Amazing Koh Rong: Can this really be Cambodia? 🇰🇭 | & Journey to Koh Kood Island, Thailand 🇹🇭 (2025)

Amazing Koh Rong: Can this really be Cambodia? 🇰🇭 | & Journey to Koh Kood Island, Thailand 🇹🇭 (2025)

We’re John and Lisa and we’re spending 
70 days eating our way across Asia. We’d been on the road for just over a month, and we were in dire need of 
some proper rest and relaxation. And honestly, I couldn’t think of a 
better place for it than Koh Rong. We’d be spending three nights in 
the sleepy village of Sok San, before making our way to the Thai island 
of Koh Kood. It’s only 86 miles away, but getting there wasn’t as 
straightforward as we imagined. If you want to see more of our content, please remember to like the video 
and subscribe to the channel. We’d been in Cambodia for just under 2 weeks, starting off in Siem Reap, exploring Angkor 
Wat by tuk tuk. Then it was onto Phnom Penh, checking out the city and its food scene, 
before heading down to the islands. First the stunning Koh Rong Sanloem, and now the 
final stop of our Cambodian adventure – Koh Rong. We took a longtail boat from Koh Rong 
Sanloem to Koh Rong for just 10 bucks, with one of the local operators 
down at M’Pai Bay Pier. We were heading to Sok San Village, and there’s 
a pier there too. But we could only get a boat to the main pier, Kaoh Touch, and we’d 
have to make our own way from there… We’ve just arrived at Kaoh Touch, Koh Rong. The boat ride was interesting. It wasn’t 
horrendous, but we did get a little wet. Yeah. It was a little choppy, but 
not…I don’t know… on a choppy scale… like probably six and a half out of 10. Obviously it could’ve been a lot worse. It was no Irish sea ferry. No (laughter) We’re going to Sok San. So, we 
need to get a tuk tuk connection. Our hotel’s email says it should 
cost about $10. So, let’s see. Yeah, this is Kaoh Touch… 
and that’s a speed ramp. It looks like you can buy onward tickets. Let’s see if we can find…. 
Oops, there’s another speed bump. The beach looks all right – for a town beach. Obviously, at one time, this beach 
would have been absolutely glorious. Yeah. It looks like there’s like 
restaurants on the pier as well. There’s quite a lot of shops and 
restaurants here. Supermarkets. Right. So, we found a guy just 
at the end of the pier. I asked him how much, and he said “$10”. So, 
I’m like, “Yeah, okay. That’ll do.” That’s what the resort advised us 
it would be. So, that seems fine. Yeah. They said about $10. So I’m okay. We’ll try not to run over any tourists. They’re not really helping themselves though. Well, there are bikes in the way. So, I think it’s quite a long way though… 
isn’t it’s like almost 2 hours on foot? Yeah. It’s hard to say because Google 
seems to think a viable route is to go through the sea. And that’s 
that’s a lot quicker apparently. But your Google maps works better than mine. Mine 
doesn’t show any route at all. It says no routes, which isn’t really helpful because 
there are proper roads on this island. Yeah. So, we’re going to find out. Check. What 
time is it now? See what time we arrived. It’s a bit of a nightmare to actually get going… 12:33. 12:33 – yeah. So, the boat took 
about half an hour. It felt a lot longer because it was a bit choppy, 
but you know, we’re here in one piece. A little wet, but fine. No sick bags needed. Nope. Not yet. Right. So, here we are. We made it to Sok San. Yeah. Was it 30 minutes in the tuktuk? Yeah. The first 8 or 9 minutes are a bit sketchy because the road doesn’t really 
exist. It’s just a dirt track. But then there’s a proper 
road all the way from there. This is Three Brothers 
Restaurant. We’re here for lunch. It’s scorching hot at the moment. 
So maybe that’s why no one’s eating. It’s 2:30pm as well. Yeah. The beach looks impossibly white. And we can see that Sok San beach stretches 
all the way down. It’s huge. So, we’re going to have lunch, and 
then go to the beach afterwards. Right. We’re the only people 
eating at the moment. So, obviously the flies have been absolutely 
frenzied since the food arrived. I’ve got squid and glass noodles, and 
John’s got holy basil pork, with some rice. This should be good, I think. Yeah, looks pretty good. Happy. Nice. What a setting as well… Yeah, the setting is amazing. 
And it’s not even expensive here. So I’m drinking my $1 beer. These dishes are like $5 each, and considering 
the resorts and stuff, it’s all good. I want to try a little bit of this squid. 
My first bite of seafood in Cambodia… Well, we had fish amok, but 
we haven’t had any other…. We had that seafood at the 
barbecue the other night. That’s true. Really nice. Tender, sweet. Mmm. I played it slightly safer, but 
yeah, it’s pretty tasty as well. Maybe we’ll come back for barbecued 
fish for dinner one night, too. Maybe so…. This is Sok San Beach. And yes, 
it really is this beautiful. Miles of pure white sand, barely anyone else in 
sight, water so clear it’s almost showing off. Honestly, this is the best 
beach we’ve ever set foot on. Our original plan was to rent a bike 
and go off exploring the island. But well, plans change and 
doing nothing here somehow felt better than doing anything anywhere else. We’d found paradise, my friends, 
and we didn’t feel like leaving. This is incredible. Just incredible. Look at the sand. The sea is just blue and calm. And 
it’s John’s favorite squeak sand. Can you make it squeak? Probably not on demand. No, this bit’s not doing it. Oh! There we go. We first found this sand in, was it in Phu Quoc? Yeah. Phu Quoc. I don’t know what causes it. If anyone 
knows in the comments, let us know. Well, I think it’s the fineness. It’s a bit 
like talc. If you had talc, it would squeak. Yeah. This sand is white and fine. It all blows all over the island. It 
just looks like patches of snow. Yeah. Look at this. You can stick the Maldives. Yeah. This is incredible. It really is incredible. And there’s probably less than 20 
people on this whole stretch of beach. Yeah. And this beach is huge. You could walk 
all the way down to the headland, over there. It’s baking hot. It must be well over 90° today. So, we’ve just picked a spot that’s semi-shaded, under a tree. And we’re just 
going to get in the water now. So, yeah, you need to get to Koh Rong. You 
need to get Sok San specifically… and you need to get here before they 
build the international airport. Because it ain’t going to 
be like this. Ever again. Yeah, exactly. We stayed on the beach till the sun went down. 
We’d have probably stayed longer if we could. Right, pizza time. This place is Totò Pizza. It’s run by Italians. 
And there are lots of Italian customers too. I’ve gone for sausage and mushroom. 
And John’s gone for his usual Diavola. What do you mean “usual”? Your usual! We’ve got a little guest next to us as well. 
We’re hoping he doesn’t really like pizza. There was one flying around earlier, and he 
pretty much terrified half of the diners. I don’t know if you can see him, but it’s a little 
cicada. Yeah. So, let’s hope he stays down there. Yeah. Anyway, this is a bit of a treat for us. Yeah. And my first glass of wine since 
arriving in Asia. So, let’s get on. Yeah. It’s a bit of a treat day today. And how do you say enjoy? “Buon appetito” Nice. I know what you’re thinking. 
Typical Western tourists, coming to Cambodia, eating pizza, drinking wine… And on this night, you’d be absolutely right. 
The pizza was solid, too. 7.5 out of 10. Day two in Koh Rong. Very much like 
day one. Look at it. Look at that. Honestly, if we taken the 
camera with us on day three, it would have been very much the same again. So, we didn’t bother. Looking back, we both feel that we 
have unfinished business on Koh Rong, and are planning on returning to 
explore the rest of the island. But do we regret spending so much time on this 
little stretch of beach? Nope… Not a bit. All right, it’s our second time 
at Three Brothers Restaurant. This time for dinner because we 
really like the look of the menu. It’s got a lot of things 
on it. Adventurous things! It might not even be our last time, because 
there aren’t many good restaurants close-by. Yeah, we tried we tried one next door 
for lunch, and it was very disappointing. But anyway, moving on. Look what we ordered… This is beef tendon, stir 
fried with tamarind sauce. I’m quite excited about that. And the 
waitress tried to warn me off ordering it, but I was like, “No, no, we 
know what it is. We want it.” This one is the barbecued fish… 
allegedly, but looks kind of fried to me. But I mean, it doesn’t really matter. I 
suppose if it tastes good, then it’s all good. We did debate ordering the fried fish, didn’t we? We did, but I saw a Google review 
saying how nice the barbecued fish is. Anyway, we’ve got the pepper and lime dipping 
sauce, to jazz it up. So, I reckon it’s all good. I want to try a bit of this 
dish. You can try some too… Mmm tasty. It’s got a little 
chew to it, but I like it. It’s got good flavour. Lemongrass. That’s pretty nice. Really good. There’s a little bit f chili coming through. Yeah, we love beef tendon. Maybe you would, too. Well, we’re getting up at 5:00 a.m. to go to 
Thailand. So, yeah, we need a good feed. Mhm. Nothing too spicy because we’re getting 
up early. It’s one of our top tips. Lisa likes to remind me that I once 
said I could eat pizza every day. Well, if we hadn’t found Three Brothers Restaurant, 
that might have actually happened here. There are plenty of other restaurants, but 
if you like tasty homestyle food like we do, options are limited in this part of 
the island. Thanks, Three Brothers. While we were here, we stayed at White 
Sand Ark Resort. It’s a decent place to stay on a budget, and we got 
serviceable breakfast every day. Also, hats off to the staff for being 
so accommodating about our 5:40 a.m. pickup. They even made us a packed lunch. But how were we going to get to Koh Kood? At one point, we thought we might have to go 
back to Sihanoukville and find our own way into Thailand. But after watching several 
other people’s vlogs, we decided that this would be our last resort. To our relief, we 
happened upon a ferry company called Boonsiri, which offers direct transfers from Ko 
Rong to Koh Kood, as well as Koh Mak and Koh Chang. Although be aware that this 
is only available between October and May. Morning. So, this morning we got up very early 
because we’re going to Thailand. So, we were supposed to get picked up at 
5:40, but it was actually more like 6:00. This is the fishing village because we’re 
getting a ferry from here to Dara Sakor. Yeah, Dara Sakor… well remembered. Then we go onto the border, and then I think 
they take us on another bus through to Trat, where we can get the ferry to Koh Kood. So nice 8 hour day. Let’s see how 
it starts. It’s going to be a long day. We’ll tell you what it’s like and uh 
maybe you might want to do in the future. Maybe not. Yeah, maybe. The crossing was bone crunching but 
short. And we finally got to see a Cambodian sunrise after being 
too lazy back at Angkor Wat. Okay, we survived the boat trip. Quite bumpy for the first 
half, but after that was fine. QUITE bumpy!!! Yeah, they needed more like 
seat cushioning, for me. A bit of a bone rattler. Anyway, yeah, it took about about 20 minutes. But it felt more like like 2 hours. This is Dara Sakor. It looks like there’s a lot of 
construction going on here as well. There’s a nice beach. I remember 
seeing it on Google maps. They also have luxury casino hotels, golf 
courses… and lots of Chinese reviews. There are some big construction projects, alright. Yeah. Let’s hope it goes 
better than Sihanoukville. Yeah. Alright. Let’s see where the next 
bit takes us. Catch you in a bit. Okay. We’re on the bus now. I’m 
not sure how long this journey is, but it’s an hour and a half 
since we got picked up. Yeah, we’re making progress. We just left 
the soon to be beach resort of Dara Sakor. Yeah, they’ve got quite a lot of stuff already 
like a golf course and some casino hotels. Let’s hope the bus journey’s a 
short one… but probably not. I don’t think it is. It goes to the border. So, we’re not sure 
exactly. And then we change bus, I think. Okay. See you in a bit. It’s 11:42 a.m. and we 
started at 6 a.m at Sok San. We’ve just departed. So, this 
is the uh Cambodian border. This is the no man’s land between 
the Cambodian and Thai borders. Yeah. So, we’re now going to walk through Thai 
crossing now. Yeah. The bus ride was okay. About half the roads were paved and 
the rest were sort of like dirt. But they’re in the process of building 
new roads, and it’s not horrendous. Not like that bumpy. Not 
compared to 20 years ago anyway! Not too bad. One thing I would definitely point 
out, is that if you fly into Cambodia, don’t throw your boarding pass 
away under any circumstances. And if you pay for the visa at the airport, keep that piece of paper too because they 
they wanted it and they took it from us. Yeah. They stapled them together 
and kept them for their notes. But they also wanted to see the boarding 
pass when we bought the thing as well. Yep. They are very keen on 
seeing boarding passes. So, it’s not like at home where 
you can just chuck it away. I should probably switch this 
off now, in case I get caught and it gets confiscated or whatever happens. Bye. So, this is the Boonsiri office in Hat Lek. About 10 minutes outside Hat Leck border crossing. Yeah. So, you collect your boat ticket here, and 
the boat actually leaves from out the back here. They gave us our packed lunch that we pre-ordered. 
They’ve got a really big seating area here. It’s a very plush office. There’s even 
a bakery counter and coffee counter, and a shop that seems to sell 
swimwear… which is interesting. Anyway, yeah, we’re quite hungry. 
So let’s tuck into our lunch. So, do you want to eat this stone-cold Pad Krapow? Yeah, I’m up for it. Hungry. Better than nothing, and included in the price. Okay, it’s 12:40. We’ll be there shortly. Hooray. You should be aware that there are currently 
heightened tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, and there are reports that the Hat Leck border 
is currently closed to non-essential travel. Please check the current situation 
before you attempt this journey. We’re just about to arrive. It’s 2:00 p.m. now, 
and we’ve been on here for just over an hour. If you sit on the top deck, on the right hand 
side, you’re probably going to get wet. We did. But it’s completely calm on the other side, 
albeit quite sunny. So bear that in mind. A village on the other side. A fishing village. This is the arrival point. And lot 
of people are waiting to get back on. Welcome to Koh Kood. We’re supposed to get a transfer from here 
as well. So, let’s uh hang around for that, otherwise we’re very far from where we need to be. But yeah, this ticket takes you door to 
door, which is quite impressive really. Oh, yeah. Because they have to cover the 
whole island, haven’t they? People seem to be on the move, so let’s go. Okay, so we’ve got the uh 
VIP seats inside the cab, because we were suspicious about which 
vehicle we were supposed to get into. So there’s no seats in the back, 
but yeah… nice. A proper seat. John’s even got a seat belt and intermittent 
Aircon, so we’ll see how many drop-offs they make. But there aren’t that many people on here, 
so it shouldn’t take too long, hopefully. Okay, here we are. We’ve arrived! Just over 7 hours door 
to door, from Koh Rong to Koh Kood. Our time on the Cambodian 
islands was unforgettable. Catch us next time to find out 
what we thought about Koh Kood.

🌴 Koh Rong’s – Cambodia’s Dream Beach + Getting to Koh Kood 🇰🇭➡️🇹🇭

In this vlog, we spend our last few days in Cambodia, relaxing on the stunning Sok San beach on Koh Rong — and we think it might just be the best beach we’ve ever set foot on. Crystal clear water, powdery white sand, and hardly anyone else around. Pure paradise.

But all good things come to an end… and ours ended with a 7-hour journey to Thailand’s Trat Islands with Boonsiri Ferry. Our destination: the one-time hidden gem island of Koh Kood.

Shortly after publishing this video, the political tension we mentioned, which had led to the closure of the Thai/Cambodian border, turned into actual fighting – sadly with losses on both sides. (Please note – the affected area is not near Hat Lek, where we crossed into Thailand.)

Currently (30th July 2025), a cease-fire is in place and all out war has hopefully been averted. But a normalizing of relations and the re-opening of border crossings like Hat Lek seems some way off.

Please check the current situation before booking this journey, and feel free to ask us any questions in the comments.

These are two of our favourite countries and both the Thai and Cambodian people were nothing but welcoming to us on our trip.

In this video, we…

– Arrive by longboat from M’Pai Bay (Koh Rong Sanloem)
– Spend 3 nights relaxing in Sok San Village
– Eat at Three Brothers Restaurant & a solid local pizzeria
– Begin our full-day transfer to Thailand via Boonsiri
– Take speedboats, buses, and songthaews from Koh Rong to Koh Kood
– Share tips on the Hat Lek border crossing (currently closed as of July 2025)
– Reflect on beach life, border crossings, and a surprisingly smooth journey

It was a long travel day, but honestly? Not as bad as we expected.

📍 Travel Notes & Tips:
– Local longtail boat from M’Pai Bay → Koh Touch Pier
– Accommodation on Koh Rong – White Sand Ark Resort:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/DPv7u3aBmnSRXtAB7
– Border: Hat Lek crossing currently closed due to tensions (19/07/25)
– Transfer: Booked with Boonsiri Ferry — https://boonsiriferry.com/en
– Includes hotel pickup, boat, border help, and drop-off on Koh Kood. If you book online, make sure you contact them by email or Whatsapp to arrange your pickup and drop-off, and pre-order your free lunch.
– Duration: ~7 hours total (Koh Rong → Koh Kood)

🍽️ Where We Ate in Sok San:
– Three Brothers Restaurant (we actually ate here four times!! It’s good.)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/kzrSbeFRsyD7Jeow8

– Toto Pizzeria
https://maps.app.goo.gl/qm3unKUS89sisdLp6

📌 Other Episodes You Might Like:

🌴 Koh Rong Sanloem → https://youtu.be/CEQV6zuXCLc?si=qXr0gN5CEXcn_7Qy
🌆 Phnom Penh → https://youtu.be/rI8BgIfE9-M?si=Jz_gGZQ6saGXMWPz
🛕 Angkor Wat & Siem Reap Food Tour → https://youtu.be/7dZ0iyEqmUo?si=cohrf7eqYvDDCYxU
🏝 Phu Quoc: Paradise or Overdeveloped? → https://youtu.be/uiSXtR8RYzE?si=B8CBI3QySzyWk7BW

⏱ Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
01:02 – Longtail boat from M’Pai Bay Pier, Koh Rong Sanloem → Koh Rong
01:23 – Arrival at Kaoh Touch (Koh Rong) and tuk tuk to Sok San Village
03:46 – Lunch at Three Brothers Restaurant
05:32 – Relaxing at Sok San Beach (spoiler: it’s stunning)
07:52 – Dinner at Totò Pizza
09:05 – Day two on Sok San beach
09:51 – Three Brothers Restaurant (part two)
11:55 – White Sand Ark Resort

Starting our 7-hour transfer to Thailand with Boonsiri…

12:20 – Planning the journey to Thailand
12:52 – Speedboat from Lototray Pier to Dara Sakor
13:45 – Coach to the Hat Lek border crossing
15:09 – Walking across the Cambodia–Thailand border (Hat Lek)
16:20 – Thai side: Boonsiri office + lunch
17:06 – Important info: Hat Lek border closure (as of July 2025)
17:29 – Catamaran to Koh Kood (Ao Salat Pier)
18:17 – Arrival on Koh Kood and songthaew to our accommodation
19:12 – Reflecting on the journey

Thanks for watching! If you enjoy this video, hit that 👍, leave a comment, and consider subscribing — we’ve still got much more to eat and explore.

#KohRong #KohKood #CambodiaToThailand #IslandHopping #TravelVlog #thailand #cambodia