Update: Riding To Cambodia

[floridaguy]

Just got back from Siam Reap, Cambodia and thought I would update you all on the road conditions and procedures for crossing the border on your bike. I went with a falang, so will try to give you the falang and Thai procedure if different. They have greatly simplified things crossing the border. All you need is:

Your passport (duh)

Bike’s green book

Stop at first gate where they inspect incoming cars/motorcycles. They will make a copy of your green book, they fill out 1 form and give you a copy. You sign the form and the log book.

Now, take that form (don’t lose it!), drive to the next inspection point and park in the middle where the small motorbike parking is. Give them your passport, green book, and copies of the form customs gave you. They will log your bike, give you back your forms, and charge you 20 baht for entry and 10 baht for copies.

Leave your bike and go inside the building next to you and get stamped out of Thailand.

Now walk, don’t drive, past them (5 meters), then drive your bike to the next stop point, and go and get stamped into Cambodia. For falangs, you can get your visa just before this point, Thais don’t need one.

Now drive like you stole it across the border, because I don't think anyone there has ever seen a big bike. They thought my buddies Phantom was a Harley.

Driving in Cambodia - I crossed at Poipet and went straight to Angor Wat and back, so my experience is limited to these roads and surrounding Siam Reap.

Roads – they are ok, if you stay on the beaten path. Be aware, there is very loose dirt on the sides of the road, you can’t miss it, it is very red, and slippery. Also, when it rains, it will cover every nook and cranny of your bike. They drive on the right hand side of the road, I had a couple of scary moments. Get gas when you can, there aren’t very many big stations, and I don’t trust buying gas in glass bottles, so fill up at the border and any time you see a big modern looking station. There is a station about half way to Siam reap that was fine.

Cars will overtake coming head on to you, as they don’t consider bikes to be entitled to any lane space. I am used to this somewhat in Thailand, but it is 10 times worse in Cambodia. It doesn’t really phase me anymore, BUT I did have a small heart attack when they were coming at me 3 abreast on a two lane road

The last 50 kilometers into Siam Reap the roads are bad. There are pot holes on the right hand edge of the driving lane big enough to flip your bike if you don’t miss them. Driving on the shoulder is not much better, as the potholes extend to there and you must dodge slow moving scooters. So, for the last 50 kilometers, I drove on the center line and dove back when cars were anywhere near. If you can, follow a car, as oncoming traffic will respect the car and not overtake expecting him to move.

Police – they were stopping cars at 4 points along our drive to Siam Reap. We never stopped with the cars, just went around them. They never gestured to us or even acknowledged us in any way, other than to stare like everyone else. We never saw anything over 150cc the entire 3 days we were there.

Language - Not much Thai is spoken after you leave the border area of about 50 kilometers. English was common, although in Siam Reap, neither was spoken at many places. But, there are a lot of similarities between Khmer and Thai, so if you listen carefully, you can almost piece together what they are saying. First try English, if that doesn’t work, try Thai.

Money – they take baht near the border, but as you go deeper it is accepted less. Best to get some US dollars, as it is accepted everywhere and you get a good exchange rate, not so with baht. And they don’t accept any coins of any kind, and will not take old, wrinkled, defaced, or torn money of any kind. Tips are not expected here, so if you get a bad bill, give that away, as it is worthless anyway.

General thoughts – there are NO 7-11’s in Cambodia! I still can’t get over standing on a busy corner and not being able to see four Sewens within my sight. Not many shops are open past 9pm, so stock up on whatever you want before then. Hotels were cheap, from 300 to 700 baht was acceptable. My TrueMove voice and data stopped working about 30 kilometers past Poipet. I didn’t try to get a temporary sim card, so don’t know how that would work.

Crossing back – this couldn’t have been easier. Stop at the first point and get stamped out of Cambodia.

Now drive to the next point, which is where you parked your bike. Give them back the customs documents (you didn’t lose them right?) and they will keep them. Leave your bike and go get stamped into Thailand.

That’s it! Collect your bike and ride on the correct side of the road, happy that you are back in the Land of Smiles and Sewens!

Here is an example of the customs document. You won't need to bring this or any documents, including any immigration forms (TM2 or TM3 or TM4), as has been reported in other places around the web.

Thai Simplified Customs Declaration EXAMPLE.pdf

[poanoi]

Thanks a whole lot,

and yes, the habit there of ignoring oncoming bikes when taking over disturb me too.

If you go again, please ask if it is possible to get a 6 month/1 year permit for the bike

[Seeker1953]

Excellent report, thanks so much. I've wondered about these things. Now I know. I appreciate your efforts and glad you had a good trip.

Seeker

[Dutchbike]

Thanks for your good report and tips, I'm planning a similar trip and was looking for the right info.

Poi Pet: that's the border crossing near the Rong Kluea market right? ( at Asian highway 1)

Last friday i did my 3 months visa run to Cambodia ( Chong Chom) and asked ( or better my wife) the officials what needed to cross the border by bike, the anwser was: it's not easy and they even didn't bother do explain what i would need. so i guess i better take the same border as you.

From what i've heard it's not allowed to drive with your headlight on in the day, so i have to make a switch.

[smedly]

Great write up and exactly my experience from last months trip to Sihanoukville

Only thing I would add

For some reason driving with lights on is against the law in Cambodia, I decided very early on after entering to drive with lights on, this seemed to have the effect of oncoming cars paying more attention before pulling out to overtake.

Also the police are 100 times worse than Thailand if they don't gt you on actually breaking the law they will make something up, also worth noting some grey areas that you need to be aware of.

Thai driving licence is not valid in Cambodia - you need an international licence, in saying that it depends how long you are going to stay, for a 2 -4 week trip probably not worth the effort in getting one. Also check with your insurance company as you may need extra cover.

Hospitals and medical treatment is also an issue so make sure you don't have an accident, Sihanoukville is seriously lacking in medical facilities and as I understand to whole city has about 1 or 2 doctors so be careful

Driving standards are also 100 times worse than Thailand, they ignore traffic lights - lanes etc the best I can describe it is - Free for all, never thought I see worse than Pattaya but it is shocking

I rode from Pattaya to Sihanoukville via Trat and Koh Kong, experience at the crossing was similar to above - Green book and Passport and being the owner was all I required. The road from Koh Kong was not as bad as a few had said before I left Pattaya but certaintly needs some caution, the Main road (Highway 4) is good but as mentioned above be aware of oncoming cars overtaking.

Distance from Pattaya is 600km almost exactly, 300km Thai side and 300km Cambodia

All in all I will do the trip again probably every time I'm due a border run, I enjoyed Sihanook, lovely beaches and generally nice people, great food and cheap.

[Dutchbike]

One question: is it possible to leave Thailand at let's say Poi Pet and re- enter at a different crossing ( Hat lek, near khlong Yai) ??? So i can make a bit of Cambodia round trip, visit the temples at Angkor Wat and the beaches at Shinoukville.

[floridaguy]

One question: is it possible to leave Thailand at let's say Poi Pet and re- enter at a different crossing ( Hat lek, near khlong Yai) ??? So i can make a bit of Cambodia round trip, visit the temples at Angkor Wat and the beaches at Shinoukville.

Yes, you shouldn't have any issue. Just make sure to keep the documents that customs gives you for the bike. They need it back when crossing over. They actually seemed totally uninterested when we crossed back. He didn't even go over our documents when we crossed back, he just took them from us and waved us through.

The Thai immigration officer was very interested in our trip, asking about roads and Cambodian police. I told them they were worse than Thailand. He asked which one, I said both, and we both laughed.

Edited September 10, 2012 by floridaguy

[floridaguy]

Thanks a whole lot,

and yes, the habit there of ignoring oncoming bikes when taking over disturb me too.

If you go again, please ask if it is possible to get a 6 month/1 year permit for the bike

Was thinking of going back later this month or next month and will ask for you

[floridaguy]

Thanks for your good report and tips, I'm planning a similar trip and was looking for the right info.

Poi Pet: that's the border crossing near the Rong Kluea market right? ( at Asian highway 1)

Last friday i did my 3 months visa run to Cambodia ( Chong Chom) and asked ( or better my wife) the officials what needed to cross the border by bike, the anwser was: it's not easy and they even didn't bother do explain what i would need. so i guess i better take the same border as you.

From what i've heard it's not allowed to drive with your headlight on in the day, so i have to make a switch.

Yes, this is the same border crossing.

And for everyone's information, as the customs officials were filling out our forms, they did say that it is easier to take your bike across at the major/official border crossings, as they are more familiar with doing it. At smaller/local crossings, they don't do it that often, at least not using official procedures.

As for lights, I always drive with my headlights on, and also convinced my buddy to keep his on also after the horrible drivers we saw. They really are horrible, disregarding even basic rules of driving and etiquette. We passed at least 4 police check points, like I said, and we were not flagged over. But we also had no intention of stopping even if we were. As in Thailand, they did not have vehicles at these check points, so we didn't expect them to be able to give chase. Does that sound bad? Haha. They didn't seem interested in motorbikes anyway, only stopping the cars.

[THAIFRENCHY]

I have been many times to Cambodia in the last 3 years, riding a big bike (Er6) and I agree with the original poster.

There are a few big bikes in Phomh Penh, sometimes they ride down to Sihanoukville at the weekends.

I entered at Dong Kralor - Veun Kham coming down from Laos one time, went down to Siem Reap and got out at Ban Pakard / Phsa Prum through Battambang and Pailin : very quiet border, no problem at all.

I prefer to avoid Poipet because I have always seen so many people there.

I have tried Phong Nam Ron (Ban Laem / Daun Lem) after entering at Koh Kong and riding to Sihanoukville > Kampong Chnang > Battambang

I added a switch to the headlight to avoid being stopped by the police.

Riding in Cambodia is quite an experience and when you come back to Thailand, you appreciate the smoothness of the wider roads, as well as the more "civilised" driving rules...

My next trip will be in around 2 months.

Cheers to all bikers !

[moe666]

Gee wiz people phraseing thai drivers heheheheheeh oo by the way cops as well I think the world is coming to an end. hehehheeheh

[floridaguy]

Gee wiz people phraseing thai drivers heheheheheeh oo by the way cops as well I think the world is coming to an end. hehehheeheh

15 minutes driving in Cambodia and you will agree

[poanoi]

bump.

It's time to leave thailand, and i'd like to bring my bike with me if practical.

So how does it work out to bring my bike to Cambodia ?

Will it be enough to just make a border run ?

and if so, how often ?