Police or Beggars with guns ???

Again, a late post, sorry, been busy !

Monday the 20th
Her Majesty, Queen Monirith of Cambodia’s Birthday

Yes, it is the second of the 2 bank holidays this month.

Good old Queen Monirith of Cambodia is having a royal knees-up at the palace this evening, a few of the guys I work with at the Ministry had invites, but unfortunately I was not able to get one. Damn, only attending one royal birthday party this month, what is the world coming too !

So instead I had to console myself with going and picking up my new motor bike; vroom, vroom.

Collecting my nice shiny new set of wheels, I head north up Monivong Boulevard – a duel carriageway running North to South through the centre of the city, just to give it a little try out. Stopping at a set of traffic lights near the central market I am suddenly surrounded by Khmer police.

They have set up an ‘informal’ checkpoint and start asking for registration documents et cetera. Having just collected the bike I had not had time (like 5 minutes of ownership!) to go to my local police station and purchase (that is to say, bribe) the documents from the local police chief (because that is the way that it works here) so for the fourth time in a month I am being shaken down for a back hander by the corrupt police here. I am starting to suspect that the government has not paid them for a few months, which is what is causing this sudden increase in impromptu traffic police road blocks and check points. So ten minutes later, and US$5 lighter, I am at the shop having my licence plates made, ho hum.

Now, the official cost to register a motorbike with the police and get license plates made is US$12 for a Khmer and US$20 for a foreigner. After haggling for 20 minutes with my local police chief the lowest he would go was US$250 !!!

Now if you get stopped by the traffic police and you 'do not have your documents on you’ the spot fine is officially 2,000r – (or 50cents / 30pence) although if a foreigner is stopped they usually open the haggling at US$10 or even US$20, normally I end up paying US$1 – but it helps that I can haggle in Khmer, only once have I ever paid 2,000r and that guy did not haggle, just asked for the 2,000r and let me go! (he may have been new on the job)

So, if I usually pay US$1 when stopped by the police I would have to be stopped 250 times and not pay anything at all to break even on the size of the bribe the police chief wanted to register my bike…

I had a guy on a street corner make my unofficial license plate for US$3. it will take me a long time and a lot of US$1 stops to get to US$250, although I might try again for registered plates in a month or so when the government finally gets around to giving the police their back-pay. All US$20 a month of it !?!? No wonder the traffic police here are so corrupt, not even in Cambodia can you live on US$20 a month, not even close.