Bus times from Koh Mak to Battambang

By joint ferry and bus service the journey from Koh Mak to Battambang is scheduled to take just over 6 hours.

Bus Timetable from Koh Mak to Battambang

Click on the Koh Mak – Battambang link in the timetable below for more information and to buy tickets.

Koh Mak Ferry Pier

Boonsiri High Speed Ferries services from Koh Mak to Battambang depart from Ao Nid Pier in Koh Mak.

Bangkok Bus Stop

Boonsiri High Speed Ferries services from Koh Mak to Battambang include a transfer to any hotel in Battambang City.

About Travel to Battambang

Battambang is a lesser visited Cambodian city located roughly a third of the distance from the border with Thailand at Poipet and the capital city, Phnom Penh. The city’s location makes it an ideal place to break up a long overland journey to both Phnom Penh, and (if you are travelling from the south) Siem Reap, which is located 163 km by road from Battambang on the other side of Tonle Sap Lake.

Hotels and Restaurants

Battamabang is a compact city, the centre of which is laid out in a grid pattern at the centre of which is a main square with Pasar Nat, which is Battambang Central Market. The most popular bars and restaurants are located close to this main square, as are many of the city’s tourist hotels and guesthouses. Some of the more expensive accommodation in Battambang, such as La Villa, is located riverside away from this central area. Close to the main square there are also some fantastic value for money independent hotels, such as the superb and very cheap Royal Hotel.

A new addition to Battambang, which has developed slowly over the last decade, is ‘Pub Street’. Pub Street is the new name for the top half of Road 2.5. which runs south from the city’s main square. Pub Street has a collection of bars and restaurants catering primarily to foreign visitors, such as JaVoeng Pub Street and KC’s Burger & Lounge Bar. It also has a series of large wall murals and some small art galleries, making Pub Street the centre of the ‘Bohemian’ scene in the city.

Colonial Era Architecture

One of the main attractions in Battambang City is the architecture. Many of the buildings in the old part of the city date back to the period of French colonial rule from 1907 to 1953, and prior to that when the city was under Thai control from 1795 to 1907.

The French era architecture is spread across the central part of Battambang, including the covered market constructed in the 1930s, and lots of European style town houses and shop houses in the streets leading south from the main market. The most European of all the buildings in the city, the former Governor’s Residence, was however built during the period of Thai rule.

Temples in Battambang City

Battambang has a series of small and interesting Buddhist temples to the south of the main square and on the other side of the Sangker River. One of the interesting things about these temples is the wall murals relating to local legends. Wat Sangker also has a very old Khmer style pagoda which most likely dates back to the Angkor period when the regime was building other larger temples in the area.

Wat Ek Phnom

Located 9 km from Battambang City, Wat Ek Phnom is an 11th Century temple during the reign of Suryavarman I, King of the Angkor Empire. Wat Ek Phnom is the largest Angkor era temple built away from the capital city of the empire located near the modern day city of Siem Reap. This temple has not been maintained or restored to the same extent as the more famous of the temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park.

Phnom Sampeau

Phnom Sampeau is a hill with several caves and a temple on the top, located 15 km to the south west of Battambang City. Visitors can walk through one of the caves, ascending a staircase to the hilltop temple. This cave was used by the Khmer Rouge to murder their fellow citizens in large numbers, and there are several displays and memorials to this atrocity.

There are a further 2 caves at Phnom Sampeau which are home to large numbers of bats. A popular activity for both tourists and locals is to come to the hill at dusk to watch the bays fly out of the caves.