Best time to cross out of Poipet into Thailand

[samran]

Hello,

been reading about nightmarish queues at immigration for crossing back into Thailand out of Poipet.

Was wondering if people could give an idea of the best time morning wise for people crossing into Thailand to avoid the queues. Will be on a road trip with little ones so want to avoid queues if possible.

Crossing back into Thailand on a Monday if that makes any difference.

Many thanks in advance.

[thedemon]

I would be surprised if the Thai queue is particularly busy on a Monday. I assume it would be no problem to take your family through as well. I have used the Thai passport queue at Poipet as a PR without any problems.

Should note that I haven't been there for a year or two.

[samran]

I would be surprised if the Thai queue is particularly busy on a Monday. I assume it would be no problem to take your family through as well. I have used the Thai passport queue at Poipet as a PR without any problems.

Should note that I haven't been there for a year or two.

Many thanks.

I've read here on TV that since the start of the year they aren't letting any foreigners use the Thai queue, which leaves my wife out on her own even though she is on a non-O extension and she goes through the airport lines with me. Whether they have relaxed things, I'm not sure.

While I'm certainly going to give it a crack (I'll have my daughters with us looking cutely into their eyes), I don't want to risk it, so still looking for the time when the foreigners queue is shortest.

[thedemon]

Yes you probably need advice from a member with more recent experience there. Perhaps they have reverted to the system of allowing Thai's to cross with only ID card since most of them are only going to the casinos. In that case, it might be a problem.

If Thai's still need a passport to exit then I would make a big noise if they refused in your case. It's not fair to separate families when they are perfectly capable of processing all of you. Perhaps you can train your kids to start screaming. That should do the trick.

[samran]

Yes you probably need advice from a member with more recent experience there. Perhaps they have reverted to the system of allowing Thai's to cross with only ID card since most of them are only going to the casinos. In that case, it might be a problem.

If Thai's still need a passport to exit then I would make a big noise if they refused in your case. It's not fair to separate families when they are perfectly capable of processing all of you. Perhaps you can train your kids to start screaming. That should do the trick.

We will all be on passports. 3 Thai one non Thai.

Look cute, then scream. One is bound to work

Edited November 26, 2014 by samran

[TheSiemReaper]

I do this journey all the time; head for the border as early as possible 7 a.m. - 7.30 a.m. and you'll have almost no foreigners in the queue. Leave it any later... and expect the queues to keep growing and growing and growing.

[samran]

I do this journey all the time; head for the border as early as possible 7 a.m. - 7.30 a.m. and you'll have almost no foreigners in the queue. Leave it any later... and expect the queues to keep growing and growing and growing.

Thanks for that. We were expecting to leave siem riep about 7.30 so that works quite well for us then.

[TheSiemReaper]

I do this journey all the time; head for the border as early as possible 7 a.m. - 7.30 a.m. and you'll have almost no foreigners in the queue. Leave it any later... and expect the queues to keep growing and growing and growing.

Thanks for that. We were expecting to leave siem riep about 7.30 so that works quite well for us then.

Sorry, I meant arrive at the border for that time. I leave Siem Reap at 5 a.m. to beat the tourists I'm afraid.

[samran]

I do this journey all the time; head for the border as early as possible 7 a.m. - 7.30 a.m. and you'll have almost no foreigners in the queue. Leave it any later... and expect the queues to keep growing and growing and growing.

Thanks for that. We were expecting to leave siem riep about 7.30 so that works quite well for us then.

Sorry, I meant arrive at the border for that time. I leave Siem Reap at 5 a.m. to beat the tourists I'm afraid.

ah, okay then!

back to the drawing board.

Any rough clue what it would be like circa 9.30am? Or is that already too late Will be driving ourselves.

[Lancashireman]

Consider a family room for one night in the hotels in Poi Pet? Pretty cheap, but the bigger ones are probably safer for you/family. Personally I found Poi Pet intimidating, certainly as the night drew on.

Hope it goes well for you.

[samran]

Consider a family room for one night in the hotels in Poi Pet? Pretty cheap, but the bigger ones are probably safer for you/family. Personally I found Poi Pet intimidating, certainly as the night drew on.

Hope it goes well for you.

Haha. No. We have our car and we are driving from siem riep. Aim was to get out of there around 7.30 am to be at poipet around 9.30 am.

My wife is the only non Thai passport holder, so will just do our best that she can use the Thai queue like everywhere else.

[Gentmartin]

I would be surprised if the Thai queue is particularly busy on a Monday. I assume it would be no problem to take your family through as well. I have used the Thai passport queue at Poipet as a PR without any problems.

Should note that I haven't been there for a year or two.

I used it regularly for 3 years until a couple of months back. Its changed a LOT in the last couple of years mate !! Best time is when it opens, or after 3pm. From about 10 till 2, all the buses are getting there from Siam Reap and Phnom Phen and its Bedlam. The cambodian side isnt a problem as for 200B you can be errr 'fast tracked' but its a waste of money as when you get in Thai immigration, you can be there a couple of hours queuing, half of that outside.

Hope it all goes smoothly, and Monday IS a busy day as all the Cambos are heading in and out with their goods for Rongkleu Market.

All that said, I love both sides of the border there, Aran is a lovely provincial town, and Poipet at night is great for some nice food and a couple of beers.

[TheSiemReaper]

I do this journey all the time; head for the border as early as possible 7 a.m. - 7.30 a.m. and you'll have almost no foreigners in the queue. Leave it any later... and expect the queues to keep growing and growing and growing.

Thanks for that. We were expecting to leave siem riep about 7.30 so that works quite well for us then.

Sorry, I meant arrive at the border for that time. I leave Siem Reap at 5 a.m. to beat the tourists I'm afraid.

ah, okay then!

back to the drawing board.

Any rough clue what it would be like circa 9.30am? Or is that already too late Will be driving ourselves.

From about 8.30 on it's mayhem - the tourist buses arrive seemingly without end. It's why I leave at the crack of dawn - I'm not kidding about the queue length differences. 7.30 a.m. - Max. 15 minutes. 8. 30 a.m. - Max. 3.5 hours.

It's worth noting that you can normally, but annoyingly not always, find a Thai "guide" who can arrange a "VIP" pass across the border for about $10... this allows the foreigner to completely skip the queues. I did this once and my Thai girlfriend then got stuck with an ******* on the re-entry desk and spent 2 hours being messed around by some spiteful so-and-so because she forgot the bit of paper they make you fill in when you leave Thailand (she'd been in Cambodia for 2 months by that point). So I waited for a long time on the other side of the border instead...

[samran]

From about 8.30 on it's mayhem - the tourist buses arrive seemingly without end. It's why I leave at the crack of dawn - I'm not kidding about the queue length differences. 7.30 a.m. - Max. 15 minutes. 8. 30 a.m. - Max. 3.5 hours.

It's worth noting that you can normally, but annoyingly not always, find a Thai "guide" who can arrange a "VIP" pass across the border for about $10... this allows the foreigner to completely skip the queues. I did this once and my Thai girlfriend then got stuck with an ******* on the re-entry desk and spent 2 hours being messed around by some spiteful so-and-so because she forgot the bit of paper they make you fill in when you leave Thailand (she'd been in Cambodia for 2 months by that point). So I waited for a long time on the other side of the border instead...

Thanks.

Booked a cheap Air Asia flight from SR to BKK for my wife and youngest last night off the back of this thread. Can't afford to have my kids wait for a couple of hours in the sun.

Will drive through myself and my oldest. We've got Thai PP's so will just assume/expect the Thai PP line will be short. Lets see on the Cambodian side on exit. Apparently 200 baht gets you express service there or something. May be worth considering.

[AJS 7R]

From about 8.30 on it's mayhem - the tourist buses arrive seemingly without end. It's why I leave at the crack of dawn - I'm not kidding about the queue length differences. 7.30 a.m. - Max. 15 minutes. 8. 30 a.m. - Max. 3.5 hours.

It's worth noting that you can normally, but annoyingly not always, find a Thai "guide" who can arrange a "VIP" pass across the border for about $10... this allows the foreigner to completely skip the queues. I did this once and my Thai girlfriend then got stuck with an ******* on the re-entry desk and spent 2 hours being messed around by some spiteful so-and-so because she forgot the bit of paper they make you fill in when you leave Thailand (she'd been in Cambodia for 2 months by that point). So I waited for a long time on the other side of the border instead...

Thanks.

Booked a cheap Air Asia flight from SR to BKK for my wife and youngest last night off the back of this thread. Can't afford to have my kids wait for a couple of hours in the sun.

Will drive through myself and my oldest. We've got Thai PP's so will just assume/expect the Thai PP line will be short. Lets see on the Cambodian side on exit. Apparently 200 baht gets you express service there or something. May be worth considering.

Don't forget E-visa to Cambodia, that will save you a lot of time at the border.

[samran]

From about 8.30 on it's mayhem - the tourist buses arrive seemingly without end. It's why I leave at the crack of dawn - I'm not kidding about the queue length differences. 7.30 a.m. - Max. 15 minutes. 8. 30 a.m. - Max. 3.5 hours.

It's worth noting that you can normally, but annoyingly not always, find a Thai "guide" who can arrange a "VIP" pass across the border for about $10... this allows the foreigner to completely skip the queues. I did this once and my Thai girlfriend then got stuck with an ******* on the re-entry desk and spent 2 hours being messed around by some spiteful so-and-so because she forgot the bit of paper they make you fill in when you leave Thailand (she'd been in Cambodia for 2 months by that point). So I waited for a long time on the other side of the border instead...

Thanks.

Booked a cheap Air Asia flight from SR to BKK for my wife and youngest last night off the back of this thread. Can't afford to have my kids wait for a couple of hours in the sun.

Will drive through myself and my oldest. We've got Thai PP's so will just assume/expect the Thai PP line will be short. Lets see on the Cambodian side on exit. Apparently 200 baht gets you express service there or something. May be worth considering.

Don't forget E-visa to Cambodia, that will save you a lot of time at the border.

Thanks, but not doable.

Entering by car at o'smach and they don't accept evisa there. Don't even accept usd from what I gather!