rddryden

Well, I tried again today using the mobile app and seems to have worked okay.  It came back approved immediately. So I downloaded all the papers and the approval paper with the date for the next 90 day.  So I am assuming it is approved and all is okay.  This is the first time I have used this, so Ubon Joe, if you could confirm this for me, I would appreciate it. 
 

thanks. 

Well, I tried today and when I submitted the first page, it went bye bye!   Tried to call immigrations, one line is busy all the time and the other no one answers. 

Can we do a 90 day report on line in Khon Kaen?

Thanks for all the information!  My question has been answered. 

I read a few months ago after April first you could not transfer funds through the New York branch of Bangkok Bank.  I Need to transfer some money And wanted to know if it is still possible.

does anyone have any information on this?

I would be interested in this run to Da Nang, any info on the bus company and cost would be appreciated.

I did find on the internet that buses run every day from Sawanakhet to Danang. About a 7 hour trip. The price was 10 USD, but not sure how long ago that was.

I will let you know if we go.

Was planning that trip earlier this year, but stopped in Laos. Will go all the way this year or next!

The borders you would use - Mukdahan/Friendship Bridge/Savannakhet and Lao Bao/Dene Savanh both issue visas on arrival at $30-$42, depending on your nationality. Take dollars if you can get them for the visa fee (has been cheaper than Thai baht for some time) and take your passport with at least 6 months unexpired and 2 photos (for each entry).

Your visa on arrival is single entry - it lasts for 30 days but will be cancelled on leaving Laos. There is reportedly, on some travel web-sites, a multiple entry visa available only from Vientianne (they must have the sme logic patterns as Thais) - no idea on cost or whether it can be applied for by post (but would you trust that anyway?) The multiple entry visa is not mentioned on the Laos embassy (Bangkok) website. I have never heard of an in-transit visa, other than one available for arrivals at Vientianne airport, also mentioned on some travel web-sites. Maybe there is some one-off arrangement if there is any travel company that does a through journey without stopping - that'll take a bit of winkling out at a distance though. I'm pretty sure that the traffic is far too meagre for Laos to bother with this complication and suffer the revenue-loss.

If you still want to investigate multiple entry or transit visas and to verify any of my other assertions then call the Laos embassy in BKK (or consulate in Kon Kaen) - google for it - or call the Laos embassy in your country of domicile {If you are a Brit there isn't one and you are referred to Bangkok anyway!}. Even the official websites cannot be trusted to have the latest or most comprehensive information per Lonely Planet.

Let us know what your final confirmed experience was please!

Okay, thanks for the information. The transit visa was on the application I have from the consolute in Khon Kaen. We may have canceled our trip till next year now, but if we do go I will let you know what happens. I was thinking they may make me get 2 visas for Laos. I can't find anything on a mulitple entry either.

Okay thanks again!

Hello, everyone, I am planning to travel by bus from Mukdahan Thailand through Laos to Danang Vietnam for 6 days. I am wondering if anyone knows what kind of visa I will need to get for Laos. Do I need to get two visas, one for going and one for coming back? I also saw they have a transit visa, I was wondering if that would work and how much it cost. Any information would be appreciated.

Hello, everyone, I am planning to travel by bus from Mukdahan Thailand through Laos to Danang Vietnam for 6 days. I am wondering if anyone knows what kind of visa I will need to get for Laos. Do I need to get two visas, one for going and one for coming back? I also saw they have a transit visa, I was wondering if that would work and how much it cost. Any information would be appreciated.

I am talking about driving a personal vehicle. Actually there would be myself and about 17 other Thai's traveling in three personal vehicles, if we can do it.

Nothing to add on the vehicle/licence issue. However, I did travel from the Vietnam coast up the mountains to the border and through Laos to Mukdahan just over 2 yrs ago. The section from the coast to the border is quite scenic with some forest and good coastal views in parts> the road is windy but in good condition (unless recent torrential rains have washed sections away).

From the Viet border through Laos the road is generally ok but there are many potholes one has to keep an eye out for. In a few areas the road has eroded significantly due to poor construction and slow speeds are required. In general terms though the conditions are fine for most vehicles. Not a lot to see or visit on that section. Savan is a nice and relaxed Laos town.

Someone may have travelled the same route more recently than me to give you more recent info.

i don't really understand you last sentence;

And the biggest question is can a Fralong travel freely througn Laos and Vietnam?

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Thanks for all of the responses so far!

What I meant was a foreigner from the Western part of the world travel freely through Laos and Vietnam in a personal vehicle and is it safe? A few years ago, Vietnam had restrictions on where foreigners could travel. Or you had to get permission before going to certain areas.

Next year we were planning on taking a trip to Da Nang Vietnam. We want to drive a car from Thailand, through Laos at Sawanakaet to Da Nang Vietnam. Has anyone out there ever done this? Or does anyone know how the roads are? And the biggest question is can a Fralong travel freely througn Laos and Vietnam?

Thanks for any info

I didn't know how they would respond if we say we switched to her Thai passport. Is that a problem with them?

They'll probably say "about time you decided that paying 5700 baht per year, and doing 90-day reports, is nonsense."

At least that's what they inferred to my wife a few years back, before she had switched from US to Thai passport. (She had been afraid there was something illegal about the two passport routine. I couldn't convince her, but a friend finally did.)

Yes, that is the same as my wife. She is afraid that it is illegal and I wasn't sure my self. Thanks for replying here, makes me feel better to tell her not to worry as well.

You just do not renew the one year extension of stay. It is only required if you enter on a foreign passport and want to stay longer than the normal visa exempt time. People cease to continue extensions of stay all the time so nothing unusual about it. Expect you are talking about when you visit immigration for extensions of stay? Just say she is Thai (entered on Thai passport). Should not have to go beyond that.

Okay, that is what I thought, but we have went to the same immigrations office for several years now and they know she has a present visa in her American passport. I didn't know how they would respond if we say we switched to her Thai passport. Is that a problem with them?

Thanks, but one more question. All the officers at immigrations know us, so what do we tell them if they ask why she is not extending her visa?

Thanks again in advance.

What do we do about the existing visa in the American passport? When it is time to renew her's just don't renew it?

I have a question about my Thai wife using a Thai passport leaving and entering Thailand. We heard we could use her Thai passport instead of her American passport. Well, we have went to different countries in the last month or so using her Thai passport. We just came back into the country through immigraitons in Bangkok. The officer told my wife she had to decide which passport to use. He changed the information in the computer to my wife's Thai passport. He said she could not switch back and forth. She had to use one or the other. So, this is no problem, we understand we can use the Thai passport for entering and exiting Thailand.

My question is, what do I do about the American passport because we have a visa as a Thai national which has to be renewed year by year? Do I just stop renewing that visa? Also, they know us at the immigration office because the same officers have been there for several years and they know us well. If my wife does not get her visa renewed, they may ask, why?