Mukdahan border crossing questions

[Soneva]

I plan to obtain my SETV in Savannakhet again, and this time I will enter Thailand via the Mukdahan land boarder. Previously, I have only used the Nong Khai land boarder, which was very friendly and stress free.

 

Can I expect the same at Mukdahan? I.e. as long as I have my SETV, ฿20,000 cash, and bank statements, etc... should the experience be similarly stress free?

 

What is the procedure to cross the boarder? Is a bus ticket involved?

 

My final destination is Bangkok. I will be flying back from either Ubon Ratchathani or Nakon Phanom airport.

 

My preference is to fly Thai Smile, because they offer a premium economy cabin and a higher level of service and convenience. However, I see that Nakhon Phanom is closer to Mukdahan, so the Air Asia fly ride service to DMK makes a lot of sense too.

 

Is the trip to Ubon Ratchathani substantially longer? Apart from travel time, is the journey to one airport nicer or on smoother/safer roads than the other?

 

Is the bus or van used by Air Asia from Mukdahan reasonably comfortable if one has a moderate amount of baggage?

 

I would appreciate any advice on the Mukdahan crossing and for the flight back to BKK/DMK.

 

 

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[sanemax]

The crossing is quite straight forward , I didnt get asked to show any money or statements .

  Buy a bus ticket from Savanh and it takes you all the way to Mukdahan , three different shuttle buses though .

  At Mukdahan, they fill the arrivals card out for you, so that takes a while if theres numerous people ahead of you , you could just go to the front of the queue and ask for an arrival card and fill it out yourself

[Soneva]

The crossing is quite straight forward , I didnt get asked to show any money or statements .
  Buy a bus ticket from Savanh and it takes you all the way to Mukdahan , three different shuttle buses though .
  At Mukdahan, they fill the arrivals card out for you, so that takes a while if theres numerous people ahead of you , you could just go to the front of the queue and ask for an arrival card and fill it out yourself

Thanks. Strange that they would fill out the arrival card. Is there typically any questioning involved?

I have been staying long term on SETVs. However, I’ll bet that very many people in a similar situation use this border crossing.


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[rasg]

Not quite the same but we crossed the friendship bridge into Laos back in 2016 for a day out and apart from the 1500 baht visa fee into Laos that was the only aspect that stressed me. You can’t walk across and we just got a cab and he drove us around for an hour after we had crossed.

 

When we came back around 8 pm the border officer winked at me and said I had another 30 days. I was flying back to the UK on my own a couple of days later so it didn't matter to me.  The only time I had a gippy tum in South East Asia was from eating a meal in Savannakhet that day.

[sabaijai]

Anyone know what time the Lao border crossing to Savannakhet closes?