How To Book A 7 Day Trip From Patts To Cambo

[obsession]

I have to leave Thaialnd on the 7th January when the 1st stamp on my double entry tourist visa runs out. I have asked in several travel agents in Pattaya, but they want to just take me to the border and tell me to get a taxi. Could anyone give me any advise about the best way to do this. I was thinking of getting an evisa for cambo. And it is Phnom Penh I would like to visit. Thanks. I have left things really late as usual

[TBWG]

I have to leave Thaialnd on the 7th January when the 1st stamp on my double entry tourist visa runs out. I have asked in several travel agents in Pattaya, but they want to just take me to the border and tell me to get a taxi. Could anyone give me any advise about the best way to do this. I was thinking of getting an evisa for cambo. And it is Phnom Penh I would like to visit. Thanks. I have left things really late as usual

Hi Obsession

Having just booked a visit to Cambodia I decided to fly after reading lots of horror postings about border crossing problems and overland travel nightmares.

The good news is that Bangkok Airways website is great for e-booking but expensive as they seem to have a stranglehold on the routes.

The e visa sight also worked well and of course you don't get "faranged" by a computer on the price! although loading my passport photo took a bit of effort as I am IT challenged.

Hope you enjoy your trip.

TBWG

[keenok]

if you have money to burn then flying is the easy option.its quite simple to do yourself though. if you get the agent to organise transport to trat or even better hat lek(the border beyond trat) its quite simple from there.you can either take the ferry to sihanoukville(then bus on decent road to phnom penh) or you can take a van to sihanoukhville or phnom penh. my advice would be to stay in trat overnight then take a van to the border(they leave from the market at about 6 am,used to be 100 baht)otherwise you may have to spend the night in the cambodian town on the other side of the border then leave for shnkvle or pp next morning.enjoy..

[funfun]

I have to leave Thaialnd on the 7th January when the 1st stamp on my double entry tourist visa runs out. I have asked in several travel agents in Pattaya, but they want to just take me to the border and tell me to get a taxi. Could anyone give me any advise about the best way to do this. I was thinking of getting an evisa for cambo. And it is Phnom Penh I would like to visit. Thanks. I have left things really late as usual

[bmanly]

Obsession, there is no need to use an Agent, it is not that hard. You said you want to go to Phnom Penh, flying is by far the easiest and getting your visa online is easy too. Simply, get your visa then book a flight and go.

But I have done this trip twice already from Pattaya. I go up to Sukhumvit road and flag down any bus going to Rayong at about 7 AM, plenty about. From Rayong get a bus and go to Trat. Trat has a new bus terminal there now and has mini vans direct to Hat Lek the border, mini van cost 100 baht. From there walk into Cambodia, fill out the forms and put a 1,000 baht note in your passport for your visa fee payment (that fee might be up a bit now as I did this trip 6 Months ago). They will issue you a visa at the border on arrival, be friendly the guys on the Cambodia side are ok.

After getting your visa you will be approached by several touts wanting to take you to Ko Kong a small town about 15 kms from the border. Tell them you are staying at the Moto Hotel and they will drop you there. Book in there for your first nights acommodation, about 300 - 400 baht a night.

Talk to the Kiwi owner there and tell him you want to go to Sihanoukville or Phnom Penh which ever you want. He can arrange the bus or ferry for you. Cambodia is a great place to visit, Ko Kong is a bit of a slow town but Sihanoukville is a great place to visit so I would do it by land rather than fly but that's me.

Good luck and have a nice trip, if you have any more questions just ask, cheers.

[obsession]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up booking an Air Asia flight for 3,900 baht return but it leaves at 7am which means leaving Patts at 4 or 5 ish. Bangkok air was over 9,000 baht, but had better flying times. Uploading the passport photo in an internet cafe sounds a like a chore, so I will probably get a visa on arrival.

I like the idea of going by land next time, how much does it cost all in? By the time I add a taxi fare to the airport and a bus for the later return journey, it will probably have cost 6,000 bht.

[bmanly]

3,900 for the airfare is pretty good. By land using local aircon buses it will cost about 250 to 300 baht to the border at Hat Lek then about 100 baht to the Hotel in Koh Kong. From there to Sihanoukville by ferry it is 400 baht. From there to Phnom Penh by bus it's about 200 baht, so about 1,000 baht total not including the visa, it will take 3 days if you take it easy. Good luck.