| Town of Poipet | |
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| — Town — | |
| Poipet skyline | |
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Town of Poipet
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Cambodia |
| Province | Banteay Meanchey Province |
| District | Ou Chrov District |
| Government | |
| • Type | City |
| Time zone | Cambodia (UTC+7) |
Poipet (also Poiphet, properly Paoy Paet) is a Cambodian town on the Cambodia/Thailand border, in Ou Chrov district, Banteay Meanchey Province. It is a key crossing point between the two countries, and also extremely popular as a gambling destination as gambling is popular, but illegal in Thailand. There is a strip of casinos and hotels between the Cambodian and Thai passport control counters, enabling Thais to gamble in Cambodia without needing to go through Cambodian immigration. This casino strip area is a 'special zone' that prevents Cambodians from gambling. There is another border on the Cambodian side of this strip area that one needs to pass before being free to travel within the rest of the country.
Poipet is adjacent to the town of Aranya Pratet on the Thai side of the border. Its population has increased from 43,366 in 1998 census to 89,549 in 2008 census, making it the 4th most populous settlement in Cambodia just ahead of Sihanoukville and bigger than its provincial capital Sisophon.[1]
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The Poipet border is a terminus of the Cambodia railway system, though in 2006 restoring of a link from Poipet to the present Cambodian Railways railhead at Sisophon was proposed. In the fall of 2008, an agreement was prepared to have an Australian company carry out this work.[2]. Thailand recently (2009) passed legislation to build a light rail from Bangkok to Poipet.
Poipet at wikitravel.
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