Thai DLT gave me a car passport for Cambodia travel

[samran]

Just as a heads up (and I realise that the actual situation at the border may be different).

Headed down to DLT in BKK to ask the question - do I need a car passport to go to Cambodia. The answer was 'yes', as opposed to last year which was 'no'.

So I ended up getting one.

This year they have me four things:

- the purple car passport. Slightly different from ones I had before as the front page actually has an english language equivalent of the Thai number plate registration typed on the first page.

- A vehicle registration certificate in English which has the vehicles particulars again it again.

- 'T' stickers for the car - which is noted in the front of the car passport as a 'distinguishing feature' of the car.

- And finally a Vehicle Inspection Certificate which states that the car is roadworthy under Thai laws written in Thai and English. This last one you have to trudge over to building 4 (ground floor) window 9 at the Chatuchak office to get it issued. It is where the cars come in for inspection when ownership is getting changed.

I asked the lady what the car passport is valid for, and she said for all of the Greater Mekong countries - so Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. I told her that the 'internet' has said that the latter two weren't possible, and while she said mileage may vary, people have been to those countries using this document.

As said, I'm not sure if this changes anything in reality at the common border crossings we have all talked about, but I feel happier now I have these docs for the upcoming trip.

[khwaibah]

We well have to wait and see. Have not heard anything out of the two closes LTD's to Chong Chom, Prasat and Surin. I'm still seeing cars go across with out it but that could change any time. Thanks for the info. BTW this car pass port is only good for a year and has to be renewed. What were you charged for the car passport?

[phuketrichard]

wow; sounds great,

BUT

i just went in at Hat Lek on the 7th and paid my 100 baht/day Thailand nor Cambodia did not want to know about the car passport

plus 100 baht to lift the gate LOL

coming out i was 2 days over ( i said 4 days) an had to pay another 200 baht but they lifted the gate for free.

I have a car passport, was 50 baht here in Phuket ,needs be re new'd yearly when u renew ur sticker

.

Note they still issue u a red plastic plate and KEEP ur temp export doc at the Cambodian customs

I was stopped once in shv an fined $10 and told i was the red plate ONLY allowed me to drive a thai car in KK province

I paid, an was stopped again not 1 minute later (stay OFF ekareach street ) but he let me go cause i just paid

What is law on paper means nothing there,

Ur told a 5 year Thai license is valid in ASEAN ( including Cambodia) u they dont accept it there at all and u still wont have insurance if u drive there.

IN July drove down to Malaysia an they do do not want the car passport but you need a English letter (issued at the transport office) which is the translation of the cars blue book.

[samran]

Yeah, there was a big sign in one of the dlt offices spruiking the AEC and how the new DL was being made for the new era.

In terms of the paperwork, it was minimal - 50 for the passport, 25 each for the other bits of paper from memory. Stickers were free.

Will need to update the purple book in jan when I next pay my road tax.

Fully suspect that I won't need any of this on the next trip when I head up your way khwaibah, but better safe than sorry I guess...

[Sheryl]

Let us know how it goes. I have to go somewhere in Cambodia in January that is not far from the Ban Pakkard crossing and toying with the idea of driving there...

[samran]

Let us know how it goes. I have to go somewhere in Cambodia in January that is not far from the Ban Pakkard crossing and toying with the idea of driving there...

Will do.

As you do, bumped into the Cambodian ambassador to Thailand yesterday, and had a good chat about all of this. Her take was the one we already know - that there is still no formal comprehensive agreement between the countries on crossing and allowing Thai cars in. Each border crossing agrees their own protocols seperately.

The offical reasoning - that there are dangers for having the steering wheel on the otherside of the road which have to be sorted out. My response was that Laos and Thailand have been doing it for years. There is a template.

The unoffical reason - Bangkok Airways has lobbied hard to stop there being direct road route between Bangkok and Siem Riep accessible to Thai cars.

Spoke to her for about 10 mins on all of this. She was impressed that I was driving there. Also said that Hun Sen and their transport minister would be in town shortly, so she'd mention the issue to them. All in all, a good days lobbying (though I'm not holding my breath).

Lord wonders why Thailand gave me the documents however. Good thing they did I guess!

[Sheryl]

Let us know how it goes. I have to go somewhere in Cambodia in January that is not far from the Ban Pakkard crossing and toying with the idea of driving there...

.....The unoffical reason - Bangkok Airways has lobbied hard to stop there being direct road route between Bangkok and Siem Riep accessible to Thai cars.....

Interesting and makes sense, would also explain why no go at the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing since that is the main tourist entry point for those headed to SR (though checkpoints further up the border would also work). And why so much easier further south since no one headed to SR is likely to cross down there.

Which checkpoint are you planning to cross at, Samran?

[samran]

Let us know how it goes. I have to go somewhere in Cambodia in January that is not far from the Ban Pakkard crossing and toying with the idea of driving there...

.....The unoffical reason - Bangkok Airways has lobbied hard to stop there being direct road route between Bangkok and Siem Riep accessible to Thai cars.....

Interesting and makes sense, would also explain why no go at the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing since that is the main tourist entry point for those headed to SR (though checkpoints further up the border would also work). And why so much easier further south since no one headed to SR is likely to cross down there.

Which checkpoint are you planning to cross at, Samran?

O'Smach - same as which I did last year very painlessly.

The Bangkok Airways thing is interesting. As you'd probably recall (and as found out once in 2001) the road from poipet to SR was abysmal. Took me a good 8 hours to go 180km. The rumour was BKK Airways lobbied really hard AGAINST the road upgrade, which was financed by the Thai government as I recall.

That I heard it straight from an officals mouth basically confirms it. They'll eventually lose though. I was at the RTE in PP a few weeks back. They were telling me plans for expanding the PP/Aran crossing, building seperate entries for personal vehicles and lorries north and south of the current crossing. They didn't give me a timeframe but it appears to be on the books.

[Tomtomtom69]

Let us know how it goes. I have to go somewhere in Cambodia in January that is not far from the Ban Pakkard crossing and toying with the idea of driving there...

.....The unoffical reason - Bangkok Airways has lobbied hard to stop there being direct road route between Bangkok and Siem Riep accessible to Thai cars.....

Interesting and makes sense, would also explain why no go at the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing since that is the main tourist entry point for those headed to SR (though checkpoints further up the border would also work). And why so much easier further south since no one headed to SR is likely to cross down there.

Which checkpoint are you planning to cross at, Samran?

O'Smach - same as which I did last year very painlessly.

The Bangkok Airways thing is interesting. As you'd probably recall (and as found out once in 2001) the road from poipet to SR was abysmal. Took me a good 8 hours to go 180km. The rumour was BKK Airways lobbied really hard AGAINST the road upgrade, which was financed by the Thai government as I recall.

That I heard it straight from an officals mouth basically confirms it. They'll eventually lose though. I was at the RTE in PP a few weeks back. They were telling me plans for expanding the PP/Aran crossing, building seperate entries for personal vehicles and lorries north and south of the current crossing. They didn't give me a timeframe but it appears to be on the books.

LOL.

The most ridiculous reasoning ever. And I always thought it was Cambodian reluctance to enter into an agreement with Thailand. It turns out though that Cambodia has already reached official agreements with Vietnam and Laos and Thailand is coming up shortly (within months). A representative of Diethelm Travel (Cambodia) who deals with cars crossing the border told me this.

They sure should expand the current crossing at Aran/Poipet. I've driven through there coming from Siem Reap heading to Bangkok. It's a mess. I had to separately go upstairs to get my passport stamped as if I were a bus or foot passenger and then run all the way back to my car. The window for cars is either only for Thais or for the persons mentioned on the car registration documents. Now that I own my own car in my name maybe I would be allowed to get stamped in there (as would be the case at any other border that separates foot and vehicular traffic such as at the Lao borders)?

[phuketrichard]

The unoffical reason - Bangkok Airways has lobbied hard to stop there being direct road route between Bangkok and Siem Riep accessible to Thai cars.

this was the reason i heard why it took years to get the road sealed from the border to sr,

Bangkok airways,

I have entered at Osmach and had Lek

have exited at Had Lek

Osmach

Pailin

Poi Pet, ( got passport stamped out of Cambodia,( downstairs) moved the car to the center of the road,

stamped into Thailand, had to go Backwards, jump the fence to get my car and than drive it to the thai customs where he took my temp export papers.)

Pailin is the easiest and twice i have exited Cambodia an entered thialand and didn't realize it till i was driving on the "other" side of the road an had to turn around an go back back and do it right LOL

The immigration asked me where i was going and i said Phuket, he than asked why my car was pointed towards Cambodia hahahahah

[khwaibah]

It only took major military action over border disputes in 2008 and again in 2011 to get the roads from dirt to tarmac from Siem Rap to Chong Sa Ngom and Siem Reap to Chong Chom / OSmach. This was done for movement of the Cambodian military.

[samran]

O'Smach - same as which I did last year very painlessly.

The Bangkok Airways thing is interesting. As you'd probably recall (and as found out once in 2001) the road from poipet to SR was abysmal. Took me a good 8 hours to go 180km. The rumour was BKK Airways lobbied really hard AGAINST the road upgrade, which was financed by the Thai government as I recall.

That I heard it straight from an officals mouth basically confirms it. They'll eventually lose though. I was at the RTE in PP a few weeks back. They were telling me plans for expanding the PP/Aran crossing, building seperate entries for personal vehicles and lorries north and south of the current crossing. They didn't give me a timeframe but it appears to be on the books.

LOL.

The most ridiculous reasoning ever. And I always thought it was Cambodian reluctance to enter into an agreement with Thailand. It turns out though that Cambodia has already reached official agreements with Vietnam and Laos and Thailand is coming up shortly (within months). A representative of Diethelm Travel (Cambodia) who deals with cars crossing the border told me this.

They sure should expand the current crossing at Aran/Poipet. I've driven through there coming from Siem Reap heading to Bangkok. It's a mess. I had to separately go upstairs to get my passport stamped as if I were a bus or foot passenger and then run all the way back to my car. The window for cars is either only for Thais or for the persons mentioned on the car registration documents. Now that I own my own car in my name maybe I would be allowed to get stamped in there (as would be the case at any other border that separates foot and vehicular traffic such as at the Lao borders)?

With regards to the agreement - DLT tells me the agreement is in place - hence them issuing the car passport to me. Supposedly allows Thai cars to countries along the Mekong.

The nuts and bolts of implementing it are probably lagging. Will be interesting to see what else Deithelm says about this.

Drove via Poipet into Thailand last year. Was a mess as you say. On the cambo side, paid the express fee of 200 baht per passport and was literally done in 3 minutes. Had no intention of leaving my car by itself at that 'round about' which is next to the cambo immigration.

On the Thai side, once you have crossed the bridge, parked in the middle of the road and got mine and my daughters passports stamped at the booth by the side of the road. The only issue was we didn't have all the required paperwork needed at Aranyaprathet as we had entered Cambodia via O'Samech. They took pity on us and did the extra photocopies for us and once sorted, were stamped in with very little issue.

[khwaibah]

Update for Chong Chom. NO passport required and they nothing about anything new.

[samran]

Update for Chong Chom. NO passport required and they nothing about anything new.

Hehe. Figured as much. Will be there shortly...

[samran]

And so, nothing has changed...!

Travelled in a convoy of two cars this year.

Went across at Chong Chom/O'smach a few days ago. Thai side was as I exepienced last year and cambo side pretty much the same. One guy down the bottom of the hill on the cambo side in the customs 'hut' who took down out registration details and then we were off.

Back through Poipet on the Kings birthday long weekend. Cambo side guard came up and said we could do our passports for 200 baht. We took that option and they were done in 3 mins.

That side was a bit of a palaver. Car paperwork was as described last year but only let the owners of the car be stamped in there. The three Thai passengers flew though the Thai queue. The one foreigner took an hour to get through upstairs, slowing everyone down. Must have spent a good 75 mins at the border when we could have been through in 20 if they processed the passports there.

Even with that though, we left Siem Riep at 11.15am and were back in bangkok at home by 6.45pm. Would have been faster without the compulsory traffic jam leading up to the Chonburi motor way and then again out front of the airport.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Samran wrote:

The rumour was BKK Airways lobbied really hard AGAINST the road upgrade, which was financed by the Thai government as I recall.

Looking at what BBK Air wants for a return flight BKK-REP in January (11,700 baht!!!), this is not surprising. Cambo Angkok Air is half that.

[Tomtomtom69]

And so, nothing has changed...!

Travelled in a convoy of two cars this year.

Went across at Chong Chom/O'smach a few days ago. Thai side was as I exepienced last year and cambo side pretty much the same. One guy down the bottom of the hill on the cambo side in the customs 'hut' who took down out registration details and then we were off.

Back through Poipet on the Kings birthday long weekend. Cambo side guard came up and said we could do our passports for 200 baht. We took that option and they were done in 3 mins.

That side was a bit of a palaver. Car paperwork was as described last year but only let the owners of the car be stamped in there. The three Thai passengers flew though the Thai queue. The one foreigner took an hour to get through upstairs, slowing everyone down. Must have spent a good 75 mins at the border when we could have been through in 20 if they processed the passports there.

Even with that though, we left Siem Riep at 11.15am and were back in bangkok at home by 6.45pm. Would have been faster without the compulsory traffic jam leading up to the Chonburi motor way and then again out front of the airport.

Thanks. You just answered my question - seems that only vehicle owners can get stamped in downstairs (contrary to every other border crossing I've been through, though the Thai/Cambodian ones generally don't have separated booths for vehicles' and their passengers passports anyway).

When I went through in mid-August, I was the only foreigner upstairs, didn't have to wait at all. With tourist season in full swing now I guess having to wait a while in line shouldn't come as a surprise, however, these days there should (in theory) be only very few visa runners since they cracked down on that.

[Tomtomtom69]

O'Smach - same as which I did last year very painlessly.

The Bangkok Airways thing is interesting. As you'd probably recall (and as found out once in 2001) the road from poipet to SR was abysmal. Took me a good 8 hours to go 180km. The rumour was BKK Airways lobbied really hard AGAINST the road upgrade, which was financed by the Thai government as I recall.

That I heard it straight from an officals mouth basically confirms it. They'll eventually lose though. I was at the RTE in PP a few weeks back. They were telling me plans for expanding the PP/Aran crossing, building seperate entries for personal vehicles and lorries north and south of the current crossing. They didn't give me a timeframe but it appears to be on the books.

LOL.

The most ridiculous reasoning ever. And I always thought it was Cambodian reluctance to enter into an agreement with Thailand. It turns out though that Cambodia has already reached official agreements with Vietnam and Laos and Thailand is coming up shortly (within months). A representative of Diethelm Travel (Cambodia) who deals with cars crossing the border told me this.

They sure should expand the current crossing at Aran/Poipet. I've driven through there coming from Siem Reap heading to Bangkok. It's a mess. I had to separately go upstairs to get my passport stamped as if I were a bus or foot passenger and then run all the way back to my car. The window for cars is either only for Thais or for the persons mentioned on the car registration documents. Now that I own my own car in my name maybe I would be allowed to get stamped in there (as would be the case at any other border that separates foot and vehicular traffic such as at the Lao borders)?

With regards to the agreement - DLT tells me the agreement is in place - hence them issuing the car passport to me. Supposedly allows Thai cars to countries along the Mekong.

The nuts and bolts of implementing it are probably lagging. Will be interesting to see what else Deithelm says about this.

Drove via Poipet into Thailand last year. Was a mess as you say. On the cambo side, paid the express fee of 200 baht per passport and was literally done in 3 minutes. Had no intention of leaving my car by itself at that 'round about' which is next to the cambo immigration.

On the Thai side, once you have crossed the bridge, parked in the middle of the road and got mine and my daughters passports stamped at the booth by the side of the road. The only issue was we didn't have all the required paperwork needed at Aranyaprathet as we had entered Cambodia via O'Samech. They took pity on us and did the extra photocopies for us and once sorted, were stamped in with very little issue.

I did the same journey - in via O'Smach and out via Poipet.

Not sure what "extra" paperwork would be needed - all you need is the temporary export documents from the Thai side, who will collect them once you return to Thailand, irrespective of the border checkpoint you choose.

[samran]

And so, nothing has changed...!

Travelled in a convoy of two cars this year.

Went across at Chong Chom/O'smach a few days ago. Thai side was as I exepienced last year and cambo side pretty much the same. One guy down the bottom of the hill on the cambo side in the customs 'hut' who took down out registration details and then we were off.

Back through Poipet on the Kings birthday long weekend. Cambo side guard came up and said we could do our passports for 200 baht. We took that option and they were done in 3 mins.

That side was a bit of a palaver. Car paperwork was as described last year but only let the owners of the car be stamped in there. The three Thai passengers flew though the Thai queue. The one foreigner took an hour to get through upstairs, slowing everyone down. Must have spent a good 75 mins at the border when we could have been through in 20 if they processed the passports there.

Even with that though, we left Siem Riep at 11.15am and were back in bangkok at home by 6.45pm. Would have been faster without the compulsory traffic jam leading up to the Chonburi motor way and then again out front of the airport.

Thanks. You just answered my question - seems that only vehicle owners can get stamped in downstairs (contrary to every other border crossing I've been through, though the Thai/Cambodian ones generally don't have separated booths for vehicles' and their passengers passports anyway).

When I went through in mid-August, I was the only foreigner upstairs, didn't have to wait at all. With tourist season in full swing now I guess having to wait a while in line shouldn't come as a surprise, however, these days there should (in theory) be only very few visa runners since they cracked down on that.

Last year it was just me and my 8 year old daughter going though back into Thailand at Aran. I guess they weren't going to make her line up all by herself which is why I assumed they would let all passengers use the car window.

I did have a chat with the immigration lady who did the car owners passport. I did specifically ask her if there was any movement in letting Thai cars cross into Cambodia at Poipet. Her response was that basically it is possible, but you have to negotiate a fee with the Cambodian's and they'll let you in there. Before this trip I spoke to some friends who actually did do it a few years back - all foreigners living in Thailand in a Thai registered vehicle. Their story was that they deployed the fast talking blond in the group to charm the Cambo's and that seemed to work. But the trip was done 4 or 5 years ago now.

Just one thing on the car passport I forgot to add. Though we didn't need it, I was told by the hotel owner in Surin where we camped the night that coming into O'Samech he'd heard that the Cambo's sometimes tried it on for a payment for those who didn't have the car passport.

Didn't happen to us, and the guy there was nice enough, spoke reasonable Thai, and as I said, all he wanted was to have us write the details of our car down in his big book and check that we had the right papers from the Thai side. He did ring through to someone on his mobile and told them we were coming through, but that was about it.

Another thing I forgot to mention was that on thw way out, the Cambo immigration guy who was happy to take our 200 baht per passport in Poipet said to me in Thai "Have you notified our customs yet". I bullshitted to him that O'Smach had already called through that we were exitiing here. I smelt a scam in the making but he seemed to be convinced by my BS, but was happy to pay the 200 baht to facilitate the passports. I even waied him at the end and he wai'ed back and it was all friendly, afterall he'd just made 1200 baht for 3 mins work!

[samran]

O'Smach - same as which I did last year very painlessly.

The Bangkok Airways thing is interesting. As you'd probably recall (and as found out once in 2001) the road from poipet to SR was abysmal. Took me a good 8 hours to go 180km. The rumour was BKK Airways lobbied really hard AGAINST the road upgrade, which was financed by the Thai government as I recall.

That I heard it straight from an officals mouth basically confirms it. They'll eventually lose though. I was at the RTE in PP a few weeks back. They were telling me plans for expanding the PP/Aran crossing, building seperate entries for personal vehicles and lorries north and south of the current crossing. They didn't give me a timeframe but it appears to be on the books.

LOL.

The most ridiculous reasoning ever. And I always thought it was Cambodian reluctance to enter into an agreement with Thailand. It turns out though that Cambodia has already reached official agreements with Vietnam and Laos and Thailand is coming up shortly (within months). A representative of Diethelm Travel (Cambodia) who deals with cars crossing the border told me this.

They sure should expand the current crossing at Aran/Poipet. I've driven through there coming from Siem Reap heading to Bangkok. It's a mess. I had to separately go upstairs to get my passport stamped as if I were a bus or foot passenger and then run all the way back to my car. The window for cars is either only for Thais or for the persons mentioned on the car registration documents. Now that I own my own car in my name maybe I would be allowed to get stamped in there (as would be the case at any other border that separates foot and vehicular traffic such as at the Lao borders)?

With regards to the agreement - DLT tells me the agreement is in place - hence them issuing the car passport to me. Supposedly allows Thai cars to countries along the Mekong.

The nuts and bolts of implementing it are probably lagging. Will be interesting to see what else Deithelm says about this.

Drove via Poipet into Thailand last year. Was a mess as you say. On the cambo side, paid the express fee of 200 baht per passport and was literally done in 3 minutes. Had no intention of leaving my car by itself at that 'round about' which is next to the cambo immigration.

On the Thai side, once you have crossed the bridge, parked in the middle of the road and got mine and my daughters passports stamped at the booth by the side of the road. The only issue was we didn't have all the required paperwork needed at Aranyaprathet as we had entered Cambodia via O'Samech. They took pity on us and did the extra photocopies for us and once sorted, were stamped in with very little issue.

I did the same journey - in via O'Smach and out via Poipet.

Not sure what "extra" paperwork would be needed - all you need is the temporary export documents from the Thai side, who will collect them once you return to Thailand, irrespective of the border checkpoint you choose.

By extra paperwork I mean:

- Copy of Thai ID

- Copy of Thai PP

- Copy of my DL

- Copy of my car ownership book

- Copy of import export forms

Didn't need 1 - 3 when exiting Thailand/entering the cambo at O'Smach.

[Sheryl]

OK, I'm gearing up to do this through the Ban Pakkrad (Pailin) crossing

Where does one get the Temporary Export form?

[phuketrichard]

at the border

but u wont get one at Ban Pakard,

they wont let u in there.

[questionsreplies]

Hello,

Do you know if i can apply for car passport at chonburi if the car has bangkok plates?

And to go to Sianookville where should i cross?

Thank you.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/789531-driving-a-thai-car-into-cambodia-car-passport/

Thank you.

[Tomtomtom69]

According to Cambodian customs, it should now be possible to enter Cambodia by Thai registered car just by using the car passport as part of changes due to the implementation of AEC. This has reportedly been in effect since Jan 1, 2016. I will confirm what I find when I cross the border by car in a few days time. I'm going to Koh Kong though, which is one of the crossings that would let you in anyway, but if they stamp my car passport, issue temporary import papers on the Cambodian side and abandon the previous daily fee and red number plate system in effect at that crossing, I can assume that the new system has been put into place.

[Tomtomtom69]

Hello,

Do you know if i can apply for car passport at chonburi if the car has bangkok plates?

And to go to Sianookville where should i cross?

Thank you.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/789531-driving-a-thai-car-into-cambodia-car-passport/

Thank you.

I think it should be possible to apply in Chonburi but to be sure, you'll have to go there and try.

Best crossing to go to Sihanoukville is Had Lek/Koh Kong.

[Sheryl]

According to Cambodian customs, it should now be possible to enter Cambodia by Thai registered car just by using the car passport as part of changes due to the implementation of AEC. This has reportedly been in effect since Jan 1, 2016. I will confirm what I find when I cross the border by car in a few days time. I'm going to Koh Kong though, which is one of the crossings that would let you in anyway, but if they stamp my car passport, issue temporary import papers on the Cambodian side and abandon the previous daily fee and red number plate system in effect at that crossing, I can assume that the new system has been put into place.

Eagerly await your report....

[Tomtomtom69]

According to Cambodian customs, it should now be possible to enter Cambodia by Thai registered car just by using the car passport as part of changes due to the implementation of AEC. This has reportedly been in effect since Jan 1, 2016. I will confirm what I find when I cross the border by car in a few days time. I'm going to Koh Kong though, which is one of the crossings that would let you in anyway, but if they stamp my car passport, issue temporary import papers on the Cambodian side and abandon the previous daily fee and red number plate system in effect at that crossing, I can assume that the new system has been put into place.

Eagerly await your report....

I will update you once I've crossed the border. However, I wouldn't hold my breath that there have actually been any changes implemented because 1) I have not seen any news report(s), not in Thai, not in English, not on Bangkok Post, Phnom Penh Post or here and 2) As is usually the case, what one department says often does not reflect the reality on the ground.

Having said that, maybe they have changed something quietly although according to a friend of a poster who goes to Chong Chom a lot and apparently went through earlier this month, nothing has changed so far.

[Tomtomtom69]

Latest update about crossing into Cambodia by car, at least at Koh Kong (Cham Yeam).

So as mentioned, I was a bit skeptical about the claim by Cambodian customs that Thai and other foreign registered vehicles can now freely enter Cambodia just with a car passport (for Thai cars) and the issuance of paperwork (and although it wasn't mentioned) but presumably implied, Cambodian car insurance, all things that occur when a foreign registered car enters Thailand, Laos or Malaysia/Singapore.

So after searching for articles in Thai from the last month, the only thing I found that changed was that less paperwork is required for a Thai car to leave Thailand for Laos (and presumably Cambodia too, as I found out at Had Lek).

This was my experience:

Starting 140km from Hat Lek, I noticed the start of what would be many new road signs indicating the distance not just to Had Lek as previously, but also emphasizing the border crossing and the distance to "Cambodia" or "Combodia", which is apparently 5km from Had Lek, when in fact it's only 100m away. These signs are new and weren't there the last time I travelled to Had Lek and across the border in 2014. So I thought that maybe due to AEC there had indeed been a change in the system to drive into Cambodia as Cambo customs in Phnom Penh had me believe.

As at Tha Li earlier in the month, photocopies of car documents such as the registration and the road tax info page or for that matter the front page of the driver's passport are no longer required.

Showing up at customs, the officer typed up the customs temporary export form. Strangely he couldn't find my car details in the system despite my car having been out of Thailand numerous times, including once to Cambodia before (though not at this crossing). However, he quickly managed to type up a form anyway, which I signed. I then went to window 4 on the incoming side where a nice younger lady who wears glasses typed up the information of conveyance form. That was the first time it was typed; normally the "exporter" i.e. driver has to write down the details of their vehicle on the form themselves, often in duplicate or triplicate depending on the crossing.

Oh and the car passport was not accepted. The customs officer said he did not know when it will be, suffice to say it all hinges on Thailand and Cambodia coming to an agreement as they did in 2012 for commercial vehicles.

So after receiving a plastic card and getting my passport stamped, I was on my way to the Cambodian side. I had to give the card to the guard manning the gate and the army also wanted me to sign their log book. Parking my car in no man's land, I first went to Cambodian customs. They now wanted 150 BAHT per day, not 100. They claimed that all things become more expensive and since January 1 it's 150 Baht per day. Oh and the guard opening the gate also wanted 200 Baht, though that could be negotiated down to 100 Baht in the end very easily. The red plate was given, my Thai customs documents were "seized" and the usual story "only stay within Koh Kong province, no Sihanoukville or Phnom Penh" given. I agreed with that and in any case, on this occasion my only destination was Koh Kong anyway.

I asked Cambodian customs about AEC but they didn't know much. Fortunately I got more answers from Thai customs on my return journey. After handing back the red plate I got my customs documents back, then stamped out of Cambodia, returned to my car and then drove to the Thai side. Parking on the left a little behind the army station, I had to sign their log book again, returned my customs document, got my conveyance form stamped and my passport stamped back in, then spoke with Thai customs. Apparently they are preparing to upgrade the crossing, including widening the road, possibly extending the immigration/customs area into the current "no man's land" beyond the gate, which in fact is still Thai territory and installing a traffic switchover system with road markings and signs. They also don't know the exact date of implementation of the new system for cars entering Cambodia but indicated it could happen relatively soon though all hinges on political will on the Cambodian side.

So that's it folks. Basically nothing much has changed so far. Once it does, we will probably be reading about it on a major Thai/Cambodian news source first.

[buythisdashcam]

Thank you so much, great report, so it's clear that it's useless to get a passport to Kohkong.

[Tomtomtom69]

Thank you so much, great report, so it's clear that it's useless to get a passport to Kohkong.

Well for now at least. Only get one if travelling to Laos, or when there is an official announcement that private vehicles will also require them heading to Cambodia. That could still be many months away, or longer.