I want to travel to Vientiane on 30 januari from Thailand but my Thai wife's passport expires on 19 july 2020. Will she be refused entry because passport valid less than 6 months? Can she get a 5 day border pass if refused entry with passport. No time to apply for new passport in Pattaya I suppose.

Thank you.

Yes, she will be refused entry.  The Laotian authorities require a minimum of 6 months validity remaining on a Thai passport.  If she were attempting to fly in the airline would not let her board.

 

The Thai passport process at least in Bangkok is said to be very efficient.  Next day at the latest.  Don't know about Pattaya and don't know about border pass.

Thai passports only take a couple of days to issue. She might still have time to apply and pick up her new passport before your trip. Check with the passport office. 

Here is the options to get it quickly.

Google translate of this page in Thai. http://www.consular.go.th/main/th/services/111271-ค่าธรรมเนียมระยะเวลาการผลิตและจัดส่ง.html

Your Thai wife can travel to Laos using her ID card. My wife does it quite often.

17 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Your Thai wife can travel to Laos using her ID card. My wife does it quite often.

She also gets a border pass unless she is crossing at one of the informal crossings.

A border pass is only for a entry of about 72 hours.

Just now, ubonjoe said:

She also gets a border pass unless she is crossing at one of the informal crossings.

A border pass is only for a entry of about 72 hours.

If she stays longer than 72 hours, will she be fined then? I made a reservation with Thai embassy on Friday 31 Jan. If I cancel I get suspended for 10 days. I have to leave Thailand on 30 Jan.

Thanks.

7 minutes ago, rutteketuut said:

If she stays longer than 72 hours, will she be fined then?

Yes she will be fined for overstaying. I don't recall how much it is but it is not a lot.

Just pay express passport service fees or pay overstay fee at the border or live extra baggage in Pattaya. Up to You

19 hours ago, rutteketuut said:

If she stays longer than 72 hours, will she be fined then? I made a reservation with Thai embassy on Friday 31 Jan. If I cancel I get suspended for 10 days. I have to leave Thailand on 30 Jan.

Thanks.

she could go out and back in, i fact she could leave after 72 hours and wait for you on the other side for a few hours

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes she will be fined for overstaying. I don't recall how much it is but it is not a lot.

3 days, not 72 hours Entry day is day 1. My gf was fined for exiting on day 4 although still within 72 hours of entering Laos. I recall it was three or four hundred baht 

 

Edited January 24, 20206 yr by TrevorC

It is worth trying to enter with a passport with a little less than six months validity. While, technically, this is not allowed, Lao immigration is not always strict about this at land crossings. You can fall back on the three-day border pass if necessary (recognizing that this only allows travel in the vicinity of the crossing used). 

30 minutes ago, TrevorC said:

3 days, not 72 hours Entry day is day 1.

As far as I know it is officially 72 hours but it can depend upon the officer when departing Laos.

In Feb 2017 I went with an Aussie friend and 2 Thai ladies to Nong Khai. While there we thought about going to Laos for a day trip. We asked at the immigration office adjacent to the Friendship Bridge if we could all go. No problem for us Farangs as we had our passports, but the Thai ladies could not as they only had their ID cards, no passport.

Now, have the requirements changed? or were we given the wrong information by the immigration officer?

 

11 minutes ago, Lloydyboy said:

Now, have the requirements changed? or were we given the wrong information by the immigration officer?

No change. A border pass has been available for Thai's for a very long time. The ID card alone is not enough for a Thai to leave the country.

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

No change. A border pass has been available for Thai's for a very long time. The ID card alone is not enough for a Thai to leave the country.

Just to clarify what @ubonjoe is saying: you can get a border pass with the Thai id card, but (until you have the border pass) you cannot simply leave Thailand with just the id card.

So where do you get the Border Pass? and if you say at the border, why were we not given that option?

16 minutes ago, Lloydyboy said:

So where do you get the Border Pass? and if you say at the border, why were we not given that option?

I assume they just said no when they tried using only their ID cards.

There is a office near the entrance to the bridge in Nong Khai to get the border pass.

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

It is worth trying to enter with a passport with a little less than six months validity. While, technically, this is not allowed, Lao immigration is not always strict about this at land crossings. You can fall back on the three-day border pass if necessary (recognizing that this only allows travel in the vicinity of the crossing used). 

my wife's passport was less than 6 months, Thai wouldn't let her stamp out, had to get a border pass so missed the first bus across