Brownie Points for Cambodia

I never thought I'd find myself saying this but, many a country - including the "developed" ones - could do to take a page out of Cambodia's book.

As a citizen of a nation where our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is quite possibly one of the most useless ones out there, I have to obtain tourist (and/or transit) visas for practically everywhere. I'm sure you can imagine the aggravation and hassle this involves for anyone who might want to actually leave the country now and again to visit someplace other than a fellow commonwealth nation.

Usually, it involves at least two trips to the embassy of a the desired destination country (and if you know anything about any government office anywhere, that means lots of waiting, both times), shelling out some cash, and scrambling to find additional passport photos. All for a single entry visa... too bad if you're planning on making multiple trips. You'll need to return to the beginning and repeat the entire process (unless you are lucky enough to be visiting one of the few countries that grant multiple-entry tourist visas).

So, you can only imagine my surprise to discover that Cambodia, in it's technological advancement, gives tourists the option of applying for their visa online. They evidently want to make it as easy as possible for tourists to visit their country and I have to commend them on the entire process. Three things in particular won me over (not that I needed much extra beyond an online application):
(1) the entire application process took about 5 minutes to complete
(2) you don't need a standard passport photo... as long as the picture is only of you, comprised mostly of your head & shoulders, and your head is facing forward, you're all set and
(3) very fast response time... I submitted my application online at 12:30 am and when I woke up this morning at 8:30 am there was my approval notice.

Now, if only places, like France, would follow suit I'd really be happy.