I've heard the same thing here in Cambodia. I've never been hit for a bribe when going through immigration or customs, but I have spoken to Cambodians and Cambodian-Americans who have told me that in the past they have been strongly "encouraged" to pay a small amount at immigration - and if they choose not to do so, their luggage is gone through very carefully by the customs folks. Local newspapers have covered this as well.

That said, this may no longer be the case: when talking recently about this with a Cambodian colleague, he told me that he does not pay out of principle, and that they no longer bother him about it (though they used to in the past). He wasn't sure if there was a new "no fees" policy in place generally, or if it was just that they decided not to bother the ones who refuse to pay.

- Michael

I've talked to people going into the Dominican Republic who include $10-20 with their passports if they are bringing in booze or other things they don't want inspected. I don't bring anything crazy so have never offer money there.

In 2001 I was in Kenya bringing a couple tons of donations in and had to pay between 100 and 1000 KSH ($1.25-12.50) for each of the signatures on the paperwork. The police also stopped cars regularly looking for small tips, 50-100 KSH worked there. This was called chai (tea) or tika-kita-kidogo (TKK) (something small).

In 2003 after the elections they were arresting cops for taking bribes. I'm not sure how customs for large shipments works now.