Laos forum

HI Guys,
Another angle. If we take the overnight train from Nong Khai to Bangkok it departs at 18.10pm & arrives Bangkok at 05.45am.
I understand that its possible to buy a through bus ticket to Siem Reap from Bangkok. Can I do it same day?
Does anyone know what time the busses leave Bangkok & what time they arrive in Siem Reap?
Mini bus to the border then pick-up to Siem Reap (Rough guides)

My girlfriend and I are traveling through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia in feb, and are stuck on one leg of our trip. We are trying to get from Vientiane to Siem Reap as well but we don't have the luxury of time or money. So we are wondering what is the quickest way that isn't too expensive. Bus? Or fly from one border to the other inside Thailand?

thanks somtan2000.
I was wondering if you knew anything about the Kap Choeng or Chong Sa Ngam border crossings into cambodia?
they seem to be a bit clolser and a more direct route to SR. What do you think?

thanks again. i really appreciate your help!

yes. You are describing the normal route through southern Laos, mostly bus. I think the only regular slowboat southern Laos is Pakse to 4000 backpackers island (si phan don)

Thanks for the report back kieranspt.

Just a short note: we traveled from Luang Prabang via Vientiane to Siem Reap overland, by bus. No problem. Had one of those busses from Luang Prabang to Vientiane, which leave every few hours. In Vientiane, at the International Bus Station, a direct bus leaves to Nakhon Rachasima at 9 am. Only stops at the Laos / Thai-border. In Nakhon, you can catch a direct bus to Aranya Pathet (Thai / Cambodian border) from Bus Terminal 2 the same day, if you have accomodation in Aranya. We stayed one night, and took the morning bus at 9. From Aranya, transportation to Siem Reap is standard business, although a little bit adventurous due to a lot of scam going on.

Took us 4 days altogether, but can be done faster. We had time, and wanted to spend one day in Vientiane, and one evening in Nakhon.

No travel agency was involved. We asked a few, but everyone wanted to sell flights, or a bus drive via Pakse and Phnom Phen, which is much longer and therefore less relaxing, I suppose.

All passages were daytime only, the longest one took nine hours, all other were more like 4 to 6 ours. Very bearable. Bought all the tickets at the bus stations. All drives combined, the tickets sum up to about 35 Euro per person. Add some nice fews into the landscape, and a real nice way of travelling.

You´re right, the trip from Luang Prabang to Vientiane took 10:30 hours. Got that mixed up, sorry. As for going through Thailand: Thai provides free visas for 15 days when entering by land, at least that´s the case for people from europe. As for entering Cambodia, there is no difference which way you choose to get in: it will cost you 20 Dollars at least. And certainly you´re right - some people might not enjoy travelling by bus for more than 5 hours. But as I undertand it, the topic in this thread is: alternative way to flying. To me this means bus, or if one prefers, he might make the passage from Vientiane to Nakhon as easily by train. Not to rule out car, motorcycle...

If one told me I had to spend four days in a row in a bus, I´d shake my head and get off. But the whole trip took us four days only because we travelled in a very relaxed manner. Should probably make it clear, that we spent one short evening and one whole day in Vientiane, then the next morning continued jour journey. After a six hour drive, we spent one full evening in Nakhon. All in all we had a relaxed experience, that we enjoyed a lot. Especially the time in Nakhon, we´re we met no tourists whatsoever, but very kind and interested Asians instead.

The only thing that bothered us was all the scam going on at the Aranya / Poi Pet-Border. The Tuktuk from the Bus station took us to a fake Cambodia Visa office, that happily exists just one hundred meters from the official border. After telling them to p... off in a nice way, the guys there even threatened us. The official guys at the border were all very kind, though. Better pay the Cambodian visa in US Dollars btw., safes a little bit of money compared to paying in other currency. Later the bus, which took us from Poi Pet to Siem Reap, stopped 30 Minutes prior to our proposed arrival; had us have a 1-hour-lunch in a restaurant; the guide then tried to sell rooms at a guesthouse. Nothing serious, if you know what´s going on. Still not the welcome one hopes for. Be warned.