Travel from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom

By bus the journey from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom is scheduled to take 2 hours 30 minutes. At the present time there are no rail or air links between Siem Reap and Kampong Thom.

Bus Times from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom

There are currently 7 daily services from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom available to book online.

Buy Tickets from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom

Use the Search Box below to buy your travel tickets from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom.

Siem Reap Bus Stop

• Cambolink 21 Express services from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom depart from Siem Reap Cambolink 21 Express office which is located a short distance outside the city centre on the main road heading east in the direction of Kampong Thom.

Kampong Thom Bus Stop

• Cambolink 21 Express services from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom terminate at a bus stop near the Damrey Chann Khla statue.

About Travel to Kampong Thom

Kampong Thom is what is often described as being an ‘off the beaten track’ type of destination. What that means in this instance is that Kampong Thom is a place where very little English, or any other language than Khmer, is spoken and local hotels and restaurants make little effort to accommodate foreign visitors because very few come to Kampong Thom. This makes staying in Kampong Thom much harder work than staying in Siem Reap or Sihanoukville for example. The good side of this is that a visit to Kampong Thom offers visitors a chance to see how Khmer people live. Indeed, in the very rural areas around Kampong Thom a visit on a motorbike to local villages or a trip on a boat along the river offers glimpses of how people in this area have lived for hundreds of year. The local economy hasn’t developed beyond a reliance on argiculture, although the productivity of the local agricultural sector has increased particularly in respect of fish farming.

The central point in Kampong Thom is the area just south of the Stueng Sen Bridge. There are quite few restaurants and hotels in this area. The most lively place to stay and to eat in Kampong Thom is the Arunras Hotel. On the ground floor of the hotel is a restaurant with a menu partly translated into English, and upstairs a karaoke bar which is popular with adult male Cambodians staying away from home overnight. Right in front of the Arunras Hotel is a taxi rank where drivers seeking business from foreign visitors tend to congregate.

There are three major points of interest for visitors to Kampong Thom. The most popular of these is Sambor Prei Kuk Temple located 30 km to the north east of Kampong Thom. Recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sambor Prei Kuk Temple is a large complex of around 150 Hindu temples built mostly during the 7th and 8th Centuries. One of the interesting things about this temple complex is that it pre-dates the Angkor regime and the temples look different to the more famous temples of the Angkor Archaeological Park.

The other two main local tourist attractions are boat trips along the river toward the Tonle Sap Lake and exploring the local countryside. Kampong Thom is surrounded by lots of rice fields and seasonal wetlands and this attracts birds in great number and great variety. This is an excellent place to go bird spotting. For the more adventurous traveller the area to the north of Kampong Thom is very remote and in places heavily forested. Once you leave the main road there are many opportunities to see the local animal and plant life, and pass through some very under developed settlements. It’s easy to get lost also so travelling with a guide is recommended.