Alex14

I'd obviously also recommend Vientiane to get your tourist visa, as long as you don't have any specific reason to go to Penang instead. Why take a chance?

And those who are really missing Penang can get a double entry tourist visa from Vientiane and go to Penang when the time comes to activate the second entry.

After lurking on this great forum for a long time and after benefiting a lot from all the useful information provided here, it's about time that I contribute in some way. Last Saturday, I went to Vientiane in order to obtain a new tourist visa. I'm an EU passport holder and before applying for the new visa I already had three pretty recent Thai tourist visa in my passport (one from Vientiane and two from Malaysia) and a long track record (almost two years) of being stamped in and out of Thailand. My goal was to receive a double entry visa, as that seems to be the best you can get in the region nowadays.

As I wasn't in a hurry and as I wanted to take a break in Vientiane, I didn't go to the embassy on Monday. Instead I went there yesterday, i.e. on Tuesday. That might also have been a good decision with respect to the observation made by others that the embassy seems to be most busy on Mondays.

I arrived at the Consular Section of the Royal Thai Embassy Vientiane at 8am in the morning, i.e. half an hour before they open their gate. When I arrived, about 25 people were already waiting, and about 30 more people showed up within the next half an hour. So I was right in the middle of the queue when they opened. By the way, I didn't experience any queue jumping. Luckily, it was pretty cloudy, so standing outside in the street waiting wasn't a big deal, as it wasn't very hot.

After the gate opened at 8:30am, the people in the queue moved forward to the counter in the courtyard to lodge their applications. As some people didn't have or didn't fill in their application forms beforehand (or didn't have all the needed documents/copies), there was some chaos, but it wasn't too bad after all. The officer accepting the applications was very efficient, and also friendly. When it was my turn, I asked the officer if I can get a double entry tourist visa. He had a quick glimpse at my passport and said yes, no further questions asked or proof of funds needed. I had also written "x2" on my visa application form twice, both on the top of the form where you have to indicate what type of visa you're applying for and down in the section where they ask about the intended length of stay ("60 days x2"). Just to make sure that they understand that I want a double entry visa.

Once my application was lodged, I was told to go inside the office building to wait, in order to pay for the visa and to get the receipt that would allow me to pick up my passport with the visa on the following day. Once you wait inside the building it's pretty comfortable, as they have the aircon running and seats available. After about 20 minutes, a lady called my name, I paid 2,000 Baht for the double entry visa and I was given the receipt, which correctly stated "Tourist Visa x2" and the amount I paid.

I left the embassy at 9:15am, so it was a pretty smooth and efficient process. When leaving, I saw that the queue was somewhat longer, but I'd guess that arriving late didn't mean having to wait much longer. As others had pointed out, this could be much different on days when the embassy really gets busy, though. Yesterday didn't seem to be one of their busy days.

Today I revisited the embassy at about 1pm to collect my visa. There was already quite a long queue of people waiting, but as all they had to do is showing their receipt and getting their passport, I could leave with my passport after about 10 minutes - with a new double entry tourist visa!

My overall experience in Vientiane was great once again. I enjoyed the hospitality of the friendly Lao people for a couple of days, I was happy with the service provided by the Thai Embassy and everything was just smooth sailing.

It seems pretty clear that having some Thai visa in your passport doesn't prevent you from receiving another one from Vientiane. Also, concerning reports that they might ask questions or that you might need to show proof of funds, I neither experienced that myself nor did I see anybody who was questioned or turned down. So I'd guess when it happens it's an exception rather than the norm. Nevertheless, I was prepared and took my passbook along, just in case.

In my opinion, reports calling Vientiane a "shithole" and such are quite far away from the truth. Of course Laos isn't as developed as Thailand yet, but Vientiane is a nice, very laid back town to relax for a couple of days. There are great people, there's great food and there's plenty of Beer Lao, for those who like it. And while the tuk-tuk drivers try to rip you off just as virtually everywhere else, at least they do so with a smile. When I asked them about the price, initially all of them asked for 30,000 Kip. I told them in a friendly yet determined way that I think it's too much and that I just paid 10,000 Kip yesterday, and usually that helped to get the price down to 15,000 Kip or 10,000 Kip. Otherwise I just walked away and asked the next driver, but that only happened once. Besides the tuk-tuk drivers, all Lao people I dealt with were more than friendly and very helpful. They seem to be less shy to speak English than most Thai people, and their English is pretty good in general.

Check with udonmap.com.

Many apartments available in NK. Sorry I don't have any contact details.

Probably the best thing is to drive around and ask people. Many of the farang restaurants have notice boards.

Thanks a lot for your reply. I'll stay at a hotel or guesthouse for a couple of days first and drive around, as you suggested. It's a great idea to check the farang restaurants!

Hello, I have been reading this great forum for quite a while already, but this is my first post.

I will stay in Nong Khai for three months starting from early August and I was wondering about the best option concerning accomodation. As staying at a hotel or a guest house for such a long time isnt what I have in mind, I was wondering if there are apartments or houses available for rent for just a few months. Concerning the space, some furnished studio apartment would be all I need, but in case it is hard to find an apartment, I would also go for a house. Does anyone happen to know about any offers? I am most grateful for each and every pointer I can get!

As an additional question, is it likely to get some sort of broadband internet connection (e.g. ADSL) when renting an apartment or house? What provider(s) offer(s) this service in Nong Khai?