Injustice management — stories about discrimination and how to turn them around
Arriving there we went through the usual border control, exited Thai territory, and set out to reach Cambodia on foot. A few meters away.

I checked beforehand legal requirements to enter the territory, and there wasn’t anything specific for French citizen (me), or Cameroonian citizen (Yvann). Just a valid passport and 30$.

Even though we arrived early, before the opening of the border, it was already crowded. A large crowd of people (Thais? Cambodians?) were ready to carry their goods to the other side and waiting for the opening.

Fast forward to the border control processing, and we exited Thai territory. We were in a hurry to reach Siem Reap so we didn’t spend that much time at the no-man’s land. Casinos caught our eyes but it would be hard to part with our meagers savings and not starving the rest of our trip.

I followed the procedures and paperwork, gave my fingerprints, 1L of blood sample. 30$ later I got my visa. Unfortunately for Yvann, that wasn’t that quick.

It surprised me, so I asked him why did it take so long. He didn’t know too. His passport was being studied thoroughly by an agent, and no explanation was given until now.

After a while, a “manager” came on the agent’s request and they started talking together. Even though we don’t speak Cambodian, we got the feeling that it wasn’t to discuss the spelling of “Yvann” with a double N…Then started the discussion:

Manager — Why are you visiting Cambodia?

Me — We are going to Siem Reap for a few days

Manager — And YOU, why are you here in Cambodia?

Yvann — What do you mean? He just told you we came for Siem Reap

Manager — How do you know each other?

Me — We are student at the same engineering school in Bangkok

Manager — A Thai school with a French and a Cameroonian?

Me — And they spend their holidays in Cambodia. Apparently this is the world we live in, welcome to the 21th century.

Manager — Yes but you’re black, like the drug dealers

Yvann — …

How do you argue with that? I got curious about our experience, and it is not an isolated one: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/7days/beneath-skin-reality-being-black-cambodia
['Abdul Otman']
['Travel', 'Adventure', 'Anger Management', 'Discrimination', 'Beyourself']