The most popular way of going to Siem Reap from Thailand usually is through Bangkok. But one route that is not that popular because of the lack of information available is through Pattaya. This route is good if you are wanting to see the beach before you leave Thailand.
In Bangkok, go to the North or South Terminal Bus station and hop on a bus bound to pattaya. Tickets cost 108 Baht from the east terminal while it’s 117 Baht if you’ll be taking the bus at the North Bus terminal.
You can spend a day or too in Pattaya and enjoy the beach before you move on in crossing the border going to Cambodia. I also absolutely recommend staying at The Big Five-O, It’s clean, they have a pool and their staff Opal is absolutely the best.
Photo lifted from Five-O’s Facebook – trust me it looks this awesome in person
From Pattaya you can take a Motor taxi bike to the Van station(80 Baht). I don’t exactly know the name of the place but I was able to pin it down on the map and took a photo of the terminal that the hostel staff wrote down for me. Go ahead and have that printed to show to the motorbike taxi driver.
you can check out other Pattaya Hotels Here
From Pattaya the van will go through its route picking up and unloading passengers. There are no official stop overs as well just a couple of short ones to refuel and check on tickets. The van will take you to a Mall in Aranyaprateth that is walking distance from the border compared taking the train and bus-where you have to take a tuktuk to get to the border. It takes about five hours to get to the border so the earlier you leave the better. I took the 12 PM van and arrived in the border by about 5:30 PM – I would advise for you to check with the terminal first if you plan to leave on a later time since I am not sure if there are trips after 12 PM.
Here’s how my expense/itinerary looked like
Bangkok – Pattaya (ETA: 8AM) 117 Baht
Five-O Hostel 300 Baht
Motor Bike to Van Terminal 80 Baht
Pattaya – Aranyaprateth 250 Baht
This is the note that I gave to the motorbike taxi that the hotel staff wrote for me.
This is the Van Terminal
Map of where the terminal is located
2022 Update: As of February 2022 as per google maps photos, the terminal still exists. Here’s the link for Google Maps.
