The best and cheapest way to get to Siem Reap from Bangkok is by a train that brings you almost to the Thai border, then you take a tuk-tuk and on the Cambodian side a bus. All of this will take you almost an entire day, read my story and get more information here.

Bangkok to Siem Reap with a train

I came to Siam Reap from Bangkok with a morning train from Hua Lamphong railway station. The train was supposed to leave at 5:55 to Poi Pet, but unfortunately it was 1,5 hours delayed and I didn’t arrive until 15:30. From there I had to take a tuk-tuk to the Thai border that is about a 10 minute ride from the train station.

Visa

Cambodian visas are available on the border, if you need to get one be sure to do it after crossing the Thai border, the passport control and over the bridge across the smelly creek. The visa on the Cambodian border cost 30$ and a fee of 100THB. The tuk-tuk drivers usually drive you to a fake visa office (before the Thai border) where you pay double price and they tell you it’s the only place to exchange money. If a tuk-tuk drives you there just tell him to drop you to the real Thai border or walk because the distance, it’s only 300 meters.

Scam

If you want to avoid being scammed while crossing the border from Thailand to Cambodia, my advice is to not exchange or buy anything 5 km in front of or after the Thai/Cambodian borders, everything there is more expensive and it´s a typical place for scams. I made the mistake of exchanging some money there and the rate wasn’t good, and anyway in Siam Reap you can pay with USD or go to an ATM.

Cambodia

After getting into Cambodia I took a bus from the border to Siem Reap at 17:00 which arrived at 20:30. The bus dropped me off at a bus station 5 kilometer off Airport road. The only way to get from there to the center is a tuk-tuk, which costs around 20000R.