16

I'm thinking of going to Angkor Borei in Cambodia to visit a friend who is volunteering there in my last days before my visa runs out and I cross into Vietnam.

I already have my Vietnam visa.

I can find a border crossing at the Latitude/Longitude 10.953495,105.080577, but I'm not positive what name(s) the crossing generally goes by or what the names of the closest towns or villages on either side are. Possibly Khanh Binh or Banteay Chakrey or Chray Thum/Chrey Thom - at least that's my best guess from more than an hour of Googling and fiddling with Google Maps.

I can see there's a ferry crossing the river and photos of an immigration booth on Google Maps. But this might just be one of the crossings only local Cambodian and Vietnamese residents can use?

Can I cross there too?

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    I highly recommend voting for "land borders" to be a synonym of "borders" by the way. I have no clue whether this one should actually be considered a river border, water border, whatever border. It's just a border - why does the more detailed tag even exist?
    – hippietrail
    Mar 7, 2015 at 15:18

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
11

NO IT IS NOT OPEN TO FOREIGNERS!

My suspicions this time turned out to be warranted. I arrived at the Chrey Thum border checkpoint at 5.30pm yesterday afternoon.

Chrey Thum border checkpoint

Even though I intended to spend a night in a guesthouse and cross today I thought it prudent to wander down and talk to the guards.

There was a language barrier but they nonetheless made it quite clear that at this time (March 2015) this particular border crossing is only a national border crossing, and foreigners from countries other than Cambodia and Vietnam can not cross.

I'm now very glad that my hitchhiking sense told me to have a spare day just in case. I'm now back in Takeo Town with 46.5km to Phnom Den, which is a much busier border crossing that's easier to check online that it's open to everybody.

I should mention however that a new bridge project commenced in 2014 so I would be pretty certain that when it's completed the crossing will be upgraded to an international one.

sign about new bridge

Improve this answer
3

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a list of borders to enter Vietnam (specifically for foreigners): the international airports and some terrestrial borders.

For Cambodia borders, it lists:

The location you mention is one of the borders of the An Giang province so if you know it is called Son Tien, that would be it.

However, there seems to be another road between Cambodia and the An Giang province and it is called National Highway 2, it is more likely to be the Son Tien border.

So, if the border you want to cross is not open to foreigners, you can still try the National Highway 2 which is located about 20 km to the south.

Improve this answer
1
  • Yes I know there is at least one other border crossing not too far away if this one doesn't work out. I saw several signs since I was in Kep pointing to border crossings.
    – hippietrail
    Mar 11, 2015 at 8:46
2

I don't know if this qualifies as an answer but I am currently in Anchor Borei and I just asked a local, he says it's possible to take a fast boat, not a slow boat, into Vietnam from here for $5-$10. You are required to be at least two people going to Vietnam.

I don't know if all this information is correct but I will ask around when I get the chance and update this answer.

Improve this answer
1

Yes, this is the Khanh Binh / Chray Thum border. Visa conditions are the same as any other border crossing.

It was upgraded to national level eight years ago.

Improve this answer
4
  • Actually that "upgrade" was one of the things that threw me, since another page mentioned the difference between "national" and "international" crossings is that foreigners can only use the latter. Don't know if that could've been a typo or translation error though.
    – hippietrail
    Mar 7, 2015 at 17:53
  • Here's a thread from ten years ago making the same observation about as I just did: newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.cambodia/…
    – hippietrail
    Mar 7, 2015 at 18:01
  • Aye but why would they list among the places which says "all nationalities", first link?
    – user4188
    Mar 7, 2015 at 18:18
  • Well I did notice a lot of cut and pasting in my Googling so I can't really rule it out in this site either, since it's not an official one. \-:
    – hippietrail
    Mar 7, 2015 at 18:25
-1

I heard it from a hotel employee in Phnom Penh that it is possible for all persons to cross the long binh - chrey thom bridge. I am supposed to go by bicycle to Phnom Penh from Chau Doc, Vietnam. And right now I am waiting for another reply over the matter from a hotel employee in Chau Doc. I would share the reply with you.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    This is another reply from different one in Chau Doc. "Normally, foreigner tourist will cross Tinh Bien or Xa Xia border that is international border. Long Binh is applied for Vietnamese. "
    – koji
    Apr 14, 2017 at 8:31
  • You should edit all the details from the answer and the comment into a new updated answer.
    – hippietrail
    Apr 16, 2017 at 16:24

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .