Visa runs can be fun

by Jinky Espanol (United Kingdom (Great Britain))

Making a local connection Cambodia

In 2013, I found myself living and teaching English in Thailand. I loved the country, the people and everything. Working there as a Filipino passport holder was never fun. At first. I had to do my visa run to Poipet, Cambodia every two weeks. I had to do it until the school which I was working for, could provide me my working permit. Every two weeks, I would wake up early on a Saturday morning around 3 am. Get a sungtew (a customised Toyota pick up which turned into a public utility vehicle) to Future Park and then a mini van to Victory Monument to catch the BTS Sky train in Bangkok which would lead me to Onnut Station where the vans going to the border of Thailand were parked. We had to leave before 6am and that was the only trip for that week as the driver was a teacher himself and his only free time was Saturday. My first time to do my visa run was challenging but I got used to it and enjoyed the fortnight road trip to Cambodia. The most exciting part was the beautiful sunset above the skyline of Bangkok while we were passing through the skyway. Bangkok is famous for their skyways. The entire road trip was the highlight of my visa run life. I was looking forward to it. The sunrise, the music in my headset, the thai street food every time we had stop overs at a petrol station and most specially, the beautiful Cambodian children waiting for me at the border. Around 12 noon, we usually arrived at the Thailand and Cambodian border. The van would park at the border and we would cross the river bridge that connects Cambodia to Thailand. With my passport in my hand, I would walk towards the fort which had a sign Welcome to Cambodia on it. We would be met by a Thai Immigration officer who would stamped our passports as we were leaving Thailand territory and then a Cambodian Immigration officer would take our passports to stamp it as we enter the Cambodian territory. While the immigration officers of two countries were processing our visas and all, I would find myself roaming around the city of Poipet and sometimes would boldly took a taxi to Angkor Wat which was only an hour away from the border. It only cost me 700 baht at that time. I would sit there in the temple and pray or sometimes I would take pictures and talk to the monks. I enjoyed the tranquility in the wat. I would eat every Cambodian street food I could find. I would buy some souvenirs in Poipet and mingle with the locals which was the best part of my visa runs to Cambodia. I had the pleasure of meeting Cambodian street children who always camp around the river near the Cambodian border. They would call me Mama. I asked why they were calling me Mama and they would say that I am their mama because I will give them food. I find it cheeky at first but then I have realised that they have no houses nor parents. I asked one boy named Keth. He was 8 years old at that time and he told me that his parents abandoned him he was with his grandparents. He said he doesn’t have money to go to school so he works for a living by helping the tourists with their luggage or do some errands for them. I told him I will give him and his friends food which he gladly accepted. Keth became my little friend whenever I was in Cambodia. He would accompany me to the grocery store to buy food for him and his friends. We would all eat lunch together near the river. We would exchange stories although they can’t speak English fluently they would try to communicate through actions. Around 5 pm, I would say goodbye to them and I would look forward to see them again. It had always been like that until I got my working permit. I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye but I will see them again soon.