August 2008 Independent Trip To Savannakhet

[Ianatlarge]

Visa run to Mukdahan/Savannakhet August 2008

In need of a new Thai visa and finding myself in Surin I decided to try a new alternative (for me) and travel to the Thai embassy at Savannakhet (hereafter referred to as ‘S’). S is located in central Laos, opposite the Thai town of Mukdahan (hereafter referred to as ‘M’) in Isan, a fair distance from Bangkok, however, it is (a little) closer than Vientiane, and less hassle. To reach S one must first travel to M. The towns are opposite each other on the Mekong river, and are ‘twin cities’.

I was told that there were two buses passing through Surin to M, one at 16.40 the other at 4.40. The early morning bus reaches M early enough to allow the visa runner to reach the S Thai embassy in sufficient time to lodge a visa application.

The drill goes like this. Get to M, exit the bus at the M bus station, at the same bus station buy a ticket to S on the ‘Thai/Laos international bus’, wait (not too long, ~12 busses a day), travel across the bridge (Friendship Brdige 2) to Laos (the immigration was handled speedily on both the Thai and Laos side of the border, in fact very speedily, not even a pre-tense of checking luggage), get a 30 day visa on arrival (look for the ‘visa on arrival’ sign booth) this is easily available for 1500b (baht is readily used in S, no need to exchange: ~250 kip to the baht, ~9000 kip to the us$), travel on the same bus to the S bus station. The S bus station is a dusty field with worn looking ticket booths. My bus took about an hour to travel from the M bus station to S bus station. Not too shabby. At the S bus station take one of the numerous tuk-tuks directly to the Thai embassy (every driver knows the location of the embassy).

The Thai embassy can be a little daunting. I was told 200 people a day go to the embassy. I had 50 people in front of me when I arrived, 9.30am, 95% Laotians. The drill here is: go to window #1, get form, complete form (2x pictures of yourself, 1x signed copy of your passport, and 1000b), get a numbered ticket from window #1, wait to be summoned to window #2. I have read on thaivisa.com that 2x copies of your passport are needed, but when I handed over two copies one was handed back.

Bring a pen, also some glue to stick your pics to the application—you can borrow, but lets keep things simple. If you need pics or photocopies, immediately across the small road outside the embassy are several busy businesses making pics and photocopies. You can even have your form printed by computer! Capitalism run rampant!

Wait for your number to be called (verbally in Laos, Thai and English, and on a display--no excuses!). When you number comes up take your paperwork to window #2. My number was 53. People were moving through at about one per minute, so I decided to take a break. Outside the embassy there are street vendors selling food and drink, but if you walk down the street to the Mekong (~30m) and look left along the river, you will see a very nice ‘floating’ restaurant, where a pleasant drink/meal can be enjoyed. If you are concerned about missing your number ask your tuk-tuk driver to keep an eye on things and call or collect you. Forty five minutes later I was back, I had to wait a few more minutes, and then I was able to hand my paperwork over, I was asked what type of visa I wanted (even though this info is on the application form) and given another receipt with my number and told to come back tomorrow.

The visa application must be lodged before 12.00, midday. You would have to be there by 11.00am to have a fair chance of success. All in all, not too stressful, but if you have just arrived, overnight, from Pattaya, and get your form in on time, kudos—you deserve a long snooze in your hotel. I did read on this site that someone was asked for a Thai bank account book. I did bring mine jic, but no one asked me any such question or anything else outside the obvious.

The embassy re-opens at 2.00pm. Not midday, not 1.00pm, as I was told by several locals, but 2.00pm. This time around things moved more quickly. The numbers are called out in order, people waited around eager to get their passport and head off. It took only 20mins for #53 to be announced. There were one or two little problems with a few Laos folk, but no one was refused a visa, that I saw.

Overall, no dramas at any stage. There are lots of buses from M to S, there are lots of tuk-tuks eager to convey you to the Thai embassy and then whisk you to your hotel of choice. You can do this entire trip from Pattaya or Bangkok in three days, or less, but maybe a day stopover may be the way to go? A little R&R? There are organised trips, but it is not difficult to do yourself.

I differed a little from this plan. I had not visited M so I took the afternoon bus and spent a day sight seeing. A few temples (surprise), a few minor local landmarks. The only tourist item of note in M is the Ho Kaeo Mukdahan. A 65m tower with a museum and lookout at the top, and a larger museum at the base. The town was small and quiet. If you have a few hours there are a few things to see, but don’t feel any need to travel to M to see the sights. M is a quiet and clean town. You can pick a moment, walk into the centre of a main street, and take a picture, without needing to hurry.

I also spent 3 days in S. There are a few tourist sights, principally the Stupa That Ing Hang. There are several good restaurants in S, and numerous local restaurants. At dusk many locals go to the Mekong foreshore and picnic. There are open air restaurants, that is to say, a small stove and a few bottles of drink for sale. Many teenagers, of both sexes, hang out and socialise—surprise. A cool breeze, the river flowing past, and the lights of M make this a pleasant evening.

The return journey was straight forward. Go to the S bus station and buy a ticket to M on the ‘international bus’. I am pleased to say that there is a lot of bus station construction work, in a few months there will be pavement and better facilities. There were a good number of buses heading to M. Destinations were displayed in both Laos and English. My bus contained only 1 farang, myself.

The Laos immigration guy asked me for 40b for stamping my passport on the way out! I am not adverse to ‘greasing the wheels’, but that seemed excessive, so I handed over a 5,000 kip note (~50c), which was speedily accepted and secreted into a desk draw. On the Thai side things differed coming back, more security. My bags were x-rayed and an ageing Thai soldier (or so it looked) gave me a pat down! Before he did so I pointed at a very attractive female Thai staffer and said ‘puy-ying’ and mimed her giving me the pat-down. This produced hoards of laughter (but no puy-ying activity, alas). Got to keep the people amused. In less than an hour I was back in the M bus station. From there there are buses to all parts of Thailand.

Thoughts

a. Overall, it is not difficult, in fact it is easy, once you know what you are doing, but perhaps the first time go a day before your visa expires just in case you get held up?

b. Cost?

Thai visa 1000b, Laos visa on arrival 1500b, accommodation/food 1000b one day. 200b tuk-tuks, international busses, Bus ‘home’-->up to you! I have seen organised trips for 6000b.

c. Everyone in M told me the buses to S leave ‘every hour’. This is not true, close, but not true. See the attached pic for the correct times.

d. S is a nice place, pleasant, quiet, slow, cheap, smallish, entirely safe. There is no sign of real poverty. I saw only a handful of cops in my three days in town. Unlike, say, Thailand. If anything the S people seemed happier than many in Thailand!?

e. I stayed at the Hongtip hotel, 800b for a superior room with (mediocre) breakfast, all the standard rooms were taken, ummm. Hotel, a little musty, but ok. There are cheaper options, but I did not bother to check any other hotels out. Maybe next time. The hotel proudly claims to have high speed internet, but in the time I was there the internet was not working. There is also an attached disco with a fair number of ladies waiting to dance with guests and to make your stay more pleasant. Up to you, as they say!

f. There are several internet cafes in town, with printing, photocopying, etc. If you want to find one of these (or anything else) ask ‘your’ driver.

g. Eating, there are some pleasantly nice restaurants in S. I have attached biz cards pics.

h. There are few farang in S. I saw maybe a dozen tourists (revealed by bulging backpacks), and no more than a dozen resident farang in three days. One night, walking back to my hotel, I was inundated with young monks walking back to their monastery, who wanted to practice their English.

i. There is a moderately good coffee shop in the M bus station with wireless internet. A pleasant place to spend an hour waiting for your bus (and to fortify yourself for the final few hours of your odyssey).

j. There is a Kbank atm in the M bus station. I saw maybe two atm’s in S, but I did not try any.

k. On my last day I met a local guide, a young guy who spoke good English. If you feel in need of a guide to visit the local sights: Mr Viet 007 856 205 252 490 (from Thailand), 5252 490 (inside Laos—I think, just keep trying the numbers till you get a reply). I bought a Laos sim card over the counter from one of the several mobile shops in town, 300b.

a few informative pics:

[KHUNDAN]

Great report and thanks for posting it. I have never been there so it would be nice just to go and with your post it lays it all out so there is no guess work involved.

Again Great report.

Dan

[gzu88bv]

Great report and very well done..... Thank you.

[Maestro]

From the visa fee of 1,000 Baht that has been mentioned I assume this was about a single-entry tourist visa.

--

Maestro

[Ianatlarge]

From the visa fee of 1,000 Baht that has been mentioned I assume this was about a single-entry tourist visa.

--

Maestro

Maestro—yes, the 1000b is for a single entry tourist visa. I did not need a double at that time, and I did not ask.

[harrybua]

From the visa fee of 1,000 Baht that has been mentioned I assume this was about a single-entry tourist visa.

--

Maestro

Maestro—yes, the 1000b is for a single entry tourist visa. I did not need a double at that time, and I did not ask.

anyone know if you can get a non o marriage multi entry there

cheers

[MART]

Thanks for this detailed report!

From this report I understand that you can take the Thai-Lao international bus without a Lao visa. Which means the bus will wait for everyone to have their visa on arrival before resuming the trip??? This is not the case with the Thai-Lao int. bus between Nong Kai and Ventiane.

Edited August 8, 2008 by MART

[Ianatlarge]

Thanks for this detailed report!

From this report I understand that you can take the Thai-Lao international bus without a Lao visa. Which means the bus will wait for everyone to have their visa on arrival before resuming the trip??? This is not the case with the Thai-Lao int. bus between Nong Kai and Ventiane.

Mart--you are correct. I have not been to Nong Kai and Ventiane, but most definitely the Muk/Sav bus waited for me and the one other farang to get our visa on arrival. The process was quick, we were the last to re-board the bus, but not by long. To speed things up, get off the bus asap, as you enter the arrival area the visa on arrival booth is to your left (with the sign), ask for the form, fill it out, and then take the form to the immig booths. At Sav this takes maybe 10 mins tops. Keep in mind that there was no other traffic.

and, bring your own pen!