Koh Chang to Siem Reap and Siem Reap to Koh Chang

Getting from Koh Chang to Siem Reap in Cambodia or from Siem Reap to Koh Chang is now possible by private transfers or shared minibuses combined with a microbus. There is a vehicle change at the border, Aranya Prathet (Thai side) and Poipet (Cambodian side).

From Koh Chang to Siem Reap or Siem Reap to Koh Chang – Private Transfers

A private transfer is the least stressful and most comfortable way to make this journey between Koh Chang and Siem Reap.

We offer a range of private SUV cars, people carriers or minibuses depending on your group size.

• Going into Cambodia, guide prices are around 6,950bt (SUV car, 2 persons, ferry tickets), 9,990bt (Sierra, 4 persons, ferry tickets) to 11,350bt (minibus, 6 persons, ferry tickets), door to door, with a vehicle change at the border.
• Coming out from Cambodia, guide prices are 6,550bt (SUV car, 2 persons, ferry tickets), 9,700bt (Sierra, 4 persons, ferry tickets) or 10,900bt (minibus, 6 persons, ferry tickets).
• You can also use a private transfer between the border at Aranya Prarthet and your Koh Chang resort, guide prices at 3,500bt (SUV car, 2 persons, ferry tickets) to 4,300bt (minibus, 4 persons, ferry tickets).
• Collection time from your resort on Koh Chang or your hotel in Siem Reap is up to you.
• It’s about 3.75 hours from the Koh Chang ferry pier to the border at Aranya Prathet.
• From Poipet to Siem Reap is 2 to 2.5 hours. There are frequent speed checks on the route so times for this leg do vary.
• You are given meeting points beforehand as well as driver details. We are also online with you throughout your border crossing process.

Do please contact us here if you are interested in booking a private transfer from Koh Chang to Siem Reap or from Siem Reap to Koh Chang We can give you a full quotation once have all the details of your trip.

We normally only accept bookings for travel into Cambodia if you have already purchased an evisa. Our advice is get one, turnaround is quick (2 days) if you decide at the last minute.

Border Entry and Exit – Visas and Stamps

By far the easiest option is to pre-buy an e-visa for $40 including all the processing fees from https://www.evisa.gov.kh. If you haven’t, then you can get one at the border, $30 with a passport photo needed. Add 100bt if you don’t have one.

If leaving Thailand, you stamp out at their Immigration before heading to the new Cambodian Immigration block. Here, you either show your evisa or purchase your visa and get your entry stamp.

Since the pandemic, Cambodian Immigration has improved immensely, with a much stricter regime of keeping touts and other n’er-do-wells out. You are also not asked for any money by the Immigration officers for processing your claim.

Remember to fill in the entry form before you join the queue, as they will send you to the back again if you reach the desk without it. The process will take around 30 minutes to an hour depending on how busy it is.

Entry into Thailand

If coming out from Cambodia, you stamp out at their Immigration and walk over to the Thai Immigration. You can enter Thailand on a 30 day stamp (visa exemption), same process as at Suvarnabhumi Airport. For selected countries, the visa exemption is 15 days only.

From Koh Chang to Siem Reap – Through-Tickets

Through-tickets are the cheaper option for travelling between Koh Chang and Siem Reap. With a vehicle change at the border, you use a share minibus on the Thai side and microbus on the Cambodian side.

The cost is 1,400bt to 1,500bt per person with ferry ticket in either direction.

Koh Chang to the Poipet Border

Depending on the service, on Koh Chang, the minibus collects you from your resort around 07.00 (Lonely Beach) to 07.45 (White Sand Beach), reaching Ao Sapparot Pier for the ferry around 08.30 to 08.45. The later service collects a bit later for the 10.00 boat. There may be an additional 100bt per person for collection and delivery in the Bang Bao area. You drive on and off the ferry in the same vehicle with the earlier service or swap minibuses with the later one.

The next stop is an LPG station, where all the minibuses fill up so that can take time, maybe 30 minutes or more. Afterwards, though, you do then head straight to the border, arriving around 13.00.

Once at the border, you follow the visa process outlined above. Any other request about visas from anyone before the border or in restaurants within spitting distance of the border can be politely ignored or brushed away with “already have one” replies.

Do not exchange any money any where near the border – this will be a rip-off.

From the Poipet Border to Siem Reap

Once though the visa process, you will be directed to the Poipet Passenger Terminal, a few hundred metres from the border. The microbus or bus will leave once everyone is through and ready, so there may be a bit of hanging about.

On its way to Siem Reap, your microbus stops at least once. It arrives around 18.00 to 19.00 at the tuk-tuk park a few kilometres outside the city itself.

You then rent the onward tuk-tuk transport to your hotel – prices from $5 (or cheaper) to $10 depending on where you are going. Be aware that the driver will try and push their own accommodation so be firm about your requirements. The same driver will also likely implore you to hire him as a temple driver for your stay. Don’t be surprised if he is sitting outside the hotel the next morning when you’re having breakfast.

Share Taxi Alternatives

If you don’t want to wait at the bus terminal, you could charter a taxi either from one of the locals as you exit Immigration or up at the roundabout. Prices of course will depend on your negotiation, but it’s probably around $65 to $75. A share taxi, often carrying 5 to 6 people, would be cheaper but a lot more uncomfortable.

From Siem Reap to Koh Chang – Through-Ticket

Coming back the other way from Siem Reap to Koh Chang, you can pick up a ticket for around the same price as going in – you should ask locally. The ticket will include early collection from your hotel, with arrival time at the border around 12.00 to 13.00.

Bear in mind the transport tends to arrive all at once on the border in Poipet, so whilst Cambodian Immigration will appear quick, it will likely be much slower to stamp into Thailand.

Once you are finished with Immigration, you then follow the directions down the wide road to find your minibus. You will have a coloured sticker as well, so people will guide you in the right direction.

This minibus takes you to Ao Thammachat Pier for Koh Chang, where you drive on and off the ferry. Delivery is direct to your hotel, arrival early evening. It’s a long day.

Share Taxis – Siem Reap to Koh Chang

Alternatively, you can pick up your own local private (or indeed a share taxi) from Siem Reap. This has the advantage of putting you on the border before the share buses, so beating those Immigration queues. You will find prices too are a little cheaper than coming from the border.

Visa business done, walk through to the Thai side and charter another private taxi down to the Koh Chang ferry pier, price at 2,500bt to 3,000bt upwards. They are usually parked up near the Kasikorn Bank.

With all the taxis, pay when you reach your destination, not up-front. Have crisp, new $ notes for paying the Cambodian taxi and to that end, look out for hotels offloading old, tattered notes on you at check-out. The driver will likely refuse them, leaving you running around the currency exchanges on the border trying to change them up for new ones – a difficult task made even more frustrating as those exchanges only want large demonination bills.

Leaving Siem Reap around 08.00 and depending on the Thai Immigration queues, you may well be at the pier around 16.00. The ferry is 80bt per person, jump on a songthaew on the Koh Chang side (prices here).

UPDATED NOVEMBER 24

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