10 hours ago, rahil627 said:

these "international" buses... they only leave from Bangkok, yeah? they don't stop anywhere along the way, do they? just straight to Savannakhet, Pakse, etc.? Or could you actually get on one from Khon Kaen?

 

sounds like a sweet option to get straight into Laos, and avoid the 'bus station is located 20km away from everything but here's a taxi' problem.

The usual international buses you might use are

• Udon Thani to Vientiane. You need a Lao visa in advance as the bus does not wait for people getting a visa on arrival.
• Mukdahan to Savannakhet. This is convenient for those arriving by long distance bus at Mukdahan bus station. No Lao visa in advance is needed. Your bus ticket can be used for later buses, as necessary, if the application for a visa on arrival delays you passing through Lao immigration.

Through tickets from Bangkok to Vientiane are usually best avoided. These are not really "international" buses. expect waiting around for some kind of van to arrive on the Lao side of immigration to take you into town.

On 7/15/2022 at 8:58 PM, BritTim said:

That does not apply if you have a Laos e-visa.)

 

Save you time at both ends of the border. 

If you decide to stay, the hotel "De Lada" was nice with an infinity pool right on the river.

 

Probably better of just crossing and getting a cheap hotel in Laos.  Boring city but good beer and kinda fun change of scenery.

 

Enjoy your trip!  Be interesting to see what's new there.  

21 hours ago, rahil627 said:

these "international" buses... they only leave from Bangkok, yeah? they don't stop anywhere along the way, do they? just straight to Savannakhet, Pakse, etc.? Or could you actually get on one from Khon Kaen?

 

sounds like a sweet option to get straight into Laos, and avoid the 'bus station is located 20km away from everything but here's a taxi' problem.

The one I took doesn't go into Laos. It stops at the Mukdahan bus station and then you have to transfer to a different bus for the 15 minute ride to the bridge. It stops and you get out and exit through Thailand immi. Then back on the bus and across the bridge where you exit again with all your <deleted> and do your Visa/immigration stuff for entering Laos.. Then you have to get a taxi of some sort. I took a bus such as you speak of from Vientiane to Udon without having to change buses. I don't know if there is one like that going into Laos from anywhere, Bkk or KK included. But sure there are buses from KK to Mukdahan.

7 hours ago, bamboozled said:

I took a bus such as you speak of from Vientiane to Udon without having to change buses. I don't know if there is one like that going into Laos from anywhere,

The bus you took going from Vientiane to Udon also runs in the opposite direction. However, they will not allow you to take the bus going to Vientiane unless you already have a Lao visa.

 

7 hours ago, bamboozled said:

The one I took doesn't go into Laos. It stops at the Mukdahan bus station and then you have to transfer to a different bus for the 15 minute ride to the bridge. It stops and you get out and exit through Thailand immi. Then back on the bus and across the bridge where you exit again with all your <deleted> and do your Visa/immigration stuff for entering Laos.. Then you have to get a taxi of some sort.

If you are not in a hurry, the Mukdahan to Savannakhet bus ticket includes the leg from the border to Savannakhet bus station. However, you might have to wait anything up to 30 minutes for a bus to come to pick you up.

On 8/8/2022 at 11:22 PM, BritTim said:

The bus you took going from Vientiane to Udon also runs in the opposite direction. However, they will not allow you to take the bus going to Vientiane unless you already have a Lao visa.

 

If you are not in a hurry, the Mukdahan to Savannakhet bus ticket includes the leg from the border to Savannakhet bus station. However, you might have to wait anything up to 30 minutes for a bus to come to pick you up.

Oh.....you know....come to think of it, I might have taken it all the way to the Savannakhet bus station. I guess I had been thinking of a previous trip where I grabbed a taxi. I was the last person to get back on the bus as the immigration was still closed when I arrived so early and I had to wait while they called someone. The officer also asked me for 100 baht for some reason. I assume it was just because he could and grabbed some pocket money. I paid it since it was small money and I didn't want to make any problems....of course.

thanks so much for the clarifications!

 

and yeah, e-visa sounds like the way to go, no matter the path chosen. i don't have much US$ in cash anyway.

20 hours ago, rahil627 said:

thanks so much for the clarifications!

 

and yeah, e-visa sounds like the way to go, no matter the path chosen. i don't have much US$ in cash anyway.

E-visa is $10 more expensive and only allows entry at certain border points, not all. So if you change your mind about where you will enter you might be out of luck. I actually tried to get the E-visa but my credit card was rejected and payment methods are limited. Good luck.