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Hunghung
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# Posted: 28 Apr 2008 18:41:38
In March 2008, I visited Pattaya and I took a 7 days/6 nights Cambodia package tour (by road) for 31,000 Baht with Maneerat on Soi Post Office in Pattaya. The tour was supposed to go from Pattaya to Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, and Koh Kong, and then return to Pattaya. The price was supposed to include tour guides and all meals in Cambodia (copy of the tour program available). Unfortunately, the tour wasn't what was presented to me. Here are the major mishaps:
1. Siem Reap (2 nights): Before I paid for the tour, Maneerat showed me the brochure of the hotel which I was supposed to stay in Siem Reap. It is an almost brand new hotel called Monoreach Angkor Hotel (I have the brochure). However, when I arrived in Siem Reap (on March 7), the Siem Reap travel agent sent me to stay in Neak Pean Hotel, which is a very old hotel (although the front was renovated to look new).
2. Phnom Penh (2 nights): When I arrived in Phnom Penh by boat (on March 9), the driver hired by the above Siem Reap agent drove me to the hotel booked. However, the hotel didn’t have the booking record. Since the hotel was full, the driver and I had to look for hotel accommodation, wasting the very limited time I had in the city. In addition to the hotel mishap, it turned out that the driver was just a driver, not a tour guide. He just dropped me at attractions without any explanation of the attractions (a tour guide would walk with me and provide a fair amount of explanation).
3. Sihanoukville (2 nights): This was the most awful part. In Phnom Penh, I asked the driver about arrangements in Sihanoukville and Koh Kong. He said he and the above Siem Reap agent were only responsible for the Siem Reap/Phnom Penh part of the tour and he knew nothing about the rest of the tour, except providing me a public bus ticket to Sihanoukville. I was frustrated. I called and emailed Maneerat to find out arrangements for the rest of the tour. According to the tour program, I was supposed to spend 1 night in Sihnaoukville and 1 night in Koh Kong, with a guided tour in both places. To my great dissatisfaction, Maneerat informed me through emails (I still have the emails) that I would NOT visit Koh Kong and I would spend the last 2 nights of the tour at Holiday Palace Resort in Sihanoukville. Furthermore, there would be NO tour guide, NO transport to the hotel, and NO meals (except breakfast provided by the hotel) while I was in Sihanoukville. When I arrived in Sihanoukville, I was on my own! Thus, the package tour was not a package tour at all, not worthy of 31,000 Baht!!! (For your information, hotel accommodation in Cambodia is around 750 Baht/night. If there is no tour guide for all or a good part of the tour, anyone who pays 31,000 Baht for a 7 days/6 nights tour is being cheated.)
4. Return to Pattaya: This part is unbelievable. When I was in Sihanoukville, I emailed Maneerat about transport arrangement back to Pattaya. Maneerat assured me 3 times (in 3 emails; I still have the emails) that an agent would pick me up at the hotel lobby at noon on March 13 and take me back to Pattaya. On that date, I waited, but no one came to pick me up and there were no messages for me. So I was stranded in Sihanoukville for one night (fortunately, I was able to find my way back to Pattaya myself). Thus, Maneerat failed to complete my tour. A few days later on March 18, I emailed Maneerat about this transport mishap, but I heard nothing from Maneerat, let alone an apology.
This horrible Cambodia tour more or less ruined my holidays. Maneerat clearly has failed to deliver its promised services and the tour was just a ripoff (only the one-day visit to Angkor Wat qualified as a guided tour).
Additionally, a Maneerat staff overcharged me for Cambodia visa cost (almost double the legitimate US$20) when I was at the Poi Pet border. There was also a currency exchange scam on the Cambodia side, but I won't discuss here unless someone is interested to know.
So when you are in Pattaya, don't use this "dark travel house" for your travel needs.
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