Thorn Tree travel forum

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FYI: There have been a ton of posts about this in the last few days alone. Try to search!

I will try to help you out though. The visa situation is becoming increasingly interesting. There are a few problems that you may or may not experience in your proposed journey if you are going overland. The problems will be outlined below. To avoid all of these problems, just fly to Siam Reap. If you decide to go overland, check the Tales of Asia website. There is a ton of information about this journey. It is easily done. Train is often not the best way. It seems most people take a bus to the border, and it is easiest to take a shared taxi from there if possible. Other alternatives also exist. They are all listed on the link I just gave you.

Problems:

1) The airline you choose to fly with from the United States often wants proof of onward travel. If Thailand decides for whatever reason that you should not get into the country because you have not fulfilled this legal requirement, it is the airline that is responsible. This can be problematic in the US. I have not yet heard of a report that mentions someone being denied when you get to Thailand AT THE AIRPORT, but things can change rapidly as we have been seeing lately.

2) IF you are coming back overland from Cambodia, make sure to have a copy of your ticket with you. At this border, they are checking for proof of onward travel from recent accounts. Since you will be leaving within 30 days, you should be fine.

Chok dee khap!

Thailand Visa Information
Some Hotels - Suvarnabhumi Airport

2

You're not going to be entering Thailand on a visa, but rather a 30-day visa exemption. This is an important distinction, because certain rules apply. One of them is that - officially - you need to show documentation of onward AIR travel within the 30-day period. The Thai immigration at the airport will likely not stop you (although there are some stories about this happening at the Cambodian border crossings), but your US airline may refuse to let you board. There are 2 possible solutions: (1) get a 60-day tourist visa in advance. In this case the onward travel provision becomes moot. Different rules apply. Or (2) book your trip to Cambodia as a flight. Why don't you fly into Cambodia and return by road/rail? When you return to Thailand you'll automatically get another 30-day exemption. But at that point you'll be able to show your homebound ticket.

There are trains from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, the Thai railhead before Cambodia, via Kabinburi and Watthana Nakhon. The train trip takes over 5 hours. The bus trip once you cross over the border has been described as "hellish." Buses make the entire trip to Siem Reap much faster (on the Thai side anyway.)