Bangkok Airways flight
Travelling between Bangkok and Siem Reap should be relatively simple. After all it's little more than 400 Km. An hour by plane should be easy and very cheap on a continent that prides itself on cheap air travel. Well, think again! Bangkok Airways appear to have a monopoly here and prices are extraordinarily high for such a short journey. At the time of writing, checking for flights two weeks ahead of travel shows return prices of approximately 17,000THB. I am sorry but over US$500 for a one hour flight is indefensible.
Driving
For holidays this is not an option. Hire companies will not allow their vehicles to leave Thailand and enter Cambodia. Even borrowing a friends car is extremely difficult as paperwork becomes a nightmare. With your own car it is possible but documentation is not easy. Make sure that you have all your ownership documents with you, and be prepared to be messed about for a couple for hours before possibly getting declined. Some people drive to Aranyapraphet, leave the car there then get a taxi, but I wouldn't do it.
Bus Travel
An option to flying is to take the bus. Fares seem cheap enough, booking from any travel agent in Bangkok it is easy to get a bus ticket one way for 900THB, this can be up graded at the Cambodian border in order to complete the journey by taxi. The bus leaves Bangkok at 7.30 AM and if you are lucky the driver might know Bangkok well enough to find the highway, we weren't! Thinking he was looking for a hotel for a further pick up, I stayed silent as he drove round in circles for over an hour before finally stumbling across a highway exit. He stopped twice en route to refuel. These minibuses run on liquid gas and for some reason it took a full 15 minutes to top up the tank each time.
When you reach the border they play a cute little scam. They stop at a shop where you are told you have to fill out the visa forms. They then try to get you to pay 1300THB for your visa. Do not be taken in by this. Politely refuse saying that you will pay at the border. Doing so will save you about 700THB.
The border is a disaster to be honest. It involves walking about 300 yards from the bus to Thai immigration, 300 yards across a no-man's land that is filthy and full of pickpockets to the Cambodian immigration, then having cleared there, a further 300 to the buses. At this point I pointed out that I wanted to pay the up grade and get a taxi. We sat around waiting for the guy to find two more travel companions to fill the taxi. In the end I paid the full 1200 for the taxi and my travel companion and I had the taxi to ourselves. It was definitely worth it.
The return journey from Siem Reap to Bangkok is far cheaper if you book it in Siem Reap. 300THB seemed like a real bargain and I chose to get the bus instead of the upgraded taxi. We were collected by motodop at 7.30 and driven to a travel agent's office in town. Here we were joined by about 70 backpackers before being walked to two buses parked round the corner. The buses were full but seemed perfectly adequate at first. I settled down and prepared to catch up on some sleep. This is totally impossible, due mainly to the fact that the driver sounds his horn every 20 seconds or so for the next 5 hours. He also chooses to stop every hour so that shops can try to sell everything from food to clothes. Arriving at the border at 1pm he stopped the bus 100 yards away from immigration and just pointed in the general direction. We were lucky in that we knew where it was so we headed off to beat the rush and were soon at the front of an enormous queue. We got through, were picked up and taken by pickup truck to the same shop where they tried to sell us the overpriced visas. We were told the bus would be 45 minutes so we ordered some food. Whilst this was very tasty, it meant that we missed the first bus which left immediately carrying the passengers who didn't buy food.
Several stops later we arrived on the outskirts of Bangkok to be told that the bus only stops at Khao San Road, miles away from where I wanted and had booked on the way out. We had to argue with the driver in order to get him to stop near Bang Na so we could get a taxi home. Door to door took over 11 hours. That is an average speed of 22 miles per hour!
Train Travel
Whilst it is possible to get a train from Hualamphong Station in Bangkok to Aranypraphet 6 Km from the border for just about 50 THB, it leaves at 5.55 and takes 6 hours. However at the border, the train stops and as there is no train from Poipet to Siem Reap, you have to get a tuk tuk to the border itself, go through the immigration fiasco and try to get a bus or a taxi on the other side.
Overview
I think it is incredible in this day and age that the journey to one of the most desired destinations in Asia is so difficult. There is much talk of through buses starting within a year; I won't hold my breath. It is simply not the way things happen out here. The Thai and Cambodian governments barely talk to each other. Whoever is benefitting from the air travel monopoly won't let go that easy and the same situation will just carry on. It is only recently that the road to Siem Reap has been sealed. In many ways the easiest way to travel between these two cities could well be to fly to Phnom Penh this takes 1 and a half hours and will cost about US$275. Then get the Mekhong Express bus for about US$12 for a comfortable 5 hour journey onwards. This of course gives you the option of a couple of days in Cambodia's capital c
Keith Hancock is a musician and freelance writer from Manchester England, currently living in Bangkok. He has travelled extensively through North America, Europe, Australasia and Asia.
He has written commissioned work for the BBC, writes on a broad range of subjects and currently travels throughout Asia constantly.
His daily blog, Land Of Smiles can be found at
By K. Hancock
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