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.
