Border Crossing - Bangkok to Sihanoukville Cambodia

Between Cambodia and Thailand there are two main land border crossings, this post is detailing the southern border crossing between Thai/Cambodia and what to expect when you go through this little slice of fun and the focus is the Thai/Cambodia border crossing in the southern section of Thailand along the Andaman Sea coastal route from Bangkok.

The basic transit route is done by taking a bus from Bangkok to the Thai city of Trat, then from Trat to the Thai border side.  Going from Bangkok, there are two locations where a person can start, the very large and main bus terminal at Mo Chit in the northwest part of the city or Ekkamai (Eastern) bus terminal which is located a short hop from the Bangkok CBD and within 40 meters from the Ekkamai BTS stop.

According to referenced schedules, the bus from Mo Chit is claimed to be a quicker ride to Trat but the bus from Ekkamai takes between 5-6 hours mostly depending on traffic.

The current cost for the ticket is 265 Baht for an air-conditioned bus. The arrival in Trat is a bus terminal outside the city and from Trat there are transportation options for the crossing into Cambodia depending on your destination.

If going to Sihanoukville, the best way is to locate a mini van to the border which are located at the very end of the bus station on the right hand side and the current cost for this is 120 Baht and takes a bit over an hour depending on the driver and traffic.  These are comfortable air-conditioned vehicles with the only issue being baggage based on who is in the vehicle and how much luggage/baggage they have.

You will be dropped off at the Thai border and this is where the fun begins.

Exiting the Thai side is a very straight forward event by locating the departure window and stamping out.  There is a short walk to the Cambodian side and the arrival windows where you must complete the required documents (entry/exit forms), have your photo taken and be finger printed both hands, this includes all fingers & thumbs.

The building is located on the left side of the road and this is where the tricky bit begins.

As you are heading toward the arrival window you will be confronted by a throng of Cambodians who “want” to “help” you through this process and my suggestion is to completely ignore them until you have completed the arrival process. They will also be attempting to sell you transport to other cities as well as goods but in general this only adds to the confused state of the entry process so avoid these "nice" people until you are stamped in or if you are in a que waiting your turn, go ahead and listen to their information but make no promises or commitments until you are sure of your plans.  Some of the information might be about the bus to another city or transport to Koh Kong so I do recommend if standing in the que, it does no harm to listen to them and you might hear information you need, however, be aware of scams and do not allow yourself to make a rushed decision by any of the locals and make no promises unless you like what you hear.

Also, just before you can get to the arrival window, there will be a desk with a sign stating “Health Check” and this is one way for the Cambodians to take advantage of the unknowing tourists. It is not required to stop at this “health check” desk to enter the country, but is basically a scam which the border officials allow to take place.  If for some reason you do stop at this desk, be careful because they charge 20 Thai Baht but I recently met a first timer who paid 20USD then asked me if that was the normal charge.  Personally, I routinely walk past this desk and ignore anyone saying I need to stop there.

Additionally, on the Cambodian side, you will be confronted by the locals who “want to help you” and I can not state that all of them are trying to take advantage of you but I will say that about 98% are.  They will offer to assist with the immigration paperwork which is basically an arrival/departure card or if you have other issues but be aware their main objective is to separate you from your money.

I met one traveler who I later found out was doing a visa run and one of the “friendly” locals was helping him. It turned out this person had overstayed his visa, gave this “friendly/helping” local 10USD to take care of the overstay fine. When he was submitting his passport and documents the border officials tell him he owes 500 Thai Baht for an overstay fine and that is where he discovers the nice man who “helped” him did nothing more than keep his money and the man still had to pay the 500 Baht to the Cambodian officials.

After finally completing the Cambodian immigration process it is possible to do the following;

• Get a bus to Sihanoukville at the border for 15USD but you need to be there in time to get the afternoon departure.
• Get a tuk-tuk to Koh Kong which is about 12 kilometers away – prices vary but are not cheap, pay no more than 200 Thai Baht or the equivalent in US dollars which is about 8USD or you can take a motorbike for less depending on your luggage situation.  Do not pay the toll fees and tell the driver he pays this not you.
• Get a bus to Phnom Penh or other locations but these buses are not plentiful at the border and timing is essential for these departures. 

Here are the recommendations for the above options;

Assuming you get through all the border(s) processing no later than 1:30pm then taking the bus to Sihanoukville is possible but you arrive around dark because even though the distance to Sihanoukville is not far you are going through the mountains and this can take between 4-6 hours.

I always recommend that you overnight in Koh Kong then get the morning bus out to your next destination. I view it like this, you have already been on a long ride from Bangkok to Cambodia and to get through these crossing by 1:30pm you must get a bus departure from Bangkok no later than 6am.

Unless you are on a time crunch to be at your next location in Cambodia, I recommend you rest the night then start out fresh the next day for your new location regardless where it might be.

Koh Kong has some good hotels/guest houses but my personal choice is Apex Koh Kong Hotel, click here for the link to their web site, because this is a good clean hotel, rooms are nice, the food is good, the room costs are reasonable and it is also close to many local shops, free fast wifi internet and swimming pool.

You can arrange your bus ticket at the hotel with a free pickup to the bus terminal and in the case of going to Sihanoukville, the ticket is 10USD.

Since I only go to Sihanoukville from this crossing I can not offer any information on bus times or prices to other locations but I can guarantee these will be long rides. For other information concerning Cambodia and land border crossings click here to visit the best web site covering Cambodia on the internet.

Regardless of what you do when you get to the border and go forward, remember this one thing, Sihanoukville is full of thieves so be mindful of your personal belongings. I was at the Tourist Police office in Sihanoukville and talked to a western tourist who had his bag literally yanked off his shoulder by a passing motorbike rider as the tourist was on his own rented motorbike.

Travel Safe, Travel Happy