Direct bus Udon Thani - Vang Vieng with Visa exemption?

[BadCash]

There is apparently a direct bus from Udonthani to Vang Vieng, Laos, by The Transport Company. Everywhere I look it says it requires non ASEAN citizens to already have a Laos Visa. Since January 2018 citizens of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland have a Visa exemption when entering Laos. 

 

Can someone confirm if this bus is indeed possible to take for above citizens? Or will the Visa exemption border process take too long for the bus? (or will the bus company simply not understand or care about the Visa exemption rules?)

 

Appreciate quick answers, as I'm in Udonthani already and planning to make the journey tomorrow if possible.

 

Yes, of course I'll ask at the bus station in the morning, but since this is Thailand, IMHO I'm likely to get incorrect/correct information depending on who happens to be behind the counter.

[trigpoint]

I  would guess you just stop at Lao immigration same as everyone else, you get a free visa exempt stamp, others pay and get a visa sticker, and on your way.

[BadCash]

On 3/20/2018 at 11:44 AM, trigpoint said:

I  would guess you just stop at Lao immigration same as everyone else, you get a free visa exempt stamp, others pay and get a visa sticker, and on your way.

Yeah in a perfect world that would have been the case. However, the bus company refused me to go with them because I didn't have a Visa, even though I showed them a news article in Thai about the new Scandinavian Visa exemption.

 

We ended up taking a minivan from Central plaza to the border, a public green bus to the central bus station in Vientiane and then bus #8 to the north bus station, and finally a minivan to Vang vieng. Very fiddly and tiring with all the Tuk Tuk/taxi/minivan touts at each stop, so for me personally I ended up in a bad mood which spoiled our entire stay in Vang vieng. I don't get why people would endure the hassle of getting there, the substandard roads, the Chinese tour groups and white trash tourists, for something that can be found easier and with much nicer ambience in Thailand. But that's just my opinion.

 

By the way, my border processing was exactly as fast as the rest of the Asians in the line, so there's absolutely no reason why the bus company wouldn't let me use their direct bus.