HowFatIsUrDog

going back to thailand from vientien, i recommend using the cross border buses that start from the central bus station across from morning plaza. fairly certain you cant jump these buses anywhere along the way , can only get it from that terminus. separate buses go to nong khai, udon thani, and khon kaen.
for farang, last i asked you cant jump these buses in thailand to go to laos unless you have a pre issued laos visa
going back to thailand is no problem with or without a visa

jica green bus into vientien is now 8000 kip but the barstool also stung me 10000 kip to pull my large bag out of the side of the bus storage compartment. he was stinging other people along the way for this too not sure how much he charge them though. still considerably better than the tuktuk option

https://lao.busnavi.asia/?lang=en

this has realtime bus locations. there is also an android app, tracks all the jica buses in vientien
should be able to use it at the bridge on your thai AIS connected phone, once again it keeps you out of the clutches of the tuktuk rip off mafia. still have to walk to thai consulate which isnt too far from the central bus station 20 minutes walk should do it (turn left at the wat)
AIS also connects near the river in central vientiane

anything that reduces the need to deal with emmigration officers would be a positive step for the country

another option would be to send all the emmigration officers to the 7/11 school of public interaction classes

you go out at night! how cute

other than that perhaps you could enroll them in evening classes at chula?

termites have a queen too

i find attractants inside a PET bottles its favourite food, then put the lid back on.
grajiup for ants works best

fly into phnom penh and cross a land border to be sure
vientiane is probably easier to fly and enter from but flights are more expensive and limited

tor

only ants and bees have a queen as far as i am aware.
anyhow just call out its name "come over here slow crawling black thing, nice slow crawling black thing, pretty slow crawling black thing. etc"
then when it get within range hit it with a sledge hammer voila no more slow crawling black thing:)

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

Western food items (i.e. foods imported from the west)in my experience are less expensive than in Thailand. If comparing local foods, more expensive in Camb.

Meals at Western restaurants less expensive and much better quality/authenticity than in Thailand. But the Khmer equivalent of Thai street food is more expensive.
 

yes was buying dutch uht milk, italian tinned legumes, tinned danish ham while in PP. i dont need to buy these things in thailand where yes they are more expensive if available at all. i figure they are coming over on the chinese freight trains then into vietnam.

also considerable variation in supermarket prices thai hout on monivong near central market being the cheapest, then bayon, then various lucky/giant as the most expensive and worst staff interaction experience. but lucky drink shop near thai hout is non aircon and reasonable priced. from thai hout tinned made in china australian branded "wild pink atlantic salmon" is also a good buy. not available in thailand. cambo cashews too.

havent eaten in western style restaurants for years anywhere in SEA. long being not my tastes anymore. oh and much more than i want to pay for a meal. often eat plastic bagged foods off the street where ever or street barbecued chicken or pork

chicken is much more expensive in cambo, while pork is much less expensive in cambo than in thailand

street duck in cambo is also cheap, cheaper than chicken but tastes like cardboard and a once one experience

2 hours ago, phycokiller said:

I dont think so. PP is still about the same as Pattaya, quite a bit less then Bangkok. maybe a few things in 7/11 are cheaper

you want to stay on skumvit thats up to you

give us the name of budget hotels in hanoi/hcmc

last visit it was like a stuck record $12 for what would be a 300 baht or less fan room in thailand.  was a few years ago now.

had a standard phrase for all the annoyers

"am leaving as fast as i can, i am very sorry i came here, i won.t come here again at all ever" yeah and did actually leave the country much faster than i had planned before hand

never lasted out a full visa in vietnam sometimes left within days hcmc is worst hanoi was not too bad for harassment in the street

if you have grown accustom to consuming many thai convenience store packaged drinks etc then cambodia will be more expensive for those things because bringing things across any thai border costs more than it should talking like 50% more from a minimart in PP compared to 7-11 in thailand, same for many fruits all seem imported from thailand and cost more.
overall i would say recently PP is more expensive for me than bangkok for instance, wasnt always that way.

note too that recent press has thai border confiscating million from border crossers

https://laotiantimes.com/2017/12/14/11647/

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30333830

one more cant find it now

tell us how you managed to open an account in laos. all banks i ask say the same thing work permit work permit work permit.

we can advise you about 10's of thousands  worth of usd equivalent kip but if you are talking 100000's or million US dollars worth of kip then it out of our league.

money changers just to the north of morning plaza on the road that goes to the arch seemed to be cashed up and have seen then dealing with bently merc expensive car driving customers. rates are excellent no matter what you want to change into

so change into dollars at the said moneychangers and then take it back to the banks across the road then wire it from there? 20000usd at a time

else perhaps bitcoin?

change kip to another currency only in laos not elsewhere

On 6/19/2018 at 5:48 AM, moontang said:

Check out the freelancers near the 7-11 by bus station number 1.  They come in from KKN to "work," so their families don't lose face.

are they being run by that DrunKen Pommy Bar Stool?

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Anyone who hasn't got the message by now that overstaying your visa is a serious problem deserves what comes their way. There is clearly a nationwide crackdown and Big Joke is not someone who seems likely to stop anytime soon.

yes we get the message, sooner rather than later these clod hopper will be unannounced knocking at your door at anytime, trampling over your human rights, invading your privacy, treating you like a criminal for your heinous crime of daring to enter Thailand. yes got the visa but after reading this will extend my stay in neighboring country till the last days of the validity till i actually use it, well done big joke the thai hotel owners and restaurateurs  applaud you for minimizing their diminished revenue even further