Should you wish to go directly from Bangkok to Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) in Cambodia, whatever you do – do not take one of the passenger vans from Khao Sarn Road.

The vans usually leave early from Khao Sarn Road and arrive in Aranya Prathet (Border Crossing) a few hours later. After crossing the border, you will realize that the ‘bus’ (Scam no.1) as promised by the tour agent in Bangkok is nothing of the sort but instead just a beaten-up pick-up with little suspension, where unless you pay extra you will have to sit in the back with 30 other people. The road is still in pretty poor condition, so your back-side will be numb for the next couple of days!

(Scam no.2) The pick-up will intentionally leave late (you already having been sat around for hours) and will slowly make its way to Siem Reap. Arriving late in the evening, the pick-ups stop way out of town forcing you to stay at a guesthouse of the driver’s choice (Scam no.3) where of course he gets a handsome commission for each traveler. The rooms at these scammy guesthouses are rundown and expensive.

In fact, this scam looks very like it originated in Khao Sarn Road, as scams just like this (guesthouse commission based) started there even before I first came here in the early 90s. The cost for this scammy transport is cheap but definitely not worth the hassle.

Better to do the journey by yourself. Get a bus to Aranya Prathet from the Northern Bus Terminal (Morchid). Cross the border, go to the bus terminal, look or wait for others going to Siem Reap and share a taxi, otherwise there are a couple of big buses. If you wish to save cash, there are other non-scammy pick-ups doing the journey, but they will only leave when they are full.

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