Bangkok Travel Forum

Hi, Anyone know of a trip from Bangkok to Angkor Wat or know how hard or easy it is to make your own way on public transport.

It is a couple of years since I visited, so not entirely sure of the current position.

I travelled by public transport. I travelled to Aranya Prathet, spent a night there, got a tuk tuk to the border, then in the village of Poipet I got a pick-up truck to Siem Reap. I do not know how much the roads have improved, if any, but it is a pretty harsh journey over what were little more that dirt tracks for much of the way. It was very interesting, although it took the best part of a day.

I did hear in Bangkok of organised tours to Angkor. Alternatively, you could fly, I know Bangkok Airways do the trip which takes sbout an hour. Here is the website.

http://www.bangkokair.com/

Hope this assists,

fergy.

I did the opposite direction last year and found it easiest to fly to the capital of cambodia and then bus it up to siem reap from there. Air asia are cheap and quiet good to use

Hi

We've been to Siem Reap / Angkor in 2005. We flew there with Bangkok Airways (takes about an hour). We used their Discovery airpass : http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/114fff/797/9/

As planxty said it was also some of years since I did the same journey. I left Bangkok early in the morning with a minibus to the border at Sisiphon and from there a beat up 4-wheel-drive Peaugot all the way to Siem Reap, arriving after night fall. At that time the road was terribly bombed and it was very rough going. It was tough but worth the experience even though Kalashnikov-toting Khmer Rouge bandits solicited bribes at every bridge along the way which the driver payed without protest.

If you do this journey take along plenty of patience, lots of philosophical endurance, do not trouble the driver about how long it will take and do not believe him if others ask this question and are told "Soon". No matter how long you are on the road you will never arrive soon!

Great, Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Do you need a visa before you get to Cambodia or can you get one there?

About the visa, you can get one at the border.
You should drop by Kao Sarn Rd., there's a handful of agencies who offer vans servicing between Bangkok and Siem Reap. Or else you could go to Ekkamai Bus Terminal and book a ticket for Bangkok-Arunyapratesh (spelling might be different), then take a tuktuk to the border...and from there you'll figure out what to do next. It's not that hard though =) Happy Travels!

Cheap flights on Air Asia from Bangkok to Siem Reap. Easiest way to go. You can take public transport but it will take a lot longer and there are sometimes hassles at the border. We booked a ticket at the Bangkok Airport 2 hours before the flight and paid $70 US for a one way from Bangkok to Phnom Pehn. Siem Reap was about the same price and this was last minute so I know you can find better deals. The bus from PP to SR is cheap and easy!

I flew to Phnom Penh and checked out that city for a few days. From PP I used a ferry boat to get to Siem Reap. Did the boat trip for a little variety.

Good luck.

It's not long at all from Bangkok to Angkor Wat.
Go to the Northern Bus Terminal early in the morning, say about 5:30. Get a bus to Aranya Prathet (approx 4 hours). Off the bus there, take a motorbike-taxi to the Cambodian border, 60baht. Leave Thailand and get a Cambodian visa on entry on the Cambodian side (on the left). 1,000baht. Take a free bus to the bus terminal in Poipet.
From Poipet Bus Terminal take a shared taxi to Siam Riep; about $15US per person (4 in a cab). Lots of them waiting to fill up. 3 hours to Siem Riep.
Leave Bangkok early in the early morning and you'll be walking around Angkor Wat mid-afternoon.

You might be able to get a visa at the border as WaRPer said but you would be doing yourself a disservice. Once your arrive at the Cambodian border you will be very keen on taking the first transport to Siem Reap and it will seem like ages getting your visa sorted out - all the while vehicles will be leaving with the people you met on the journey from Bangkok - with whom you will naturally want to travell the rest of the way with.