BoganBob

The private border van companies all go to Chiang Khong. And there are two direct Green Buses daily plus a bunch of buses that go to Chiang Rai which you can then just hop on the Chiang Khong local bus that runs every hour. With Chiang Saen there is just one Green Bus daily that doesn't leave till after noon. Plus I think people are just more familiar with it generally because going there and then taking slow boat to Luang Prabang is popular thing among backpackers.

Got back from this border run today. I didn't use the private bus service and instead just took Green Bus. Information for anyone who is interested: They give you this little business card when handing back your passport after getting exit stamp at Thai immigration. Transfer bus across the bridge is 25 baht. After 4 PM there is a $1 overtime service fee to get stamped in at Laos immigration. Shared songthaew charges 80 baht to get to town. Stayed two nights in Huay Xai. At return to Thai immigration there was girl a few people ahead of me on her second land border run (I don't know how long total she'd been in country) who got sent to interrogation room. She wasn't dressed very well at all and was a black Westerner. Two Europeans who were dressed in typical backpacker attire breezed thru the other line so I switched lines. IO asked me where I was staying (I said Chiang Mai) and stamped me thru. I was dressed nicely, did have my TM.30, an "onwardticket" bought from one of those sites, 10k baht cash, and an itinerary, but wasn't asked to show anything. The Songthaew (60 baht) took 10 min to fill up and in that time the black Western girl was eventually let through though she was using van service and the guy from the company had gone in to assist with her. Apparently they had asked to see onward ticket and she didn't have one.

If the Thai-Lao crossings continue to allow 2 visa exempt land border crossings per year then that would be the one remaining advantage. Flight to Kuala Lumpur is probably cheaper and definitely faster but airport immigration is crap shoot whereas land crossing from Laos was viewed as "safe" thing to keep in back pocket if you needed it. I guess the thing to keep a close eye on is if that is changing with transition to 60 days visa exempt stamp. Will land crossings become more like airports in terms of scrutiny?