Thailand - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 697

FROM CAMBODIA
here are currently six legal border
crossings open to non-hais between
Cambodia and hailand. Check with the
Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok and
with other travellers first, as regulations
are changeable and diplomatic relations
between the two countries are
occasionally volatile. See the relevant
town accounts for specific details on the
main border crossings, and for travellers'
experiences of the same, check out
W

- political unrest means that some routes
are considered unsafe (see box, p.819).
he unrest has not, however, affected the
crossings by boat from Kuala Perlis
(which can be reached by train or bus
services from Butterworth; see box,
p.439) and Pulau Langkawi to Satun or
from Langkawi to Ko Lipe. Many people
still choose to travel by long-distance bus
from Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth to
Bangkok, Krabi, Surat hani or Hat Yai,
or by train from Singapore to Bangkok
via Malaysia, routes which pass through
hailand's Songkhla province - Songkhla
is the least volatile of the four provinces
affected by the troubles, though Western
governments still advise against going
through it. he railway line along
southern hailand's east coast, however,
to Sungai Kolok (opposite Kota Bahru in
Malaysia) passes through the three most
volatile provinces.
here are non-stop flights from both
Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to
Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi, Ko Samui and
Chiang Mai.

10

talesofasia.com. Most travellers use
either the crossing at Poipet , which has
transport connections from Sisophon,
Siem Reap and Phnom Penh and lies just
across the border from the hai town of
Aranyaprathet (see box, p.87); or they
follow the route from Sihanoukville in
Cambodia via Koh Kong and Hat Lek to
Trat (see box, p.778), which is near Ko
Chang on hailand's east coast. For Isaan,
the more recently opened crossing at
Chong Chom into Surin province (see
p.769) is useful. here are also two
crossings into hailand's Chanthaburi
province and the Choam-Sa Ngam
crossing that are seldom used.
Alternatively, note that there are Bangkok
Airways flights that connect both Phnom
Penh and Siem Reap with Bangkok.

VISAS
Most foreign passport holders who fly
into the country are allowed to stay for up
to thirty days without having to apply for
a visa, but should have evidence of
onward travel tickets from hailand and,
in theory, of having adequate funds while
in the country (B10,000/person). At land
borders with neighbouring countries, UK,
US and Canadian citizens will be given a
thirty-day pass, but citizens of the other
major English-speaking countries will be
issued only a fifteen-day pass. If you're
fairly certain you want to stay longer than
fifteen/thirty days, you may wish to apply
for a sixty-day tourist visa at a hai
embassy or consulate in advance. he
sixty-day visa currently costs B1000, with
a triple-entry version (B3000) available,
which is handy if you're going to be
leaving and re-entering hailand. Your
application - which generally takes several
days to process - must be accompanied by
your passport, one or two passport photos
and sometimes by evidence of travel on
from hailand.

FROM LAOS AND VIETNAM
here are five main hai-Lao border
crossings: Houayxai (for Chiang Khong;
see p.385); Vientiane (for Nong Khai; see
p.356); hakhek (for Nakhon Phanom; see
p.770); Savannakhet (for Mukdahan; see
box, p.390); and Pakse (for Chong Mek;
see box, p.394). As well as the numerous
routes to and from Bangkok, Lao Airlines
operates flights from Vientiane via Luang
Prabang to Chiang Mai.
You can travel from Vietnam to hailand
via Savannakhet; you'll need to use
Vietnam's Lao Bao Pass border crossing
(see box, p.868), west of Dong Ha, where
you can catch a bus to Savannakhet and
then across the Second Friendship Bridge
to Mukdahan in hailand.

FROM MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE
Travelling overland between Malaysia and
hailand is no longer straightforward