Poipet

Nearby attractions:

• Banteay Chhmar: Homestay with CCBEN Banteay Chhmar and experience rural Cambodian culture and promote responsible economic development with a home stay in a rural village.
• Banteay Chhmar Temple: One of the most expansive Angkor-era ruins in one of the most remote areas of Cambodia.
• Ang Trapeang Thmor - Saurus Crane Reserve: A sanctuary for the endangered Saurus Crane as well as numerous other exotic waterfowl.
• Phnom Sruk Silk Village Off the beaten path village, where silk weaving has become the mainstay of the local economy.
• Stone Carving Village of Choob: Easily accessible roadside shops selling a variety of inexpensive sandstone carvings.

Poipet 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. Poipet is fine to visit during most of the year, though the hottest months from March to May can be too hot for comfort.

Humidity and rainfall may vary through the year, but Poipet 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 Poipet 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 Poipet with monotonous regularity, rainstorms and thunderstorms often last just one or two hours in the afternoon.

While Poipet is a bustling border town, there is little to do in the town other than gamble and dine at the casinos and/or move on to Thailand or into Cambodia depending on which way you are crossing the border (open 7am - 8pm daily).

As Poipet is such a major border town, it serves as the gateway to Western Cambodia. You probably won’t want to stay here; most move straight on to Siem Reap or Phnom Penh, via Batdambang.

If you wish to stay and explore the sights in Banteay Meanchey Province, they are generally more remote than those in most provinces; as the roads are some of the worst in Cambodia, this creates both challenges and opportunities (to get away from the tourist hordes awaiting you at Angkor).

While Sisophon the capital of the province has a few interesting attractions, the major sites are in Banteay Chhmar, which typically requires an overnight stay. Fortunately there is a community based tourism initiative there to take care of you.

Otherwise, gamble, have a buffet, and enjoy the air-conditioned Casinos and then head across the border into Thailand or onto inner Cambodia.

Poipet Casinos

If you aren’t overburdened with bags you may wish to try your luck in one of these glitzy, air-conditioned casinos. Note that there is no regulatory body to oversee gambling in Cambodia, so ‘games of luck’ are certainly more lucky for the house. For visitors not interested in gambling, there is no reason to stay in Poipet other than for transit to or from Thailand.

As gambling is illegal in Thailand, Poipet features casinos that cater primarily to Thais looking for sanctioned means of parting with their Thai baht. Those looking to try their luck however, have a number of casinos to choose from. For those crossing the border, it is open between 7am and 8pm daily.

Poipet is located along National Road 6, the primary road linking Cambodia to Thailand. Most visitors walk across the border from Aranyaprathet (the town on the Thai side of the border) and then continue on by bus or taxi to Siem Reap (2-3 hours), Battambang (2.5-3 hours), or Phnom Penh (5-6 hours). From these cities, busses and taxis depart for Poipet numerous times throughout the day.

Most people travel to Poipet by walking across the border from Aranyaprathet, Thailand. Once in Cambodia, there are several bus companies offering services to Siem Reap (3 hours), Battambang (3 hours), and Phnom Penh (7 hours). It is also possible to hire a private car or share taxi to Siem Reap (1.5 hours), Battambang (2 hours), or Phnom Penh (5.5 hours).

Poipet is notorious for con-men taking advantage of unwitting tourists, so buy bus tickets directly from established bus companies, whose ticket windows are located beside the immigration checkpoint for those departing Cambodia. If hiring a private car, be sure to negotiate a price beforehand (including fuel), and if joining a share taxi, be advised that these will be extremely crowded and uncomfortable unless you buy two seats for each passenger (the equivalent of almost one “seat”).

Be advised that the border to Thailand is open daily from 7am to 8pm and that you must arrange onward travel from the Thai side of the border independently once you are on the Thai side of the border (Cambodian busses and taxis may not transport passengers across the border).

Once in Thailand, your options for onward travel include hiring a private taxi from the border area directly to your final destination, or taking a taxi from the border area to the bus or train stations in Aranyaprathet town.

Poipet is not geographically expansive: nearly all of the hotels, restaurants, and transportation providers are within walking distance of one another, nearby the traffic circle and immigration checkpoint for entering/exiting Cambodia. While there are numerous touts lingering around the traffic circle who will offer to take you anywhere you need to go, they are not allowed to take you were you likely need to go, namely across the border. However, if you are in need of a tuk tuk or motodop taxi to take you around Poipet town, the traffic circle by the border is the place to find them.

There are a few budget guesthouses in Poipet that offer low quality rooms for low prices. However, if you are staying in Poipet, you really ought to stay at one of the Casinos. The rooms are reasonably priced and many include free chips for gambling in the game rooms. The casinos also have reasonably priced buffets, and some have facilities such as internet centers and convenience stores.

Poipet is a bustling border town and there are more than a few places to dine, including vendors selling inexpensive street food to a local clientele. The best dining options in Poipet are at the casinos, where all you can eat buffets include western, Chinese, Thai, and Cambodian cuisine.

There are likely to be a number of local watering holes in Poipet town, though 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. Otherwise, your best bet for nightlife in Poipet is to check out whats being offered by the Casinos.

Shopping opportunities are limited in Poipet. There are numerous vendors making the crossing into Thailand each day to sell various goods at markets in Aranyaprathet, Thailand but as far as shopping for visitors goes, Poipet doesnt offer a lot of good opportunities. That said, there are several shops inside the casinos that sell overpriced trinkets (some of decent quality) if you need a last minute souvenir.

It is quite possible that somewhere in town there are unscrupulous gem dealers offering “the deal of a lifetime” on emeralds from nearby Pailin. In general you should not buy gemstones in Cambodia unless you have the knowledge to appraise such stones; in Poipet, you should not buy gemstones unless they come with magic beans.

If you are heading from Poipet to Siem Reap in a taxi, however, you will pass through the stone carving village of choob (seven miles (11 km) east of Sisophan), where shops alongside the road offer a variety of carvings at perhaps the best prices you are likely to find for such in Cambodia.

The other shopping opportunity worth checking out if you have your own transportation and the inclination to explore a bit, is the the village of phnom-sruk (Phnom Srok), where a partnership of NGOs and the Cambodian Government have trained several communities in the art of sericulture (silk harvesting) and silk weaving: cultivating mulberry moths, extracting silk, and then dyeing and weaving beautiful items, such as scarves and skirts. Learning how the villagers produce silk is quite interesting; supporting these rural communities is worthwhile, and picking up a memorable souvenir is priceless.