Crossing the Poipet Border - Thailand to Cambodia
Crossing a countries border can be stressful, land borders even more so. The popular backpacker crossing point of Poipet links Thailand to Cambodia - Read our complete guide to getting a visa, booking a bus and generally having a stress free border crossing!
The Poipet /Aranyprathet border is the main land-link that most travellers will use when crossing between Thailand and Cambodia.
On the Thai side the border is called Aranyprathet. In Cambodia the border opens into the town of Poipet (sometimes spelt Poi Pet). Famous or perhaps infamous, the border is the closest land crossing between the Thai capital of Bangkok and Cambodia’s ancient city of Siem Reap and the ruins of Angkor Wat. This border makes for an easy bridge between the two countries if you’re looking to save money on flights.
The Poipet / Aranyprathet border has a reputation, perhaps undeserved, as an awkward or difficult border crossing. Read our guide below for our experiences, tips and tricks and how to have a smooth border crossing!
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In this guide:
Bangkok to Cambodia - Our experience
After a fantastic month adventuring around Thailand, it was time to move on. We had really enjoyed seeing Thailand at the start of the ‘rainy season’ so we thought we’d continue into another country in the grips of the “wet” season - Cambodia.
The rainy season for both Thailand and Cambodia runs roughly from June to October. During the “rainy or low” season, accommodation prices are cheaper, attractions less busy but the heat and humidity are more intense and you will definitely be caught in some downpours of biblical proportions! The rain will be intense but generally over quite quickly. Just make you pack your raincoat and an umbrella.
We were finishing our time in Thailand in the capital city of Bangkok. Being budget conscious backpackers we didn’t fancy flying the short distance to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh in Cambodia, so instead we investigated the land border options.
We use 12Go for a good deal of our travel arrangements and found many operators running between Thailand and Cambodia. We decided our first stop in Cambodia would be the city of Battambang. Only two hours from the border, Battambang is Cambodia’s third largest city and has lots of interesting things to see and do.
We found tickets on 12Go that would get us between downtown Bangkok and the centre of Battambang. We would set off at 09:30 am in the morning and would arrive by 17:00 pm that evening.
After we had booked our tickets and obtained our Cambodia e-visa (more on this later), we were ready for our journey to Cambodia. Or at least we would be once we had finished fighting our clothes back into our backpacks!
The morning of the travel day quickly came around and we made our way to the Travel Mart Bangkok office near Khao San road (location). We arrived early and the helpful girls on the counter checked our passports and visas. If you are travelling without an e-visa, Travel Mart can help you obtain a visa for a fee. We were also given a Cambodian Immigration Card to fill out.
All immigration forms sorted, it was time for us to have one final Bangkok breakfast. Bypassing the noodle soup stalls we headed straight to the golden arches and had the traditional Thai breakfast of hashbrowns and a sausage egg McMuffin (don’t judge us, if you’ve been travelling for a long time, there comes a time when a McDonald’s breakfast just hits right!).
Back at the office we boarded our luxury minivan and headed out of the city. We stopped a couple of hours into the journey for a twenty minute snack stop to pick up coffee, lunch and any other supplies from the 7/11 service station. Continuing our healthy eating habits we treated ourselves to sushi triangles and an extremely sweet iced coffee.
On the minivan it was just us, a Cambodian father and son and two little old ladies heading to the border. However at our 7/11 snack stop we took on the additional passengers of a horde of angry mosquitoes! The next hour or so to the border was spent with us ruthlessly hunting down the airborne vampires.
We arrived at Aranyaprathet Gate on the Thai side of the border. Our driver gave us a lanyard identifying us and walked us through the border procedure. We had to walk to the second floor of the Thai side where we would be stamped out of Thailand. Then, we would cross ‘no mans land’ and the friendship bridge (donated by the UK), before heading upstairs to present our visas and to be stamped into Cambodia.
We have heard all sorts of horror stories about the Poipet border from denied entries to surprise “fees / fines” but we experienced none of that. It all unfolded exactly as our guide said it would. We were stamped out of Thailand with no issue and waltzed through Cambodia immigration.
We have some tips that made our border crossing easy, but more on that later.
After immigration we stepped out and were officially in Cambodia. We had not stepped foot in this beautiful country for nearly a decade. Years ago, it had been our first southeast Asian experience and you could even argue our current adventures could all be traced back to that first formative adventure. We were so happy to be back!
A very young Jellie on their first trip to Cambodia!
Outside of the border we had a short walk to the roundabout to the carpark of the Vireak Buntham Poipet Bus Office (location) car park where our minivan was waiting for us. From the border it was a two hour journey to Battambang where serendipitously for us the bus office was a 100 metres from our hostel.
Despite it taking most of the day and reading so many horror stories online, it had been a completely smooth, stress free experience. Once checked in to our hostel, the Lucky Hostel the only thing left to do, was cheers our first Angkor beers. We were back!
Booking your travel - Bangkok to Cambodia
The cheapest way to travel between Thailand and Cambodia is via land. We booked our tickets via 12Go.
We booked our tickets and travelled with Travel Mart Bangkok. Travel Mart offers a full range of departure times and buses and can transfer you between Bangkok and the Aranyaprathet/Poipet border, Battambang, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. They can also help in arranging your Cambodia visas.
Check out bus tickets for the most popular routes below:
Bangkok to Sihanoukville - for ferry links to the islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem
If you do want to travel by air, we’d recommend searching for tickets on the Trip.com widget below:
One reason you might want to consider flying is that, if you’re travelling from Cambodia to Thailand, the visa process (for the UK at least) is slightly different when arriving by air and you have more entries per year than by land border. Also it goes without saying that the journey is faster by air and if you’re short on time, it would save you a full day's travel.
Cambodia visas
Cambodia requires a visa for entry. You can do this at the border or in advance. For a smooth transition we would recommend sorting out an e-visa in advance.
Cambodia e-visa for UK citizens
Applying for an e-visa is easy to do and took us all of about ten minutes to apply. You can apply for a Cambodia e-visa here.
The visa costs $30 per person ($5 dollars cheaper than at the border) and you will need a passport sized photo to upload as well as images of your passport.
Once the visa is approved you will need to print two copies of the visa. One copy you will give to immigration when you enter the country and the other copy is to be handed over when you leave. You will also need to present your Cambodian Immigration Card at the border. This card is to be kept with your passport until you leave the country.
Visas are valid for 30 days but can be extended once only for tourist visas.
If you are applying for an e-visa make sure you submit your application at least 4 days before you travel.
For up to date visa information check out the UK Foreign Office advice here.
Pay attention to the date you need to leave Cambodia as overstaying a visa is expensive and overall a terrible idea!
The Cambodian Immigration Card can be filled out at the border, but lots of transport companies will give you this to fill out in advance. If you don’t have one, they are available just before you queue up at the Cambodia passport check.
Cambodia e-arrival app
Cambodia is trialling the run of the e-arrival app. Using the app you can apply for an e-visa on arrival in advance as well as filling out your immigration arrival card online.
We used the app for the arrival card (not the e-visa) but were not asked to display it at any point. It maybe that it was linked to our passports or us filling in the physical Cambodian Immigration Card was enough. The app states that using it is mandatory but we did not see anyone else using it.
Let us know in the comments if the app becomes more widely adopted and make sure to check the entry requirements before you travel.
Poipet Border tips
The border is listed as being open everyday from 6am to 10pm. If you’ve booked a through ticket (i.e. your booked journey doesn’t end at one side of the border) it should be safe to assume that you’ll be crossing during the open hours. If you’re booking your own crossing (i.e. arranging your own transport) you’ll need to bear the opening times in mind.
When you arrive at the Thai side of the border (Aranyaprathet Gate) make sure your passport is stamped with a Thai exit stamp. This applies in reverse when exiting Cambodia via Poipet. This is one of the more common horror stories we’ve heard where travellers are stuck in limbo between the two borders and have to pay a “fee” for the correction. However this could all be exaggerated, as in our experience everything was handled easily and professionally.
For those travelling to Cambodia, make sure you have printed two copies of your e-visa and present them with your passport and immigration card to the border guards.
For those travelling into Thailand (UK nationals) you do not need to apply for a visa. There is a visa waiver on arrival. Check out the UK Foreign Advice Office for the most up to date visa information for Thailand. Also be aware that there is a limit to the number of times you can enter Thailand by land each year and it is a different limit to the number of times you can enter by air. Again check out the entry requirements before travelling to Thailand.
Another story we’ve heard (again we can’t say how common or accurate this is) is that as a foreigner, you don’t want to be in the first batch to cross the border first thing in the morning. A story circulating online was that an eager beaver tried to cross first thing in the morning and that being the only foreigner was subjected to a raft of surprise “fees, fines and charges”. Always try and go through in the midst of a group so you cannot be singled out.
Most issues reported from the Poipet border seem to come from people attempting a “border run” i.e extending their time in Thailand by briefly exiting and re-entering the country on a new visa. Border runs are understandably looked down on as an abuse of the system and if the officials suspect you of it, they can deny you re-entry or generally make your time more difficult. The solution is - don’t border run. Go and see Cambodia, honestly just spend time there! Later on you can return to Thailand legitimately and not abuse their generous entry policies.
Thailand and Cambodia have different rules for drugs etc. Make sure you are not breaking any of them. It would be a really stupid way to get an international drugs smuggling charge!
We see a lot of people at the border who seem more dressed for a day at the beach than an official meeting to enter the country. Everything always goes smoother if you’re demonstrating respect for the countries you’re entering or exiting. You don’t need to wear a three-piece suit and a top hat but maybe forgo the Chang singlet!
If you’re coming by bus, like we were, and the minibus has an onward journey e.g. to Battambang or Siem Reap then check with the driver where they want you to meet them on the other side of the border. There’s no waiting for vehicles immediately outside either border gate so you will have to walk and find your minivan. On the Thai side there is a large car park near the Star Plaza mall. This car park is surrounded by offices for most of the major tour operators and is the logical meeting point. On the Cambodian side if you continue walking straight up the road, away from the border gate you come to a roundabout which is again surrounded by car parks for the various tour operators. On our transfer we kept the same minivan and did not have to unload our bags. The minivan and our luggage crossed the border without us and met back up with us on the other side. For many tour operators this will not be the case. You will have to take your luggage with you through the border and meet up with a different driver / bus on the other side. Check this with your operator so you know what to expect.
Both sides of the border have plenty of accommodation choices. Check out the Thai choices here and the Cambodian options here. Staying at or near the border would be a good idea if you’re not coming in from Bangkok / Siem Reap / Battambang and need to stagger your journey around the border opening times.
There are plenty of food and drink options at the border and there are toilets inside the border offices and in the surrounding areas.
Both Thailand and Cambodia are in the same time zone so no need to adjust your watches on crossing.
ATMs are available at each side of the border. Remember in Cambodia you can use and withdraw both US dollars and Cambodian riel. For Thailand you will need to withdraw Thai baht. Unfortunately both Thailand and Cambodia charge a fee for using the ATMs. Thailand typically charges 220 baht and Cambodia varies between $4 and $7 per withdrawal.
We hope this guide to crossing the Poipet border has demystified and reassured you. Land border crossings are always a little stressful and border towns always a little strange. We wrote this article as we wanted reassurance before we journeyed to Cambodia and after a good travel day we thought we’d leave this here to reassure someone else!
Have a great time wherever you’re heading.
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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