Crossing border to Bangkok via bus

The scams affect people entering Cambodia at Poipet and buying visas at the border. The Thai border official may or may not ask you for your itinerary, so it's wise to know beforehand how you will answer this question.

It's safe enough, and delays are very unlikely. As the #1 poster said most of the scam artists are preying on the tourists going Thailand to Cambodia, not the other way around. Once you cross the Thai border, don't go with the first tout who comes up to you to arrange a bus ticket. Take a short walk and you'll find much cheaper transport companies.

The two previous posters have given good advice.
My only concern is your change of bus over the border in Thailand if buying a through ticket.
There have been cases where there is no bus waiting over the border, and then there is nothing that can be done about it but to buy another ticket.
After Siem Reap, catch a bus to the border. Then when through immigration buy another ticket to Bangkok.
Don't deal with anyone except those behind a bus agent counter.
Do not let anyone take you to any office or bus company; they recieve commission and the price of the ticket might go up.
Stick with other travelers and you should be safe enough.

There are 2 bus stations on the Thai side. The official Aranyaprathet bus station some 6 kms from the border. You need a lift by tutktuk or motorbike. This will cost 60-80 baht. You might be able to share a tuktuk and save a bit.

Much easier and cheaper is the other option. Exit the Thai checkpoint and turn right, follow the street for about 100 meter to the market. On the right hand side you will see buses. Some go directly to BKK others dont. Still that makes little difference as long as the bus goes at least to Kabinburi bus station. Kabinburi is a major cross road and you can find transport to BKK anytime during day time.

One bus line which is, unfortunately, at times offering only van services goes to directly to the airport bus station and then on to Ekkamai, the eastern bus station in BKK. From there you can take a free shuttle to the terminal where you can catch your flight or a train into the city.
This link will help you: http://www.suvarnabhumiairport.com/en/118-bus-bor-khor-sor

You want bus line 390. If not available bus 825 from Kabinburi might an option. Unfortunately, I do not have the bus times at hand.

I once took the 3.30 pm bus to Chaosengsao which got me there by around 6.30-7 PM. An airport bound van was waiting.

I guess the numerous options are a bit confusing. HOwever, they show that you do not need to get into BKK and then back-track to the airport.

Thai immigration: You could look up a hotel/guesthouse address and fill this in your immigration form. They usually ask as they need a completed form. Nobody will check this.

We took a bus from PP to Bangkok without going via SR. Bus things on Cambodian side were extremely efficient. The first hiccup was crossing from Cambodia. Wrong day, wrong time. The queues were horrendous. Then on Thailand side we got taken to a restaurant for several hours before being put in vans to Bangkok. Because of the direction we were travelling, it just seemed easiest. But after going to SEA since 1990, it just became another bus trip that took longer than usual. Not the best and certainly not the worst.

There's really no danger to your safety besides the usual risk of taking a bus, but this trip is definitely a hassle any way you do it. The only reason I would do this by land instead of flying Siem Reap to Bangkok would be to stop over in Poipet, which I think is like seeing Cambodia 30 years ago. In fact that is the reason I plan to do this in the future (I did it once before). Taking a direct bus will take a long time, Siem Reap to Poipet is about 3 hours, crossing the border 1-2 hours, and then best case is 5 hours to BKK, but when I took it it took 8 hours. So expect anywhere from 9-14 hour trip. Not really worth it just sitting on the bus. No way to avoid some hassle with this trip, like westwood said, go on the wrong day and you'll spend hours at the queue. If I do it again, I'm flying PP to Siem Reap (cheap flights on Bayon and Air Bassaka, as low as 19 usd!) than allowing 2 days and considering it an adventure.

My experiences with PP-BKK were a bit better. I took the first bus out of PP (weekday) and arrived around 2.30 at the bus stop in Poipet. I rushed to get my bag and was off on a bike to the border. This way I beat the others on the bus. It took about an hour to get thru immigration and then I had the 3.30 Chaosengsao (spellling bus) just about to leave. The bus went via Kabinburi for all BKK bound tourists.
I do not trust any cross border tickets unless it is an official ticket of a Thai government company or government regulated company.

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