best way to travel by land from Bangkok to Laos/Camodia/HCMC?

Question

For the first 3 weeks of our holiday we want to travel to
Vietnam and Cambodia (and possibly Laos) before going back over to Thailand. I know we wont have a lot of time in each place but was wondering if anyone knew the best route to take by land to each place? what buses/trains boats to take and time scales of travel? The flights to these places are adding up to a couple of hundred pounds each which will take a lot of our money up so we want to do as cheap as possbile especially since the exchange rate is so bad to the £ at the moment, we dont mind travelling by land as have done overnight train before to phuket..

if anyone has any info they could share, that would be much appreciated

Thanks

Answer 1

Take a bus from Bangkok to Aranyprathet. Takes about 4-5 hours. Tuk-tuk from the station to the border, walk across the border and take a shared taxi to Siem Reap, about 4 hours. See the temples of Angkor for a few days then take a bus to Phnom Penh. See the history of the Khmer Rouge. Boat from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc, Vietnam - takes about 6 hours. From there you can see the Mekong Delta or head for HCMC. Use overnight trains through Vietnam. From northern Vietnam it will take at least a day to get to a recognisable place in Laos. From Laos head towards Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand.

Personally, I think you're squeezing too much in. 3 weeks in Vietnam alone would be very little. The itinerary above will see you lose at least one week of your 3 weeks travelling. Cambodia and Laos have little to no rail systems so overnight trains are not an option there. I would choose two of the four countries and spend a week and a half in each, possibly flying with Air Asia. That way at least you'll get to see some of the major sights in each.

Laos is fantastic but it takes a long time even to get between places inside the country (often between 6 and 10 hours on a bus depending on where you are going). Getting to the borders and then crossing will take a lot of your time up there.

Answer 2

First of all you need a plan.



Arrive in Bangkok, then what is your next destination? What city and what country? It might be easier to head straight to Cambodia from Bangkok and then over to Vietnam. Crossing Cambodia other than by air to Vietname MIGHT be dangerous so I would do some serious research before you try this.



You will need Thai Visa, Cambodian Visa and Vietnam Visa's as well. Depending on what country you are from, can get visa on arrival in Cambodia and Laos.



From Bangkok airport to Cambodia border is probably around 4 to 5 hours straight drive in a car. Buses will be much slower. I am not aware of any rail service going east that far, but maybe Bob or Gerald or some other person here might know.



Buses can be very dangerous as well. There are news reports almost every week of bus crashes killing all the passengers.



My advice to you would be as follows?



Set up base to stay in Thailand.

Cancel Vietnam from your trip.

You can do a day trip to the Cambodia border from Thailand or go to Angkor Wat for 2 or 3 days.

Can get to Vientienne Laos from Thailand easy enough and can spend a couple days there.



The rest of the time use to explore the real Thailand. Isan in the Northeast, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Golden Triangle in the north, and then get down south to some of Thailand's amazing beaches.



This would be a much more rewarding trip for you and your friends.



You can meet people living in Thailand and share photos, videos and blogs of your trip at http://www.visualthailand.com



Good luck and ask more questions if you need more pinpoint and detailed advice

Answer 3

I would go from Bangkok to Mukdahan, you can stop in Ayuthada and Korat. Spend some time in Mukdahan and take a bus up to That Phanom (50km) and visit the Phra That Phanom. Return to Mukdahan (htere a interesting market along the Mekong cross the border into Laos at Savannakhet. In Savannakhet you can walk north of the bus station and they have a local market were you can get some great french bread and Lao coffee and walk around or take a tuk tuk for sightseeing. You can then take a bus to the Vietnam border at Dean Savan - Lao Bao and into Hue Vietnam. You can stay in Hue, there are some nice beaches and good hotels. From Hue you can take the highway or train south towards HCMC stop at Da Nang, Qui Nhon etc.

From HCMC bus to Phenom Phenn, Seim Reap (Angor Wat) and Bus or fly back to Bangkok.



Alternately you can bus or Train to Nong Kai Thailand cross at Vientiane (some good local bars down by the river Beer Lao) and Bus to Vinh and from there south Through Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, Dong Hoi (beautiful beaches) and to Hue and south.



I agree with Stroyd below the roads in Laos and Cambodia are not very good but the road and train from HCMC to Vihn is pretty good (but long).

Answer 4

Take a northeastern line train from Bangkok station to Nongkhai. It takes 12 hours. The first class fare is 497 bahts oneway or about 10 pounds (GBP).

Then you ca easily find a bus or small bus to Laos, it si just across the mekong river.

For Cambodia , let me find more info.

you can find more information at http://www.railway.co.th/English

or at my website www.trip2thailand.com



trip2thailand

Answer 5

I met someone yesterday here in Bangkok who were going on the overnight train to Laos..