koh chhoeuteal thom, Stung Treng province – The on-off nature of the border crossing between Cambodia and Laos continues for international visitors following the recent closure of the Lao checkpoint bordering Stung Treng province, officials said on Tuesday.
Cambodian border and immigration police said Lao authorities have prevented foreign tourists from crossing the border since Sept 11, stating the crossing is not an official international border point.
However, the Cambodian border post at Koh Chhoeuteal Thom on the Mekong River frontier remains open to a trickle of tourists who still appear to be able to leave Laos, but without an official exit stamp in their passport.
“I do not understand why Laos closed the border,” said Stung Treng Governor Chhim Chhorn.
“The ministry sent immigration police [to the border crossing] and I have asked Lao immigration police to cooperate but they have denied,” Chhim Chhorn said.
Chhim Chhorn and several other officials in the province said the Lao border—which had become popular with foreign backpackers entering and leaving both countries—may have been closed because of the loss of airline revenues in Laos to the overland route.
In recent months, Lao Aviation has flown direct flights between Phnom Penh and Pakse in southern Laos.
Bounmy Ophalavong, first secretary at the Lao Embassy in Phnom Penh, said Tuesday the border was still open to Lao and Cambodian nationals.
But the Lao frontier post was not an official border crossing and was therefore closed to international travelers, he said.
Cambodian officials on the border said they are still open to anyone who arrives at their checkpoint with a valid Cambodian visa. And Cambodia’s open-door policy appears to have spurred the entrepreneurial spirit of wily boat men who ferry passengers across the Mekong River from the Lao checkpoint.
On Sunday two French backpackers who arrived at the Lao border unaware of the closure were quickly guided past the Laotian frontier post and to the waters edge where they were asked for $30—three times the normal cost—to be taken to Stung Treng town about an hour south by boat.
Taing Pov, 25, owner of the Riverside Restaurant in Stung Treng town said business has plummeted since the border closure.
Between 10 and 30 tourists a day had been traveling to and from the border, but that has dried up to almost nothing, he said.
