Bkk To Phnom Penh Without Flying.

[thomo]

Does anybody happen to have experience of travelling to PP without flying. I'm in udon Thani at the moment so can just get the train or bus to bkk, but wouldn't know the best method from there on. I've read a few kinda vague-ish post from a few places but nothing too certain. Can you get a train to the border, get your visa and then get a train to PP, or if not get a bus from the border to PP easily enough? Some of the posts mentioned long taxi rides, water taxi's etc and wern't all that clear.

If anyone has experience of doing it, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Cheers.

P.S www.airasia.com has amazingly low prices, some days B699, others B999 plus 750B taxes etc.

Edited September 7, 2006 by thomo

[jdinasia]

Phnom Penh via land from Thailand is not an easy or fast trip ....

If you look at the map of Cambodia the routes are BRUTAL. Pretty much Dirt roads from Poipet to Siem Reap or Battambang. Then trains or better busses are available,

I'd fly!

[Rinrada]

Check out Gordons Site on tales of asia....prob.the best for all things KHMER...

heres a taster but lots and lots and little bit more on the road to PP....Sok Subai..etc..

In April 2002, Highway 48, neglected for decades and degenerated into a barely navigable jungle path, was reopened after having been reconstructed with the labor of the Thai army and money from a number of sources, including the owner of the Koh Kong International Resort Casino. This road, connecting Koh Kong with Sre Ambel allows a second overland route between Bangkok and Phnom Penh (the other route is via Poipet). I traveled the not then opened highway for the first time in January 2002 on a 250cc motorcycle and was quite excited by what I saw. But when I traveled the road a second time five months later I found a road, open only six weeks, in terrible shape due to recent heavy rains. However, The Thai army continued maintenance of the road, flattening down from time to time some of the areas that turned into piles of muck and hopefully this year the road will stay flat through most of the rainy season. For the time being this is certainly a viable way to travel between Phnom Penh and Bangkok.

While I'm nowhere near as familiar with this journey as I am the Siem Reap journey through Aranyaprathet and Poipet, I've at least been able to assemble something here that should be of use to somebody.

And really, I'll be the first to admit, the Bangkok to Siem Reap section of this website has grown, umm, a little, shall we say, large.

The Journey

It's about 450 kilometers from Bangkok to the Cambodian border at Hat Lek and another 300 kilometers onward to Phnom Penh. The Thai leg of the journey is on Route 3 to Trat and on Route 318 to the border. Once across the border, you make your way into the town of Koh Kong where share taxis, trucks, or vans will take you to Phnom Penh.

The first part of the Cambodian segment of the trip is the 147-kilometer Highway 48 to Sre Ambel. This road, scenic and hilly as it winds its way through dense jungle, is unsealed, the condition of which is very dependent on the weather. From Sre Ambel to Phnom Penh, the trip is on National Highway 4, one of the highest quality roads in the country.

This is a long trip and not one likely to be made in a single day, especially traveling to Cambodia. Plan on six and a half to eight hours just to reach the border and depending on weather and road conditions at least seven and maybe many more hours to reach Phnom Penh.

Unless you take one of the earliest buses from Bangkok (6:00 or 7:00 a.m.) anyone planning this trip to Cambodia should expect to spend the night in either Trat or Koh Kong....and mor...with thanks ....

[udon]

BKK to PP

[thomo]

Cheers.