Bangkok to Siem Reap: Avoid Scammers from Aranyaprathet to Poipet Border

I received an email from a reader asking for tips on how to get to Siem Reap from Aranyaprathet. She was hesitant because of scammers that are prevalent in the area which I’ve also read about. I already wrote an article about it (read article here) however, it seemed as if I haven’t fully tackled our story. Hence, this post will serve as a guide for those travelers who will opt for the Bangkok to Siem Reap route via train and avoid touts in the process.

How To Avoid Scammers from Aranyaprathet (Thailand) to Poipet (Cambodia) Border

After taking the regular train ride from Bangkok and arriving in Aranyaprathet, we freshened ourselves in the huge bathrooms at the station and let everybody go first. We’ll all just meet each other at the immigration office so there was no need to rush.

thailand border scammers
tuktuk taxis and pseudo-agencies

Tuktuk (motorized taxis) are abound, waiting for passengers and you can ride one of them to take you to the border. We aranyaprathet borderwere charged more but we insisted on paying only 1 USD for the drive. There were three of us inside the tuktuk and it was full but it didn’t matter. The drive to the border lasted only for 10 minutes.

Prior to the driver bringing us to the border, he made a side trip and brought us to an office where long-sleeved men asked if we were going to Cambodia.

Take note: Do not believe them!

These men wearing long-sleeved shirts will convince you to get inside their office agency so you can apply for a Visa for Cambodia. However, if you’re a Filipino, there is NO NEED for a Visa as it is NOT a requirement. It’s sad but this is a protocol for tuktuk drivers in Aranyaprathet to hopefully earn extra income.

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No Ordinary Train Ride from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet

We took a train ride from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet so we could reach Siem Reap, Cambodia the cheapest way possible. On land, you can either take a bus or a train, the former is faster though more expensive. 200 Baht vs 48 Baht, it was a no-brainer for us since our funds were already depleted back in Cebu, Philippines.

Aranyaprathet is a district of Sa Kaeo Province in Thailand that borders Cambodia to the East. Riding the train was an experience that is foreign to me. Unless you include those small train rides in theme parks, I can say that I’ve never ridden this mode of transport before.

Bangkok Railway Station
Hua Lamphong

hua lumpong station
Hua Lamphong Train Station

Around 4am in Hua Lamphong Railway Station, we waited for the 5:55am train schedule by eating Thai food and buying snacks at a 7/11 convenience store. It was going to be a 6-hour ride, and we’ve been traveling and stopping from Cebu to Manila to Clark to Bangkok for over 24 hours. You can imagine how stressed I was considering that I wasn’t used to long journeys. But it would’ve been useless to give up knowing how far we’ve already come.

hua lamphong station
Station 6

The sign said it was an ordinary train going to Aranyaprathet. But after the whole traverse, there was nothing plain about it. In fact, it was one of the most notable experiences of the trip.

ordinary train to aranyaprathet
Ordinary Train? Didn’t see this one coming.

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Cebu to Manila to Clark to Bangkok to Aranyaprathet to Siem Reap

I spent 36 hours travelling and waiting during our trip from Cebu to Siem Reap in Cambodia. It was the longest I spent to reach one destination. I guess that’s the challenge when you live in a region that doesn’t have a lot of options when it comes to flights to international destinations. Cebu Pacific Airlines used to have direct flights from Cebu to Bangkok but it stopped probably due to the minimal number of passengers going to that country.

In any case, we were lucky to get a discount due to promotional fares a couple of months before the schedule. Here’s a breakdown on how we got to Cambodia from Cebu.

clark airport wifi
online at Clark terminal

Cebu to Manila: We arrived 5 minutes late at the check-in counter so we had to pay the regular price and turned into chance-passengers at 5200 bucks more than the promo fare. Just mentioning it is already a pain in the buttocks since we already had a limited budget.

7000 Php (ouch) – Cebu Pacific Air Fare (original price was only 1800 Php)
200 Php – Terminal Fee

clark airport
Cebu Pacific airlines

Lesson learned, arrive 2 hours earlier than the scheduled flight! I never want to be pay extra again as these are circumstances that we can control.

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