they took me in a back room and started getting angry saying I had to pay or I cannot enter the country. At this point I was running out of options so I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled out my phone and said I'm contacting my embassy. I dialed random numbers and pretended to speak to an American official. That's when they grabbed me and told me to hang up the phone. They took me to a counter and filed my visa work. When I pulled out to pay the officer saw and grabbed the 20baht, stuffed it in his front pocket and said, "for me". I didn't care at that point since I was no longer in Thailand and had no use for it. Afterwards we stood in another line to get finger printed and arrival stamps. All in all it took around 2 hours. Almost as bad as trying to enter back into the USA from Mexico (by foot). Back on the bus for another 2 hours. Instead of dropping us off at the bus station they dropped us off about 600m down the street at yet another travel agency. We were greeted by staff, but I simply walked on towards my hotel. Moral of the story is find out every detail while traveling in Thailand to avoid any scams, even if it is a government run company.

Walking across the border

These little critters were all on leashes at a park

From the bus