I’m including two versions of Directions to Khao-I-Dang. The first is published on KID’s Facebook page and involves visiting the site without a guide or meeting the guide at the site itself by driving or taking a bus. The second set of directions are my own, based on my personal experience hiring private cars to and from the Learning Center.
Directions provided by the Learning Center, especially for those who are driving:
Khao I Dang Learning Center is now managed by the Forestry Department. Open to public upon appointment in advance. Please contact tel. (66) 081-3744804 or hongse57@gmail.com or vdechatiwong@icrc.org
How to get there:
Driving (eg. from Bangkok): From Sakaeo city in Sakaeo province, keep driving along Suwannasorn Road till you enter Aranyaprathet district. Approx 1 km before Aranyaprathet city, after passing a railway track, continue till a T-Junction. Turn left to ‘Tapraya’. The entrance to Khao I Dang Learning Centre is approximately 35 km from this T-junction on left hand side of the road.
Bus: In Bangkok, you can take a long-distance bus from Mochit Bus Terminal or a van from Ekamai bus station, and get off at Aranyaprathet bus station. From that point, take a bus (time unknown unfortunately) heading to Tapraya or Kok Soong district. The centre is located in Kok Soong district
Directions from Elizabeth Benedict:
Visits to the Center must be arranged several weeks in advance through the Facebook page MESSAGE feature, and visitors may be accompanied by a guide (I was). Please contact tel. (66) 081-3744804 or hongse57@gmail.com or vdechatiwong@icrc.org ~~https://www.facebook.com/khaoIDangLC/
From wherever you are, head for Aranyaprathet, Thailand’s most active border crossing, which it shares with Poipet, Cambodia. Poipet is about 100 miles from Siem Reap/Angkor Wat. You can take a bus or taxi from Siem Reap to Poipet and walk across the border into Thailand. The Center’s guide will meet you in the parking lot at the Aranyaprathet border crossing, at your hotel, or anyplace else you agree on with him.
Getting to Aranyaprathet from Bangkok: There are many buses and car services. Bus fare is about $10 USD and can take 5-6 hours. Taxis or vans 3-4 hours, $100 and up. Ask at your hotel. There are two third-class trains a day between Aranyaprathet and Bangkok, 5.5 to 6.5 hours, that are frequently crowded and late, according to the train websites themselves.
From Aranyaprathet to Bangkok: Again, buses or taxis. Look for taxis in the parking lot just over the border crossing in Aranyaprathet or at the nearby Fusion Bar. My experience is that younger drivers speak some English; older drivers less. This is a common trip. My guide at the Center negotiated a taxi to my Bangkok hotel for $75 USD. I gave the driver a $25 tip. In Aranyaprethet, there is an ATM machine in the first block of shops once you cross into Thailand from Cambodia.
~ Khao-I-Dang Today ~ 