Vientiane to Nong Khai border to Udon Thani Airport

[bbi1]

Does anyone know if there'a any car taxi services available from Nong Khai border? Is Bolt available? Roughly what price would a car taxi service be?

 

Alternatively, what would be the best way to get from Vientiane to Udon Thani Airport via the border crossing? Would you need to catch the bus from Vientiane to Udon Thani bus station near Central, then get a car taxi to Udon Thani airport?

[BritTim]

24 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

Does anyone know if there'a any car taxi services available from Nong Khai border? Is Bolt available? Roughly what price would a car taxi service be?

 

Alternatively, what would be the best way to get from Vientiane to Udon Thani Airport via the border crossing? Would you need to catch the bus from Vientiane to Udon Thani bus station near Central, then get a car taxi to Udon Thani airport?

Getting from Nong Khai to Udon Thani airport is easy. Unless you are in a tearing hurry, you can use a van. Allow about an hour. There are also lots of cars with drivers happy to take you. Walking 100 metres from the exit from Immigration will save you a lot of money on the quoted price from the bridge to Udon Thani airport.

 

The airport is between Nong Khai and Udon Thani, so you definitely do not want to go into Udon Thani itself before going to the airport, unless you have other reasons for visiting the town.

[lopburi3]

37 minutes ago, BritTim said:

The airport is between Nong Khai and Udon Thani, so you definitely do not want to go into Udon Thani itself before going to the airport, unless you have other reasons for visiting the town.

Not unless there has been an earth realignment that I missed - the airport was on the South side of the city when I was last there.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

Does anyone know if there'a any car taxi services available from Nong Khai border? Is Bolt available? Roughly what price would a car taxi service be?

 

Alternatively, what would be the best way to get from Vientiane to Udon Thani Airport via the border crossing? Would you need to catch the bus from Vientiane to Udon Thani bus station near Central, then get a car taxi to Udon Thani airport?

Think you have a few options.  They do have van service UT airport to border, so would think service is offer in the return direction.

 

There is also the bus from Morning Market, Vientiane (use to be) to bus station at UT, then get something to take you to the airport.

 

Or simply get to the border, and surely there's transport their that would take you to the airport.  More than a few touts, when I used use Laos for 90 day hops.

18 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Not unless there has been an earth realignment that I missed - the airport was on the South side of the city when I was last there.

Not sure what he's on about, but UT airport is within the ring rd, SW of downtown, stone's throw, 6.4 kms from Central, and not on the way to KK.

 

There's even a baht bus that cruises by the entrance of the airport, #15 if memory serves.

Edited August 17, 2023 by KhunLA

[drfu]

Related question: how long does it take to cross into Laos through the Nongkhai checkpoint?

Opening hours are stated as 6AM-10PM, so let say if I arrive 9:30PM at the checkpoint I should be able to get through, right?

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, drfu said:

Related question: how long does it take to cross into Laos through the Nongkhai checkpoint?

Opening hours are stated as 6AM-10PM, so let say if I arrive 9:30PM at the checkpoint I should be able to get through, right?

If you do not already have a Lao visa, and need to apply for a visa-on-arrival, starting the process at 9:30 pm would be cutting things too fine, I think. Get there by 9:00 pm at the latest, or sleep in Nong Khai and cross early in the morning.

[bbi1]

17 hours ago, BritTim said:

There are also lots of cars with drivers happy to take you. Walking 100 metres from the exit from Immigration will save you a lot of money on the quoted price from the bridge to Udon Thani airport.

Thanks. Any ideas on approximate prices?

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

Thanks. Any ideas on approximate prices?

I am not up to date on current prices. What I can tell you is that the price depends greatly on the condition of the car that takes you, your negotiating skills, and whether you can dodge the experienced operators who bombard you at the exit from Immigration and find a driver away from the main scrum who is happy to quote you a locals price. I would guess you might get a price of about 350 baht, but not sure.

[bbi1]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

I am not up to date on current prices. What I can tell you is that the price depends greatly on the condition of the car that takes you, your negotiating skills, and whether you can dodge the experienced operators who bombard you at the exit from Immigration and find a driver away from the main scrum who is happy to quote you a locals price. I would guess you might get a price of about 350 baht, but not sure.

Thanks. Would Udon Thani airport to the Nong Khai border by car to be roughly around the same rate, or would you expect something like around 800 baht?

[LaosLover]

Contact Miss Wong at Line anan5664. She's the only travel agent open at the moment. I'm sure she can get you a well-connected ride on the other side too.

Edited August 18, 2023 by LaosLover

[leeedwards]

You can get a bus directly from Vientiane all the way to Udon Thani, it waits for u at the border. When u get to the bus station just go to the mall, have some food and a massage then take a bike ir cab to the airport,  cheap as chips. Done it many times. Great cheap foot massage near bus station in Udon.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

Thanks. Would Udon Thani airport to the Nong Khai border by car to be roughly around the same rate, or would you expect something like around 800 baht?

Unless arranged in advance, you can (as is nearly always the case) expect outrageous prices for private taxis from the airport.

[Toby1947]

Take a Tuk Tuk to Homepro in Nong Khai. Small office in a row of shops almost next door, they run a minibus service to Udon airport 180 baht.

[sandyf]

17 hours ago, drfu said:

Related question: how long does it take to cross into Laos through the Nongkhai checkpoint?

Opening hours are stated as 6AM-10PM, so let say if I arrive 9:30PM at the checkpoint I should be able to get through, right?

I wouldn't bank on it. You have to get a bus across the bridge to the Lao checkpoint so it would depend on how sharp Lao immigration shut up shop.

I crossed the other way in Jan, middle of the afternoon and very few people crossing, had to wait over 15 minutes for enough people to get the bus going, plus side was no queue at immigration.

I would think the last bus is timed to get people through the other side by 10pm.

[Phil1964]

Good shared info here on this topic.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Cheers.

 

[The Old Bull]

23 hours ago, drfu said:

Related question: how long does it take to cross into Laos through the Nongkhai checkpoint?

Opening hours are stated as 6AM-10PM, so let say if I arrive 9:30PM at the checkpoint I should be able to get through, right?

It's a gamble ,if a train load of tourists arrive from Bangkok there will be lineups. No use checking train times as they are seldom on time. Worst case about an hour and a half wait.

[edwardandtubs]

On 8/18/2023 at 4:28 AM, BritTim said:

I am not up to date on current prices. What I can tell you is that the price depends greatly on the condition of the car that takes you, your negotiating skills, and whether you can dodge the experienced operators who bombard you at the exit from Immigration and find a driver away from the main scrum who is happy to quote you a locals price. I would guess you might get a price of about 350 baht, but not sure.

That sounds a bit far-fetched. The shared van costs 200 baht (there's a woman selling tickets at the place you mentioned a short walk from immigration and I saw her selling to locals for the same price) so I can't see why anyone would wait for that van if they could just pair up and do it cheaper in a private car.

[edwardandtubs]

On 8/18/2023 at 8:02 AM, Toby1947 said:

Take a Tuk Tuk to Homepro in Nong Khai. Small office in a row of shops almost next door, they run a minibus service to Udon airport 180 baht.

Why do it that way when you can walk 100 metres out of immigration and get a van direct to the airport for 200 baht?

[Mike Teavee]

On 8/18/2023 at 11:58 AM, bbi1 said:

Thanks. Would Udon Thani airport to the Nong Khai border by car to be roughly around the same rate, or would you expect something like around 800 baht?

I paid 900b in Feb, I did check on Bolt (or was it Grab) afterwards & think it can be done for 600b

 

Same 900b coming back NK-UT Airport but you have to walk past the initial touts who were asking up to 1,500b 
 

IIRC NK-Vientiane was 400b. 
 

 

[bbi1]

On 8/20/2023 at 6:25 AM, Mike Teavee said:

I paid 900b in Feb, I did check on Bolt (or was it Grab) afterwards & think it can be done for 600b

 

Same 900b coming back NK-UT Airport but you have to walk past the initial touts who were asking up to 1,500b 
 

IIRC NK-Vientiane was 400b. 
 

 

An update:

 

Udon Thani Airport - used the InDrive app as Bolt doesn't work in Udon Thani. With InDrive I paid 500 baht with multiple drivers showing up immediately wanting to take me to the border for 500 baht. Could've been done with InDrive's recommended price which showed up as 477 baht.

 

Nong Khai Border - InDrive - No drivers were found at all. I tried 500 baht, then 550 baht then 600 baht. Nothing. Grab had a price of 660 baht but the estimated journey time to Udon Thani Airport was nearly 2 hours! I'm guessing none of the Grab drivers were nearby as it should only take about an hour. Ended up taking the actual red and yellow taxi next to 7-Eleven which had a quoted price on their sign of 700 baht. Didn't ask the touts on the Laos side offering or the ones immediately after clearing Thai immigration. Not sure if they would've quoted cheaper or more expensive than 700 baht.

Edited August 22, 2023 by bbi1

[Mike Teavee]

Duplicate Post

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Mike Teavee

[Mike Teavee]

33 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

An update:

 

Udon Thani Airport - used the InDrive app as Bolt doesn't work in Udon Thani. With InDrive I paid 500 baht with multiple drivers showing up immediately wanting to take me to the border for 500 baht. Could've been done with InDrive's recommended price which showed up as 477 baht.

 

Nong Khai Border - InDrive - No drivers were found at all. I tried 500 baht, then 550 baht then 600 baht. Nothing. Grab had a price of 660 baht but the estimated journey time to Udon Thani Airport was nearly 2 hours! I'm guessing none of the Grab drivers were nearby as it should only take about an hour. Ended up taking the actual red and yellow taxi next to 7-Eleven which had a quoted price on their sign of 700 baht. Didn't ask the touts on the Laos side offering or the ones immediately after clearing Thai immigration. Not sure if they would've quoted cheaper or more expensive than 700 baht.

Thanks for the update, will save this for our next trip to UT/NK/Laos ????