Poipet trip report: Construction and urban development in Cambodia's wild-west casino city

Border cities in Southeast Asia have a reputation for being dodgy, and Poipet in Cambodia is no exception. Poipet is best known for casinos and the border-crossing gauntlet for travellers overlanding to Siem Reap.

There is nothing here for the traveller who is not a gambler, and after spending a night in Poipet there doesn’t appear to be a plan to make it a more appealing city for residents and visitors alike.

Any time I see Poipet in the news, it has to do with gambling crime or scam compounds. It sounds like Sihanoukville, but at least Sihanoukville has a beach and access to islands.

One thing that Poipet has going for it is a railway connection to Phnom Penh, and a direct train to Bangkok is also planned by Thailand. Surely a city in between two of the great capital cities of Southeast Asia could leverage this geographical advantage.

In 2024 the train service from Phnom Penh to Poipet was restored, so I made a plan to get the train from Bangkok to Phnom Penh. The train service was then suspended from Battambang to Poipet, so it is not currently possible to do this trip by rail.

I had already made a plan to travel, so this interruption turned out to be a good excuse to stay in Poipet for a night before getting a van to Battambang the next day.

I’ve been reading news about special economic zones and real estate growth in Poipet, so it was time to make the border crossing and visit Poipet for a Future Southeast Asia subscriber report.

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