Travel to Thailand via Cambodia

[Inderpland]

I am travelling home to Thailand next week after having worked a feew weeks abroad. Because of the threat of airport closures I need to look at alternatives. What would be the easiest/quickest way of getting to Thailand, assuming I land in Phnom Pen (somewhere close to the province of Sakeo would be perfect, but any place will do)?

I would rather fly most of the way since I'm about to turn 60 and my back would be happy if I could avoid long trips on bumpy roads in a minibus

[Inderpland]

I have now checked my options further and it seems to me that the easiest solution would be to fly to Siem Reap and get transportation from there to Poi Pet and Aranyapratet.

Could anyone recommed a reputable travel company that can take me from Siem Reap to Poi Pet in relative comfort?

[Estrada]

_{The airports will not be closed.}

[Inderpland]

_{The airports will not be closed.}

I wish I shared your optimism, but it does not really matter whether they shut down the airports or not if they shut down the air traffic control centres. The protesters have threatened to close the entrance to Aeronautical Radio of Thailand and this place apparently is in charge of all communications between aircraft and air traffic controllers in Thailand.

[hanno]

Plenty of options to go to Poipet, from shared taxi to private car. Depends on your budget really.

[khwaibah]

I have now checked my options further and it seems to me that the easiest solution would be to fly to Siem Reap and get transportation from there to Poi Pet and Aranyapratet.

Could anyone recommed a reputable travel company that can take me from Siem Reap to Poi Pet in relative comfort?

For the money you would spend on a flight from PP to SR you can hire a taxi to drive you from PP to Poi Pet and have money left over for the casino. BTW its a very good black top highway.

[Tomtomtom69]

Where are you flying from? Phnom Penh has plenty of flights from other cities in Asia, but no intercontinental flights, though it would be possible to change planes somewhere to get to Phnom Penh.

If you are heading to Thailand from another continent first fly into Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Then catch a connecting flight (could also be on a low cost carrier) to either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh (there are plenty of flights to these cities). From there you can find cars, taxis, buses etc. heading to where you need to go.

Also, if your budget stretches just a bit further you can rent a car with driver or something. Given you work abroad, I'm sure it won't be hard for you to afford a $40 cab from Siem Reap to the Thai border or $65 from Phnom Penh to the Thai border. You don't need to ride in a minibus and get a bad back. I've driven all over Asia sometimes in my own car, sometimes in a rental car and sometimes with a car and driver. It's convenient and hasn't been budget breaking at all, certainly not if you are just doing it once in a while. Ask hotels etc. to help you find a car with driver. You can also share the taxi with other travellers to save some money but you might end up waiting for a couple of hours, though if you leave in the morning you might not have to wait at all. In that case, the fare from PP to Poipet is only about $25 a seat.

[gearsau]

Siem Reap to the border..... Taxi which was around $40.00 from memory ( 2 years ago) , or by bus. I have done it both ways.....

Depends if its a good bus, or a back packer bus ... Back packer bus stops everywhere picking up the back packers and they even have people sitting in the aisles.

I hope to get to Siem Reap in a month or two, and will use a taxi to and from the border to Siem Reap.

[khwaibah]

RT @veen_NT: PDRC spokesman Ekkanat says protesters will not occupy stock market, airports, aeronautical radio of TH and BTS. #BKKShutdown

[Inderpland]

RT @veen_NT: PDRC spokesman Ekkanat says protesters will not occupy stock market, airports, aeronautical radio of TH and BTS. #BKKShutdown

Correct, but according to an unmentionable newspaper they have threatened to disrupt air traffic control.

It seems like my best option is to fly in from Singapore or KL. In Suvarnabhumi there are a lot of taxi hustlers. Is there an equivalent to AOT limousines to be found in Siem Reap airport? I just want to get to Poi Pet quickly, safely and in relative comfort.

[phuketrichard]

fly into another city in Thailand, there are plenty of choices

Phuket, Chaing Mai, both have international airports

[khwaibah]

RT @veen_NT: PDRC spokesman Ekkanat says protesters will not occupy stock market, airports, aeronautical radio of TH and BTS. #BKKShutdown

Correct, but according to an unmentionable newspaper they have threatened to disrupt air traffic control.

It seems like my best option is to fly in from Singapore or KL. In Suvarnabhumi there are a lot of taxi hustlers. Is there an equivalent to AOT limousines to be found in Siem Reap airport? I just want to get to Poi Pet quickly, safely and in relative comfort.

What the Bangkok Post..

[hanno]

BTW its a very good black top highway.

Not anymore. Drove the road last week and it is pretty churned up.

[Sheryl]

Flying into another city of Thailand is good advice given your emphasis on comfort.

It is easy enough to get from either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh to the Thai border by taxi but parts of the road will be bumpy, and then the actual border crossing entails often long lines and waits out in the hot sun. It is not fun. The problem is at the Thai side of the crossing, not the Cambodian. Not enough immigration officers processing foreigners.

[gearsau]

Well, unless its changed in the past two years, there as a room on the Thailand side where you stood in line to be processed.

Get processed out of Thailand, and walk outside, and over the " No-mans land section " to the line at the immigration in Cambodia. Get processed and walk outside to take your choice of taxis etc.

[hanno]

Flying into another city of Thailand is good advice given your emphasis on comfort.

It is easy enough to get from either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh to the Thai border by taxi but parts of the road will be bumpy, and then the actual border crossing entails often long lines and waits out in the hot sun. It is not fun. The problem is at the Thai side of the crossing, not the Cambodian. Not enough immigration officers processing foreigners.

Did the Poipet crossing 2 years ago (I usually fly but wanted to see if things had improved). Waited in line at Thai immigration for 2.5 hours. Never again.

[gearsau]

2.5 Hours ???

I would have waited maybe 10 minutes every time I went through there . That's coming from Thailand to Cambodia and back to Thailand.

[hanno]

2.5 Hours ???

I would have waited maybe 10 minutes every time I went through there . That's coming from Thailand to Cambodia and back to Thailand.

Coming back was easy but I crossed into Thailand first thing in the morning and all the migrant workers were there.

[Inderpland]

Flying into another city of Thailand is good advice given your emphasis on comfort.

It is easy enough to get from either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh to the Thai border by taxi but parts of the road will be bumpy, and then the actual border crossing entails often long lines and waits out in the hot sun. It is not fun. The problem is at the Thai side of the crossing, not the Cambodian. Not enough immigration officers processing foreigners.

Yes, I've thought about doing that but I suspect that if they shut down Aerothai (as was again mentioned in today's Bangkok Post, and which I assume will shut down Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang) I think the rush to get tickets to Pukhet will be enormous, and tickets might be hard to come by.

[khwaibah]

POLITICS
AeroThai and SET are in protesters' sights
Budsarakham Sinlapalavan
The Nation


Manorah, a famous traditional show indigenous to the South, is performed at the anti-government rally site at Victory Monument, which has been occupied by protesters.

Hardline group warns of blockade if PM doesn't step down by 8pm

BANGKOK: -- In an attempt to increase pressure on the government, the hard-line movement Students and People Network for Thailand's Reform (STR) yesterday confirmed it planned to blockade the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the offices of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AeroThai) if caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra did not resign.

STR coordinator Uthai Yodmanee said the group would wait until 8pm tonight - its deadline for Yingluck to step down.

"If Yingluck does not resign by then, the STR will block the stock market and the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand office," he said, adding that STR leaders were designing a strategy on how to blockade the two places.

Any disruption of AeroThai's services could cause chaos for civilian aircraft, including domestic and international passenger flights, scheduled to land in Thailand, as well as those flying through Thai airspace, Uthai said.

STR was ready to rally at any alternative venue where cabinet members worked on behalf of the caretaker government, he said. "The STR will step up its efforts in a peaceful way," he added.

Caretaker Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt said yesterday that if anti-government protesters occupied the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand compound as they have threatened, they would be charged with terrorism.

Police and soldiers had been mobilised to protect all operational bases of AeroThai, whose central command is located in Bangkok's Thung Maha Mek area. The Stock Exchange of Thailand compound is located on Ratchadaphisek Road near the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre.

The president of AeroThai, Prajak Sajjasophon, said the agency's operations were crucial to the safety of air passengers and international flights - so protesters should consider the country's image before deciding to disrupt its services.

The main anti-government movement, the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), which leads the anti-government efforts including the Bangkok shutdown campaign, yesterday reaffirmed it would not seize airports, key transportation systems or the stock market.

PDRC chief Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday declared a total shutdown of all state properties in the next few days, as well as the possibility of holding the prime minister and some Cabinet members captive to force her caretaker government to resign, to make way for a reform plan he had designed.

Speaking at a rally stage at the Asoke intersection, the PDRC chief said the capital would be occupied round the clock until protesters' months-long street protests - of which the Bangkok shutdown campaign is a part - achieve their aims.

Suthep said he was approached by an unnamed individual yesterday morning and offered a postponement of the general election from February 2 to May 4, but he had snubbed the offer. "Government buildings will be completely shut down in the next few days. I will take the lead," said Suthep.

PDRC spokesman Akanat Promphan said the committee had no plans to seize AeroThai, the train stations, the public transport system or the stock exchange.

"The PDRC wants the public to be minimally affected by its movement, and to leave them options for commuting," he added.

If any PDRC ally decided to disrupt key transport systems, Akanat said, the group would negotiate with them and they would be unlikely to make any move beyond the PDRC's resolutions.

About 1,000 protesters marched to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, as they claimed that the PM's secretary-general Suranand Vejjajiva would use the place to work. They blew whistles and urged officials there to stop work for five days. About 100 officials walked out of their office as protesters cheered and blew whistles. Having found no one left in the NESDB office, they closed the gate with a big lock.


-- The Nation 2014-01-15

[phuketrichard]

rather than use Poi Pet use Palin, never any people there.

OR coming from siem rep an ur heading to Essan cross up north at Osmach

Last time I exited at Poi Pet, (last year with my car) took me 20 minutes to clear thai and Cambodian immigration and customs.but waiting for gf another hour

BUT it took my Cambodia gf 30 minutes to clear Cambodian Immigration and 45 to clear Thai immigration, they would not let her stand in the same line as me an made her wait in a line of Cambodians and she was asked like 30 questions.

[Sheryl]

Well, unless its changed in the past two years, there as a room on the Thailand side where you stood in line to be processed.

Get processed out of Thailand, and walk outside, and over the " No-mans land section " to the line at the immigration in Cambodia. Get processed and walk outside to take your choice of taxis etc.

There is a room but when it is full (not uncommon) the people further back wait out in the hot sun.

During the last airport closure I had to wait 4 hours in the hot sun at that crossing. It gets very crowded when air routes are shut, as one would expect. They made no accomodation last time and did not assign extra staff to the land check points.

I haven't crossed at Pailin but it's got to be better than Poipet/Aran. Koh Kong/Trat crossing is another possibility.

[khwaibah]

Chong Chom Border Crossing is now open for 16 hours a day. They may know something.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/696831-chong-chom-border-crossing-new-hours/