Ban Hat Lek Border Market

Watch out: every Thailand-Cambodia land crossing, including Hat Lek, has been closed since the border conflict began in late May 2025. As of late July 2026 there is no confirmed reopening date, and the U.S. Embassy and other governments continue to advise against travel to the border area given the risk of unexploded ordnance and sudden restricted zones. The Cambodian traders this market depends on cannot cross while the checkpoint is shut, so what’s open today is a smaller, Thai-only market — verify current conditions locally before making a special trip from Trat town.

In ordinary times, Ban Hat Lek Border Market runs as an early-morning trading strip at the Khlong Yai checkpoint, where Thai and Cambodian vendors set up stalls selling produce, dried seafood, and Khmer textiles side by side. The market’s whole rhythm is built around the border crossing itself — vendors arrive with the first crossers around 07:00 and pack up again by 10:00, well before the midday heat.

With the crossing closed, the goods that made the market distinctive — Cambodian handicrafts, cross-border produce, vendors trading in both Thai baht and Cambodian riel — have largely disappeared along with the Cambodian side of the trade. What remains is a reduced Thai market selling standard produce and prepared food to locals and the occasional visitor passing through Khlong Yai. It’s not currently the cross-border experience the market is known for, and there’s no way to predict how long that will remain the case.

If you do visit, arrive before 09:00 — even the reduced market thins out by mid-morning. Bring small denominations of Thai baht; card payment isn’t an option at market stalls. The site is at the border checkpoint itself, about an hour south of Trat town by car or motorbike taxi, with no toll or entry fee to reach it.

Ban Hat Lek Border Market is within Trat province, roughly an hour from Trat town’s own sights like the Trat City Museum.