Travel to Neighbouring Countries

Sharing land borders with Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, Thailand works well as part of many overland itineraries, both across Asia and between Europe and Australia. In addition, Bangkok is one of the major regional flight hubs for Southeast Asia.

The most popular multiple-stop Circle Asia and round-the-world air tickets often feature a “surface sector” between Bangkok and either Singapore or Bali; in other words it’s up to you to find your own way between these places, either by bus, train, boat or locally purchased flight, or some combination of these. Travelling overland in this way is a good means of exploring the country and can save you a significant amount on your air ticket. Other, more unusual overland routes fly you into China and out of Bangkok, leaving you to make your own way across Vietnam and/or Laos and then into Thailand.

The main restrictions on overland routes in and out of Thailand are determined by visas, and by where the permitted land crossings lie. Most passport holders should be able to get an on-the-spot thirty-day entry stamp into Thailand at any of the land borders described below, though you maybe asked to show proof of onward travel arrangements, which can be tricky for overlanders. Thirty-day stamps are absolutely non extendable (though it’s easy enough to hop across one of the land borders and return on the same day with another thirty-day stamp), so you might want to apply for a sixty-day tourist visa instead, obtainable in advance from Thai embassies.

You may need to buy visas for your next port of call when in Thailand, and details of visa requirements for travel to Thailand’s immediate neighbours are outlined below. All Asian embassies are located in Bangkok, but several countries also have visa-issuing consulates outside the capital, where waiting times can be shorter: China and India run consulates in Chiang Mai, and Laos and Vietnam consulates in Khon Kaen.

The right paperwork is also crucial if you’re planning to drive your own car or motorbike into Thailand. For advice on this, consult The Golden Triangle Rider website (www.geocities.com/goldentrianglerider) which has up-to-date first-hand accounts of border crossings with a vehicle between many Southeast Asian countries, including lots about Thailand.

Bangkok has become an important centre for flights to many parts of Asia, in particular as a transit point for routes between Europe and Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia; indeed on most flights from Europe to Indochina you have no choice but to be routed via Bangkok. In addition it is now also possible to fly into regional Thai airports from nearby countries. For example from Siem Reap in Cambodia to Phuket, from Phnom Penh to Pattaya, from Louang Phabang and Vientiane in Laos to Chiang Mai, from Kunming in China and from Taipei to Chiang Mai, and from Singapore to Koh Samui. If you’re doing a longer trip around Southeast Asia, you may want to consider buying a Circle ASEAN ticket, sold by the national airlines of Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, The pass entitles you to buy two to six flights between and within these countries for around £75/$110 each sector, depending on the distance; these passes must be bought outside the countries concerned.

Travel to Burma

At the time of writing, there is no overland access from Burma into Thailand access in the opposite direction is restricted: Western tourists are only allowed to make limited-distance day-trips into Burma at Three Pagodas Pass near Kanchanaburi, at Myawaddy near Mae Sot, at Mae Sai (where three-day tours to Kentung are available), and at Kaw Thaung (Victoria Point) near Ranong. In each of these places you are required officially to exit Thailand, enter Burma on a temporary visa (for a fee of US$5-10), and then re-enter Thailand on a new thirty-day tourist visa; see relevant accounts in the guide for details.

In addition to numerous flights to Bangkok from Burma, there are regular flights to Chiang Mai from Rangoon and Mandalay with Air Mandalay. Tourists who intend to enter Burma by air can buy four-week tourist visas at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok for B800; apply to the embassy and you may be able to collect the same day or definitely the following day.

Travel to Cambodia

At the time of writing, there are two legal overland border crossings from Cambodia into Thailand, but you should check with other travellers before opting for either as regulations can vary from week to week and border closures are not unheard of.

The most commonly used crossing is at Poipet, which lies just across the border from the Thai town of Aranyaprathet, at the end of a famously potholed and uncomfortable road. There are reasonable, if time-consuming, public-transport connections to Poipet from Sisophon, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia, and many guest houses in Siem Reap also organize private transport from your Cambodian departure point that the Thai border closes at 5pm every day, and that the last Aranyaprathet-Bangkok bus also leaves at 5pm. Buses from Aranyaprathet take about four and half hours to reach Bangkok, arriving at the Northern (Mo Chit) Bus Terminal. There are just two trains a day from Aranyaprathet to Bangkok, departing at 6.30am and 1.35pm and taking about five and half hours.

Increasingly popular with travellers is the border crossing in Thailand’s Trat province, from Sihanoukville via Koh Kong and Ban Hat Lek to Tart. The usual route is to get the speedboat from Sihanoukville to Koh Kong, then a taxi-boat from the Koh Kong pier to the Hat Lek border post; however, the Sihanoukville boat doesn’t always make it in time before the border closes at 5pm. Minibuses and songthaews run from Ban Hat Lek to Trat, 91km northwest, where you can either pickup a bus straight to Bangkok (4-6hr) or stay the night and then proceed to the popular nearby island of Koh Chang or continue along Thailand’s east coast.

The speedier alternative to the above overland routes is to make use of the daily flights operated by Bangkok Airways, including services to Phuket and Bangkok from Phnom Penh and from Siem Reap.

Overland border crossings for tourists traveling to Cambodia:
At the time of writing, visas for Cambodia are issued to travellers on arrival at Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports, and at both the Aranyapathet/Poipet and Hat Lek land borders; if you do need to buy an advance thirty-day visa, you can do so from the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok (B1000; two working days) or from travel agents in Bangkok’s Banglamphu district (for an extra B200). You need US$20 and a photo for this. You may also want to bring a (real and fake) International Quarantine Booklet showing dates of your vaccinations, a border guards at both overland crossings have been known to (illegally) charge foreigners without vaccination cards a US$5 penalty fee.

If you’re traveling nonstop from Bangkok to Cambodia, the fastest route is via Ban Hat Lek. If you don’t fancy the overland route, you can fly with Bangkok Airways from Sukhothai to Siem Reap, from Pattaya to Phnom Penh and from Bangkok to both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh; details are given in the relevant city accounts.

Trat – Ban Hat Lek – Koh Kong – Sihanoukville
As Ban Hat Lek (on the Thai side) and Koh Kong (in Cambodia) are on opposite sides of the Dong Tong River estuary, crossing the border here involves taking at least one taxi-boat before you can board the scheduled public boat on to Sihanoukville. The first leg of the trip from Trat takes you to the Thai border post at Ban Hat Lek, 91 km southeast of Trat (border open daily 7am-5pm). Share-taxis (songthaews) and air-con minibuses to Ban Hat Lek leave from Thanon Sukhumvit in central Trat and cost B100 per person. If you want to reach Sihanoukville in one day, you’ll need to be at the minibus stop for about 4.30am, when drivers meet passengers off the overnight bus from Bangkok (departing the Eastern Bus Terminal at 11.30pm) and whisk them straight to Ban Hat Lek in time for the opening of the border at 7am. This gives you just enough time to catch the daily scheduled boat to Sihanoukville from the nearby town of Koh Kong across on the eastern bank of the estuary (sometimes referred to as Krong Koh Kong), which at the time of writing sets off at around 8am. To get to the Koh Kong pier, take a motorcycle or car taxi from the Ban Hat Lek immigration post to the west bank of the estuary (a 10min drive) and then a taxi-boat across to Koh Kong on the east bank.

Travel to Laos and Vietnam

There are currently five points along the Lao Border where it’s permissible for tourists to cross into Thailand: Houayxai (for Chiang Khong); Vientiane (for Nong Khai); Thakhek (for Nakhon Phanom); Savannakhet (for Mukdahan); and Pakxe (for Chong Mek). All these are accessible by various combinations of road and river transport. As well as the numerous routes to and from Bangkok, Lao Aviation operates handy flights between Vientiane and Louang Phabang and Chiang Mai, and Bangkok Airways is planning and outbound flight from Sukhothai to Louang Phabang, with the incoming route probably landing in Bangkok (there are no immigration facilities in Sukhothai)

Visas are required for all non-Thai visitors to Laos. A fifteen-day visa on arrival can bought for US$30 (cash only, plus two photos), but is only available to travellers entering Laos at Vientiane Airport, Louang Phabang Airport or at the Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai. If you want to enter Laos via somewhere other than the above border points, or want a longer visa, you must apply in advance. In Bangkok, thirty-day visas can be obtained directly from the Lao embassy for around B750-1000, depending on nationality; fifteen-day visas cost the same. You need two passport photos, and processing takes three days (or 24hr for an extra B300). It’s also possible to get a double-entry visa, that is, two thirty-day visas, costing double the price. An alternative option is to go through one of the travel agents in Banglamphu, who charge B1200-2000 for a fifteen-day visa, and up to twice as much for a thirty-day visa; allow three working days for processing. The Lao consulate in Khon Kaen in northeast Thailand also issues visas, though fees and processing times are variable. Entering Laos from Chiang Khong in north Thailand, you can get fifteen-day visas in advance through Chiang Khong guest houses and travel agencies: processing takes two to three days and costs about US$30.

If you have the right Lao visa and Vietnamese exit stamp, you can travel from Vietnam to Thailand via Savannakhet in a matter of hours; you’ll need to use Vietnam’s Lao Bao border crossing, west of Dong Ha, where you can catch a bus to Savannakhet and then a ferry across the Mekhong to Mukdahan. All travellers into Vietnam need to buy a visa in advance. Thirty-day visas take four or five working days to process at the embassy in Bangkok and cost B800-2050 depending on your nationality, or B200 extra through a travel agent. There is also a visa-issuing Vietnamese consulate in Khon Kaen.

Travel to Malaysia and Singapore

Travelling between Thailand and Malaysia and Singapore is straightforward and a very commonly used route. Most Western tourists can spend thirty days in Malaysia and fourteen days in Singapore without having bought a visa beforehand, and transport linking the three countries is excellent. This makes it an ideal route for tourists and expats needing to renew their Thai visas; there are Thai embassies or consulates in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Bharu and Singapore.

It’s possible to take a train all the way from Singapore to Bangkok via Malaysia, a journey of just under 2000km. The journey involves several changes, but the overall trip can be done in around thirty hours at an average cost of about £60/US$90; trains leave at least once a day from both ends. Taking the train from Singapore or Johor Bahru in southern Malaysia, you can opt for the west-cost route, via Kuala Lumpur, or the east-coast route, which goes via Kota Bharu but involves a short taxi ride across the border to Sungai Kolok; the two lines rejoin at the southern Thai town of Hat Yai, Travelling from KL to Hat Yai takes about thirteen hours and costs about £12/US$18 for a second-class sleeper. For the current timetable and ticket prices, visit the Malaysian Railways website (www.ktmb.com.my). Travelling in the reverse direction, you might prefer to change onto a bus or share-taxi at Hat Yai, and at Sungai Kolok you’ll have to get a taxi anyway; details of border formalities are given in the relevant accounts.

Plenty of buses also cross the Thai-Malaysian border every day. Hat Yai is the major transport hub for international bus connections, and there are regular buses here from Singapore (around £12/US$18; 18hr) and Kuala Lumpur (£9/US$13; 12hr), and buses and share-taxis from Penang (£9/US$13; 6hr). You’ll also find long-distance buses and minibuses to Bangkok, Krabi, Phuket and Surat Thani from Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Singapore, as well as in the reverse direction. If you’re coming from Alor Setar, the nearest big town to the border on Malaysia’s west coast, you’ll have to get a bus to the border at Bukit Kayu Hitam, then take a share-taxi from the Thai side up to Hat Yai.

It’s also possible to travel between Malaysia and Thailand by ferry. Frequent boats connect Kuala Perlis and Langkawi with Satun in south Thailand.

In addition to the numerous daily flights on any number of international airlines from Malaysia and Singapore to Bangkok, Bangkok Airways operates daily flights between Singapore and Koh Samui, while Chiang Mai and Phuket are served by flights from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia Airlines) and Singapore (Silk Air). There are also regular flights to Hat Yai from Kuala Lumpur and from Johor Bahru (both Malaysia Airlines), and from Singapore (with Singapore Airlines, subsidiary Silk Air).