Info Needed On Driving To Laos

[longballlarry]

Good morning all

I have a non Imm 'O' multiple entry Visa, and for this 90 day trip and looking at incorporating a visa run with a trip with a visit to see the inlaws. ( Ban dung ) - about 60km north of Udon .

This will be mine and my Thai wifes first trip to Laos.

Can someone give me info re any requirements for taking your own car over the border / Cost of Laos Visa / Somewhere decent to stay in Vientienne/ preferred currency.

Many thanks .

[josephd]

If you're taking a Thai car from Nong Khai to Laos over the Friendship bridge, it's pretty straightforward.

You need to get a purple "car passport" from the Department of Land Transport first. You can only do this if the vehicle is not under finance/rental. I think that the person named in the car registration document also has to travel with the vehicle, so you'll be fine as long as this is you or your wife. If it isn't, I think it's possible to get some sort of permission letter from the owner of the vehicle but I'm not sure.

The Land Transport Department will also give you an English translation of the car registration (blue book) and some cool "T" stickers for the front and back of your car. The whole thing (including the purple car passport) is not very expensive. I think it's just a few hundred baht.... or it was when I last did this about a year ago. The English translation is pretty pointless really, because the guys at the border can only read Lao and Thai... but I guess it's a good idea to take it anyway.

I think that the Laos visa costs 1,xxx Baht depending on how urgently you want it. You can get it from the Embassy in Bangkok or even at the border. Thais don't need a visa to go to Laos.

There's a special queue for cars at the border, but unfortunately you have to park your car and wait in the queue on foot (on both the Thai side and then the Laos side). This border could learn a thing or two from the Malaysian/Singapore border which works like a MacDonald's drive-through!

There are lots of forms to fill in (temporary export of vehicle, or something) but your aim is basically to get your passport and your car's passport stamped on each side of the border. Once you've done that, just buy a little yellow insurance sticker (from the Laos side) and stick it in your windscreen and you're good to go. I have no idea how good this insurance is, so I also got 2 weeks of "driving to Laos" insurance from my Thai insurance company before I left.

Money in Laos is Kip, and when I was there they were running an advertising campaign to try to get everyone to use it... Baht and US$ are widely accepted, though.

That's all I can think of really... just remember to drive on the right-hand side of the road! There's a sign telling you when to start doing this after you cross the bridge!

[Thanyaburi Mac]

If you're just going to Vientiane I'd not really bother with the taking your own car across, hardly worth the added time and paperwork processing.

I go up to Laos 3-4 times a year, from Bangkok area, and have always left my car in the secure caged parking area right there where you catch the van across the bridge on the Nong Khai end. Last trip was in January, 10 days parked there, should be baht 100/day but they gal charged just baht 500. Fine with me.

FYI, if you have a lot of baggage you can just "mao" one of the vans at the ticket window, charter it, for about baht 200 for the short ride over to the Lao side and immigration. Regular price for a seat is about baht 15, and wait for the van to fill up, usually fairly quickly.

Taxi from the Lao side to downtown Vientiane about baht 300.

We'll probably stay at the Asia Pavilion Hotel next trip, cheap, has WiFi, good grill downstairs, good location. Good morning omelets across the street in a couple of the small small eateries. Close by the Khop Chai Deu Restaurant next to the Nam Phou (fountain), quick two block walk to the Mekong River, 10 minutes to the Sticky Fingers Restaurant.

Mac

[MeMock]

500 baht to store car, fee to get to Vientianne, fee to get back + taxi fares whilst in Vientianne = $$$. Apart from that though the freedom you get with having your own car is worth a little bit of paperwork and the 100 baht fee to take your car across.

[longballlarry]

Some good info there. Thanks for your time.