While there are no laws that crossing the border with a motorbike between Laos And Cambodia is illegal, lately, this has been difficult for international tourists due to corruption. There is only one international border crossing between the two countries.
* Veun Kham / Dom Kralor
Due to this being the only legal border crossing between Laos and Cambodia, it is the most popular option. However, when we went to do this in June 2014 we were told by locals and ex-pats that a scam was happening at the border. Apparently the officials let you leave Laos or Cambodia with your bike but deny you when you try to cross into the next country. They then ask for an extortionate fee to give you ‘permission’ to cross.
If you don’t agree to this, a tout then appears and offers to buy your bike for peanuts. As you are stuck in no man’s land, you are left with little choice but to sell your bike. Due to these stories, we decided to skip this border crossing and head into Vietnam instead.
Special Note – Crossing The Border With A Motorbike Between Laos And Cambodia: We met a local man on Don Det, in the 4000 Islands, who made an interesting proposition to us. He offered to ferry us and our bikes across the Mekong River into Cambodia and park them at his friend’s farm, before taking us back to Laos. We then could cross the border from Laos into Cambodia on foot and hitchhike up to the property to collect our bikes. As tempted as we were, we decided against this.
We DO NOT recommend illegally crossing borders between any countries. But if you end up doing this, please let us know how you go!
I did cross the border multiple times by boat, picking passenger and bikes up in Laos or Cambodia, shuttle them to the border to process the visa while the bike stays on the boat and then drop people wherever they want to continue, Preah Rumkel, Veun Sai or Osvay on the Cambodian side of the border or Veun Kham or Don Khone/ 4000islands in Laos. Never had any issues.
Hi Christian,I will try to cross the border in few days. How can we arrange this shipping?
Hello marcello, i will also try to cross through this border, do you have any recomondations for me?
So how did it go??? 🙂
Sounds like a charm! Can anyone write a little more details about the process? Where to buy the tickets, etc. for both Laos and Cambodia. We’re many bikepackers eager to hear any recent reports from both sides!
Update 07/01/2023
Crossing the border whit Thai motorcycle Cambodia to Laos its possible at “Nong Nok Kheane” the motorcycle have to be registred to your own name + green book translate in english .
Updated 07/12 /2022
Crossing the border with the Thai motorcycle from Thailand to Cambodia is possible at “Koh kong” the motorcycle must be registered in your own name + green book translated into English.