Crossing the Cambodian border via Aranyaprathet
The most commonly used overland crossing into Cambodia from Thailand is at Poipet, which lies just across the border from the Thai town of Aranyaprathet, 210km due east of Bangkok. It’s best to arm yourself in advance with an e-visa for Cambodia and to make the journey by regular public transport, but it’s also possible to buy a package all the way through to Siem Reap and to get a thirty-day visa on arrival at the border, though both of the latter options are more likely to open you up to possible scams, including a fake “Cambodian Consulate” in Aranyaprathet and rip-off currency exchange (it’s not compulsory to buy riel before entering Cambodia, despite what some touts may say). For further details, see wthaivisa.com for its visa-run forum; and wtalesofasia.com/cambodia-overland.htm for a very detailed description of the crossing and for advice on onward transport into Cambodia. Once you’ve walked across the border and entered Cambodia, it’s about two hours in a taxi or bus to reach Siem Reap, 150km away. If you have the deep misfortune of getting stuck in dusty, dirty Aranyaprathet, where local transport comes in the form of tuk-tuks, try the comfortable fan and a/c rooms at Inter Hotel at 108/7 Thanon Chatasingh.
From Bangkok, you can travel to Aranyaprathet Station, 4km from the border post, by train; you’ll need to catch the 5.55am if you want to get across the border the same day. Return trains depart Aranyaprathet at 6.35am and 1.35pm. Alternatively, take a bus from Bangkok’s Northern (Mo Chit) Bus Terminal to Aranyaprathet, or a faster, more expensive a/c minibus from Victory Monument. To reach Aranyaprathet from east-coast towns, the easiest route is to take a bus from Chanthaburi to the town of Sa Kaew, 130km to the northeast, and then change to one of the frequent buses for the 55km ride east to Aranyaprathet.
It’s also possible to buy a through ticket to Siem Reap from Trat and Ko Chang, or from Thanon Khao San in Bangkok, but this option is dogged by scams (including a visa “service charge”), takes much longer than doing it independently, and nearly always uses clapped-out buses or even pick-ups on the Cambodian side, despite the promised “luxury bus”.
Si Racha
The eastbound journey out of Bangkok is not at all scenic, dominated initially by traffic-choked suburban sprawl and then by the industrial landscape of the petrochemical and shipping industries that power Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard. The first major population centre is the provincial capital of Chonburi, whose only notable attraction is its annual October bout of buffalo-racing. Twenty kilometres on, you reach the fast-growing town of SI RACHA, a prosperous residential and administrative hub for the Eastern Seaboard’s industries and home to a sizeable population of expat families. The town is best known though as the source of nam phrik Si Racha, the chilli-laced ketchup found on every kitchen table in Thailand, and as the departure point for the island of Ko Si Chang. Si Racha’s only sight is the Sino–Thai “island temple” of Wat Ko Loy, a gaudy hexagon presided over by a statue of the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Im, and located on an islet at the end of a 1500m causeway, adjacent to the pier for boats to Ko Si Chang.
Ko Si Chang
The unhurried pace and absence of consumer pressures make small, dry, rocky KO SI CHANG an engaging place to get away from it all for a day or two. Unlike most other east-coast destinations, it offers no real beach life – it’s a populous, working island with a deep-sea port, rather than a tropical idyll – and there’s little to do here but explore the craggy coastline by kayak or ramble up and down its steep, scrubby contours on foot or by motorbike. The island is famous as the location of one of Rama V’s summer palaces, a few parts of which have been restored, and of a popular Chinese pilgrimage temple, as well as for its rare white squirrels, which live in the wooded patches inland.
Ko Si Chang festivals
Ko Si Chang celebrates three particularly interesting festivals. Songkhran is marked from April 17 to 19 with sandcastle-building, greasy-pole-climbing and an exorcism ritual for any islanders who have suffered unpleasant deaths over the previous year. At Visakha Puja, the full-moon day in May when Buddha’s birth, death and enlightenment are honoured, islanders process to the old palace with hand-crafted Chinese lanterns. And on September 20, Ko Si Chang honours its royal patron King Chulalongkorn’s birthday with a son et lumière in the palace grounds and a beauty contest staged entirely in costumes from the Chulalongkorn era.
Ko Mak
Small, slow-paced, peaceful KO MAK (sometimes spelt “Maak”) makes an idyllic, low-key alternative to Ko Chang, 20km to the northwest. Measuring just sixteen square kilometres, it’s home to little more than four hundred people, divided into five main clans, who work together to keep the island free of hostess bars, jet skis, banana boats and the like, and on initiatives such as mountain-bike trails. A couple of narrow concrete roads traverse the island, which is dominated by coconut and rubber plantations; elsewhere a network of red-earth tracks cuts through the trees. Ko Mak is shaped like a star, with fine white-sand beaches along the northwest coast at Ao Suan Yai and the southwest coast at Ao Kao, where most of the island’s (predominantly mid-range and upper-bracket) tourist accommodation is concentrated; the principal village, Ban Ao Nid, is on the southeast coast and there’s another village at Ban Laem Son on the east coast. The main beaches are just about within walking distance of each other, and other parts of the island are also fairly easy to explore on foot, or by mountain bike, motorbike or kayak – the best way to discover the empty undeveloped beaches hidden along the north and eastern coasts. The reefs of Ko Rang are also less than an hour’s boat ride away so snorkelling and diving trips are quite popular. There is as yet no major commercial development on the island and no bank or ATM, but bungalows on both beaches will change money. There’s a small clinic off the Ao Nid road, though for anything serious a speedboat will whisk you back to the mainland.
During the rainy season (early June–Sept), choppy seas mean that boat services to Ko Mak are much reduced. Most Ko Mak accommodation stays open – and offers tempting discounts – but the smaller places often don’t bother to staff their restaurants. Islanders say that it can be very pleasant during this “green season”, though you may be unlucky and hit a relentlessly wet few days.
Activities on Ko Mak
The mediocre reefs of Ko Rang, part of the Ko Chang National Marine Park, are less than an hour’s boat ride west of Ko Mak and are the island’s main diving and snorkelling destination; they’re the main focus of Ko Chang dive and snorkel boats too, so you won’t be alone. You can also join a cookery class.
