Siem Reap to Mor Chit by International Bus

[Finlaco]

Hi

Anyone done this trip recently? Whats the cost, duration, where to buy the ticket at source and any issues/scams when crossing into Thailand.

I'm flying from BKK to PP, but am unsure of my return date, so bus might be a better option.

I know of the 'issues' at the border when crossing into Cambodia but not in the other direction.

Thanks

[Tomtomtom69]

There shouldn't be any scams crossing back into Thailand but having passed through the Poipet border in both directions recently (albeit not by bus) I didn't have any problems bypassing the visa scam going into Cambodia. Basically without much trouble a US$20 visa was issued to me after the official originally wanted US$20 + 100 Baht, which of course I refused. If you pay entirely in Baht then they want 800 Baht.

I saw both the Siem Reap-Bangkok and Phnom Penh-Bangkok international buses operating in both directions. Sometimes it's a Cambodian bus with the steering wheel on the left and sometimes it's a Thai bus obviously with the steering wheel on the right. I believe the buses leave early morning (around 7am?) in both directions and the trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok reportedly takes around 7 hours including the border crossing, which probably takes around an hour given the volume of passengers and the fact the bus has to wait for everyone to complete immigration processing. I wouldn't have a clue where to buy a ticket on the Cambodian side (in Bangkok obviously you purchase directly at Mo Chit) but if you go around to different travel agencies and explain you need to buy a ticket on the "Siem Reap-Bangkok international bus" they should be able to buy a ticket for you. Probably some hotels and guesthouses can do the same thing.

And seeing you're flying into Phnom Penh, unless you have a good reason to go to Siem Reap on the way back, or just want to break up the journey, note that the Phnom Penh-Bangkok bus avoids you having to go via Siem Reap. It also leaves around 7 in the morning and takes about 11 hours to reach Bangkok.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Tomtomtom69

[phuketrichard]

There shouldn't be any scams crossing back into Thailand but having passed through the Poipet border in both directions recently (albeit not by bus) I didn't have any problems bypassing the visa scam going into Cambodia. Basically without much trouble a US$20 visa was issued to me after the official originally wanted US$20 + 100 Baht, which of course I refused. If you pay entirely in Baht then they want 800 Baht.

I saw both the Siem Reap-Bangkok and Phnom Penh-Bangkok international buses operating in both directions. Sometimes it's a Cambodian bus with the steering wheel on the left and sometimes it's a Thai bus obviously with the steering wheel on the right. I believe the buses leave early morning (around 7am?) in both directions and the trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok reportedly takes around 7 hours including the border crossing, which probably takes around an hour given the volume of passengers and the fact the bus has to wait for everyone to complete immigration processing. I wouldn't have a clue where to buy a ticket on the Cambodian side (in Bangkok obviously you purchase directly at Mo Chit) but if you go around to different travel agencies and explain you need to buy a ticket on the "Siem Reap-Bangkok international bus" they should be able to buy a ticket for you. Probably some hotels and guesthouses can do the same thing.

And seeing you're flying into Phnom Penh, unless you have a good reason to go to Siem Reap on the way back, or just want to break up the journey, note that the Phnom Penh-Bangkok bus avoids you having to go via Siem Reap. It also leaves around 7 in the morning and takes about 11 hours to reach Bangkok.

if the bus goes via Battamabng it will take more than 11 hours, I drove that last july an it was 6 hours from PP to batt, another 90 minutes-2 hours to Poi pet border an at least 4-5 hours to bangkok and depneds on how long ur stuck at the border

Another option is to take bus to Batt and over night and an then taxi to Pailin border ( no scams , no waiitng ever) ( 90 minutes) and than bus via Pong Nam Rong-Chantaburi to Bangkok

Edited January 28, 2014 by phuketrichard

[Tomtomtom69]

There shouldn't be any scams crossing back into Thailand but having passed through the Poipet border in both directions recently (albeit not by bus) I didn't have any problems bypassing the visa scam going into Cambodia. Basically without much trouble a US$20 visa was issued to me after the official originally wanted US$20 + 100 Baht, which of course I refused. If you pay entirely in Baht then they want 800 Baht.

I saw both the Siem Reap-Bangkok and Phnom Penh-Bangkok international buses operating in both directions. Sometimes it's a Cambodian bus with the steering wheel on the left and sometimes it's a Thai bus obviously with the steering wheel on the right. I believe the buses leave early morning (around 7am?) in both directions and the trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok reportedly takes around 7 hours including the border crossing, which probably takes around an hour given the volume of passengers and the fact the bus has to wait for everyone to complete immigration processing. I wouldn't have a clue where to buy a ticket on the Cambodian side (in Bangkok obviously you purchase directly at Mo Chit) but if you go around to different travel agencies and explain you need to buy a ticket on the "Siem Reap-Bangkok international bus" they should be able to buy a ticket for you. Probably some hotels and guesthouses can do the same thing.

And seeing you're flying into Phnom Penh, unless you have a good reason to go to Siem Reap on the way back, or just want to break up the journey, note that the Phnom Penh-Bangkok bus avoids you having to go via Siem Reap. It also leaves around 7 in the morning and takes about 11 hours to reach Bangkok.

if the bus goes via Battamabng it will take more than 11 hours, I drove that last july an it was 6 hours from PP to batt, another 90 minutes-2 hours to Poi pet border an at least 4-5 hours to bangkok and depneds on how long ur stuck at the border

Another option is to take bus to Batt and over night and an then taxi to Pailin border ( no scams , no waiitng ever) ( 90 minutes) and than bus via Pong Nam Rong-Chantaburi to Bangkok

Geez you must be a slow driver because last week I had a car with driver and it took me only about 3 hours to get to Phnom Penh from Battambang (5.5 hours overall from Poipet to Phnom Penh including stopping time in Battambang to fix some tyre punctures). In fact, I've done the Poipet-Phnom Penh journey a number of times and it's never taken much more than 3 hours to get from Battambang to Phnom Penh and around 2 hours to get from Poipet to Battambang.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Tomtomtom69

[phuketrichard]

wow; ur were flying,

295 kms in 3 hours in Cambodia,

i could barely cover that disatnce in Thailand on 4 lane highways!!!

Granted the last time i drove was during elections so roads were jamed.

BUT even so best i have done is about 4 1/2 hour.

Plus it depends where ur starting from in PP

[Tomtomtom69]

wow; ur were flying,

295 kms in 3 hours in Cambodia,

i could barely cover that disatnce in Thailand on 4 lane highways!!!

Granted the last time i drove was during elections so roads were jamed.

BUT even so best i have done is about 4 1/2 hour.

Plus it depends where ur starting from in PP

I was flying (almost) because my driver was driving at diabolical speeds and he wasn't the first one (they all drive like Michael Schumacher wannabes)! Starting/end location is measured from the Royal Palace area near the riverfront. Personally, when I've driven in Cambodia I have managed to get up to about 120km/h but not for too long. Aside from some traffic heading out of Phnom Penh and a small amount of road construction, there's not a whole lot impeding you from maintaining a good speed of around 100km/h or so. Although my recorded fastest time was about 2h55m or so from Battambang to Phnom Penh (arriving about 8.15pm after starting at 5.20pm), the average most more sane drivers take is around 3h30m-3h45m. I agree that even in Thailand I would struggle to maintain 100km/h or more average for a 295km stretch on 4 lane highways (although I can manage to cover this distance is around 3h30m most of the time when in Thailand) simply because there's always some obstacles in front of you to slow you down, whether they be u-turns made by drivers coming from the other direction, slow ass truck drivers that overtake even slower truck drivers at like 60km/h when you're doing like 120km/h, traffic lights that never turn green etc. Most of these obstacles haven't arrived in Cambodia (yet), even though other potential dangers exist like cows on the road, clumsy motorcyclists that move in front of you unpredictably and unexpected broken down vehicles etc. however due to the relatively low traffic volume (which is much lower than in Thailand) it's still possible to maintain a decent average speed, hence why travelling times aren't too bad.

Interestingly, I was able to manage a decent 100km/h plus without slowing down on a two-way road heading down from Taphan Hin towards Tak Fa in Nakorn Sawan due to that road being straight, relatively flat, no traffic lights (well not until you get closer to Tak Fa anyway) and not many other obstacles and that's due to the relatively low traffic volume, about the same as on Cambodia's main highways...so more lanes doesn't necessarily speed up traffic flow though it does assist safety. However, I suspect that in Cambodia's case, more lanes will only be added years after the traffic problem along it's rural highways becomes as bad as say Vietnam's...already the horrible condition of a 5 or so km stretch of road out of Sisophon towards Battambang slows you down significantly by at least 10-15min compared to if the road was in good condition.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Tomtomtom69

[Finlaco]

ok kids, how does this relate to the OP?

[Tomtomtom69]

ok kids, how does this relate to the OP?

Well all I know is that the Phnom Penh-Bangkok bus is up and running again (saw it last week) after having been suspended for some time. Therefore, no need to travel to Siem Reap to catch the dedicated service from there.