Crossing the border: Tips for first time Cambodia/Thailand travelers

We got you fam! 👊 We know preparing an itinerary can be very time consuming. You need to do an extensive research so you won’t mess up your supposed enjoyable international trip. You will definitely need all the extra effort to finalize the details like where to go and what to do, but trust us, it would help you a lot!

For those who will be travelling and crossing borders for their dream vacation, we hope these tips can help you.

1. Re-appropriate the “You only live once” thinking.

Before anything else, just like you, we also use the term "YOLO" when describing experiences we're about to plunge in. However, make sure you keep that thought only in your heart and not in your mind! Why? Because you only live once and we don’t want you to be part of a news headline in the near future! 😰

Get some insights from peers who have been to those countries. Read travel blogs and tips. Equip yourself with knowledge about the customs in that country and always remember that you are a foreigner -- an odd feeling for a first timer, but you are now! Cool, right?

What did we do? Since we're a group of four aiming to visit two countries, we managed by creating an arrangement – we put up indefinite roles: the instigator, the planner, the communicator, and the financer. In our case, basically, the instigator is the one who initiates the idea and is assigned to look for affordable airfares/promos online. The planner is the person one who creates the itinerary and equips himself/herself with adequate knowledge about the countries. The financer is the one who's in charge of the digits or the expenses -- basically, the moolah! 🤑 They're also assigned to make hotel reservations. And the communicator is assigned to make everything light and easily understandable for everyone! 

2. Money changer is a game changer!

Read the news. Grab the opportunity for the best time to convert your money. Check the exchange rate in the bank or the nearby money changer -- which one is lower? Compare and compute.

What did we do? We split our money into three: our savings, our budget for Cambodia, and our budget for Thailand. Dollars are widely accepted in Cambodia as it is their second currency, thus it is easy for us to compute. In Thailand, their currency is in Baht, so we recommend that you make your money converted through a nearby money changer (a legit one!) instead of in the airport because the exchange rate in the latter can be really high.

*Note: We decided not to convert our Dollars to Baht (while in the Philippines) because we might end up short in Dollars and excessive Baht while staying Cambodia. Besides, we also learned that the exchange rate in Thailand is comparable enough so there's not much to worry about.

Check out the computation below for your reference:

The four of us had Php 10,000 on hand when we met at the mall before we traveled. Since our meet up happened on a holiday, we weren’t able to have it converted in a bank. Luckily, there were two money changers within the vicinity so we decided to split and checked both.

My friends converted their 10k to dollars (1 dollar = Php 50.00). It may look cheap, but there’s a big difference with ours. Me and another friend of mine had our 10k to dollars in another money changer (1 dollar = Php 49.55)

Php 10,000/ 50.00 = 200 dollars
Php 10,000/ 49.55 = 202 dollars

Php 10,000 / 1.65 baht = 6,060 baht

Whereas: 1 dollar = 33.13 baht

**We had the dollars converted in Thailand! (202 dollars *33.13 baht = 6,692.26 baht)

If you refer to the computation above, you can see that there’s a big difference in the exchange rate even though it is the same peso value. So, look for the best money changer!

And it is a must to keep records of your expenses and have a money conversion app with you or a friend who is good at MATH (not the sort of a Bad Genius!) just so you know where you stand with your budget! Mind you, there’s a lot of cool stuff in Bangkok and a big weekend market sale at Chatuchak! (We worried over our excess baggage after the visit!) - BUT WE MADE IT! 😎

3. Be ready and don’t mix up the language of the two countries you are going to visit!

Remember the communicator in the team? He/she should be the equipped with as much knowledge about the language as they can.

Cambodians are good in English while most of the Thai don’t speak too much English because they value their languages so much so communication can be difficult at times.

They both have traditional ways of saying hello and goodbye, to show respect, gratitude, acknowledgement, and sincere apologies.

For Cambodians it is called “Sampeah”. For Thai, it is called "Wai": place your hands together centered in front of your chest with your fingertips pointing up toward the chin. Bow your head forward until the index fingertips touch the tip of your nose. Don't maintain eye contact -- look down. Raise your head back up, smile, while keeping your hands together at chest level to finish the greeting.

**The higher the sampeah or wai in front of your body, the more respect that is shown. Elders, teachers, public officials, and other important people receive a higher sampeah or wai. Monks receive the highest, and they do not have to return the gesture.

Make an effort to speak their language. They will surely appreciate the effort.

Cambodia (Khmer):
Hello –  jumreap sooa
Thank you – orgoon
Goodbye –  leah suhn heuy

Thai:
Hello/ Goodbye (Male) – Sa-wad-dee krab
Hello/ Goodbye (Female) - Sa-wad-dee ka
Thank you (Male) - Khob Khun Krab
Thank you (Female) – Khob Khun kha

Now that the basics are covered, let's fast forward to the actual event of crossing the border. Here’s what we did.

4. Make sure you have packed foods during the trip because you will surely feel tired and sick afterwards if you don’t.

In our case, we had a hearty breakfast before leaving the hotel and we also bought some snacks so the travel and immigration process doesn’t make us stressed.

5. You will need a sturdy trolley bag and a small hand-carry bag!

Why? Imagine yourself as you read on travel stories and tips. 😊 Imagine yourself already at the moment.

6. Be ready for long trips!

It is really cool riding a plane from one place to another, but since we're also considering our budget, we decided to travel through land. It was still fun because it gave us a lot of realizations and experiences worth remembering until this very day.

**Siem Reap to Bangkok was our chosen adventure! A whole day land trip!

ETD: 8:00 AM (Siem Reap, Cambodia) (There is no time difference between the two countries)
ETA: 5:00 PM (Bangkok, Thailand)

Here’s the catch: when we traveled to Cambodia, we didn't have any ticket reservation going to Thailand. Thankfully, we still managed to book accommodations and flights going back to Manila. (Risky right? Remember what we told you about YOLO? That's what we did there. 😜)

The only time we secured a bus ticket going to Thailand was on our second day in Cambodia. We bought it from Capitol Tours for 10 Dollars each. Luckily, we were near a pickup point so it wasn't much of a problem! Then the following day, we rode an air-conditioned bus full of foreigners -- from Germany, Britain, Korea, Taiwan, and lots of other places as well. We weren’t able to sit next to each other but, you know, that's part of the adventure!

The bus trip was about 4 to 5 hours going to Poipet (Cambodia’s main border going to Thailand).

Then the bus dropped us at the unloading station, and we met with a representative of the Capitol Tours. He then instructed us to fall in line in the Poipet ticketing office where we were given another set of tickets in order to pass the immigration. Similar to an airport protocol, they checked our luggage and took photos to be printed on our tickets.

Since we are in a large group, the representative just gave us instructions to go to the immigration office. Because the unloading station is a bit far, we had to walk for about 15 minutes. Be mindful though -- the streets are really busy.

We think that trade and customs between countries are also happening there. Large scale trucks were crossing and there were a lot of street vendors and some bystanders. There are also scammers and fixers you might encounter so just follow the instructions of the representative and go straight to the immigration.

For solo travelers, be sure to follow the representative or ask only those security personnel assigned within the area. Make sure to check their uniforms or badges, too!

Inside the immigration office, there are a lot of instructions written in English, so you won't have anything to worry about. There’s a specific line for tourist, immigrants, and/or workers. Make sure to read first before falling in line.

7. Be polite.

As we mentioned earlier, if you aren’t sure about something, don’t be shy to ask especially if it's your first time to cross borders! Try not to look too tense. They might think of you as suspicious! 🤔

Also, be polite when you meet the immigration officer. Answer their questions properly and be specific. They will just ask you about yourself, the reason why you are crossing the border, and whom you're with during the travel. They also asked one of my friends about the length of our stay in Thailand. This is for security purposes or to check if you are going to work as TNT or to make sure you're not causing harm in their country.

After getting the approval stamp, we met with a new representative of the Capitol Tours. That's where he divided us into 2 groups (we think the other group is headed to another destination, perhaps Phuket). The process took at least 2 hours.

We rode an open van for about 30 minutes, then they dropped us in a small canteen. (FINALLY! FOOD!) This is where we had our late lunch, and freshened up and rested for a bit. After an hour, we rode an air-conditioned van going to Bangkok. Our travel took another 3.5 hours. This is also depending on the traffic in the city proper.

We arrived during the rush hour but OMG! Our transit ride going to our hotel in Phra Khanong was really easy! 

Judging from how things went, we think that we were lucky because we enjoyed the land trip and the experience of crossing the border of Cambodia and Thailand. For some, they may think this was a hassle and it would've been easier if we just booked a flight. But still, we found the THRILL in doing it! 🤗

So there you go! We hope what we just shared can help you in your future trips, not only in Cambodia and Thailand, but in other countries as well!