Laos has a reputation for being a very laid back country and this is evident since the very first moment a foreigner enters the country. That’s why the PDR acronym which officially stands for People’s Democratic Republic is often unofficially referred to as Please Don’t Rush.

Laos is not Cambodia. Things in Laos are in motion – jobs are getting done, houses are being built, electricity is being delivered to everyone, including those in the most remote areas. Laotians may be slow paced, enjoying their unrushed lifestyles, but they are not lazy. You always see them doing something. I looked and looked and then looked some more but I have never seen groups of Laotians sit around on their motorcycles whole day every day, filling up shaded areas on every corner of every street unwilling to bend over to get anything done. This can only be seen in Cambodia where laziness is a way of life and men care more about their fingernails than than their jobs.

Some unsavvy individuals call Cambodia “laid back” but there is nothing laid back about being lazy and gathering round each day to kill time by verbally abusing by passers. Cambodia is not laid back, Cambodia is lazy, just as Laos is not lazy, Laos is laid back. You can see the movement around you wherever you look in Laos. Everything that needs to get done is being done, it’s just not done by rushing around. That’s Lao PDR – Please Don’t Rush.

For a busy Westerner, this may seem rather odd from the beginning and could actually seem irritating as buses may not be on schedule and your Tuk Tuk driver may pause for an ice filled beverage in a plastic bag on a hot and sunny day while you’re trying to get to your guesthouse. But that’s the way it goes in Laos, so if you do pay the country a visit, then Please Don’t Rush.

As a traveller, dining in Laos is also not as cheap as in other SE Asian countries. When it comes to food, Laos adopted that crappy discriminating practise widely popularized throughout Cambodia. Just as it is in Cambodia, Laos eateries believe that it is perfectly justifiable to overcharge (rip off) foreigners so getting food for the price a local would pay is rare.

Restaurants in popular tourist areas have menus in both Lao and English, but don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s bilingual. This is just an illusion created to make you believe that you are getting a local deal, but the prices on the menu only apply to foreigners. A local would come, look at the menu, smile at it, put it aside and ask in a language you cannot understand how much it was going to be for him which will never end up being the same as what you as a foreigner would have to pay.

Out of this part of South East Asia, Thailand is the best country when it comes to the availability of locally priced food available to foreigners. Prices in Thailand are often clearly marked and visibly posted, even if you go to the most non touristy market in an area where you will have been the only foreigner in ages. Yet the price posted will apply globally – this is how much this particular item costs and everyone, regardless of their color of skin will pay this amount. There is no such thing as different price for different people. Sadly, that’s not how it works in Laos. As a tourist, aside from finding transportation and accommodation vastly overpriced compared to other countries in SE Asia, I also found lack of inexpensive foods available to foreigners financially exhausting.

Bowl of fried rice with squid and shrimp can be had for $1 in Cambodia. That same amount will buy you steamed rice with nice dose of (really spicy, mind you) chicken stew in Thailand and in Vietnam, you could also almost throw a beer in it with food but forget about getting a decent portion for an equivalent of $1 in Laos.

Pakse in southern Laos was the only place where white bread sandwich with friend egg and veggies could be had for 8,000 Kip (roughly $1) but be prepared to shell out more everywhere else.

Overall, even for a skilled budget traveller capable of finding the means to travel, sleep and eat on the cheap, Laos happens to be an expensive trip. As a foreigner, the cost of food will be out of proportion to what locals pay but that’s a sad reality of many places in the region.

Accommodation is usually one of the biggest tickets budget traveller has to pick up day after day so its cost vastly determines daily budget one needs to work with when visiting that particular country. Compared to much of South East Asia, true budget accommodation options are not only limited in Laos, they also end up being more expensive which increases your daily spendings yet you end up staying in rooms of significantly lower standards than in neighboring countries.

On an overall scale, traveling through Laos is far more expensive than traveling through Cambodia, Vietnam or Thailand. Not taking into account small, but pricey SE Asian countries of Singapore and Brunei, Malaysia is the only country in the region that’s comparably costly for a traveler on a budget. While budget accommodation in Malaysia is on average 10% to 20% more expensive than in Laos, Malaysia offers additional money savers for money tight travelers with its plentiful camp sites and dormitories.

If prior to visiting Laos you had already gone through Cambodia, Indonesia or Thailand, then you have probably tasted the pleasures of having a decent, clean, bed bugs free room with its own ensuite bathroom with hot shower for up to $5 a night. You may have also enjoyed a spacious room with a king sized bed, air conditioning, fridge, safe, large screen TV and a nice view for up to $10 a night – which would also include daily room service. But after coming to Laos, your $10 will buy you a measly, uncomfortable bed in a tight room without a window that doesn’t even have enough space for you to turn, nevermind to store your backpack, with questionably clean, shared bathroom containing an overused squatting toilet bowl, a broken shower outlet and a slew of mosquitoes all over its mouldy walls.

It’s hard to get used to paying so much more money than you had paid before but get so incomparably less, but that’s the way it is in Laos. I don’t suppose it had always been like that but as the number of tourists visiting the country kept growing, so did the prices for tourism related goods and services but the delivery of quality seems to have gotten stuck.

If you’re like me and started traveling around the world in circa 2009, then you have missed out on the golden age of tourism. Nowadays, no matter how remote and unmentioned a place you get to is, there will be thousands of blog posts about it all over the internet from the travelers who had visited it long before you. And… nowadays, even seemingly poor countries like Laos, after experiencing tourism boom, had adjusted their prices so cost of travelling is out of proportion to the country’s gross domestic product. Too bad this increase did not go hand in hand with increase of quality.

The only place in Laos where reasonably cheap accommodation can still be had is Don Det of Four Thousand Islands, in south Laos, near the border with Cambodia. Bamboo room costs as little as 25,000 Kip (about $3 US – based on 2010 conversion rates) per night and represents the cheapest accommodation in the country.

Once you have left 4,000 Islands, the mainland will welcome you with room prices typically starting at 60,000 Kip (roughly $7.50 US) for which you will get a pretty run down room with small, hard bed, no windows hence strong smell of mould, shared bathroom with cold shower somewhere within the complex and a rattling fan with grate so dirty, you’ll think it’s been used in a car shop since the 60′s.

To get a room $7,50 US equivalent would get you in Cambodia, you would have to shell out 80,000 to 100,000 Kip per night (roughly $10 to $12). I went through many less traveled areas of Laos yet Don Det was the only place where I was able to find a private room (aka not dorm) for an equivalent of $5 or less per night. And that was in off season when guesthouses and hotels were struggling to get bookings. What it would have been like in high season when rooms sell out quickly I dare not imagine. By South East Asian standards, accommodation in Laos is very expensive but lack quality you would get in other countries where rooms usually cost less.

Traveling in and exploring Laos was an uplifting and rewarding experience. However, being a backpacker and a traveler on a budget, I was shocked by how expensive Laos is compared to the neighboring countries. I expected exact opposite – Laos is generally deemed to be one of the poorer countries in South East Asia which usually means that traveling through there should be comparably cheaper. It doesn’t happen to be the case. Visiting Laos ends up being far more expensive than visiting Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia or many other countries of the region.

On my travels so far, I have stuck with cheap, backpacker accommodation options, traveled using local bus or train transport and explored destinations reached on foot instead of using taxis (or tuk tuks) but after arriving in Laos, I had to significantly lower my standards of living yet it still ended up costing more. Gone were the days of having a room with attached bathroom. Gone were the days of having a room with a window facing outside so the air in the room doesn’t make me gag. Yet even though I significantly lowered my standards of living, gone were the days when my total expenses, including accommodation, food, water and transportation stayed at a level not exceeding $10 per day. While still cheap by western standards, compared to similar countries of the South East Asian region, Laos was shockingly expensive.

In a nutshell, if you’re a backpacker visiting Laos, expect to either have to pay more for what you are used to getting in other countries, or lower your standards if you wish to keep the expenses in line with those you previously had. I’ve covered the cost of traveling in Laos in separate articles, each targeting a particular topic:

• Cost of Budget Accommodation in Laos
• Cost of Transportation in Laos
• Cost of Beer in Laos (the only thing that’s cheaper in Laos than everywhere else)
• Cost of Food in Laos
• Cost of Drinking Water in Laos
• Cost of Rentals in Laos

Since Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a socialist country ruled by a single party communist government, it’s natural for many westerners to question whether the country is safe to visit. Hidden behind the veil of secrecy, Laos was off limits to westerners for many a decade leaving an impression that internal affairs, which were not watched by international communities could have created a potentially hostile environment that’s risky to enter. Yet despite what you may have thought, Laos is one of the safest countries to visit with people as peaceful and friendly as they get.

When it comes to personal safety, Laos is at the opposite end of the scale from Cambodia. History of Cambodia is riddled with violence and other than a few rarities, the country remains the epitome of violence to this day. The history of Laos on the other hand is the history of peace and other than a few rarities, the nation remains peaceful to this day. It’s astounding how countries that are geographically so close to each other can be so different in terms of personal safety and the way people treat one another. Since I had spent quite some time in Cambodia before coming to Laos, it gave me a chance to compare safety in both countries. Let me clarify how safe to visit Laos is by comparing it to Cambodia.

Laos vs. Cambodia

Having arrived in Laos from Cambodia, a country where violence and scam are part of everyday life, entering into a society where everyday life is highlighted by peace and friendliness felt like when the blood starts flowing again into a limb that was choked off by a tight rope. Fake smiles used as a disguise for shady purposes so typical of Cambodians were gone and all I could see were genuine, inviting smiles full of warmth and honour.

Unlike Cambodians, Laotians don’t stare foreigners down to make them feel like they do not belong in their country. Unlike Cambodians, Laotians don’t sit around whole day too lazy to do any kind of work, but buzz around to make sure their families are provided for. Unlike Cambodians, Laotians won’t kill themselves laughing when something happens to you, but instead will try to help. And unlike Cambodians, Laotians won’t be carefully examining your whole body to estimate what worthy of stealing could be found in your bags or pockets while plotting a strategy to safely move it from being your possession to becoming theirs.

After Cambodia, Laos was a breath of fresh air that made me question (again) why I had wasted so much of my time and money on that country. I felt the same breath of fresh air when I left Cambodia for Vietnam, and when I crossed over through Cambodia to Thailand.

Fool me once, shame on you but fool me twice, shame on me. For some reason, I allowed Cambodia to fool me thrice but with each eye opener, with each new country I have visited after Cambodia, it became apparent that the world is an inviting and friendly place, but as with everything, there always is an exception to the rule. For a worldwide traveller looking for a safe and enjoyable place, based on my experience, that exception is Cambodia. I have been through all of Europe except from Scandinavia (excluding Iceland), all of North and Central America including the islands of the Caribbean, all of South East Asia and some of the rest of Asian continent (adding more to the list by the day), but Cambodia remains the only country out of all I have visited in which I had to fear for my life.

Global Peace Index

According to the 2010 Global Peace Index, Lao People’s Democratic Republic is the 34th most peaceful country in the world. Out of the rest of South East Asia, only Malaysia and Singapore ranked higher than Laos sending clear signal that Laos is a safe country to live in and safe country to visit. For comparison, according to the Global Peace Index, Cambodia ranked as the 111th most peaceful country in the world, which basically confirms that it’s one of world’s most violent ones.

Laos is Safe, But…

While I have never experienced anything even remotely close to being in danger and found all Laotians to be friendly and non violent people (even after walking through the dark streets and remote areas at night), I understand that as recently as 2007 there was a major problem with banditry in some areas of Laos. Particularly the road between the nation’s capital Vientiane and a popular tourist trap, a UNESCO world heritage site Luang Prabag was said to have been targeted by armed groups attacking buses with tourists. This has allegedly been taken care of by the government and banditry in that area is allegedly no longer a problem (I have taken that ride by bus myself and nothing extraordinary happened throughout the course). So even though most Laotians are non violent, non confrontational people, there certainly is a history of illegal activities sometimes involving robberies and killings. Never take your personal safety for granted and always take precautions against becoming a victim, even in otherwise very safe countries like Laos.

Unexploded Ordinance and Landmines

Landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO) are also a problem in some areas of Laos (especially in the north, close to the border with Vietnam) and account for more than 300 deaths a year. While landmines are not as common as in Cambodia, considering the amount of bombs dropped on Laos by the USA, travel through remote areas could lead you to unexploded bombs waiting around for someone to poke at them. It’s smart to stick with well-worn paths when hiking in these areas and never enter places marked with minefield warning signs. But most of all, if you do spot something that resembles a bomb casing, don’t try to find out whether it’s still unexploded or not. Don’t go near it, do not ever touch it and notify local authorities about the location.

Photo: UXO Warning by Mines Advisory Groups at Plane of Jars, Xieng Khouang Province, Laos

The Laos bound bus I boarded in Kratie had only about 10 people on it. Everyone was kind of minding their own business while on the bus, but we struck a conversation during mandatory snack breaks. I’ve heard Lao visa on arrival was available on the Voeung Kam side as of February 2010, but I’ve never actually met anyone who could confirm they got one while crossing the border so I was a bit apprehensive about it. The fact that everyone else on the bus aside from myself already had Lao visa (they applied for in advance at the Lao embassy in Phnom Penh) didn’t make it any easier on me.

Two more backpackers, an Aussie couple boarded the bus in Stung Treng and took a seat right across the aisle from me. They had just finished exploring Ratanakiri, the province I decided not to go to so I asked a bit about how they liked it and what they thought of it. While the guy said he enjoyed the scenery, the girl didn’t like the province at all.

Stung Treng was our last stop before reaching the border crossing at Dong Kralor. There was nothing but a barrier across the road and a small shed on both Cambodian and Lao sides. A true middle of nowhere, with no signs of civilization or any humans involving activity other than the border check huts. The bus dropped us off at Dong Kralor, all of us got off along with our luggage and went to go through the exiting procedure on the Cambodian side.

Bribes on Cambodian Side of the Border

There was one Cambodian inside the border crossing hut and one outside of it. They both worked as a team with demands for bribes. The guy inside would show his palm and say: “One Dolla” while the man standing outside would follow in commanding voice: “Pay one dolla”.

We were all coming from Cambodia so we were all already used to being scammed on every step which resulted in an obedient shell out by the most of us. There was one Dutch fellow who was the most vocal of us all and resisted the scam to the last minute but he was eventually forced into opening his wallet the same way as the rest of us.

I thought that perhaps we should have discussed this beforehand and made a pact that we would all stand up for ourselves as one and then they’d have little leverage to work with. After everyone but me and the Dutch guy were past the immigration and headed towards the Lao checkpoint, we both knew that if we remained adamant, we would get through without paying the bribe, but that wouldn’t go over well with the guys already in the bus whom we’d force into waiting. As I expected the bus driver to be a part of the scamming mafia, he would probably decide to leave if we were to “hinder” the bus by demanding the passage without bribes. But if all of us united against this abuse, the driver would have no option but to wait and the immigration dudes would also have to give in to the group that outnumbered them.

Bribes on Lao Side of the Border

There is a bit of a walk to do after the Cambodian booth to the Lao booth which would constitute actual border crossing. The bus was already waiting for us at the Lao side as it got across while we were dealing with the scammers on the Cambodian side of the border. Bribe demands on Lao side were even worse than on Cambodian side, though.

Luckily for me, the Australian couple that boarded the bus at Stung Treng didn’t have Lao visa either so I wasn’t the only one applying for it. Lao immigration booth had two windows on it. First window was for visa on arrival, the second was to stamp our passports and allow us an entry to the country.

The guy stamping passports demanded two dollars per person for a stamp. That made his bribe 200% higher than the Cambodian one. While I was waiting to get my visa on arrival, I’ve heard the people who already had their visa express their displeasure with unusually high bribe demand.

When asked why he’s demanding so much, the man behind the small, low laid window said that it was the mandatory weekend charge (it was Sunday). He bitched that he had to be at the border crossing on the weekend so he demanded a $2 bribe instead of a more common $1 one.

When my turn came to get a stamp, I already knew what awaited me, but I was still surprised by the way the bribe was demanded. The pocketbook sized window was located where normal sized man’s waist is and all I saw was a hand come out of there, tap the wall and a commanding voice from inside said nothing more but: “Two dolla!” It was said in a voice of an order, not a request. The tone of his voice literally translated into: “Don’t mess with me boy. I’m not gonna ask twice. Hand over two bucks or else!”

Aside from annoying demands for bribes, crossing the Cambodia Laos Border at Voeung Kam/Dong Kralor is an easy and pain free matter. There is no heavy traffic (at least not on Sundays) that goes through this border crossing and if I were to guess, other than the regular bus service between Cambodia and Laos, there are not many days during which this border crossing sees independent travellers with their own means of transportation.

Cambodia has been offering visa on arrival on the Dong Kralor side for a few years but to go to Laos, one needed to apply for visa beforehand. This has changed recently and visa on arrival is now available on the Voeung Kam side for travellers heading to Laos.

My initial days in South-East Asia were accompanied with excitement. Not only am I a big fan of Asian kitchen, it was also encouraging to see that I could buy a complete meal for some $3 in Cambodia. I have a stomach of steel that doesn’t get easily upset, but when I realized that I will be eating homemade, cooked food for the next little while, I started looking forward to significantly improved health. Swapping canned dishes and junk food from fast food restaurants with cooked, restaurant-style meals is bound to positively affect my overall health, right? Well, that’s what I thought.

That’s why it shocked me when shortly after arriving to Cambodia I started experiencing severe stomach pains. My stomach, which handled most dubious foods in the past without a wink started giving me insane problems shortly after my initiation to Cambodian food. It was making no sense. I expected to start feeling better, not significantly worse. The cramps were not something I could easily ignore either. When a cramp got me, it delivered intense stomach pains as if I had an Alien trying to rip out of my innards. It would take a hold and not let go for good two minutes.

Search for Causes of Stomach Problems

I was really having hard time trying figure out what could be causing it. After more than a week of persistent stomach pains, I knew I needed to start looking for the reason that causes them. There was no way a simple change in diet could have had such severe effect on my digestive system. I knew there must have been either particular food or a particular drink that was causing it. I only drank bottled water and even brushed my teeth with it, so I didn’t anticipate the cause of problems originating from there, but I was determined to nail it down at any cost. I deployed the elimination method.

Each day I completely left out something out of my diet what I used to eat during my stay in Cambodia so far. If stomach problems continued even after elimination of that particular food or drink, I would go on to eliminate something else until it becomes clear where the cause of problems lied. I even suspected beer as I used to have a couple glasses every day but to my joy it wasn’t the case. I enjoy a good glass of cold beer so having to go without would be rather painful, but I guess I would just need to try a different brew which was not a big deal. I really couldn’t imagine beer possibly causing any stomach problems, but I needed to be sure so I tried. Luckily, it wasn’t the beer that cause my stomach problems.

Food Additives and Stomach Problems

As I kept moving forward with my experiment, it became clear that this was strictly food related and nothing I was drinking was causing the problems. However, it also became clear that it’s not just general food, it’s something added to the food that causes it. I could for example eat Cambodian Lok Lak dish and not get cramps from it, but if I ate Cambodian Amok Fish, the cramps would be there. However, grilled fish with rice caused no problem at all. It was not fish, it was not rice, it was not vegetables or fruit and it was not other meat. So what was it?

I kept getting closer and closer to the answer but didn’t quite have it nailed down until the last day of Pchum Ben. I was invited to take part in the celebrations by the villagers from Sras Srang village in the Angkor area and it involved big lunch on the side of the moat surrounding Angkor Wat. Munchies were done the Cambodian way – everybody joined the food they brought with the food of others creating a feast of available dishes and everyone was free to load up their plate with whatever they liked. Since I didn’t have the kitchen in my room, instead of cooking, I brought a bunch of fruit.

Truly Cambodian Food

I followed the example set by the villagers who gathered round for the lunch and put a little bit of every dish available on my plate. I expected the same or similar tastes I was exposed to in local restaurants so far but these village dishes were nothing like that. Each of them had a very overpowering taste of some bad seasoning that was defeating the taste of everything else. Fish didn’t taste like fish, it tasted like that seasoning. Soup with herbs didn’t taste like soup with herbs, it tasted like that seasoning. The smell and taste of it was so distinct and so unpleasant, I was having hard time swallowing anything but rice.

Even though rice was the only dish that was seasoning free, at least there was one such. It tasted bland because it was cooked without any salt, but at least I had something to put in my mouth. To my disbelief, villagers also brought extra bags of that seasoning that each of the dishes instead of plain rice already had too much of and kept adding spoonfuls upon spoonfuls of it to the mix on their plates. It was a white, powdery substance similar in look to sugar but smelled horribly and made food that contained it taste like crap.

I asked what the substance was and was told that it’s a seasoning they always add to food because it makes it taste much better. I picked up one of the bags and through a bunch of Cambodian script writing I was able to distinguish a few words in English – MonoSodium Glutamate.

This discovery of MSG was a key point that eventually lead to the elimination of my stomach problems. It was just shocking to see how Cambodian villagers think MSG was the best thing since sliced bread and can’t imagine their lives without it. Local shops that specialize in business with the locals sell more MSG than anything else and have shelves full of it, usually placed at the most prominent location of their store. So much love for such a bad thing.

Angkor area touts have been bastardizing the experience for visitors to Angkor Archaeological Park ever since the beginnings of the mass tourism in Cambodia, but the more visitors the temples attract, the more aggressive they get. Needless to say, regardless of how majestic the temples of Angkor may be, a visit to the park is accompanied with a great deal of frustration and dismay. You can only say “No, thank you” the first two million times before it gets disheartening and demoralizing. Visitors are justifiably resentful and often turn bitter with each additional importunity that befalls upon their every step. You can see the frustration on their faces when after a long struggle to shake off an aggressive tout they get jumped by a fresh load of new half a dozen.

Photo: Touts Pestering Tourists at One of Angkor Archaeological Park Temples

Locals realized that noone can put up with so much pressure and still be willing to listen to them when they want to sell you some more useless junk, so they instructed the kids they use to pester the visitors with to respond to each turn-down with the “Where are you from?” question. Obviously, every foreigner who has been in Cambodia for more than five minutes will have already been subjected to so much pressure from the Tuk Tuk drivers and omnipresent scammers they can no longer take it so by the time they make it all the way to Angkor, they are already in full “ignore” mode and will not consider any offer from a tout, no matter what it is they have. To counter this defiance foreigners are forced into, pestering kids are instructed to engage the foreigner by asking them where they were from.

Touts plain and simple already know that every foreigner will respond with either a polite “No, thank you” or by not responding at all when initially approached by a pest. No matter how hard boiled you are, no matter how much you can take, Cambodians are so aggressive and rude, the threshold will be crossed within hours, if not minutes of your visit. So it is natural you will not be willing to consider any additional offers from any more of those touts and they know it darn well. Their way to get by it is by asking the “Where are you from?” question, because it’s a question everyone who’s traveling likes to be asked and – what’s important for the touts – to answer. By asking where you were from, they will engage you in a conversation despite your initial defiance you were forced into by excessive hostility from touts you have previously been exposed to and that’s what they want.

The “Where are you from?” question is nothing less and nothing more than a sneaky way to trick you into spending more money on useless junk after you have already been tricked into spending more than too much money on useless junk. When a Cambodian asks you where you were from, it’s not because they want to know where you were from. They don’t care one bit about your country of origin or anything else related to you. All they care about, all they want is your money. Remember, to a Cambodian you are not a person, but a wandering ATM machine.

So in order to succeed with their sole goal of getting the money out of you, the kids who are set on foreigners are instructed to counter their defiance with the “Where are you from?” question. They are further taught basic facts about the top ten (or so) countries that send the most visitors to Cambodia to follow it up by impressing you with what would appear as “knowledge of your home country”. In my case, it would go something like this:

Tout: Hello, buy postcard? Only one dollar!
Me: No, thank you. I’ve already bought postcards and have more than I need.
Tout: Where are you from?
Me: Canada.
Tout: Capital city Ottawa. Population 32 Million. You speak two languages.
Me: That’s right. Very impressive…

And now they have me engaged and in a frame of mind which to a civilized westerner dictates that you should feel obliged to reward them for the time and dedication they had demonstrated. And this is exactly what they are counting on. They play with the psyche, knowing very well that the westerners are brought up being polite so they abuse it for their personal enrichment.

Being me, however, there was no way I could buy any more of their postcards. When you travel around the world, you only have so much room in your backpack and the more you buy, the more you have to carry and that’s really not an option. On top of that, I’m a traveler on a budget so no matter how hard a tout would try, I’m not buying anything that’s not a necessity.

They got me the first time and I played their game when asked where I was from, but then I changed the rules of the game and made myself the leader, not the follower. That gave me instant advantages plus it gave me amusement and saved me from a lot of headache. I had them figured out all throughout so when next time a tout got on me to pester me with useless junk, I already knew how I was going to respond. This is how my next encounter went:

Tout: Hello, buy postcard? Only one dollar!
Me: No, thank you. I’ve already bought postcards and have more than I need.
Tout: Where are you from?
Me: Guyana.
Tout: …

Not a word of response. The tout simply turned around and never bothered me again. I really liked this game and kept playing. Next tout jumped me and it went like this:

Tout: Hello, buy postcard? Only one dollar!
Me: No, thank you. I’ve already bought postcards and have more than I need.
Tout: Where are you from?
Me: Why are you asking?
Tout: What?
Me: Why are you asking?
Tout: I don’t know what capital of wiasing is

I got them by the balls and kept playing my game to ease my way through Angkor. Kids kept pestering me on every step but by playing my own game with them I caught them off guard with responses they did not expect which resulted in fast and easy shake off. Obviously, when they spot a Caucasian guy, they anticipate to be told that he was from one of the countries that make for 95% of all Caucasian people who visit Angkor. Those likely include the USA, Canada, England, Germany, Russia, France, Sweden, Belgium, etc. They memorize the capital cities and a few impressive facts about each of those top countries and recite them as responses matching the answer you provide. Quite a clever way to pester the visitors but it didn’t get them too far with me.

Supporting local economy by buying from small local businesses is definitely a good thing and is both rewarding and empowering. I always follow this golden rule to the last letter and strongly encourage all travelers to support local businesses any way they can but as with everything, there are exceptions to the rule. Unfortunately, unless Cambodia puts an end to open discrimination their society is riddled with, I will maintain that supporting local Cambodian businesses is equivalent to promoting racism.

Unless you pop in a business that’s part of a nationwide chain, you are unlikely to see any prices posted visibly next to the items they apply to. There is a very good reason for that. Prices are not clearly displayed to allow for racial profiling which results in business owners applying different prices to different ethnic groups.

This type of racial profiling is not practised in any of the neighboring countries but then again, most businesses in the neighboring countries try to establish themselves by offering quality product and/or service whereas most Cambodian businesses specialize in ripping the customer off at any cost the first time they come to buy something.

Not all Cambodian businesses are like that, though. Visitors to Cambodia have an option to do business with non discriminatory companies and support good business practices, instead of scam and racism. Examples of good businesses to shop with in Siem Reap are Lucky Mall, Angkor Market or Angkor Trade Centre. In these businesses, prices are clearly marked and visibly posted and apply equally to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin.

Photo: Lucky Mall in Siem Reap - Sustainable Business Worth Supporting

Aside from wider selection of items, these businesses also offer better pricing on most items however when it comes to fresh produce, you will always end up paying more when buying it from any of the non discriminatory businesses. Going to a local market and haggling for a price with a vendor there will land you a significantly better price. For example an average price for a water melon (an excellent source of energy and hydration in this heat) in Lucky Mall is $1.05 – $1.50 whereas the price for the same in Center Market or Old Market would only be 2,000 to 3,000 Riel (equivalent to roughly $.50 to $.75) or somewhere in that neighborhood. However in my mind, I will gladly pay a premium for the privilege of being treated equally than to be subjected to racial discrimination even if it saves me some money.

Unfortunately, you will also get local Cambodians shopping at these malls and Cambodians believe lines don’t apply to them. If you go shopping during a busier time of day, you may have a few people at every open cash register, so you just step in line and wait your turn. Other foreigners will step in line behind you or behind whoever the last person in the line where they want to wait their turn is, but when a Cambodian comes, they will simply step in the personal space before you and start rudely piling their stuff on the counter, completely ignoring everyone who have been politely waiting in that line for their turn. Cambodians are naturally rude and disrespectful so this type of behavior is normal.

By supporting local businesses in Cambodia, you will be directly supporting racism and discrimination. Small local businesses are an essential part of local economies, but if Cambodians care about their local economies, the change must start with them. I would never pass by the business that displays their prices visibly and gives me room to look at their merchandise without pressuring me into buying something from them. The formula is simple – you either leave me alone so I can carefully evaluate what I want to buy, or I’m not buying anything from you at all. I continuously need stuff to sustain my travels yet no business that tried to pressure me ever succeeded in making me to buy from them. I always go where I feel comfortable and am granted with space to breathe and time to decide.

Cambodians like to whine that business is slow, yet they don’t try to address the reason behind it. Nobody likes to be discriminated against and treated like crap. Many foreigners who come to Cambodia end up spending less money that they would if they were not constantly under pressure from aggressive touts. They go to local markets, but end up just passing from one stall to another, avoiding eye contact with the shop people just so they don’t have to put up with that constant pressure. As a result, they end up buying nothing because no business would leave them alone to decide what they could buy in peace.

Refusing to do business with businesses that don’t treat customers with respect is the best service you as a foreigner can offer to the local communities. When businesses realize that they are ripping themselves off by being rude, travellers will stay longer and will spend more money. It’s time for sustainable solutions, not short term, shady business practices. Help make the world a better place and do not support local Cambodian businesses that base their business model on racism and mistreatment. Criticism from faux-supporters who support this deadlock situation is superficial and unsustainable. Make the right choices that will promote the real change. It will help to make Cambodia a better and safer country, which right now it is not.

Cambodia is an extremely racist country and a foreigners will encounter discrimination on every step of their stay. How you will be treated, how much you will pay will be determined by the color of your skin. This is racism in its purest form and it is so deeply rooted within Cambodian culture, anywhere you go you will be greeted with the “us versus them” treatment.

To better understand the premise of discrimination in Cambodia, one should look at it from an opposite angle. Imagine a Cambodian comes to Canada for a visit. From the moment they set their foot on Canadian soil, they will be treated equally to everybody else. They will have the same rights and the same obligations as everybody else, regardless of their ethnic background. They will enjoy the same respect when walking down the street as everybody else with no one having the right to yell at them from across the street just because they look different. And when they go to buy something, they will pay the same price as everybody else. Regardless of the color of their skin, the treatment in all walks of life will be the same. In Canada, you are one of us. You are no different. You are a human, you are the same and you have the same rights and privileges as everybody else.

It is not like that in Cambodia. Cambodia is a country where from the moment you set your foot on their soil, you will be treated differently. In Cambodia, there are Khmer people and then there are foreigners. As a foreigner, you are not one of them – you are different. You will be treated differently and different prices will apply to you.

If you find yourself within a crowd of locals walking down the street in Cambodia, you will be singled out and subjected to abuse while all of the locals surrounding you will be left alone. You will never feel integrated into the culture, because they will always single you out and always treat you differently and will be very open about you being different. Cambodians don’t try to hide their racist tendencies. You are not one of them, you are different and that’s that. Discrimination and racism in Cambodia and very much alive and as strong as ever. When one group of people gets preferential treatment from another group of people based on their ethnic background, you get a textbook perfect example of discrimination and that’s exactly what Cambodia is all about.