Buying a car, can I drive into Cambodia and Laos

[jimster]

On 4/23/2018 at 12:01 AM, HHTel said:

Is Wang Lalker talking of an 'alternate Laos'.  I was there last year with visiting family.  At the bridge, there was a queue for every 'station'.  I was even in a small queue getting Laos insurance.  Whilst there, in Vientiane and driving to Luang Prabang, I saw several Thai registered cars.  Coming back across the border, there were more Thai cars parked for the 'duty free' than Laos cars. Can't understand someone who claims to have crossed lots of times and spent months there not seeing Thai registrations.  Certainly not the view I had!

Either he's a disinformation agent (LOL), can't distinguish between Thai and Lao plates or can't remember what year it is and is referring to his experiences from back in 1998, when there were probably only a handful of cars that crossed the bridge each day. In recent years however, there has been an explosion in the number of border crossings by private car and even by buses that travel from numerous Thai cities into Laos.

[Wang Lalker]

On 5/4/2018 at 1:24 PM, jimster said:

Are you some kind of disinformation agent?

 

There are literally hundreds of Lao cars in Nong Khai/Udon Thani at any one time (during the day) and dozens which stay the night on the Thai side. Ditto for Thai cars crossing into Laos, however, there tends to be more Lao plates crossing into Thailand than vice versa, at least at the 1st Friendship bridge (Nong Khai-Vientiane). I suspect the main reasons for this are that Lao come for shopping, medical reasons and trade, Thais more for business and tourism. Secondly, many Thai cars are financed and during the finance period permission is rarely granted for the car to leave Thailand, whereas on the Lao side they aren't as strict.

 

If you are being genuine then you simply don't know how to distinguish between Thai and Lao plates. This is nothing to be embarrassed about, few farang can read Thai or Lao.

i can read thai and get by in reading lao. have been able to read thai for a decade and a half so can certain distinguish the script differences. oh yeah and i walk so am closely associated with the traffic and the license plates at each outing. i stand by what i have said previously

[Wang Lalker]

On 5/4/2018 at 1:28 PM, jimster said:

Either he's a disinformation agent (LOL), can't distinguish between Thai and Lao plates or can't remember what year it is and is referring to his experiences from back in 1998, when there were probably only a handful of cars that crossed the bridge each day. In recent years however, there has been an explosion in the number of border crossings by private car and even by buses that travel from numerous Thai cities into Laos.

was in vientiane at latest for three months near the end of last year. all i can say is you have a vivid imagination

[Wang Lalker]

duplicate removed

Edited May 11, 2018 by Wang Lalker

[jimster]

On 5/11/2018 at 2:16 PM, Wang Lalker said:

i can read thai and get by in reading lao. have been able to read thai for a decade and a half so can certain distinguish the script differences. oh yeah and i walk so am closely associated with the traffic and the license plates at each outing. i stand by what i have said previously

Well you're wrong and have a strange imagination. I stand by what I said and everyone else says - plenty of Thai cars in Laos (including Vientiane) and plenty of Lao cars driving in Thailand, particularly around Nong Khai and Udon Thani. If you can read Thai and Lao (or at least recognize the differences between them) you'd have to be blind not to spot all the Thai plates in Lao and Lao plates in border areas of Thailand.

 

Perhaps you need take a walk to the Nong Khai border crossing and see just how many vehicles from both countries cross the border every day. Especially during a holiday or the weekend. You'll be blown away by the numbers.

[Wang Lalker]

just notice on my recent crossing with determined intention to look that i am short sighted and cant make out the cars number plates at a distance
however i still stand by the dearth i have describe previous in the closer plates which i could see. once again no cars crossed while i was waiting the cross border bus. none on the bridge going either way, no laos plates in the few days in nong khai

[Wang Lalker]

of the hundreds of parked cars i checked today, two were thai parked separately in a hotel parking lot, these are the first thai cars i have ever seen in central vientiane. one from krung thep, one from nakhorn ratchasima.

 

none from china but perhaps 3 or 4 from somewhere else just had large numbers on the big plates perhaps vietnam, but cant recall seeing this type of plate when last in viet some time ago now also in the same hotel parking lot

Edited June 6, 2018 by Wang Lalker

[Wang Lalker]

Thailand, Laos, Australia mark Friendship Bridge anniversary

Breaking News June 06, 2018 12:48

By The Nation

Australia’s ambassadors to Thailand and Laos joined Nong Khai Governor Ronachai Jitwiset on Wednesday in unveiling a sign commemorating the 24th anniversary of the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.


Paul Robilliard, ambassador to Thailand, and Jean Bernard Carrasco, ambassador to Laos, presided at the 9am ceremony with Ronachai on the span linking Nong Khai to Laos.

The deputy chief of the Lao border checkpoint at the bridge also attended.

The ambassadors hailed the bridge as a symbol of the strong ties between the neighbouring nations.

His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Laos’ then-president Nouhak Phoumsavanh and Australia’s then-prime minister Paul Keating opened the Friendship Bridge on April 8, 1994.

Nong Khai Customs said 1.336 million vehicles crossed the span last year, carrying goods into Laos worth Bt63.164 million.

The year the bridge opened, just 19,053 vehicles made the crossing.

Last year 3.7 million people used the border checkpoint.


http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30347108

..............
"1.336 million vehicles crossed the span last year, " how many a minute?
"carrying goods into Laos worth Bt63.164 million.' and all those cross river ferrys from nong khai are just a figment of your imagination

[jimster]

On 6/7/2018 at 12:55 AM, Wang Lalker said:

Thailand, Laos, Australia mark Friendship Bridge anniversary

Breaking News June 06, 2018 12:48

By The Nation

Australia’s ambassadors to Thailand and Laos joined Nong Khai Governor Ronachai Jitwiset on Wednesday in unveiling a sign commemorating the 24th anniversary of the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.


Paul Robilliard, ambassador to Thailand, and Jean Bernard Carrasco, ambassador to Laos, presided at the 9am ceremony with Ronachai on the span linking Nong Khai to Laos.

The deputy chief of the Lao border checkpoint at the bridge also attended.

The ambassadors hailed the bridge as a symbol of the strong ties between the neighbouring nations.

His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Laos’ then-president Nouhak Phoumsavanh and Australia’s then-prime minister Paul Keating opened the Friendship Bridge on April 8, 1994.

Nong Khai Customs said 1.336 million vehicles crossed the span last year, carrying goods into Laos worth Bt63.164 million.

The year the bridge opened, just 19,053 vehicles made the crossing.

Last year 3.7 million people used the border checkpoint.


http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30347108

..............
"1.336 million vehicles crossed the span last year, " how many a minute?
"carrying goods into Laos worth Bt63.164 million.' and all those cross river ferrys from nong khai are just a figment of your imagination
 

Well there you go. From the horses mouth. 19053 vehicles crossed the bridge in 1994, exactly as I predicted. This works out to be around 52 a day. Probably mostly trucks.

 

1.336 million last year. OK many of those were repeat visitors not unique vehicles, but this equates to 3660 on average per day.

[jimster]

On 6/6/2018 at 3:13 PM, Wang Lalker said:

of the hundreds of parked cars i checked today, two were thai parked separately in a hotel parking lot, these are the first thai cars i have ever seen in central vientiane. one from krung thep, one from nakhorn ratchasima.

 

none from china but perhaps 3 or 4 from somewhere else just had large numbers on the big plates perhaps vietnam, but cant recall seeing this type of plate when last in viet some time ago now also in the same hotel parking lot

Your shortsightedness is the problem here. Maybe invest in some glasses.

 

In any case, I see Thai cars on every single visit to Vientiane, even if it's just for one day. Usually I can count 10-20 Thai cars just driving from the bridge to the city. This is in addition to Thai buses traveling between the bridge and the morning market and Thai trucks on the outskirts of the city and near the bridge.

 

I often see the occasional Chinese vehicle in Vientiane too, usually if you drive around town you can probably count 4-5 of them and they are easy to identify with their blue license plates and one Chinese character followed by a Roman letter and numbers. Lots of them in Udomxai and other places near the Chinese border.

 

Viet plates are white with numbers and letters only. Usually something like 51N - 15.444. 51 indicates the geographical city or region of registration and is known by the Vietnamese authorities but is meaningless to foreigners. It's usage is apparently based on French car license plates. Viet plates are also occasionally seen in Vientiane, but are much less common than either Thai or Chinese plates.