Hi guys,

I've just relocated from Chiang Mai in Thailand to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. I thought i would share some tips i picked up in case anybody else wants to make the journey.

Chiang Mai to Bangkok is easy enough and so i will start in Bangkok. There are 2 trains a day to Aranyaprathet on the Thai-Cambodia border. The first one leaves Bangkok at 05:55 (arriving at 11:35) and the later one at 13:05 (arriving at 17:35). The border crossing is open until 20:00 (at the time of writing) so even on the later train you would have plenty of time to make the crossing. The only thing you need to be careful about is getting out of Poipet on the Cambodian side. The buses leave early and your only other option is a tourist trap. More on that later..

The train from bangkok is free for Thai nationals and 48 baht for everybody else. You cannot reserve a seat so i would recommend getting on the train as early as possible or you might be left with a hard seat, or worse, standing for the 6-ish hour journey. There are lots of hawkers on the train so you won't go hungry or thirsty. If in doubt take plenty of water and fruit.

Once at Aranyaprathet you can either head straight for the border or stay for a night in the town. I would recommend staying a night as i think it's a lovely little place and the locals are really friendly. Also it means you can get an early start the next morning.

If you head straight to Cambodia you can take a tuk tuk from the station to Rong Glua market for about 50 baht (if you bargain well!).
Once in Rong Glua market at the border be VERY careful of pickpockets and general theft. I had no problems myself but was warned about it many times. Also bear in mind that the vast majority of folk here are Khmer, not Thais.

Now to the tourist trap. As previously mentioned the buses out of Poipet leave early (around 8am). If you miss those you will likely find yourself on a free bus ride from the border to a bus station that will charge you nearly double the going rate for a bus ticket out of town. The company is called Oudom Rithy and you will be paying around $10 to Siem Reap and $15 to Phnom Penh. Not bank breaking i know but you can get to Phnom Penh for about $7 with Phnom Penh Sorya. Their office can be found in Poipet on NH5 near the turning for the new (rip-off) bus station. If you buy your ticket in Thailand you will be paying the rip-off prices. If in doubt you can call Phnom Penh Sorya on 023-210-359 (or 859) for directions to their office. You can even ask them to explain the location to your moto/tuk tuk driver.

It is worth noting here that Thai Baht is useable in Poipet. As with the rest of Cambodia USD also works as of course does KH Riel.

My advice is to overnight in Aranyaprathet and get an early start in the morning. There are plenty of decent hotels and guesthouses in town. We stayed at Inter Hotel which was really nice. The staff were super friendly and accomodating. 400 Baht got us a large double room with air con, cable TV, fridge, bathroom and wifi. In the morning take a tuk tuk to the border and head straight across on foot. Once on the other side grab a moto or tuk tuk to the Phnom Penh Sorya office for 50 baht or so (always agree the price before you get in/on). The buses leave pretty early with the latest departures to Phnom Penh at about 8am.

If you get stuck in Poipet one option is to take a share taxi to Sisophon for about $3 or so. They can be found on NH5 a couple KMs from the border. Failing that you can go with Oudom Rithy for $5. It only takes 40mins or so and is a sizeable town. That's what we did and in Sisophon we found a delightful homestay called Bambous (3 fan roomswith cable TV. $7 a night) who arranged onward travel to Phnom Penh for $5. It was clean, comfortable and offered delicious food for our weary bodies! We stayed a night and were picked up from the guesthouse the next morning. You can call them for a free moto pickup anywhere in Sisophon on 012 212 259.

Visas: You can get a tourist visa on arrival at the border for $20 which can be extended at immigration within Cambodia for 1 more month (no more). Alternatively you can get a business visa for $25 which can be extended indefinately. If you purchase the business visa at the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok it will cost US$35 (which is what i did so i am not sure if you can get one at the border. You can get them on arrival at the airport though.). Once inside Cambodia you can purchase 1 month, 3 month, 6 month or 1 year extensions at immigration, or get an agent to do it for you. Only 6month and 1 year visas are multiple entry. No questions are asked when applying for the business visas. All you need is your fee and a passport sized photograph. There is currently no limit on the amount of extensions you can have for a business visa.

In the small hope this will be useful to somebody, my girlfriend is Thai and has been travelling with me for around 7 months now. Thais can currently get a free 14-day entry permit (not sure if it's an actual visa or not) at the border. This is not extendable but you can do border runs for a further 14 day permit with (as i understand it) no limit on the amount of times you do the run. Alternatively you can change it into a full tourist visa for about $40 in Phnom Penh for the 1 month visa. We haven't done it yet but i understand you can easily cahnge tourist visas into business visas meaning you pay a little more but can stay in the country indefinately.

Note: There are other scams in Poipet to be wary of such as money changing. Someone will try to convince you it is essential to change money into Riel at crazy exchange rates. You should be getting AT LEAST 4,000 Riel to a US Dollar, hopefully a little more.

Anyway i hope this is of use to someone. It is far from conclusive and i would welcome any additions/corrections people want to add.

What a super report, Mr. Mustard! Thank you ever so much for taking the time to put your experience into words - I am sure many people will find it of use.

Is Poipet still an absolute toilet? Horrific place when I passed through it! Beggars, scam artists, huge queues for immigration. Back in 2005 I went the opposite way: Cambodia to Thailand. I had booked a shared taxi from Siem Reap to Poipet for $30 but it fell through; luckily we found a driver at a gas station who took us for $20. Back then the road was completely destroyed (non-stop potholes for 5 hours!) - I believe it's much smoother nowadays... anyway after dodging the Poipet scum I think I hopped on a bus back to Bangkok (5 hours), but I can't remember the details. No worries though, as your account is much more up to date and relevant

Cheers!

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Yes Poipet is still a completely awful place. I can't see any point in staying there for any longer than to book a bus ticket out of there! Full of scams and brothels for the most part. And that really dodgy casino in no-mans-land between Thailand and Cambodia.

The road East to Sisophon is now pretty good. Only the odd pothole still hanging around but generally a pretty smooth ride.

Edit - Jsut thought i should add the train times going from Aranyaprathet to Bangkok:
Dep: 06:40 -> Arr: 12:05
Dep: 13:55 -> Arr: 19:55

Note: All stated times are from the Thai Railway timetable and the journey often takes longer than stated. Bear this in mind when arranging your trip.