1

I can not answer as my experience is the same as yours but one advantage would be that you could catch the ordinary bus to SR which all seemed to leave in the early morning unless things have changed since I last passed through

2

Had a friend working there a couple of years ago so I've stayed there, always stayed at the casino hotels, great luxury for 500-1000 baht including buffe breakfast. Many good restaurants in the casino area, daily Thai buffe 99 baht, an excellent Japanese restaurant, a couple of beer gardens with good seafood.

A nine hole golf course whitin walking distance. Poipet town itself doesn't have much on offer.

3

The slums behind the old railway station are interesting from a photographer's perspective, a couple of decent guesthouses nearby. Getting the early bus is also a benefit.

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4

I'd be staying in the Thai border town myself, I assume you're crossing borders? Don't see what other purpose there is for visiting Poipet.

5

I've often thought about spending the night in Poipet, but have always been in a hurry to get to SR or BKK. Why don't you do it and write a post about it?

6

Hmm No6 now that almost sounds like a challenge, yeah maybe thats what is needed. We'll see I'm there in about a months time

7

How much do the hotels with the hotels cost? I will be getting into Poipet semi late and usually jump in a taxi to Battambang. Maybe i'll spend the night in Poipet for a change.

8

Angsta, aren't you a long-time Cambodia expert, with a presence on K440 and so on and so forth?

9

Ha ha I have been visiting Cambodia for over 10 years but I have never stayed in Poipet and the people I know that have did so a few years ago. Outside the casino area the town looks awful. I remember someone telling me they wouldn't let their dog eat in the market never mind eat their themselves. Passing through on Thursday maybe i'll stay, although I find casino gambling kinda boring. Football however...

10

I travelled through the border last time with a slightly mad french guy (yes I know) and he planned to stay at the hostel next to the new bus station and claimed it was $9 a night. As the border was quite busy we didn't complete the journey acroos the border together so don't know what happened to him. I think staying in the casinos well you could be staying anywhere in the worls its just a Casino it isn't really staying in Poipet., hmmm??

11

But i've never stayed in a casino before.

I don't want to stay in Poipet I will be arriving at the border late and want to get a cross and not be on the roads at night.

12

So, did you stay?

13

Procrastinated in Issan and got to the border at 8.30 pm. Next time...

14

I stayed in Poipet last week. Got into town around 2pm and basic laziness stopped me from turning around and heading straight back to Thailand so I decided to spend the night.

I stayed in a hotel approx 500 meters from the border called Phnom Pich for $10. It was clean and seemed busy. The staff were friendly and they had a small shop that sold the essentials. What's not to like? The place next door also looked ok @$13 called the Huy Kea and seemed to full of a Vietnamese delegation with a Royal police escort.

A GH closer to the border has internet for 30 baht an hour although the GH I stayed in claimed to have Wifi I didn't bring my laptop.

I saw one other barang in town who wasn't looking for the border or the last bus to SR and he lived in Battambang and was visiting the casinos.

Food was tricky before 6 or 7pm although the market was just like any Issan market in Thailand if that's your thing. There was a nice beer garden one street to the left of the main road down the second or third turn on the corner. You can also eat pretty well at the Diamond casino and across the street at the Holiday Casino. They have food stalls and a nice restaurant approx 800 meters from the border you get to Capitol on the right hand side just after the temple.

Drinking options included Discovery which is a disco on the right of the main street approx 500 meters from the border I selling jugs of beer for 200 baht and it was busy with Khmer's. It's next to a big KTV. There is also a "Thai" style disco/club inside the casino complex complete with Coyote dancers and a VIP area that was open until 5am. Beer was a touch expensive.

Having read a few things online about Poipet the headlines seemed to be expect to be robbed and if you're really lucky expect to be beaten up for being a foreigner as well. This seems well off the mark. The people are friendly just like anywhere else in Cambodia and in Issan for that matter. There are much worse places to stay. I spent a night in Arun last October and that place was pretty boring. I prefer Poipet.

Edited by: angsta