The Poipet International Border Checkpoint between Cambodia and Thailand in Banteay Meanchey province. FACEBOOK
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on March 1 inaugurated a new centre to serve national and international travellers at the Poipet International Border Checkpoint between Cambodia and Thailand in Banteay Meanchey province.
Sar Kheng said the new facility would be a place to provide public services to Cambodians and foreigners who are travelling and transporting goods across the border. The role of the officials there should be to facilitate that traffic and make it convenient for all law-abiding visitors and businesses while keeping an eye out for any kind of criminal activity headed in either direction.
He said the Poipet checkpoint is one of the oldest border crossings in Cambodia and is also the main gateway for tourists coming from Thailand who are headed to Phnom Penh on National Road 5 or to Siem Reap province on National Road 6.
He also thanked the Thai government, especially the administration of Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province, for always providing helpful cooperation to Cambodia and making a big contribution to the development of the region.
“I appreciate all the efforts of the relevant leaders who actively paid attention in working together with the interior ministry, provincial leaders and other relevant units, as well as our team of engineers, for their joint efforts to overcome various difficulties to achieve the results we see here at the inauguration ceremony today,” he said.
Minister of Tourism Thong Khon, who also attended the event, said the new building is another monument which clearly demonstrated the pride Cambodia has in its development progress.
“This new building not only serves the interests of security, economy and society, but also a testament to the expert working groups who fulfilled their duties commendably and with good, friendly and gentle attitudes along with strict professionalism to construct it. This new building will be one of the first places to provide a warm welcome to tourists,” he said.
He emphasised that the Poipet checkpoint is one of Cambodia’s most important international border crossings for both its economy and tourism and serves as the main land route from Thailand.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, it served about 28 per cent of the total overland tourists and about 8.7 per cent of total international tourists coming to Cambodia.
According to Seng Youan, head of the ministry’s General Department of Logistics and Finance, the construction of the new headquarters began on October 30, 2017, and was completed on August 2, 2021, with the government providing a budget of 17 billion riel ($4.2 million).
He added that the construction crews had also prepared the infrastructure outside the building, including renovation of the old building as offices and accommodations for officials, and construction of two buildings for passengers waiting on departures and arrivals. They also built a road paved with asphalt-concrete tarmac, installed new lighting poles, put up new fences and upgraded the electrical transformers and plumbing systems.
He emphasised that this achievement would make it easier for national and international guests to come and go while also helping to prevent cross-border crimes, making it a true win-win scenario for both the public and the officials working at the border.
