wornoutcowboy

Thanks for the help. Looks like it will mean an over night stay in Ubon for me. I am on the Air Asia flight. But that is okay. Thanks again.

Thanks for the information. The wrong way appears to be the right way.

Does any one know what the bus schedule is from Ubon to Pakse? Also, must you have a Lao visa in your passport in order to board it? USA passport holder here.

I will be bouncing back and forth between Ubon and Pakse over the next few months. I read like a crazy man. Anyone know of a used book shop in Ubon or Pakse or better still a cafe, bar, club...which offers up an one for one book trade shelf. Thanks.

It is all easy as pie. When you get to Udorn go into the arrival hall and buy a shuttle ticket to the friendship bridge for 150 Baht. It will take you about an hour to get to the bridge. From there exit Thailand and then take a 15 baht bus over the bridge. Next it is Lao immigration. The Lao vis costs different prices for different nationalities. USA passport holders pay 35 dollars. Add an extra dollar if you are coming on the weekend. You will need another 10 Baht to pay the Lao for reason unkonwn to me. From there turn around and do the process all over again. the bridge is open until 10PM I believe. Don't quote me on that one but I believe it is. i do know for sure it is open until 8PM.

Hope this helps.

Before they always went through my passport page by page. This time Thai immigration didn't seem to be interested in anything but giving me a 30 day stamp.

I just crossed over today from VTE into Nong Khai at the Friendship bridge. An event I do monthly to keep the Lao visa current.

Very odd being this time the Thai immigration didn't pore over each and every entry in my passport to Thailand but instead looked for the page with the Lao exit stamp and stamped me in for another 30 days.

In the past they counted the days but today it apeared no one cared how long I have been in Thailand.

Well, even if you are in the country for an hour you still get to pay the visa fee at the bridge. Depending on where you are from this will be about 30 US$.

Maybe cheaper to backtrack to BKK and do the Air Asia flight.

Lao Air isn't really cheap and also famous for canceling the Cambodian flights.

Sorry to sound negative.

I too did my fourth entry into thailand a few days back and it was a bit of madness at the Thai side of the border. I had 3 days of being in Thailand but with three entry stamps. The immigration man did tear apart my passport and counted every single entry. Being my passport is one major mess with all the now pages added this wasn't easy. The immigration man clearly couldn't do math bveing he came up with a totalof 80 days. I had to give him a math lesson. Another immigration officer is on hand to help with the counting. I ended up holding up the line for a long, long time.

The Thai immigration is clearly being overwhelmed with all of this counting business but so it goes.

Oh, and in regards to all o fthe Arficans and Sri Lankans in VTE Idon't think the new rules in place have anything to do with their presence here. The Thais have been refusing visas to all of the Africans for years now. They have not had the VOA option fora long time. Most I meet are actually doing border runs from China where they are doing the rag trade. The Sri Lankans all appear to be Tamils and are here waiting out the war. Laos is one of the few countries that will admit them. Thailand turned their back on them years ago.

Well, in the summing up I too believe Iwould have been refused entry into thailand if Ihad been there for 90 days. If you are at that point I would hit the embassy in VTE andtry to get a visa before trying the return trip.

The 90 day mark has come and gone since the new rules were implemented on October 1. Yet here on ThaiVisa, we are yet to hear a single report from a visa runner. We haven't even heard a story or rumor of a visa runner. What's going on?

Has everyone already gotten legitimate visas? Have the border runners all gone home? Or do border runners just not use thaivisa.com?

So my question... Has anyone done a border run since January 1? Has anyone heard of another visa runner being given only a 7 day stamp? Has anything changed at all?

The fact that we haven't heard any stories of rejection from the border, I think, may be a good sign. If the rules had actually been implemented, wouldn't thaivisa be flooded with tales of rejection? On the other hand, if it was business as usual, there wouldn't really be much to report.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? As a long time visa runner, the wait is killing me...

One litttle tip that may save you the cash in regards to flying back to your home country. I live in laos and have met several Thai hands who come here and then Fed Ex there passports back to their home countries in order to get the new visa. One used Houston, Texas and the other Sydney. One of them had the consulate in Texas Fed Ex the passport back and the other used his sister's address in Sydney. That is he Fed Exed the passport to her and she sent it via mail in Sydney and they returned it to her. Then she Fed Exed it back. The turn around time is over a week doing it this way but may save you a trip home. This only works if you are outside of Thailand.

20,000 Baht for 10 days! Well, I can see you are not a serious cheapskate. I mean I don't go through that in a month here. Maybe even two months depending if I have given up food several days out of each week.

Anyway, Baht flies everywhere in this country as well as the US dollar. Just remember when you pay in Baht you will be getting your change back in Kip for the most part. So, you have to keep up with the exchange rate.

A good plan would be to mostly bring baht and not the 1,000 note variety. That is sometimes hard to break in smaller places. This will save you tons of suitcase space being the biggest note you usually see here is a 20,000 Kip one with is equal to 2 bucks.

One last tip, unload the Kip before leaving Lao. No one wants it outside the country. Try not to collect too much of it either being at times it can be hard to exchange back to baht or dollars even at the bank.

Hmmmm? I am a little confused byall of the replies. I live in Vientiane and do the border hop over to Thailand every month.

Okay from one major cheapskate to another this is the cheapest way to do it. (Well, you could always walk to town for cheaper I guess).

First, of all this talk about getting a visa in advanced is beyond me. The reasons behind it that is. I have never waited over 15 minutes for my visa at the Lao immigration at the bridge. Anyway, they just started charging different prices for different nationalities so I don't know where you are from but for Westerners the price is anywhere from US$30 to US$42(for the poor Canadians) Bring US dollars for thecheapskate way. The Lao will nail you if you do it in Baht.

Next, in order to be a real cheapskate you must take the public bus. That is the little one on the Lao side of the border. Do this, walk through customs, keep walking, there is an official taxi booth but pass it. After that you will be approached by drivers wanting 200 baht usually. Tell them to piss off. To your left you will see a parking lot. Walk into the parking lot and head up to the main road. There are two small white buildings with a drive way in between. Wait there. The number 14 bus will come along shortly. It cost 4,000 Kip which is less than 20 baht and will take you to the morning market in VTE. Cheap enough?

Chances are also good that a tuk tuk or taxi will pull up there and offer you the cut rate price of 50 baht. A deal for two people really being he will take you straight to the hotel in VTE. Thebn again this doesn't always happen.

So, figure on spending this. 30 baht from the train station

to the bridge. Another 15 baht to do the bridge run. And less than 20 baht for the ride in.One last thing, you can only board the international buses to VTE in either Nong hai or Udon Than iif you already have a Lao visa in your passport. So, don't even bother with those. Hey, I love cheapskates.

Well, I am not so sure what the difference is between a "real" visa and an "unreal" visa but it appears the Lao have dropped the 15 day on arrival "unreal" visa and have replaced it with a 30 day on arrival "real" visa. Easy to understand? Hmm..I am not so sure but I do know for sure they are giving 30 days at both the bridge at the airport here in VTE. The immigration officer did show me a nice little sheet with all the different prices for various nationalities and each was different to a degree. the standard seems to be 30 bucks for most westerners and 35 for Americans and the poor Canadians get hit for 42 for some reason. This new little change has actually made life a little easier for me and others living here on tourists visa either "real" or "unreal".

Anyway, I know all about the extensions having done it here at the immigration office at the cost of 2 bucks a day. It is easy to get and also I know getting a business visa is pretty easy to get too but haven't bothered being I am in Laos as much as I am out of it so it doesn't seem worth messing with. The truth is most of us living here in VTE need to make a little trip to Thailand about once a month for banking, post office, dental work, size eleven shoes...the list goes on and on. Also it is rather easy to do. The visa trip that is.

So, to sum it up I rechecked my passport and it is 30 days in it and was last month as well. All new changes and ones I am hoping remains in place. Also checked with my Aussie neighbor and he got 30 days as well but for 30 US dollars. So, it seems to be the thing now.

I didn't sort through all of the replies on this topic so sorry if this is a repeat. Anyway, I live in VTE and do the reverse visa run to the Thai border at Nong Khai every month.

My last hop was last week and I was charged 35 dollars compared to the 30 I was charged the month before. It was explained to me that now the visa you buy on arrival isactually a "real" visa compared to the 15 day one they had before You now recieve 30 days on entry with it. They are charging different prices for different natinalities and the folks from Canada seem to be getting hit the hardest at US$42. Americans are paying $35 and some countries seem to get infor almost nothing. It all seemed a little odd to me but I did go to the Lao, PDR embassy website when I returned to VTE and sure enough the charges are listed by nationality. So I guess it isn't a scam but instead what one would be charged if you went to a Loa embassy. From the list it appears most western nationals are still paying 30 bucks with Canada and the USA being the exception.

For me still much of a better deal than before when I was paying 30 bucks for 15 days and then doing extensions here in VTE.

As far as transport into VTE there are lots of cheaper options. It all depends on how cheap you want to be but the cheapest and the one I have started using is just using the regular Lao public bus #14. It cost 4,000 Kip which is just under 20 baht. You can catch it from the bridge. Just walk out of Lao immigration, ignore all the taxi drivers and touts then go towards the left and walk past a little cafe. From there is a parking lot and just beyond is a main road into town. The local bus stops about ever 20 minutes and will take you into VTE to the Morning Market. I do this more than anything just because I got tired of the tuk tuk drivers. It may not be a great option for those arriving with lots of bags. The bus is small and usually pretty crowded. Anyway, just a tip. Also, remember the furthur you getfrom the immigration theprice of the taxis continue to drop. I have gotten cabs in for 50 baht before. Arriving later is better than arriving earlier.