T HE Ministry of Tourism has taken over the collection of entrance fees to the

Angkor complex and on May 1 introduced a flat daily rate of $20 to visit the

fabled temples.

Three-day passes now cost $40 and seven-day passes $60,

said Ministry spokesman Sun Chhay.

The charges will generally work out

cheaper for tourists who were previously charged for each temple they visited

and were also subject to ad hoc charges from the local militias in charge of

security at the smaller temples.

The Ministry hopes to cut out the

forgery of tickets and other abuses which led to funds being

defrauded.

Monthly revenue from the entrance fees lept from $20,000 to

$70,000 in the months prior to the Ministry taking over, officials found,

despite tourist numbers not showing a corresponding increase.

Ministry

sources said they believed it was an attempt by corrupt provincial officials,

police and tour operators to cover their tracks on ticketing scams before the

central takeover.

Under the old system ticket revenues were channelled to

the central government via the provincial authorities, said Chhay, adding that

last year $280,000 went into government coffers.