Experiencing a hundred of cycling tour from Bangkok for the City Of Temples and Continue to cross the Poipet International Border to Siem Reap for Angkor Wat Cycling, We did end the indochina bike tour 14 days in Ho Chi Minh City (also called Saigon). We finally understand the very much travelers are not really know how to come and cross in advance. It is very easy but you sometime are difficult and stay one more night in Poipet if you are not enough the Visa Documentary such as Approval Letter, Advance Visa or you turn to the different International border which are all the big trouble !!!
1. Bangkok to Siem Reap: Avoiding the scams at Poipet border crossing.
The following writing, we provide practical information and tips to help make your trip easy and pleasant, especially how to avoid the scams at Poipet border crossing
Step 1: Options
Options 1: Minibus, walking, Cambodia Government Bus
- Take a comfortable, air conditioned minibus from our hotel in Bangkok, Thailand to the border town of Aranyaprathet, Thailand. Approximate duration, 4 hours.
- Cross the border on foot, get visa, pass through Thai and Cambodia customs. Approximate duration, 2 – 5 hours.
- Once past the border take a large Cambodian government bus from Poipet, Cambodia to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Approximate duration, 4 hours.
Option 2: Book a biking tour from Bangkok to Siem Reap 4 days with Vietnam By Bike
- Monthly Departure on 7th and 16th.
- Route: Bangkok - Khao Yai - Poipet - Siem Reap.
- Biking Distance per day: 50km/day.
- Route Type: Backroads, Off-Roads - Dirt Roads.
- Price from: 398 USD/person.
Option 3: Mininus, walking, taxi
- Take a comfortable, air conditioned minibus from our hotel in Bangkok, Thailand to the border town of Aranyaprathet, Thailand. Approximate duration, 4 hours
- Cross the border on foot, get visa, pass through Thai and Cambodian customs. Estimated Time: Approximate duration, 2-5 hours
- Once past the border take a taxi from Poipet, Cambodia to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Estimated time: Approximate duration, 2 hours
Taking the bus will set you back anywhere between 25 and 35 USD. IF you go by bus, I recommend booking a direct bus. This is easier and roughly the same price. It used to be the case that there were no direct buses and that any ‘direct service’ still included a change of bus at the border, but nowadays Grant Ibis and Nattakan actually offer direct buses. This means you can leave you luggage (take your valuables!) on the bus while crossing the border and getting your visa, and hopping back on into it for your journey onward. The buses leave from the Bangkok northern terminal ‘Mo Chit 2’.
Some drivers even process the visa for you for an additional fee. It is up to you whether you entrust them with your passport or not, but take in mind that not all travelers will be using this service. It will therefore not make traveling onward any faster.
The bus-drive will be lengthy and cost you all day. Considering Asian buses aren’t that comfortable it can be quite a bore.
- Direct bus: Bangkok, Thailand – Siem Reap, Cambodia:
- Buy from: Mo Chit Bus Terminal, Bangkok
- Cost: 750 Bath (Local Currency).
- Departure time: 8am
- Arrival time: 4:30pm
- Duration: 8hr 30mins, but around 1.5 hours was spent crossing the border
Step 2: Getting out of Thailand and welcome to Cambodia
The Tuk-Tuk driver to take us directly to the immigration office. After reaching there the Thailand immigration office and departure gate are on the left. It took us 10 minutes to complete the immigration formalities on the Thailand side. After crossing the gate keep walking and you’ll see the Cambodian visa office on the right side of the road. Cambodian authorities took another 20 minutes to process the visa. They charge 30 USD as the visa fees. US Dollars are happily acceptable everywhere in Cambodia, even by government authorities. So don’t waste your time and resources in getting the Cambodian Riel. Once you are done with all the visa and immigration formalities and ready to do the next lap of your journey. Goodbye Thailand and welcome to Cambodia
How to avoid the scam.
- Scams include:
- Being told that your onward bound bus is delayed for a few hours and being advised to take a shared taxi instead
- Visa-entry charges that don't exist. Officials are known to insist on taxes that don't exist. Check out the going conditions of entering Cambodia.
- Money changers. A recent practice is to tell bus travelelrs that this is the last chance to change their money because there are "no banks in Siem Reap." Don't believe it. Siem Reap has good western banks and they offer way better rates than the money changers.
- Bars and other local entertainments including gambling can be rip-off establishments enforced by some mean strong-arm types.
Pick-pockets.
Transport arrangements. Most buses coming through Poipet have arrangements with Siem Reap guest houses and hotels, and will tend to deliver at a later hour at night than you expect, at the Guest House who has paid the driver. Attempts to extricate yourself from 'their" choice of accommodation (which are almost always inferior/over priced guesthouses) aren't always easy, and can get strained. But if you are firm and insistent that you will only go to your own pre-booked guest house then you should.
Note that, please, do not change money at the border. If you want Thai baht ahead of time, you can change money at Siem Reap’s Old Market before heading out, or hit the ATM at the 7-11 immediately after crossing the border. Don’t believe anything anyone says about facilitation fees. All transport prices quoted here are current, so negotiate until you get pretty close. Don’t get on any buses to the “bus terminal” it’s just a place where they force you to buy overpriced food and overpriced bus tickets. You can get cheap food and cheap bus tickets at Rong Kleu Market and don’t need to bother with the scammy bus terminal. ( 886)