I am in Thailand now and to be honest, every time I come back these days I ask myself "why". Cambodia is developing fast and will soon give the Thais a real run for their money in the tourism market. Friendlier, cheaper, more laid back, more interesting and not "done to death".

I saw this story on a Khmer forum. It's an announcement from Bangkok Airways. Bangkok Aiways will fly from Angkor Wat (Siem Reap) to Sihanoukville this winter, and then in 2009 fly from BKK-Sihanoukville.

That will give them 3 entry points. Phnom Penh in the centre, Angkor Wat in the north and the beaches of SihanoukVille in the south on the Gulf of Thailand.

There will be no need for me to do my usual stopover in Thailand now. Sorry to all you Thai-ophiles, but it really is getting noticeably non-friendly here.

Story

I wonder if there's any chance of them running this service from U-Tapao also - that would be handy. Bangkok Airways already use U-Tapao for flights to Samui and Phuket so this might be a logical extension to their operations.

DM

I wonder if there's any chance of them running this service from U-Tapao also - that would be handy. Bangkok Airways already use U-Tapao for flights to Samui and Phuket so this might be a logical extension to their operations.

DM

Bangkok Airways had a flight from Utapao-Phnom Penh, circa '99-2002. They stopped the route because of lack of passengers. I used to fly it frequently for my visa runs and... Planes that could hold up to 70 something passengers rarely had more than 30. It was sooo easy, I used to leave Jomtien at 9:30am and usually be checking into my hotel in PP by 1-1:30pm.

Who knows, maybe 7 years later, the business would be there?

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I wonder if there's any chance of them running this service from U-Tapao also - that would be handy. Bangkok Airways already use U-Tapao for flights to Samui and Phuket so this might be a logical extension to their operations.<br /><br />DM

<br /><br />Bangkok Airways had a flight from Utapao-Phnom Penh, circa '99-2002. They stopped the route because of lack of passengers. I used to fly it frequently for my visa runs and... <img src="style_emoticons/default/cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="cool.gif" /> Planes that could hold up to 70 something passengers rarely had more than 30. It was sooo easy, I used to leave Jomtien at 9:30am and usually be checking into my hotel in PP by 1-1:30pm.<br />Who knows, maybe 7 years later, the business would be there?<br />

There's certainly more to do in Cambodia now than there was a few years ago, so I think that route would work now. Are there any flights out of Utapoa at all now?

I think Bangkok Airways were talking about BKK-Sihanoukville, but they are also mentioning Samuii as a hub, so that will be interesting.