Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

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Anchor Moy
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Anchor Moy »

Username Taken wrote:
Anchor Moy wrote: . . . . . overtaking a petroltanker around a blind corner.)
Frankly its bad enough in the daytime. :crazy:
On our return trip from Snooky last week in rental car with driver, he had us from Ochheteal to Pochentong in 2 and a half hours (daytime). I liked his driving, but some of his overtaking was pretty scary. When we came up behind a line of vehicles in front of us, he seemed to like playing 'last man to the front'. :O:
That's what I mean ! Overtaking after dark when you can't see those idiots without lights is like russian roulette. And as mentioned already, there's a lot of stray animals out there - and they like to sleep on the warm tarmack - day or night.
2 and a half hours is fast - maybe too much ? Well you got there ok, so thank Buddha or whoever.
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Jamie_Lambo
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

Barang_doa_slae wrote:
Jamie_Lambo wrote:
Anchor Moy wrote:
Username Taken wrote:^^ Sailorman will be along soon to tell you about the highway to hell.

Haha. I would agree with him, and there's no way I'd do that road at night.
Last time I arrived somewhere after dark in a minivan, the headlights didn't work - they kept fading on us. The buses aren't really better. When you see how much "traffic" - not to mention animals - on the road at night has no form of light it's beyond scary. Then there is the problem that the driver is probably used to being asleep by 10pm, and so will probably be taking something to stay awake. This may also give him the impression that he is invincible (and that there is no way he will cede to the guy who is coming head on in your general direction while he is overtaking a petroltanker around a blind corner.)
Frankly its bad enough in the daytime. :crazy:
yeah i drove from SHV to Kampot in the dark on my moto, never again! the amount do khmers that drive without their lights in the dark, the amount of dogs and animals running around, but i would say the worst thing was the amount of fucking insects!!! fucking everywhere!! driving through swarms of crickets n shit, wouldnt have been bad if i had a helmet with a visor on it but i didnt, driving in the dark added an extra hour to my trip, never again haha
I left from Kampot going back to SHV too late 6 months ago.
I already was cursing at myself about it when It became dark and I never reached destination. A drunken fallen Cambodian on a moppet occupying most of the road after a curve took care of it.
Broken shoulder and shattered upper arm still reminds me about it.
yeah it was light when i left, i forget how early it gets dark in cambodia 6-7pm? in england in the summer it can still be light at 10-11pm :(
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Marius on route
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Marius on route »

Hi Anchor Moy,

Thank you for posting my Tripadvisor piece on our experience on the Virak Buntham bus. I was hoping some people would pick up on the story.
I saw some posts questioning what really happened and thought I would elaborate with a bit more detail below.
I added some photos of the two busdrivers and the bus.
After our experience with the police, I am in the process of escalating the case to the new chief of police, Mr. Chuon Narin and to Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit in Phnom Penh for what its worth. There is a small chance something will happen, but better to let people know.
A Uk traveller staying with us at Monkey Replublic had her bag with passport and wallet stolen from next to her whilst sleeping on a Virak Butham sleeper bus a week after our experience.
A big thank you to Stuart from Monkey Republic for helping us.

SUMMARY OF EVENT WITH MORE DETAILS:
I am a filmmaker from South Africa and Jolanda my partner is from the Netherlands.
We have been traveling in Asia for 3 months.

We booked a Virak Butham Express Travel and Tour sleeper bus from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville via Garden Village Guesthouse in Siem Reap.
We left Siem Reap at 19:00 on 27 July and reached Sihanoukville on the morning of 28 July at 6 am in bus number 54 with registration 3C 1740.

When we left Siem Reap our luggage was placed in to the bottom luggage hold of the bus. Ny, the bus driver and his co driver were friendly and assisted us.

Unknown to us all the luggage was removed from the bottom luggage hold when stopping in Phnom Penh and moved up to the front seats of the bus.
Most of the bus was asleep and completely unaware that the staff and passengers now had access to the luggage as it was no longer safely in the luggage hold.
Shortly after leaving Phnom Penh, Ny's co bus driver collected all our tickets. Myself and the british passenger behind me protested and were told he is doing a passenger count and we will have our tickets back shortly. We never saw the tickets again.

When we arrived in Sihanoukville I couldn't find our second bag and the two bus drivers had gone from being helpful along the trip to being extremely aggressive and impatient. When we asked a question they replied "no English" and offered no assistance. I finally found our second bag at the back of the bus on the floor.

The bag had been stuffed with Virak Buntham's blankets to make it appear full and closed afterwards so that we would only discover the theft once we opened the bag at our hostel.
I luckily discovered the theft there and then when I felt the bag was too light and I immediately opened the bag. I had lost half of my camera equipment and accessories that doesn't fit in to my hand luggage.

This is where things got interesting. The bus driver called Ny and his colleague refused to take us to their office and waved us away from the bus to take a Tuk Tuk.
We refused and climbed back on the bus and finally after more than half an hour we left for the Virak Buntham Sihanoukville office. It was strange to see the previously polite and helpful Virak staff turn in to aggressive and intimidating people once we had discovered the theft.

At the office we met with the manager Channy. He informed us that the bus had to come to the office anyway and he doesn't understand why Ny and the co bus driver wouldn't assist us and bring us to the office.

We spent an hour at the office explaining what happened at which point Ny, the bus driver admitted that he took our second bag to the back as there was not enough space in the front of the bus. I confronted him that this was an outright lie as our seats were second from the front and there was ample space for luggage. The bag was only a 15 liter and relatively small.

Channy assisted us with a driver and we went to the main police station accompanied by the two bus drivers on Channy's instructions.
A Major in the immigration police asked us to first make a statement at Police Post Sangkat 3 around the corner and once we have the statement we could come back to him.

We spent 1 hour at the Sangkat 3 police station waiting for an English speaking officer to arrive. We explained what happened and the officer asked us to wait for his boss, Officer Odam from the immigration office.
After another 2 hours the officer's phone rang which he handed to me and I was informed by Officer Odam from the immigration police that they did not believe our story and therefore would not take our statement. I explained to Officer Odam that in order to make a police statement it is not a prerequisite that the police needs to believe me as I am signing the statement as being my version of events. He would have none of it and put the phone down in my ear.

We were dumbfounded, not only by the Sihanoukville's police refusal to take our statement, but also by the fact the neither Ny nor the other bus drivers details were taken down by the police. Actually the police took no one's details. Strange indeed as the bus drivers were there with us. The only details the officer wanted was what was in the bag and how much it was worth. No other details were asked for.

We went back to the Virak Buntham office and asked for their email contact details. The manager, Channy gave us the email address, [email protected] to reach their manager, Mr Long Naphal.

Both Channy and Mr Vannak claimed that their company Virak Butham do not have business emails and they use this one yahoo email for all their correspondence with head office.
I emailed a basic summary of what had happened to us to the yahoo email asking for assistance. Up to date I have had no response.

When we returned to Sihanoukville ten days later on 8 August we met with the manager Channy and his assistant, Mr Vinnak and asked for feedback.
Disappointingly in the ten days since we were robbed they had made no effort to contact their Phnom Penh office to find out what happened with our luggage. Basically they had made no efforts what so ever and their head office was still unaware of the theft.
Mr Vinnak then offered his personal email address as an alternative.
That same evening of 8 August I emailed both Mr Vinnak at [email protected] and Virak Buntham company at [email protected].
Up to date I have received no response.

In summary it's clear that tourists visiting Cambodia have very little support from the Sihanoukville police or Virak Buntham Express Travel and Tour. The police's behaviour and immigration Officer Odam still baffles us. Why refuse to take our statement and only show interest in what was stolen and its value?

Lonely planet and Tripadvisor strongly advise against using Virak Buntham's sleeper busses and a number of first hand accounts seem to point to a theft syndicate of staff working together. If one googles Virak Buntham theft, one finds pages of travelers accounts and experiences.

A British lady at Monkey Republic Hostel had her bag with passport and valuables stolen from her sleeper couch on a Virak Buntham sleeper bus the very same week we were in Sihanoukville.

Despite businesses like Virak Buntham being passive and unwilling to help it is clear to me that it's not the case with all businesses. Stuart, the owner of the Monkey Republic Hostel was extremely helpful when he heard about our loss.

Hostels and businesses like the Garden Village in Siem Reap that recommend Virak Buntham and sell their tickets should warn travelers and tourists about the syndicates operating on bus routes.

I am not sure what the reason is for the police's behaviour, but as it continues it will undermine the trust of travelers and erode tourism in Cambodia.
---------------
Well that's my long sop story ;-)
Thanks for reading it,
Marius
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Samouth
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Samouth »

បើសិនធ្វើចេះ ចេះឲ្យគេកោត បើសិនធ្វើឆោត ឆោតឲ្យគេអាណិត។

If you know a lot, know enough to make them respect you, if you are stupid, be stupid enough so they can pity you.
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Username Taken
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Username Taken »

Sorry Marius and everyone else,
This post was made a week ago and was waiting approval. I just noticed it now. (The one above Samouth's post above).
:oops: :oops: :oops: :o

Marius, your post has been approved!
Marius on route wrote: . . . . . . . I was informed by Officer Odam from the immigration police that they did not believe our story and therefore would not take our statement.

. . . . . . . The only details the officer wanted was what was in the bag and how much it was worth.


. . . . . . .Why refuse to take our statement and only show interest in what was stolen and its value?
So they can work out how much cut the drivers have to give them.
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Anchor Moy »

Marius on route wrote:Hi Anchor Moy,

Thank you for posting my Tripadvisor piece on our experience on the Virak Buntham bus. I was hoping some people would pick up on the story.
I saw some posts questioning what really happened and thought I would elaborate with a bit more detail below.
I added some photos of the two busdrivers and the bus.
After our experience with the police, I am in the process of escalating the case to the new chief of police, Mr. Chuon Narin and to Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit in Phnom Penh for what its worth. There is a small chance something will happen, but better to let people know...
Well, thanks for getting back to us.
That's what I thought too when I posted your TA comment - "let people know" - but it's always hit or miss with TA comments, so I didn't want to be too categorical since I don't know you, and some people post things that are not true. (That's probably why you didn't get more reaction from expats - tourists post the strangest things on TA ...)
The new chief of police Mr Narin says that he is cleaning things up in Sihanoukville, and I think he will be embarrassed by stuff like this, so hopefully he will act on it.
Anyway, good luck to you and don't judge Cambodia by a disreputable bus service.
All the best for the rest... :beer3:
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by General Mackevili »

Username Taken wrote:Sorry Marius and everyone else,
This post was made a week ago and was waiting approval. I just noticed it now. (The one above Samouth's post above).
:oops: :oops: :oops: :o

Marius, your post has been approved!
Marius on route wrote: . . . . . . . I was informed by Officer Odam from the immigration police that they did not believe our story and therefore would not take our statement.

. . . . . . . The only details the officer wanted was what was in the bag and how much it was worth.


. . . . . . .Why refuse to take our statement and only show interest in what was stolen and its value?
So they can work out how much cut the drivers have to give them.
Oops. Glad it made it to the Khmer Times. That's always been my least favourite bus company.

I still can't fathom putting $6,000 worth of anything under a Cambodian bus. I usually take out my shoes and favorite shirts and carry it onboard because it's just too easy for ANYONE to mess with your bags while they're underneath.
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Anchor Moy
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Anchor Moy »

General Mackevili wrote:[
I still can't fathom putting $6,000 worth of anything under a Cambodian bus. I usually take out my shoes and favorite shirts and carry it onboard because it's just too easy for ANYONE to mess with your bags while they're underneath.
Yes, same here.
Marius, I guess you will never do this again, but please, NEVER do this again.
You put stuff under a bus (any bus) in cambodia and you really don't know how it will come out the other end - never mind stealing etc.
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by Sailorman »

I may be crazy (crazed), but I'm not stupid enough to travel at night on Cambodian roads. After almost being killed on Hwy #4 by drunk/drugged container truck drivers, I no longer drive my Landmonster to PP. I take a taxi (have a good driver), or Giant Ibus bus.

Get ready for more container trucks on Hwy #4 as two big shipping line just signed a contract to dock at Snooky.
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Re: Organized luggage theft from Cambodian buses ?

Post by TheGrinchSR »

Virak Buntham is the worst bus company in the country. I warned somebody on Facebook late last year that it was a dumb thing to do. They told me they knew what they were doing... then two days later they posted about the terrible conditions and having all their electronic kit stolen while they slept and admitted they should have listened to me....

But expecting anything to be done about things after the fact here? It smacks of incredible naivety.

If you're traveling with thousands of dollars worth of gear (and I do regularly - my camera set up, laptop, drives, kindle, smartphone, etc.) - never let it out of your sight. Always pay whatever it takes to keep it with you. (Which is why I fly business class much more often now than when I could really afford to - back then, it was mainly company gear which would be easily replaced, now it's my own and the IP loss would be hugely, if not permanently damaging to my business).

That low fare bus ticket looks incredibly expensive compared to flying or taking a tax in hindsight, doesn't it?
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