My Experience Traveling from Bangkok to Cambodia by Train;
This is my experience travelling from Bangkok to Cambodia by Train and then onto Siem Reap.
Arriving at Bangkok Railway Station at 05:10 gave us plenty of time to purchase the train tickets and breakfast.
The train tickets cost 44THB, there is only one class on these trains so it’s the same price for everyone.
We left Bangkok on time at 05:55. Then arrived at Ban Klong Luk Border Station at 11:20.
Throughout the trip, there were locals selling food & drink on board. The State Rail trains are very old but I found them quite charming. It was like stepping back in time, I even enjoyed the rickety sound it made every time it went over a bridge. Also, the padded seats made the trip reasonably comfortable.
There’s no air-con, just fans but the windows open right up to let the breeze in.
The fun was over when we arrived at the Cambodian border, now it was time to get decent transport to Siem Reap (and hopefully not get ripped off).
There’s a bus to Siem Reap that can be pre-booked on 12GO, but this leaves at 8 am.
Then How to Get From Poipet to Siem Reap
Once we had cleared immigration and officially entered Cambodia, straight away we had locals (touts) approaching us about transport.
We were strongly warned about this as many of these “drivers” aren’t reliable and will rip you off. They’re usually very well dressed in a suit or business shirt in an attempt to look professional.
Keep walking straight ahead for a few minutes until you see an undercover area with a sign that says “Free Shuttle Bus Station”.
Here there are free shuttle buses that go to the Government Passenger Terminal and from there are more transport options to get to other cities in Cambodia and its all fixed price.
So we were waiting at this shuttle bus station for a while, no sign of buses. There was a man in uniform and he said there are no buses to Siem Reap anymore and we’d have to go by private car, that he can organize.
Cambodia had only recently re-opened after COVID, so this could have been true. I just wasn’t overly convinced he wasn’t trying to play us. Plus, his story then changed and said there was a bus coming, but it will leave in 1 hour, then 2 hours.
I was starting to think we may be spending the night at this shuttle bus station.
Eventually, he convinced us to get a taxi for only 300 Thai Bhat (per person) from the Poipet to Siem Reap.
But that’s not the end of it in Cambodia, before the driver left town he insisted on finding two other passengers to fill the car. And, all that stuffing around took an extra 45 mins.
But still, I didn’t mind this option because at least we were moving and not still waiting for a bus that may never come.
Then only a few minutes outside Siem Reap city centre the driver pulled over and was kicking us out. The agreement at the border was to take us to our hotel, he had even asked for the hotel’s address.
I’m sure this was his plan all along because there was a tuk-tuk driver waiting for us who said he’d take us to our hotel for free if we hired him the next day for Angkor Wat.
This isn’t something we were expecting and frankly, the set-up pissed me off!
We declined his offer and paid the tuk-tuk driver our last 40THB to take us to our hotel.
Taxi & Tuk Tuk drivers in Cambodia changing prices, routes or picking up extra passengers after a deal has already been made is, unfortunately, a common assurance in Cambodia, especially Siem Reap.
If this happens to you don’t feel pressured into hiring the driver for future jobs. And any tuk-tuk around the city shouldn’t cost more than 1-2USD.
Getting from Poipet to Siem Reap ended up being a bit of a stuff around and the dishonesty wasn’t a good start to our time in Cambodia. But at least we arrived safely and it was still a very cheap ride.
300THB is roughly 8 USD and I had read taxis can change up to 12USD.
Recommended Accommodation in Siem Reap
[Getting from Bangkok to Cambodia by train] In Conclusion…
It’s crazy to think that two people can travel nearly 400km by land and it cost less than 30AUD. So even though it was a long day, travelling from Bangkok to Cambodia by train & then taxi to Siem Reap was an awesome way to go.
In this guide, I have detailed 4 different transport options for getting from Bangkok to Siem Reap and the current requirements for entering Cambodia by land.
Which transport option would you choose? Leave a comment below.
Thanks for reading,
Happy Travels
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