Prasat is 40km from the Chong Chom border crossing with Cambodia. There is also an immigration office en-route at Kap Cheung. Getting your passport stamped is a pretty quick and painless as it’s definitely less busy than the main border crossing at Arunyaphatet/Poi Pet. You have to pay an extra 300B on the Cambodian side if you leave the same day, and the visa is the standard 1000B. Give them the 1000B when you hand over your passport and completed form as it has been known for them to ask for an extra 100B if you show hesitation. If you have forgotten your photograph then there is an additional 100B charge.

There is a market either side of the border, which can be worth looking at, but be warned about bringing in anything that is illegal or the duty/tax has not been paid. There are stories about people buying cartons of cigarettes that have been opened and drugs been inserted inside only to find the police arresting them once back inside Thailand. So be street wise!

Saying that these incidents are rare, and the safest place to buy anything is at the duty free shop at the Hotel opposite the casino. Which is located right on the border. This is very popular with Thais, and the only time the border is busy is when they have cash to burn.

You can get a taxi from Osmach to Siem Reap(Angkor Watt), but at the moment there are no minibuses or coaches. For most of the way it is still dirt track, and in the rainy season it becomes a bog. You will pass the house of Ta Mok along the way, who was one the nastiest Khmer Rouge leaders. It would not have been possible to take this journey a few years before as the risk of kidnap was to great. The taxi should cost 1800B and the journey which is roughly 150km can take between 4-6 hrs.

There is minibus service to the border which costs 40B each way, alternatively the Leelawadee Gardens can arrange for you to be taken privately by car. This can be a better way for some, as the convenience of doing things at your own leisure and making a day of it, so to speak can break the monotony of a Visa Run.

I will post more, about what to do and see en-route from the Leelawadee in future posts.

Sawadee Krap