Crossing the border from Cambodia to Thailand: my experience
Many travellers in South-East Asia end up entering Thailand by land from Cambodia, as part of the Banana Pancake loop. I was no exception!
When preparing to cross the border, I couldn’t find all that much information about what it would be like, but what I did was not positive. Many reviews said the Poipet / Aranyprathet border crossing between Bangkok and Siem Reap was scammy and awkward. For backpackers who have started their journey relatively recently, travelling over land borders is a new experience – particularly if you’re British like me; it can seem daunting.
However, I’m glad to say that I found crossing the border into Thailand from Cambodia simple. I’ve therefore written this account of my experience to give you more information on what the crossing is like and what to expect.
Heading into Thailand as a Brit
Citizens from a range of countries can enter Thailand for tourism for up to 60 days without a visa. Fortunately for me, the UK is one of those countries, so there was no faffing around with a visa. (By the way, most countries in Europe and South-East Asia, as well as the USA, Australia and New Zealand, are also exempt.)
I don’t know whether my experience would have been the same if I had actually required a visa!
Which bus did we take?
My sister, Lou, and I travelled from Siem Reap in Cambodia to Bangkok in Thailand with Virak Buntham Express. We booked our tickets online using 12go.asia.
I was generally happy with the bus we chose. There were some slightly odd moments, but to be honest this seems like the general theme with taking buses in South-East Asia; I was slightly desensitised at this point of my trip.
The bus cost $37 (£29) per person, with the journey lasting 8.5 hours including our stop at the border. This price is quite high for South-East Asia, but border-crossing buses do seem to have a premium.
Getting on the bus
We booked the 10 am bus, but arrived at the Virak Buntham Express office in Siem Reap thirty minutes early as requested. This seemed to be a good idea, because the assistants gave us an immigration form to fill out at this stage; they even checked it over to make sure we filled it out okay. We also were given a croissant and water – a nice touch!
At 10 am, we got into a van and were taken to a “bus station” in another part of Siem Reap. I say bus station with quotation marks, because it’s not a station at all, just a gravelly area on the side of the road. Still, at this point, Lou and I were transferred into a new van. This one was much more luxurious than the first, so we could get comfy.
Then we set off!
Arriving at the Thai-Cambodia border
At around 12:30 pm, we arrived at the Poipet / Aranyprathet border crossing. There was a short stop without any real purpose at another Virak Buntham Express office at the border, then we drove the final ten minutes to the border.
The van dropped us and our bags off at the border itself. Our driver told us to walk across the border and that the van will see us on the other side – a bit thin on the ground, I’d say, but Lou and I went with it.
Firstly, we went through the Cambodian exit. It literally took two minutes; there was no queue. The immigration officer took our fingerprints, stamped our passports and removed the Cambodian immigration card we got when we came through the border the first time. Simple!
We then walked another minute to the Thai part of the border. There was a two minute long queue, before the immigration officer took my fingerprints and stamped my passport. They checked the immigration card we filled in earlier and took part of it away; that was all.
I had no problems whatsoever during the process.
Finding our bus
Now we were in Thailand, we had the excitement of finding our bus. Luckily, there were a few people on our van ahead of us in the van, who seemed to know where they were going. We followed them along the road until we saw our driver and van at a travel agency on a side street. The agency was now called Travel Smart; we never would have found it otherwise.
At the Travel Smart offices, we waited for the remaining people on our van to join us. This was the perfect time to hunt down the nearest ATM and grab some Pad Thai from a street stand.
Onwards to Bangkok
At 1:30 pm, we were finally ready to head out. We boarded a van to Bangkok along with another family, leaving at 1:45 pm. Cue a drive with a lot of screaming from a toddler!
Over the next five hours, we stopped several times, which was convenient for me to get Thai milk tea for the first time.
At last, at 6:30 pm we made it to Bangkok; we left the van at the Travel Mart offices and got a Grab to our accommodation.
Conclusion
Travelling from Cambodia to Thailand by bus was surprisingly simple. It’s not a glamorous journey, but it gets the job done.
I hope this account helps you to gather a bit more information on the journey and perhaps gain some reassurance that this isn’t as bad as some backpackers would have you believe.
Do you have any questions about crossing the border from Cambodia to Thailand? Let me know in the comments!
