More visitors flock to Angkor

SIEM REAP, 18 March 2016: Cambodia’s Angkor Wat Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, welcomed 493,854 international tourists, January to February, this year, improving 7.6% over the same period last year.

Xinhua news agency quoted the state-owned Angkor Institution, which is in charge of ticket sales at the ancient site.

The report claimed the country earned a gross revenue of about USD14.3 million from ticket sales, up 2.2% compared to the same period last year.



The largest sources of foreign tourists were from China, South Korea and Japan, it added.

The entrance fee to the Angkor Historical Park costs USD20 a day (foreigners only), USD40 for a three-day visit and USD60 for a week-long visit.

Finance Minister Aun Porn Moniroth was quoted saying that the government may increase ticket prices for foreign tourists to the site in the near future.

“In Cambodia, tourists spend only USD20 for a full-day visit to the Angkor archaeological park…the price was far lower than those charged to enter tourism resorts such as Sentosa island in Singapore, Disneyland in China’s Hong Kong or Disneyland in France.”

The minister also told local media that online ticketing would be introduced to provide faster and convenient service to tourists.

“Visitors will be able to pay by credit card… they forward their picture by email and we prepare the ticket for them in advance. No need to wait in long queues.”

They will still have to queue if the advance ticket lines at ticket booths become popular, but it will speed up the counter transactions. Visitors will only have to show their ID, or passport, to collect the pre-arranged entrance ticket.

The current ticketing system, which dates back to 1999, is very slow, the minister said, while the new system will be linked to a website that will be used to promote the destination.

The travel trade has also called for data collection based on online ticket sales to improve information on the demographics of park visitors.

The park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992 and is now the kingdom’s largest cultural tourist destination.

It is located in Siem Reap province, some 315 km northwest of capital Phnom Penh.

Source: http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2016/03/m ... ore-105108

Or you know you could join the 21st Century and enable mobile ticketing (no need for waste at all), ticketing from outlets not at the park (just like Disneyland do - not sure why Angkor is being compared to Disneyland? Will there be an "apsara mouse" and a rollercoaster at Bayon - Face Mountain, perhaps?), online booking and printing your own tickets?

You might also consider managing the park with some of that money... you know like Disney does, providing shade, merchandising, first aid facilities, decent refreshment stands, freedom to walk for 2 minutes without being harassed by 100 children clutching postcards for "only $1", that sort of thing.

I agree Angkor is priced too low. If Cambodia wants it to be around in 100 years time or so... they should be hiking prices severely and reducing visitor numbers while promoting alternatives like Sambor Prei Kuk, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar, Preah Vihear, etc.

TheGrinchSR wrote:Or you know you could join the 21st Century and enable mobile ticketing (no need for waste at all), ticketing from outlets not at the park (just like Disneyland do - not sure why Angkor is being compared to Disneyland? Will there be an "apsara mouse" and a rollercoaster at Bayon - Face Mountain, perhaps?), online booking and printing your own tickets?

You might also consider managing the park with some of that money... you know like Disney does, providing shade, merchandising, first aid facilities, decent refreshment stands, freedom to walk for 2 minutes without being harassed by 100 children clutching postcards for "only $1", that sort of thing.

I agree Angkor is priced too low. If Cambodia wants it to be around in 100 years time or so... they should be hiking prices severely and reducing visitor numbers while promoting alternatives like Sambor Prei Kuk, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar, Preah Vihear, etc.

Fuck that. You don't need them park shit or it becomes a sick sideshow. It's meant to feel alive. That's what makes it interesting. The kids selling shit, the interaction with actual Khmer people doing relatively normal things, the fact the outer temples are set in farmlands and over streams where boys still catch fish, the refreshment stands being like old time produce stands.

If you want that bullshit, fuck off to a theme park.

ot mien kampf wrote:

TheGrinchSR wrote:Or you know you could join the 21st Century and enable mobile ticketing (no need for waste at all), ticketing from outlets not at the park (just like Disneyland do - not sure why Angkor is being compared to Disneyland? Will there be an "apsara mouse" and a rollercoaster at Bayon - Face Mountain, perhaps?), online booking and printing your own tickets?

You might also consider managing the park with some of that money... you know like Disney does, providing shade, merchandising, first aid facilities, decent refreshment stands, freedom to walk for 2 minutes without being harassed by 100 children clutching postcards for "only $1", that sort of thing.

I agree Angkor is priced too low. If Cambodia wants it to be around in 100 years time or so... they should be hiking prices severely and reducing visitor numbers while promoting alternatives like Sambor Prei Kuk, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar, Preah Vihear, etc.

Fuck that. You don't need them park shit or it becomes a sick sideshow. It's meant to feel alive. That's what makes it interesting. The kids selling shit, the interaction with actual Khmer people doing relatively normal things, the fact the outer temples are set in farmlands and over streams where boys still catch fish, the refreshment stands being like old time produce stands.

If you want that bullshit, fuck off to a theme park.

SIEG

Yeh agreed the khmers around the park are geniune and chill ive ofter been the first barang to eat khmer street food in many stools ..

ot mien kampf wrote:

TheGrinchSR wrote:Or you know you could join the 21st Century and enable mobile ticketing (no need for waste at all), ticketing from outlets not at the park (just like Disneyland do - not sure why Angkor is being compared to Disneyland? Will there be an "apsara mouse" and a rollercoaster at Bayon - Face Mountain, perhaps?), online booking and printing your own tickets?

You might also consider managing the park with some of that money... you know like Disney does, providing shade, merchandising, first aid facilities, decent refreshment stands, freedom to walk for 2 minutes without being harassed by 100 children clutching postcards for "only $1", that sort of thing.

I agree Angkor is priced too low. If Cambodia wants it to be around in 100 years time or so... they should be hiking prices severely and reducing visitor numbers while promoting alternatives like Sambor Prei Kuk, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar, Preah Vihear, etc.

Fuck that. You don't need them park shit or it becomes a sick sideshow. It's meant to feel alive. That's what makes it interesting. The kids selling shit, the interaction with actual Khmer people doing relatively normal things, the fact the outer temples are set in farmlands and over streams where boys still catch fish, the refreshment stands being like old time produce stands.

If you want that bullshit, fuck off to a theme park.

No, that's what makes Angkor Wat tedious to most of its visitors. It's not what makes it interesting at all. Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and the heart of a now dead empire - that's what makes it interesting. If Cambodia wants tourists; it's time it learned to cater to them - rather than trying to annoy as many as possible of them.

You can interact with Khmer, on your own terms, anywhere in the country. Interacting with endless beggars does not add colour, it diminishes what should be one of life's great experiences. If the government wants Disney money (and it should) - it needs to provide a five star experience to go along with it. Tickets to the park should come with well-educated multi-lingual guides who actually give a fuck about the history and culture. There should be rubbish bins (lots of them) to keep the site clean. There should be people around who can help when someone is injured rather than looking scared and hoping someone else will do something. And so on...

Cambodians don't want to live in poverty forever. Angkor is the number one possibility in the country of ensuring better paid, more highly skilled work and at the moment it fails to provide that.

TheGrinchSR wrote:

ot mien kampf wrote:

TheGrinchSR wrote:Or you know you could join the 21st Century and enable mobile ticketing (no need for waste at all), ticketing from outlets not at the park (just like Disneyland do - not sure why Angkor is being compared to Disneyland? Will there be an "apsara mouse" and a rollercoaster at Bayon - Face Mountain, perhaps?), online booking and printing your own tickets?

You might also consider managing the park with some of that money... you know like Disney does, providing shade, merchandising, first aid facilities, decent refreshment stands, freedom to walk for 2 minutes without being harassed by 100 children clutching postcards for "only $1", that sort of thing.

I agree Angkor is priced too low. If Cambodia wants it to be around in 100 years time or so... they should be hiking prices severely and reducing visitor numbers while promoting alternatives like Sambor Prei Kuk, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar, Preah Vihear, etc.

Fuck that. You don't need them park shit or it becomes a sick sideshow. It's meant to feel alive. That's what makes it interesting. The kids selling shit, the interaction with actual Khmer people doing relatively normal things, the fact the outer temples are set in farmlands and over streams where boys still catch fish, the refreshment stands being like old time produce stands.

If you want that bullshit, fuck off to a theme park.

No, that's what makes Angkor Wat tedious to most of its visitors. It's not what makes it interesting at all. Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and the heart of a now dead empire - that's what makes it interesting. If Cambodia wants tourists; it's time it learned to cater to them - rather than trying to annoy as many as possible of them.

You can interact with Khmer, on your own terms, anywhere in the country. Interacting with endless beggars does not add colour, it diminishes what should be one of life's great experiences. If the government wants Disney money (and it should) - it needs to provide a five star experience to go along with it. Tickets to the park should come with well-educated multi-lingual guides who actually give a fuck about the history and culture. There should be rubbish bins (lots of them) to keep the site clean. There should be people around who can help when someone is injured rather than looking scared and hoping someone else will do something. And so on...

Cambodians don't want to live in poverty forever. Angkor is the number one possibility in the country of ensuring better paid, more highly skilled work and at the moment it fails to provide that.

No, that's what makes is a place worth visiting. Once you remove the Khmer from it, it just becomes some pretty rocks. The reason why it's visited is because its is in the center of a Khmer culture that is still alive. The current guides are all fine and most speak better English than people I've seen pass for English teachers here.

Monetizing the place will end up like Bokor, a landmak that has been utterly destroyed by the "5 star" experience of a casino and soon to be housing development. They even cleaned all the moss off the hill station to please the poor wittle tourists who might fall over. It's been completely gutted, leaving only the rocks.

Angkor is the perfect tourist destination and is the only historical site to actually exceed my expectations upon visiting. The pyramids sucked and they are just as you described; over regulated and dead. Your "5 star" experience is trying to remove the link between contemporary Cambodia and the Angkor site. Might as well have all the temples shipped to Monaco and put up in a casino if you want to treat it as though they're rocks from a dead culture that only exists to enrich people catering to entertain the cosmopolitan classes.

ot mien kampf wrote:

TheGrinchSR wrote:

ot mien kampf wrote:

TheGrinchSR wrote:Or you know you could join the 21st Century and enable mobile ticketing (no need for waste at all), ticketing from outlets not at the park (just like Disneyland do - not sure why Angkor is being compared to Disneyland? Will there be an "apsara mouse" and a rollercoaster at Bayon - Face Mountain, perhaps?), online booking and printing your own tickets?

You might also consider managing the park with some of that money... you know like Disney does, providing shade, merchandising, first aid facilities, decent refreshment stands, freedom to walk for 2 minutes without being harassed by 100 children clutching postcards for "only $1", that sort of thing.

I agree Angkor is priced too low. If Cambodia wants it to be around in 100 years time or so... they should be hiking prices severely and reducing visitor numbers while promoting alternatives like Sambor Prei Kuk, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar, Preah Vihear, etc.

Fuck that. You don't need them park shit or it becomes a sick sideshow. It's meant to feel alive. That's what makes it interesting. The kids selling shit, the interaction with actual Khmer people doing relatively normal things, the fact the outer temples are set in farmlands and over streams where boys still catch fish, the refreshment stands being like old time produce stands.

If you want that bullshit, fuck off to a theme park.

No, that's what makes Angkor Wat tedious to most of its visitors. It's not what makes it interesting at all. Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and the heart of a now dead empire - that's what makes it interesting. If Cambodia wants tourists; it's time it learned to cater to them - rather than trying to annoy as many as possible of them.

You can interact with Khmer, on your own terms, anywhere in the country. Interacting with endless beggars does not add colour, it diminishes what should be one of life's great experiences. If the government wants Disney money (and it should) - it needs to provide a five star experience to go along with it. Tickets to the park should come with well-educated multi-lingual guides who actually give a fuck about the history and culture. There should be rubbish bins (lots of them) to keep the site clean. There should be people around who can help when someone is injured rather than looking scared and hoping someone else will do something. And so on...

Cambodians don't want to live in poverty forever. Angkor is the number one possibility in the country of ensuring better paid, more highly skilled work and at the moment it fails to provide that.

No, that's what makes is a place worth visiting. Once you remove the Khmer from it, it just becomes some pretty rocks. The reason why it's visited is because its is in the center of a Khmer culture that is still alive. The current guides are all fine and most speak better English than people I've seen pass for English teachers here.

Monetizing the place will end up like Bokor, a landmak that has been utterly destroyed by the "5 star" experience of a casino and soon to be housing development. They even cleaned all the moss off the hill station to please the poor wittle tourists who might fall over. It's been completely gutted, leaving only the rocks.

Angkor is the perfect tourist destination and is the only historical site to actually exceed my expectations upon visiting. The pyramids sucked and they are just as you described; over regulated and dead. Your "5 star" experience is trying to remove the link between contemporary Cambodia and the Angkor site. Might as well have all the temples shipped to Monaco and put up in a casino if you want to treat it as though they're rocks from a dead culture that only exists to enrich people catering to entertain the cosmopolitan classes.

Oh dear. We must have visited different pyramids because the ones I went to were covered in litter and stank of piss. Egypt barely manages that site at all.

Tourists don't come for links to contemporary Cambodia any more than they visit Petra, Stonehenge, the Pyramids, etc. for their links to their country's contemporary cultures. They come to experience Angkor Wat and that experience is severely tarnished by the way it is run.

You only have to spend 5 minutes on TripAdvisor to know this for truth. In the end its simple - if they want Disney money, they provide a Disney experience. If they want $20... it can stay as it is. People will vote with their wallets and expectations differ at different price points.

TheGrinchSR wrote:

ot mien kampf wrote:

TheGrinchSR wrote:

ot mien kampf wrote:

TheGrinchSR wrote:Or you know you could join the 21st Century and enable mobile ticketing (no need for waste at all), ticketing from outlets not at the park (just like Disneyland do - not sure why Angkor is being compared to Disneyland? Will there be an "apsara mouse" and a rollercoaster at Bayon - Face Mountain, perhaps?), online booking and printing your own tickets?

You might also consider managing the park with some of that money... you know like Disney does, providing shade, merchandising, first aid facilities, decent refreshment stands, freedom to walk for 2 minutes without being harassed by 100 children clutching postcards for "only $1", that sort of thing.

I agree Angkor is priced too low. If Cambodia wants it to be around in 100 years time or so... they should be hiking prices severely and reducing visitor numbers while promoting alternatives like Sambor Prei Kuk, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar, Preah Vihear, etc.

Fuck that. You don't need them park shit or it becomes a sick sideshow. It's meant to feel alive. That's what makes it interesting. The kids selling shit, the interaction with actual Khmer people doing relatively normal things, the fact the outer temples are set in farmlands and over streams where boys still catch fish, the refreshment stands being like old time produce stands.

If you want that bullshit, fuck off to a theme park.

No, that's what makes Angkor Wat tedious to most of its visitors. It's not what makes it interesting at all. Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and the heart of a now dead empire - that's what makes it interesting. If Cambodia wants tourists; it's time it learned to cater to them - rather than trying to annoy as many as possible of them.

You can interact with Khmer, on your own terms, anywhere in the country. Interacting with endless beggars does not add colour, it diminishes what should be one of life's great experiences. If the government wants Disney money (and it should) - it needs to provide a five star experience to go along with it. Tickets to the park should come with well-educated multi-lingual guides who actually give a fuck about the history and culture. There should be rubbish bins (lots of them) to keep the site clean. There should be people around who can help when someone is injured rather than looking scared and hoping someone else will do something. And so on...

Cambodians don't want to live in poverty forever. Angkor is the number one possibility in the country of ensuring better paid, more highly skilled work and at the moment it fails to provide that.

No, that's what makes is a place worth visiting. Once you remove the Khmer from it, it just becomes some pretty rocks. The reason why it's visited is because its is in the center of a Khmer culture that is still alive. The current guides are all fine and most speak better English than people I've seen pass for English teachers here.

Monetizing the place will end up like Bokor, a landmak that has been utterly destroyed by the "5 star" experience of a casino and soon to be housing development. They even cleaned all the moss off the hill station to please the poor wittle tourists who might fall over. It's been completely gutted, leaving only the rocks.

Angkor is the perfect tourist destination and is the only historical site to actually exceed my expectations upon visiting. The pyramids sucked and they are just as you described; over regulated and dead. Your "5 star" experience is trying to remove the link between contemporary Cambodia and the Angkor site. Might as well have all the temples shipped to Monaco and put up in a casino if you want to treat it as though they're rocks from a dead culture that only exists to enrich people catering to entertain the cosmopolitan classes.

Oh dear. We must have visited different pyramids because the ones I went to were covered in litter and stank of piss. Egypt barely manages that site at all.

Tourists don't come for links to contemporary Cambodia any more than they visit Petra, Stonehenge, the Pyramids, etc. for their links to their country's contemporary cultures. They come to experience Angkor Wat and that experience is severely tarnished by the way it is run.

You only have to spend 5 minutes on TripAdvisor to know this for truth. In the end its simple - if they want Disney money, they provide a Disney experience. If they want $20... it can stay as it is. People will vote with their wallets and expectations differ at different price points.

"Tarnished"

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attracti ... vince.html

Look at that. 16919 excellent reviews to 35 terrible ones. And 30 excellent reviews for every 1 average.

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attracti ... vince.html

3850 excellent reviews to 5 terrible ones. And 32 excellent reviews for every 1 average.

I bet all 40 who gave terrible reviews will enjoy your Khmer Disneyland; we can probably fit them all in a single chamber hermetically sealed from all Cambodian culture and periodically filled with gimmicky giftshop crap and greasy 'merican fairground food sold at $7 an ounce.