We did Visa Run on Motorbike to Cambodia and over the border to Prum in Cambodia, and had a stopover at the beaches in Chanthaburi on the way home. The trip to Cambodia took about 6 hours with plenty of stops, and a speed of about 70 Km/hour.
The Roads
The roads in Thailand are in mixed condition, you should think before you do a Visa Run on Motorbike to Cambodia. Motorbikes should stick to the left lane on some parts, and I found it impossible most of the time. People parked, set up shops to sell Thai ice cream, which my Thai girl loved; we made every stop! Additionally, the locals used it to drive the wrong way, and sometimes it was simply full of rubbish.
I would never drive a motorbike at night in Thailand because the pot holes are so big and random that they could easily trip up a motorbike, or could even completely consume the bike!
The worst road on this trip was the Road #3 from Rayong to Pattaya. It is in awful shape and the trucks drive too close for comfort. It’s been a work in progress for over 10 years, and is still bad in 2021.
The road closer to the border was only 30 minutes on the bike, it made for some fun driving up and down the hills since we were almost alone on the road. If you have time, use the small roads in the hills going around the highway. It is full of great scenery, and nice, smooth roads. With that said, bring food and plenty of petrol since there is not much along the way when you do a Visa Run on Motorbike to Cambodia.
The Bike Novou MX Yamaha
Now do not laugh, but we used a very simple Novou MX Yamaha for our motorbike visa run to Cambodia. With no frills, it was fine for two people since we do not travel fast. The biggest fear was if we would get a puncture along the way, but we managed it both directions without any problems. The hills were a bit slow with two people on the bike, and it maxed out at 60 Km/hour, but we still overtook the trucks. We also had a tent on the back of the motorbike, and we brought extra flat pillows to sit on to spare our behinds.
The Cambodian Border Prum
Prum border crossing is nothing to write home about. It is a place for Thai people to come and lose their money in the Casino and border trade. Most Visa run companies do not use Thai Cambodia border crossings as it is a smaller crossing so its perfect for a visa run motorbike to Cambodia. We passed through in the afternoon, and were the only foreigners there. The military boss came out to talk to us because he could not figure out why we came to the border from Pattaya to do a visa run motorbike to Cambodia on such a small bike. The immigration team was very talkative, and had loads of fun laughing at my trip from Pattaya to Cambodia on a bike. When you arrive at the border, pick up an entry form from Counter 6, and then pass through immigration as per usual. When you walk across the border, there are motorbikes wanting to take you to the immigration on the Cambodian side. I paid for their services on the way back, which was 20 THB. You can also walk if you want; it is about 500 meters in heat and dust, but there are no beggars. There are lots of police on site.
When you arrive, there is a house, and you fill in the form, pay your 20 USD or 1000 THB, and pay 100 THB, and then 300 THB in the next counter to exit Cambodia in one day. I could probably walk past the immigration and walk into Thailand without issue. They are all set up in air-cooled houses, not wanting to go out and do not check much, they expect everyone to behave.
Visa Run on Motorbike to Cambodia Update 2021
Visa Run on Motorbike to Cambodia changes, they have now changed the set-up. You should no longer cross for a Visa, just use the Visa service; they have a guide that will take you. Some people have tried to cross themselves and get hassled for lots of money to stay a night in Cambodia in a Casino. For updates on Thailand visa runs, check Personal Thailand. The road in Rayong is still bad take the d tour away from the high way if you planning a Visa Run on Motorbike to Cambodia.
Visa run motorbike to Cambodia 2022
The borders are closed as of May 2022 if you want to do a visa run motorbike to Cambodia make sure they open the land borders before you go. You can still fly to Cambodia from Thailand but it looks like the land border will be closed until July 2022 for visa run motorbike to Cambodia.
What to do in Chanthaburi?
On the way back, we stayed at the Sawadee Hotel in Chanthaburi for one day to rest on the beach, before heading back to Pattaya. Most of the hotels are around 500 -1000 THB, but there is no real beach road, so you have to go down and check each of them to see what you prefer. The night we stayed, there was one other couple in the same hotel that night, and normally Thai people do not go there on weekdays. On the weekends, the hotels are full of Thai people. The beaches are nothing special; they are very long and shallow, it is not easy to swim but a great playground for the children, and it makes for excellent fresh seafood.
There are many waterfalls and national parks in Chantaburi if you want to spend a few days exploring the area. If you want to have some tips on what to do in Chanthaburi take a look at this site. A word of warning, if you take the road that goes up along the border to Issan, there are almost no petrol stations on the way. We almost ran out of gas in a car once, and you will surely run out on a small motorbike, so fill up if you see a local petrol station. Google map is your best weapon when you do a Visa run on motorbike to Cambodia plan the petrol stations and check how many kilometers you get before you need to put in more gas.
Here is a map from the Cambodian Border to the beach in Chanthaburi province in Thailand of the way we picked on our visa run motorbike to Cambodia.
