I did this in March 2009, and as Rat on the Road says, the road was good all the way then, so don't worry about that. We avoided the whole Khao San scam shit by simply taking the regular public bus to the border town (Aranyaprathet). We relied on the info given on that tales of asia page, and that gave us a pretty smooth journey.
Started by taking the taxi to the northern bus terminal aka Morchit bus terminal (not the same as morchit sky train station, the bus terminal is apparently really named Chatachuck or something, but that name is not used nor known by Thais for some reason...). We took the bus early to reach the border before the scam buses hoping that would get us through the border checking faster. No such luck though as apparently we traveled on a Thai holiday, so all the Thai were going to Cambodia to gamble. YAY!
Anywho, the first small issues occurred between Aranyaprathet and the border. Some lady with a tuk-tuk told us she would take us to the border for 80 bath, but we soon realized that was not her plan at all. She took us first to the Cambodian "Consulate" to get our Visa where we were met by very official looking uniformed Cambodian "Consulate" workers. That told us we had to get our Visa there before going to the border. (For all I know this really was a genuine Cambodian Consulate). Just refuse to get out of the tuk-tuk and say you wont pay anything unless the driver takes you directly to the border. Once at the border beware of pickpockets and wait in line to go through the border formalities. There were helpful people there that wanted to get your visa for you faster (for a fee) but the two we saw going for this didn't go through much faster than us even though it was a real long line that day.
On the Cambodian side you are met by friendly, helpful official looking guides that will soon befriend you and start earning your trust just in time to get to the Cambodian border formalities where he will tell you the price has gone up. (Just fill in the paper, and give that, your passport and 1500 bath to me...) Do not do this. be a stubborn ass and deliver this yourself with $20 to the place they actually give you the visa. They will not readily accept this, and claim the price is $25. Pay the $5 bribe if you wanna support corruption, or be as stubborn as you can (remember this guys are pros, so it wont be easy.) Arguments you can use is that there is a big fucking sign over their head stating tourist visa $20, and that you did go to the embassy in Bangkok the previous day and had the price confirmed. Your best bet is time though. As more people come and you can make them refuse to pay the bribe too they will accept the $20 and hope that the next prey is easier. It will piss them off though so proceed with caution :p
After getting the visa, get it stamped (At least I think this was done another place). Congratulations, you are now in Cambodia! There may be better ways to get from the border to Siem Reap, but we gave in at this time and followed the advice of the (bribe)friendly guides to get on the free bus out to the buss/cab central in the middle of nowhere. You can proceed from there by share-cab which we managed to get for $45 for 3 persons to Siem Reap. They wanted $60 but $45 is still a big rip off. You can probably get a share-taxi for the same distance at a total of $15 or less elsewhere in Cambodia. Meh, fuck it. It was a bus running from the same place later in the day, but we didn't wanna wait around for a sucky bus which they wouldn't even guarantee us a spot on.
With just a minor issue when the hood of the car blew of and hitting the windshield, the cab delivered us safely to Siem Reap where we got a free moto (included in the price when you pay for the taxi) that drove us to a guest house someone recommended. And when we realized this was a bit expensive took us to the next one without complaining or wanting any pay. The first display of the genuine Cambodian friendliness that we later were to see so much of. Nice!
All in all it was a nice trip, and the hassle at the border wasn't really that bad. If you are prepared and know what you are in for and take it with a laugh its really just a funny experience.
And one last thing, do not exchange you money. ATMs in cambodia give out usd for a reason. It is what they use. They use dollar+riel as americans use dollar+cent. 1000 riel doing the job of a quarter. You will be able to use or exchange bath later also and I would guess at a better rate.
Edit:
Oh and we went back to Bangkok too, we took a trip to Battambang to do the bamboo train and then Phnom Penh and flew back to Bangkok. The flight from PP to BK was really cheap, and you get a longer visa at the airport than you get at the land border.
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