Chiang Mai => Vientiane Via Udon Thani

[orang37]

Hi,

I've been reading posts from several months ago and older here on going from CM to UT and on to Vientiane.

Just curious if anyone has made the trip by bus in the last three months, and what your experience was like, if you have.

Seemed to be some question as to exactly what type of buses the VIP's to UT are : are they equivalent to the new 24 seat beauties on the Mae Sai route ? I doubt it, but it would be good to know more spefically, and if I don't hear from someone here, I'll go to the Arcade station and check myself.

If you have made the trip by bus, recently, how were the roads at night ?

thanks, ~o:37

[sceadugenga]

I made the return trip from Chiang Rai this week. I would assume it's practically an identical experience.

Check my topic in the Chiang Rai sub forum.

[Thighlander]

The VIP to UT is a 32 passenger 2x2x8; not the 1x2x8 vip to Chiang Rai. I'm faced with a similar nightmare in a few weeks. First class is 42 passengers. I'm confused about the two bus stations in UT, and how far from the bus station in Nong Khai to "Friendship Bridge"?

[abdulrahman]

how far from the bus station in Nong Khai to "Friendship Bridge"?

Too far to walk! A tuk-tuk ride!

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

The VIP to UT is a 32 passenger 2x2x8; not the 1x2x8 vip to Chiang Rai. I'm faced with a similar nightmare in a few weeks. First class is 42 passengers. I'm confused about the two bus stations in UT, and how far from the bus station in Nong Khai to "Friendship Bridge"?

Does that leave from Arcade bus station in CM? How much is the charge? and how long does it take CM <> UT?

[sceadugenga]

The VIP to UT is a 32 passenger 2x2x8; not the 1x2x8 vip to Chiang Rai. I'm faced with a similar nightmare in a few weeks. First class is 42 passengers. I'm confused about the two bus stations in UT, and how far from the bus station in Nong Khai to "Friendship Bridge"?

The Nong Khai bus stops outside of the town where the tuktuks to the bridge are. Some of them are quite large and I shared one with four other people.

The bus station you arrive at in Udon is the one with the Nong Khai buses which run regularly. Do not allow yourself to be taken to the other bus station for the "Vientiane bus" unless you already have a Lao visa.

Cobra, the Chiang Rai bus takes about 13 hours so the CM bus would be about 11. I find it best to allow a little extra time when predicting arrivals on these buses. I was quoted 601B Udon to CM when I thought I had missed the Chiang Rai bus.

Edited August 8, 2008 by sceadugenga

[Thighlander]

The VIP to UT is a 32 passenger 2x2x8; not the 1x2x8 vip to Chiang Rai. I'm faced with a similar nightmare in a few weeks. First class is 42 passengers. I'm confused about the two bus stations in UT, and how far from the bus station in Nong Khai to "Friendship Bridge"?

The Nong Khai bus stops outside of the town where the tuktuks to the bridge are. Some of them are quite large and I shared one with four other people.

The bus station you arrive at in Udon is the one with the Nong Khai buses which run regularly. Do not allow yourself to be taken to the other bus station for the "Vientiane bus" unless you already have a Lao visa.

Cobra, the Chiang Rai bus takes about 13 hours so the CM bus would be about 11. I find it best to allow a little extra time when predicting arrivals on these buses. I was quoted 601B Udon to CM when I thought I had missed the Chiang Rai bus.

I was told there is a daily VIP from CM to UT, that leaves at 8pm and arrives at 8:am; so 12 hours and 700 THB. I would be a little concerned about making it to the Embassy in time, though. Definately not much slack time.

[threedot]

I did this exact trip last week. There is one company that goes from the Arcade bus station. I believe they have a 19.00, 19.30 and 20.00 (VIP). The VIP bus is a 2x2x8 seater and costs 701 baht. The others are 42 seats, not sure what they cost. Book ahead, the first day I tried to go all the buses were full. The buses are old and on my journey the bus required constant tinkering at the side of the road. It was a slow and uncomfortable journey.

I arrived in Udon Thani at 10.30am, a couple of hours behind schedule. A local bus was waiting in UT to go straight to Nong Khai (40 baht). Take a tuk tuk from NK to the Friendship Bridge (~1km). After Thai immigration, pay 15 baht to take the bus over the bridge to the Lao side. After Lao immigration (you'll know you've left Thailand!) take a tuk tuk to Vientiane (I paid 10,000 kip - walk straight past the idiots wanting 200 baht by the immigration exit and walk towards the bus shelter with all the locals.) I got to Vientiane at about 1pm. You would be very lucky to manage to submit a visa application on the day of arrival (cut off time is midday) but I suppose it's possible if it all went smoothly. I recommend you get to the embassy before 7.30 in the morning if you want to avoid the queues. I had no problems getting Tourist Visa x2. (2000 baht). 1 day processing time despite all the notices saying 2 days.

Good luck.

[Thighlander]

I did this exact trip last week. There is one company that goes from the Arcade bus station. I believe they have a 19.00, 19.30 and 20.00 (VIP). The VIP bus is a 2x2x8 seater and costs 701 baht. The others are 42 seats, not sure what they cost. Book ahead, the first day I tried to go all the buses were full. The buses are old and on my journey the bus required constant tinkering at the side of the road. It was a slow and uncomfortable journey.

I arrived in Udon Thani at 10.30am, a couple of hours behind schedule. A local bus was waiting in UT to go straight to Nong Khai (40 baht). Take a tuk tuk from NK to the Friendship Bridge (~1km). After Thai immigration, pay 15 baht to take the bus over the bridge to the Lao side. After Lao immigration (you'll know you've left Thailand!) take a tuk tuk to Vientiane (I paid 10,000 kip - walk straight past the idiots wanting 200 baht by the immigration exit and walk towards the bus shelter with all the locals.) I got to Vientiane at about 1pm. You would be very lucky to manage to submit a visa application on the day of arrival (cut off time is midday) but I suppose it's possible if it all went smoothly. I recommend you get to the embassy before 7.30 in the morning if you want to avoid the queues. I had no problems getting Tourist Visa x2. (2000 baht). 1 day processing time despite all the notices saying 2 days.

Good luck.

The first class tickets from CM are 601, VIP are 701. The VIP only runs about three times per week--at 8pm. They said 12 hours. My ticket has some kind of meal ticket, so we'll see. I'll let you all know about my trip, when I return. Anyone know of a decent, cheap place to stay near the Embassy? Will the same size passport photos work for the Lao Visa, as well as the Thai Visa?

[HTWoodson]

Thought I'd update this post with some new info, sorry for bringing back the dead.

I went to Arcade Bus Terminal this week (1st week of March 2009) and bought a ticket to Udon Thani. There are two companies selling "VIP" tickets from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani. They run everyday of the week as far as I can tell, alternating days. For both companies, the bus departs at 20:00, arrives in UT at 08:00 and costs 613 Baht. Don't know what "VIP" means in this case; I'll tell you after my trip.

The first is Chackrapong Tour (จักรพงษ์ทัวร์), their phone number is 053248815. Chackrapong has a bus on even numbered days of the month.

The second company is Suksaa Tour (อ. ศึกษาทัวร์), phone number 053248537. Suksaa runs on odd numbered days of the month.

Both companies have only a 20:00 "VIP" bus, and they both cost the same. They have ticket windows directly next to eachother inside Arcade Terminal. Suksaa does not have any English written on their window, the name is written only in Thai, but it's direcly to the right of Chackrapong.

I asked a little bit about a return ticket from UT to CM, and Suksaa has a "VIP" bus leaving at 20:00 from Udon Thani to Chiang Mai on even numbered days. Again it is 613 Baht. I didn't ask at the Chackrapong counter but I would assume they have a return bus on odd numbered days.

I tried to book my ticket 2 days ahead and the bus was sold out already. I ended up booking another bus 7 days in advance, and the bus was partly full already! So don't mess around I guess and book early. I've taken the 2nd class bus on this trip before and it SUCKED. Had about 20 people sitting in the aisle, couldn't get up to go piss, no A/C, no lights after 19:30 so no reading, and the seats were about 12 inches wide. SUCKED. That was with Chackrapong Tour by the way, their 19:00 2nd class bus. Never again.

Happy visa runs!

[drfang]

i am glad of the resurrection , as I have to do this very trip in April,when i MUST leave the kingdom. Please take lots of notes, and tell all when you get back. happy Trails,

[keo]

I did the trip to NK from CM on my bike a couple of weeks ago. I wouldn't recommend doing it in one day, unless you have to. It's a long drive, but some of the scenery is beautiful (especially along the Mekong through Si Chiang Mai), and I met some characters on my way.

But it's not for the faint hearted.

Still, better than the bus in my opinion. Had far too many bad bus experiences in the past, freezin cold, people snoring like elephants, lights out at 8pm nonsense. And there's something about being on a bus that drives me crazy - can't sleep, but can't do anything else

So if you've got a big bike, some time on your hands, and some balls, go and explore some of this country in the day light on your way to get your visa.

And first timers beware of the tuk tuk driver's visa scam at Nong Khai about the Lao visa, they're all in on it. Actually I would advise getting your Lao visa in Chiang Mai beforehand (not even sure if this is possible), as it will save you a couple of hours when crossing the Friendship bridge, which helps when trying to make it to the Thai Embassy before the 12pm cut off (if it's busy).

[HTWoodson]

There is another thread, here, on this same topic.

I posted a review of my experience on the Chackrapong bus there, thought I'd copy it over here in case people were still following this thread.

I ended up going with Chackrapong, both to and from. Just a matter of what day I went, didn't pick that company for any other reason. I'm pretty sure that Suksaa tour is identical to Chackrapong.

The bus was pretty lousy actually. I wouldn't have called it "VIP", more like 2nd class buses with some other companies. They bus was really old and the seats were not very comfortable. Like you said, there was no overhead storage. There is no movie. The aircon vents above our seats were missing the little "fins" that allow you to deflect the breeze or turn it off, so were had ice cold air blown on us all night. I stuffed garbage up into the hole to try and make it stop. The toilet was a metal bowl and a bucket of water, Thai style. The bus left at 8pm, I pulled out my book to start reading, and at 8:15 they turned the lights off. The overhead lights were disconnected.

The "VIP" bus was the 32 seater, but I saw Chackrapong's 1st class bus, and even though it is the 42 seat bus, I'll probably take it next time because it was brand new.

On the Sombat Tour buses, you have a cute Thai girl in a hostes outfit walking up and down the aisle bringing you blankets and drinks. On this bus the attendant was a 20 something guy who sat down in the asile, leaned up against my leg and went to sleep. (I was in the front row)

I wasn't as bad as some buses I've been on, but it does piss me off a little that they charge as much as some of the nicer companies like Sombat, call it VIP, and then give you a very 2nd class bus.