For Potential Travelers

:GENERAL

I have neglected important information thus far about travel plans, money, how to avoid scams, etc etc. Here it is all together. If you are considering coming out this way (which you absolutely should), hopefully this is of some assistance. And if you visited Thailand already and have something else to offer, please do. The more (info), the merrier!

Keep in mind, you never know what's going to happen. You are a farang, so you are immediately disadvantaged, and I guarantee they are going to try and squeeze everything possible out of you. It might not seem like a lot, but in many cases, you pay upwards of 10x what something actually costs. Just be aware. Sometimes you can haggle down, sometimes you can't. They often don't care and would rather not have your business, but sometimes you get lucky. Never believe what is first told to you. They want to keep the peace so they tell you what you want to hear, regardless of truth. They don't walk, and they will always tell you that somewhere is too far for you to do so. Ask how many minutes, kilos, something to give you a better idea. It benefits Thais if you pay for transportation, this is what they will tell you to do.

With the busses, it is very hard to tell what you are getting yourself into. Some busses can get from Point A to Point B in an hour, some busses take 5. Express busses, vans, first class busses, and VIP busses are good ways to avoid this, but you pay for your time. Ultimately, this is a personal preference. But keep in mind that if someone tells you it took them 3 hours to get somewhere, that means nothing. It varies dramatically depending on a multitude of things. Never go into a situation needing to arrive somewhere else at a certain time; it's just no way to live in Thailand.

If you hop on a bus anywhere, they can charge you anything. At the station, almost always you pay a lesser price. You can haggle with the money collectors, but it usually doesn't get you too far. Your best bet is just to pay them what you think it's worth and pretend like you own the place. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. But, as I said it's your best bet. If you bring money up in this particular case, you usually lose.

Also, seems like hotels are not any more expensive than guest houses. Weird. In my limited experience, for a guest house with a bathroom, 2 beds and A/C, it's going to be at least 400 baht a night (very very low side), usually more like five or six hundred. Hotels, with those amenities included, are also around five or six hundred. This simply comes down to personal preference, there are advantages to both.

CAMBODIA:

Below, black shows the bus ride from Si Racha to Pattaya. In green, Pattaya to Aranyaprathet (had we known how, it might have been possible to catch the bus in Si Racha). Purple- tuk tuk from Aranyaprathet to the Cambodian border. Blue- taxi to Siem Reap.

Be sure to come prepared with US dollars, as it is the most common currency used in Cambodia. If you do not have them, any Cambodian ATM will give them to you (so weird!). That is their preference, then Thai baht (at an absolutely terrible exchange rate), lastly Cambodian riel. You will find that if you pay in dollars, they often give you change in riel. Even still, many times they will not accept it.

In case you're interested: At Angkor Wat, there were several children selling trinkets for a dollar here a dollar there. We didn't buy anything but shared our food with them, and they were very thankful. If I ever make it back, I will be sure to come prepared with food and supplies (flip flops, t-shirts, soap, etc) for them. If you are considering doing something along those lines, you should.

Our Costs and Travel Time:

1. Pattaya to Aranyaprathet (the border town) by bus - 5 hours. 220 baht. The bus left at 8:30 am and arrived in Aranyaprathet after 1. There was no A/C, and it was full. You can ride on airconditioned busses at a higher cost. We bought our tickets the afternoon prior. Had we shown up in the morning, it would have been sold out.

2. Aranyaprathet to border by tuk tuk - 20 minute wait, about 10 minute ride. Negotiable, 50 baht. We've read most people pay 80-100. You can talk them down.

3. Cambodian visas and border crossing - quick, maybe 20 minutes. 20 USD or 1000 baht ($20 is cheaper). Cambodian officials often charge more for bribe money, we negotiated down to $23 each.

4. Poi Pet to Siem Reap by cab - just under 2 hours. 40 USD. This includes money to bribe the officials. You can also take a "free" ride to the bus station, where they charge you even more to catch a bus (depending on the number in your party). The taxi is a better deal if you split the cost 4 ways or more, and it was very easy to find other tourists to share the ride. Just outside Siem Reap, the cab driver stopped and a man came up and told us we couldn't go any farther by taxi, we had to get out and pay for a tuk tuk. This was not true. If you tell them you have been there before and want to continue on in the cab, they will eventually let you. Otherwise, you pay an extra fee for about a 2 minute ride.

On the way back from Siem Reap to the border we took a van for 5 USD each. Many people set this up before leaving Thailand through a tourist company and pay more as a result. You can do it on spot if you catch them at the right time. Our guest house knew the schedule and reserved our seats. I also took a van from the border back to Pattaya and paid 300 baht. It had A/C and there was plenty of room. Price negotiable. We stayed in a local guest house (there is one street with several to choose from) for 5 USD/night no A/C, 10 USD with A/C. It was large and clean, and had a western toilet.

Angkor Wat cost $45 to get in at night (we did not do this) to see the show. $20 a day, but you can not pay the fee and still see some of the sights. The day pass grants you access to everything. The park (w/c?) is huge, so usually you have to pay for a day with a tuk tuk driver. We negotiated down to 9 USD, he started at $15.

Food was not cheap, they charged a terrible rate to baht on the dollar (1 USD to 45 or even 50 baht. It should be 1 to 35). If you know the actual rate you can negotiate a bit. Everything was 1, 2 or 3 USD at the local food stands and restaurants, and we ran into anything up to 12 USD at foreign eateries. We never paid more than 2 dollars each, which still seemed outrageous.

In Angkor Wat, there was a clear distinction between the foreign side and the Cambodian side, where we always chose to eat. It was much cheaper and more authentic. We also weren't hassled by Cambodians in these areas.

KOH SAMET:

Below the blue(ish) shows the route by bus from Pattaya to Ban Phe, keep in mind there's a stop in Rayong and a transfer to Ban Phe. The pink shows our route from Si Racha to Ban Phe on the motorbike. You can see the island just off the coast.

We drove the motorbike down, and took highway 36 (more direct route) instead of Sirkumvit, which rides just inside the coast the whole way (without a view). You can take a bus from Pattaya to Rayong and then from Rayong to Ban Phe, where the boats will ferry you over. They leave every half hour or so during the day and take right at 40 minutes. A speed boat goes much later in the evening, for the elevated cost of 1500 baht. If you take the regular day boats, it's 50 baht a person round trip. With the motorbike, we paid 200 round trip in addition to our 50 each. These stop running fairly early, something like 4 p.m., maybe even earlier.

Travel time for us to Ban Phe was just over an hour. With the additional distance of Sirkumvit, slow bus speeds and a transfer in Rayong, I'd say about 2 and a half hours to Ban Phe.

We spent the night in Ban Phe, a fun and quant small town that had a great vibe. Our accommodation was 700 baht for nothing special, but it was clean and with A/C. For a bit more searching, you can find around 400 baht no A/C.

On the island of Koh Samet, there are several tourist traps, and they take a lot of money for nothing if you don't know what to expect. When you first arrive, they herd all the tourist onto the back of trucks (that of course, cost money) to take you to the national park. The park itself is no more than a 10 minute walk (at most), and the walk is free. We had the motorbike so completely bypassed this situation. There is a 400 baht per person park fee. If you are in the trucks, you have to pay it. If you walk, you can just walk right into the park. Like many things in Thailand, if you wait in line to pay, they will take your money. If you act like you know what you're doing and forge ahead, they couldn't care less. We never paid, and we were never questioned. There are also several accommodation options to the right of the pier (the opposite direction of the park) which they oh-so-conveniently fail to mention.

Once inside the park, you can find anything to suit your budget. We paid royally for a private Thai-style bungalow (2000 baht a night). The price list said 3000, it was no trouble to negotiate down as it was off-season. I now believe we could have gotten it for even less, but it was worth it. We were literally on the beach. You can get something like 500 or 600 a night no A/C on the other side of the road, so just a 3 minute walk to beach proper.

PATTAYA:

Below shows Pattaya, Bangkok and Si Racha all on the map. Almost all (if not every single one) busses from Bangkok to Pattaya will drop you off in Si Racha, as it is right on the way on Sukumvit (Route 3). Bangkok to Si Racha is shown in blue, Si Racha to Pattaya in purple.

BANGKOK:

SI RACHA: