crossing land borders terrifies me. I don’t know why. In my early years of travel, I jumped from one country to another by plane. but when you’re backpacking across continental Southeast Asia, it typically can’t be helped because it is the easiest, most affordable way, especially for the Bangkok-Siem Reap route.

I’ve already crossed the Thailand-Cambodia border overland three times now. I still remember how nervous I was on my first time doing it. The whole time, I didn’t know where to go, what to do, how to go about the whole thing. The dozens of touts swarming around me on the way into and out of the immigration building were not helping. I’ve read about the scams that run rampant in the area, and the thought of falling victim to one frightened the hell out of me.

If you’re traveling from Bangkok to Siem Reap and you’re a bit nervous, I know the feeling. Hence, I’m sharing with you this step-by-step guide. You have these options: by direct bus, by common bus, or by train.

WHAT’S covered IN THIS GUIDE?

Bangkok to Siem Reap by direct Bus
Bangkok to Siem Reap by regular Bus
Bangkok to Siem Reap by Train
Top budget hotels Under $25
Search for Siem Reap Hotels
Read our Siem Reap travel Guide
More suggestions on YouTube ⬇️⬇️⬇️Related Posts:

Bangkok to Siem Reap by direct Bus

You have two bus options. You can travel by bus to Aranyaprathet, the town on the border, then switch to another bus once you’re through with the immigration processes. but you can book a direct bus.

DIRECT BUSES are those that would take you from Bangkok to Siem Reap without switching cars in 9 hours. Although you will still need to get off and go through the immigration counters on your own, you don’t need to bring your luggage with you. You can leave your bags on the bus, go through Immigration, and the same bus will meet you on the other side.

Here’s the whole process:

Go to the bus terminal and board your bus.

Get off at the border. You will be given a badge which you shouldn’t lose because you’ll need it to board the bus on the other side.

Go through the immigration processes as rapidly as you can. Yes, the bus will wait for you, but be mindful of other people’s time too. You’ll enter the Thai immigration building first, go through Immigration, emerge on the other side, walk to the Cambodian side, go through their process this time.

Find your bus on the other side. Hop in and you’ll be on your way to Siem Reap’s city center.

If you have questions or need help, do not hesitate to ask the driver. They’re trained to assist you.

IMPORTANT! You’ll find AN terrible lot of advertisements for direct buses, but many of them are NOT really direct. They still switch buses after the border. I even experienced booking a supposedly direct bus but then at the border, we transferred to a much smaller minibus (van). some of these scammers will squeeze money out of you. There have been reports from other travelers where the bus would make a stop at a travel agency and insist on purchasing visa from them. The catch: these are overpriced inauthentic visas. (If you’re an ASEAN resident, you don’t need a visa!)

If you want a genuinely problem-free direct bus, book only with the following companies:

Transport Co. (Nattakan).
Terminal: Morchit (Mo Chit) aka North Terminal
Leaves Bangkok at 8am and 9am.
Fare: THB 750 ($22) if you book at the terminal; THB 870 ($26) if online.

Giant Ibis
Terminal: Khao San huge Ibis
Leaves Bangkok at 7:45am
Fare: THB 1091 ($32) is you book online

You can purchase tickets at the terminal itself, but there are limited buses per day so you might want to reserve online.

Reserve here: Bangkok-Siem Reap Buses

Book Buses and Trains

Updated: 02/22/19 | February 22, 2019

Back in July, a buddy suggested I watch the movie A Map for Saturday.

I liked it.

It is just the very best movie about backpacking.

If you ever wished to understand why we travel as well as about life on the road, you should see this movie. I really show it in hostels to other travelers.

I got the possibility to interview Brook Silva Braga about the movie as well as his experience. Now, Brook has a new movie out about Africa. It’s called someday in Africa. He sent me the screener to preview, as well as now that the movie is out I believed it would be great to chat with him about it.

Nomadic Matt: Why did you make this documentary? It’s extremely different from your last one.
Brook: Yeah, it is truly different as well as I was definitely looking to do something different after ‘A Map for Saturday.’ I got a possibility to travel with Africa about a year back as well as I decided to make this film while on the trip. perhaps since ‘A Map for Saturday’ focused so much on the foreigners’ lives this time around I wished to focus on the locals.

In ‘A Map for Saturday’ I stated just about whatever I have to state about travel so I was looking to move to something else, particularly since making a film forces you to online with the exact same topic for a extremely long time so at the end of the process you’re prepared for something else.

Also, if you make the exact same type of film twice people may begin to partner you just keeping that topic as well as I want to cover great deals of different things.

What do you hope people get out of this film?
My hope is people will have a much better comprehending of what life is like for regular people in Africa. I believe it’s regrettable that so much of what we see comes from little pockets of the continent where terrible things are happening while most locations are totally uncovered by western media.

Also, a great deal of the pictures as well as stories that come out of Africa are produced by aid groups or organizations trying to produce rate of interest in a specific cause. I had no vested rate of interest or program so I was just able to tell the stories as I saw them.

How did you choose where you were going to film?
There were some logistical forces guiding me from country to country however I was able to go to a great deal of locations throughout the continent as well as ended up traveling with 12 countries which provided me great deals of choices for filming. I was always on the lookout for fascinating people, locations or circumstances as well as likewise always trying to strike a balance between the different regions of the continent as well as between rural as well as metropolitan environments.

How did you choose who to film? was there an interview process or did you just ask strangers?
It was different every time however frequently I would just be walking around a location as well as encounter somebody fascinating as well as articulate who I believed would make a great subject. There were likewise times where I was trying to get some specific point of view as well as then went looking for somebody who embodied it. That’s exactly how I satisfied Bridgete after costs a month in Malawi attempting to comply with a lady on the day she provided birth.

What were a few of the difficulties of filming in Africa?
In great deals of ways, Africa was a extremely simple location to film since people were so open with their lives as well as not at all self-conscious in front of the camera. The difficulties were logistical since if you lose your Duel Systems P2 adapter you can be specific you will not discover a replacement anywhere nearby. I was lucky to get with my trip with all the devices intact however it was a relatively constant concern.

Most of the talk about Africa is about hardship as well as war. When making this movie exactly how did those perceptions in shape into what you wished to discuss?
I agree that those topics are covered once again as well as once again as well as I believe there are two primary reasons for it. First, stories from these remote parts of the world only make the newspaper when they’re extraordinary, as well as usually tragic, so we only hear from a location like Zimbabwe when there’s something terrible in the news.

But the other reason is less excusable in my opinion. as well many people composing books, making documentaries or otherwise telling stories about Africa choose what their story will be before ever setting foot on the continent. My objective in making “One Day in Africa” was to show up as somewhat of a blank canvas as well as let the people I satisfied drive the direction of the film rather than some outline I had concocted in Manhattan.

***
While A Map for Saturday will always be one of my preferred travel movies, I discovered someday in Africa to be incredibly insightful as well as honest. You can watch the trailerbelow if you want to inspect it out.

Book Your Trip: Logistical tips as well as Tricks
Book Your Flight
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