About

Discover Kratie

Kratie (ក្រចេះ, pronounced kra-chey) is a tiny town in northeastern Cambodia. Despite its small size, it is the capital of the province of the same name. Kratie is one of the four provinces in northeastern Cambodia, and although it is relatively remote and not heavily visited, travelling here won't earn you points if your priority is to be a pioneer. There's no large-scale tourism, but plenty of backpackers pour through here during the peak season. The town has developed to meet this demand, with very good budget accommodation that is well known in backpacking circles.

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What to Experience in Kratie

Sambor (about 40 km from Kratie). This is a pre

A close up of a metal structure with a clock on it

12.48381106.017541 Morokot Guest House. Room US$5. (Apr 2023). (updated Apr 2023)

A close up of a statue of a dragon

A yellow house with a brown roof surrounded by trees

A close up of a building with a tree in the background

A building that has a bird on top of it

A gazebo in a park with steps leading up to it

A small yellow building sitting in the middle of a lush green field

Cuisine

Taste of Kratie...

Eating at small food stalls offers a cheap alternative to restaurants, with fried noodles available, chicken rice porridge, foetal duck eggs and others. Servings are generally smaller than in nearby restaurants. The riverfront night market has been moved to the road out to PP. Follow the riverfront and keep going when it turns inland. Watching the sun go down over the Mekong, with a cold beer or a tuk-a-lok (fruit shake) on the river front, is one of the joys of a visit to Kratie. There are many stalls which set up in the late afternoon to service that need (and stay open until midnight, unusually late for a Cambodian provincial town). Red Sun Falling will stay open until the last person leaves, which can be pretty late, and the new Marlees Bar offers the other bar option in town.

Plan Your Trip

Essential Information

Getting There

Multiple Options

From Kampong Cham (to the south) the road is in good repair. From Stung Treng (to the north) the road is sealed, but has fallen into disrepair and the journey can be uncomfortable and slow. If headed into Laos, visas on arrival are obtainable at the Lao border. The bus/truck station is in the northwest part of town. Buses from Stung Treng take about 3 hours. As with all forms of transport in Cambodia, get your bus ticket early, and show up even earlier to ensure you get a good seat, as buses will fill up fast as soon as they let people board. With the improving road conditions, bus services have improved and there are now a number of options between Stung Treng and Phnom Penh that stop at Kratie both ways. There are daily buses from Siem Reap to Kratie. They leave at 07:00 and cost US$10. You will have to switch buses halfway through this journey at Skuon or Suong....

Travel Tips

Getting Around & Staying

Getting Around

As the town is so small, ignore offers from touts to take you from the bus stop into town, since it's a walk of just a few minutes. If you feel compelled to hire a motodop to take you anywhere within town, you won't need to pay anything more than 500 riel for your short journey. To visit sites outside the town, you'll need to hire a motodop for a few dollars - standard prices are posted around the guesthouses, typically US$3–5 depending how far and how long you go for. Bicycles are by far the best way to get around Kratie and enjoy the town at your own pace. Most guesthouses will organize you one, but they usually all come from the same shop - from the front of the market head south until the street ends across from the Ministry of Water Resources. On the corner there bikes can be rented from a lovely Khmer family for US$1 or 4,000 riel per day. Easy to spot this shop - look for all the bikes! Motorbike rentals are available at just about any guesthouse.

Money & Budget

Eating at small food stalls offers a cheap alternative to restaurants, with fried noodles available, chicken rice porridge, foetal duck eggs and others. Servings are generally smaller than in nearby restaurants. The riverfront night market has been moved to the road out to PP. Follow the riverfront and keep going when it turns inland. Watching the sun go down over the Mekong, with a cold beer or a tuk-a-lok (fruit shake) on the river front, is one of the joys of a visit to Kratie. There are many stalls which set up in the late afternoon to service that need (and stay open until midnight, unusually late for a Cambodian provincial town). Red Sun Falling will stay open until the last person leaves, which can be pretty late, and the new Marlees Bar offers the other bar option in town.

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