Pailin City

Downtown Pailin is small, relatively uninteresting, and has few services for western visitors. In the center of town, along the spokes leading away from the central traffic circle, are a few restaurants, hotels, and shops, but there are no internet cafes or ATM machines in this sleepy backwater. The town’s main attraction, Wat Phnom Yat lies south of the traffic circle and includes a temple at the base of the hill with stairs leading south to the Buddha at the top of the hill.

• Wat Phnom Yat: Pailin’s primary temple sits on top of a hill overlooking this frontier town and can be visited on foot.
• Samlaut Multiple Use Area This is the only tropical rainforest in the region and plays host to numerous plant and animal species included rare Asian elephants.
• Phnom Khieu Waterfall: Swim in the fall’s cool, clear waters, while the surrounding rainforest is ideal for hiking and trekking

Pailin is best in the dry season (December - March), though the province becomes much more lush and green if you go during the wet season (though its more challenging to reach along the dirt roads from Batdambang: if they haven’t been sealed recently - a realistic possibility).

Pailin shares its tropical climate with the rest of Cambodia; a ‘dry season’ that lasts from November to May and a ‘rainy season’ that runs from June to October. Temperatures are relatively constant (i.e. hot) throughout the year but humidity can vary. There are times of the year that are noticeably cooler or hotter, and as is normal for a monsoon climate, times when heavy rain is nearly constant. Pailin is fine to visit during most of the year, though the hottest months from March to May can be too hot for comfort and during the rainy season the secondary roads become impassible.

Humidity and rainfall may vary through the year, but Pailin is typically hot. Few visitors will experience something they would call cool. Temperatures in the day range throughout the year from above 100°F in the early afternoon to around 70°F at night.

The hottest time of the year in Pailin is toward the end of the dry season, when daytime temperatures can be dangerously hot. During the wet season, although copious amounts of rain are dumped on Pailin with monotonous regularity, rainstorms and thunderstorms often last just one or two hours in the afternoon.

While monsoon rains may provide respite from the intense Cambodian sun, torrential rains wreak havoc on rural dirt roads, which become muddy morasses; travel to areas serviced by these roads can become difficult to impossible in the monsoon season months (June-October) for those without 4-wheel drive vehicles or off-road motorcycles.

The sole attraction in Pailin city is Wat Phnom Yat a beautiful temple cresting the local hill. There is also an interesting cross-border trade between neighboring Thailand that includes some fine wood furniture. There are also a number of casinos that cater to a mostly Thai clientele, which are located at the border.

It is also possible to arrange excursions into the surrounding countryside, including Phnom Khieu Waterfall, located around 20kms to the south of Pailin, and the Samlout Protected Area, which features a number of exotic wildlife. Be advised that tour guides are essential when traveling off the beaten path as land mines are still a problem in Cambodia’s remote countryside.

Some visitors like to try their luck shopping for gems as Pailin draws a lot of gem traders; if you are looking for the perfect cut you may want to dabble in picking up some precious stones here, though there is a good chance you might not get the deal you were hoping for unless you have some qualifications in evaluating such stones.

There’s no convenient way to get to Pailin. The easiest access is to cross from the Thai border, if you are in that part of Thailand, by road from Batdambang, or by flying to Siem Reap then catching a bruising bus through Batdambang.

Most people travel to Pailin by bus or car from Batdambang, which is 80km (2.5) hours away along National Road No. 57.

It is also possible to get to Pailin from the Thai border crossing at Psar Pruhm- Ban Pakard, which is 22km northwest of the city. You can get from Pailin to the border by share-taxi or motodop taxi, either of which shouldn’t cost more than $5 per person.

Pailin town is not geographically expansive: nearly all of the hotels, restaurants, and sights within the town are near enough each to other that walking from A to B is a very feasible option, including Wat Phnom Yat, which is only 10 minutes walk from the center of town.

If you want to explore sights outside of town you must hire a motodop or taxi, either of which can take you wherever you like for a reasonable, yet negotiable, fee. The touts in Pailin aren’t overly aggressive, which is a plus, but you can always inquire at your hotel/guesthouse or the Tourist Information Office (if its open) to help you arrange transportation to sights in and around town with ease.

Pailin doesn’t attract many overnight visitors (at least not many westerners), so there is only a small selection of hotels and guesthouses for visitors, which are generally located in the center of town: all are located near enough to each other that it is possible to walk around town a bit to weigh your options.

There are considerably few dining options in Pailin. That said, there is a decent selection of restaurants that cater to local clientele, including street stalls selling inexpensive local dishes near the center of town.

There is almost no nightlife to speak of in Pailin, certainly not any catering to foreign tourists. There are a few local-style beer bars in town, which are basically open-air establishments that have attractive waitresses to serve beers and/or whiskey. If you hunt around a bit you may find one that doubles as a karaoke parlor, which has karaoke rooms for singing (typically only Khmer music) but also ‘karaoke girls’ who aren’t necessarily there to sing.

If you are really looking for some action, head over to the border area (22 km northwest of town), where there are a number of casinos that cater to a mostly Thai clientele.

There are very limited shopping options in Pailin. The town has a central market that is typical of most cambodian markets, selling nearly everything local’s need for their day to day lives, including ingredients for cooking and household supplies.

While Pailin was once one of the centers of gem mining in Cambodia (and to some degree, the world), the gems mines have been dug somewhat ‘dry’. You may still find some good deals on rubies, sapphires, or emeralds, but only if you are very experienced in identifying the quality and cost of such stones. Otherwise, you are simply asking to be taken advantage of.

As the area is also infamous for logging, there are also some opportunities for buying wooden furniture, if you don’t mind contributing to this unsustainable practice and have the means for transporting such things from such a remote area.

There are also some small shops selling sundry items around town but otherwise, this isn’t much of a destination for souvenir shopping.