Another thankfully boring Savannakhet report (Non-O Multiple Entry)

[araiwaja]

I went on a Wednesday to make the experience as quiet and fast as possible.

• Parked my car at the friendship bridge covered car park at 7:45 (฿250 per night, meh)
• Stamped out of Thailand, waited a few minutes and got on the bus to cross the bridge (free, as no one was selling/checking tickets)
• Filled out Laos VOA forms, got the visa sticker, received a note with a QR code to facilitate payment
• Paid US$40 with the QR code at the LDBank counter next to the exit gate (pristine USD notes required) and received an exit QR code for the gate
• Aggressive tuktuk driver offered to take me to the consulate for ฿300, ฿200, and then ฿150, I declined and got on the bus (still free!)
• Waited in the bus a few minutes before taking the short ride to the Savannakhet bus station
• Got a tuktuk ride to the consulate for ฿50 after some haggling and discussion of current fuel prices (started at ฿100)
• Arrived at consulate at 8:57, 5 other people in line, gate opened 3 minutes later
• Waited in line less than 5 minutes, submitted only the documents listed on the Savannakhet consulate website, paid 5K, got a next-day pickup ticket and left
• Tuktuk to hotel ฿50, no haggling required since the driver saw me pay ฿50 to the tuktuk that brought me in 555
• Aura Residence ฿400/night, let me check-in super early, building's getting a bit old, but clean, big rooms, comfy beds, fast wifi
• Next day tuktuk to consulate ฿50
• Picked up my passport with a shiny new visa, quite a few people (20 maybe?) but literally no wait time, passports were flying out the window
• Tuktuk to bridge ฿50
• Bus over the bridge ฿50 (had to pay this time 555)

 

Total: ฿250 parking + ฿250 transportation costs + ฿400 accommodation = ฿900 + misc
Visa fees: $40 (฿1450) + ฿5000 = ฿6450

 

PS:
Turns out Laos immigration was charging people a "Development and stability of Laos" fee (including receipts and all). It was ฿100 on arrival and another ฿100 on departure for farangs. Some thais paid ฿100, some paid ฿40, some paid different prices on arrival and departure. I somehow managed to avoid this fee completely, as on arrival the VOA officer decided to stamp me in himself, so I didn't go through the normal arrival windows, and on departure, once I found out that the window I was in line for was charging a mystery fee, I immediately switched to the Laos citizens window. They were a bit grumpy about it but stamped me out anyway and no fee.
 

Edited September 22, 2022 by araiwaja

[BritTim]

A model report from, obviously, an intelligent and experienced traveller. Well done in dodging the tuktuk driver scams, and I am impressed that you could avoid the "Development and Stability of Laos" fee, which I might have felt willing to pay as long as I was convinced it was legit.

[Wongkitlo]

Thanks. Not boring at all.

[DrJack54]

OP,....only 4 posts and you come up with this pearler.

Excellent work. 

[problemfarang]

many trips to savanakhet and never heard tuk tuk go down to 100... seriously. 50.. how did you manage that? and for all trips! 

 

200 300 probably because of covid and so on. 

[recom273]

They tried that tourist tax at Chong Mek, on arrival, a few years back, then the following year they removed it. 

[sjbrownderby]

Why didn't you get off the bus at the Thai Consulate, instead of travelling past it to the bus station?  You could have saved yourself 50 Baht there.........not to mention the haggling process. Saving small amounts of money is obviously very important to you. 

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, sjbrownderby said:

Why didn't you get off the bus at the Thai Consulate, instead of travelling past it to the bus station?  You could have saved yourself 50 Baht there.........not to mention the haggling process. Saving small amounts of money is obviously very important to you. 

Or walk, it's only 1Km from the bus station to the Consulate.

[ultramarine]

Good to hear the play by play. I stayed at the Aura once before covid. Great hotel. Loved the restaurant with its big covered patio. A great place to watch the world go by. 

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, sjbrownderby said:

Why didn't you get off the bus at the Thai Consulate, instead of travelling past it to the bus station?

Sadly, that is not possible. The international bus will not stop anywhere on the route to let you off. I have wondered whether offering the driver 20 baht to briefly stop opposite the consulate might do the trick.

[MrJ2U]

19 hours ago, araiwaja said:

Aura Residence

That's nice little hotel.

 

I miss those trips.

 

Nice report.

 

I wonder if one could get an Evisa and bypass the paperwork on entry to Laos?

 

Nice report! 

[transam]

2 hours ago, sjbrownderby said:

Why didn't you get off the bus at the Thai Consulate, instead of travelling past it to the bus station?  You could have saved yourself 50 Baht there.........not to mention the haggling process. Saving small amounts of money is obviously very important to you. 

But you're a fat-cat, some of us aren't....????

[araiwaja]

12 hours ago, problemfarang said:

50.. how did you manage that?

Just spoke Thai (with a few Isaan words I could muster), smiled, and genuinely didn't care if we could reach an agreement or not. Plenty of other tuktuks out there. I think they make a decent profit on ฿50, it really is a short distance.

 

3 hours ago, sjbrownderby said:

Why didn't you get off the bus at the Thai Consulate

Not an option.

 

3 hours ago, sjbrownderby said:

Saving small amounts of money is obviously very important to you

If it was that important I'd simply walk, as I've seen a few people do. I haggle mostly to avoid that "I got screwed" feeling later, it stings. Also, I quite enjoy it at times.

 

1 hour ago, MrJ2U said:

I wonder if one could get an Evisa and bypass the paperwork on entry to Laos?

One could, but it's US$10 more. It does save you a passport page though.

Edited September 23, 2022 by araiwaja

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, MrJ2U said:

I wonder if one could get an Evisa and bypass the paperwork on entry to Laos?

Yes you can, See: https://laoevisa.gov.la/index

[kidneyw]

Any financial records requested.

Also did they say anything about wife should be with you?

[MrJ2U]

5 hours ago, kidneyw said:

Any financial records requested.

Also did they say anything about wife should be with you?

Yes be good to know.

Was it crowded.

 

It must have been very tough for both cities with the bridge closed for so long.

 

  Even when it was open the expected surge in tourism, industry, and what you'd expect at a border crossing never really materialized as envisioned.

 

They make crossing the border a bigger hassle than it has to be.  Thats military rulers for you. 

[Deerculler]

Great report. Thank you.

Did your wife need to be with you?

[araiwaja]

On 9/23/2022 at 2:52 PM, kidneyw said:

Any financial records requested.

Also did they say anything about wife should be with you?

 

On 9/23/2022 at 8:48 PM, Deerculler said:

Did your wife need to be with you?

No financial records required or requested. I went by myself and no one at the consulate said anything at all about my wife needing to be there. 

[problemfarang]

On 9/23/2022 at 2:26 PM, araiwaja said:

Just spoke Thai (with a few Isaan words I could muster), smiled, and genuinely didn't care if we could reach an agreement or not. Plenty of other tuktuks out there. I think they make a decent profit on ฿50, it really is a short distance

Well i still couldnt manage any discount even with my fluent thai and esan.. but i think you were lucky because they really really need customers after covid. Im pretty sure they will ask 200 instead of 100 in a months time when all really get back to normal. Then again there will be no place for a bargain.. 

 

Well done and congrats about making it 50. ????

[sanook 1]

What about vaccination proof to enter laos and re enter thailand again? 

[MaiDong]

When I done this trip a few months ago there was an 'overtime' charge, the officers said it was because I was crossing on a Sunday, but when I returned during the week the 'overtime' fee still had to be paid, tricky bleeders.

 

I had an evisa but still had to stop at the visa window for the officers to process the visa, so it's not really worth getting an evisa unless you're unable to find crisp US dollar notes.

[araiwaja]

5 hours ago, sanook 1 said:

What about vaccination proof to enter laos and re enter thailand again? 

None requested on entry to Laos, but on re-entry to Thailand they had desks set up outside the immigration building to check for vaccination papers. They stamp the TM6 form once they verify the papers, like they used to do at the airport (what do they do now that there's no TM6 at the airport, btw?).

 

4 hours ago, MaiDong said:

When I done this trip a few months ago there was an 'overtime' charge

Laos always had an overtime fee at their border checkpoints, it's legit, but they sometimes fiddle with the price. They usually post the hours somewhere visible so that you know it's not a made up fee. They charge it on holidays, weekends, and after 4:30pm on normal days.

[Stevey]

On 9/22/2022 at 7:39 PM, DrJack54 said:

OP,....only 4 posts and you come up with this pearler.

Excellent work. 

Sounds like a post from the ISG.