Driving across the Friendship Bridge

[mackayae]

Anyone driven across the Friendship Bridge lately. I plan on a border bounce next month. What are the procedures?

[DrJack54]

Here is link outing procedures.

http://www.laos-guide-999.com/border-crossing.html#ThaiDepartureCar

 

IMO crazy. Leave car Thai side and bounce.

Note: seems that crossing now requires overnight stay.

Perhaps avoided with a donation 

[Briggsy]

I have done this.

 

A lot of document preparation required. It would be totally unnecessary for a border bounce. Sometimes if you have all the documents right and both customs and immigration on both sides helpfully guide you, it can be quite smooth. But sometimes it isn't. I have crossed into Laos 4 times using various crossings. Nong Khai going out was the biggest headache. The form you fill in to take your vehicle was initially designed for boats leaving port (I am not kidding) and the IO wanted it filled in in a very specific manner. He sent me away 3 times to do it again.

 

Other places like Chong Mek were very straightforward provided you bring all the documents correctly completed.

[Tomtomtom69]

44 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

I have done this.

 

A lot of document preparation required. It would be totally unnecessary for a border bounce. Sometimes if you have all the documents right and both customs and immigration on both sides helpfully guide you, it can be quite smooth. But sometimes it isn't. I have crossed into Laos 4 times using various crossings. Nong Khai going out was the biggest headache. The form you fill in to take your vehicle was initially designed for boats leaving port (I am not kidding) and the IO wanted it filled in in a very specific manner. He sent me away 3 times to do it again.

 

Other places like Chong Mek were very straightforward provided you bring all the documents correctly completed.

 

The procedure is the same at every land border.

 

Print out the forms (TM2, 3 and 4), fill them out at home (always in duplicate, one for exit and the other for entry) hand them in and get your customs form, then leave. For Laos, you also need to use your purple international transport permit, which will be stamped once by Thai customs and twice in Laos (immigration stamps it and customs as well).

 

It's a good idea to tell Thai customs whether you'll be coming back through a different border but so far only one border has ever given me grief for handing back a form where I didn't specify another border as the reentry point. After roughly 20 to 25 minutes of waiting the officer finally resolved the issue and I was through. 

 

Most Thai customs officers are lazy and don't enquire about your travels, so you need to tell them, since 95% of the few Thais who drive their cars across the border don't travel more than a few Km and almost always return the same way.

[Tomtomtom69]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Here is link outing procedures.

http://www.laos-guide-999.com/border-crossing.html#ThaiDepartureCar

 

IMO crazy. Leave car Thai side and bounce.

Note: seems that crossing now requires overnight stay.

Perhaps avoided with a donation 

 

A very simple process. If you can't manage to fill out a form and bring your vehicle registration along, best not to cross a land border and just fly or catch a bus or train. For Vientiane, you can catch a train from Bangkok and there's even an overnight cross-border bus service from Bangkok as well as from every major Isarn city starting from Khon Kaen and north of there.

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, Tomtomtom69 said:

 

A very simple process. If you can't manage to fill out a form and bring your vehicle registration along, best not to cross a land border and just fly or catch a bus or train

The OP is asking about a border bounce. 

He wants to exit Thailand obtain entry stamp to Laos turn around and reenter Thailand.

Taking car with him crazy. 

[Briggsy]

I tend to agree with @DrJack54. Taking your vehicle to Laos gets easier each time you do it as you become more and more familiar with the process. However initially it is rather stressful as you are dealing with a minimum of 4 sets of officials, I could say 5 as you will need a Laos VOA too. Each official requires certain forms and you will need to find that official and provide the correct forms and that is not always obvious.

 

So, to summarise, unless you like a good challenge for no apparent purpose, taking your vehicle to Laos and then immediately turning round and bringing it back is ridiculously hard to justify.