Chiang Mai To Vientienne

[james24]

Hi there

Have to get a visa in Laos next week, whats the best way to get there from Chiang Mai. Laos airlines is well expensive, was thinking about a bus, any suggestions, this is first time doing it. Heard about going on a boat but not really up for that, there must be a decent bus company that goes there...

[wehugheog]

Nok Air flies there, I think daily, well.... to udon Thani.

Get a minibus from UDon Thani for 200 THB (book inside airport!)

Get visa at border. Pay THB 20 to get bus across border, you HAVE to do this.

Then several options. Get "expensive" tuktuk or go past the border and to your right and take a crappy looking small bus for THB 20 to Vientiane busstation, quite close to center/Mekong. From busstation in VT get tuktuk for about 10,000 kip to Mekong area/tourist/hotel area.

Return: Go to bus station in VT, and buy a ticket to Udon Thani direct for THB 90, set times, get ticket early!

If you have a visa for Laos, get that bus from udon Thani bus station for also THB 90 to busstation VT.

From Udon Thani airport it's About THB 50 (book INSIDE airport) to get to busstation udon Thani.

The booking of the minbus (bridge/border) and taxi to busstation (Udon Thani) inside the airport is INSIDE the building, right before the LEFT exit to your right. Ignore the guys standing there.

If not flying, get a bus to (sorry) whatever the city is close to the border (google maps) NE of Udon Thani and then take tuktuk to brigde/border. Rest of trip same as described above.

Need a nice hotel recommendation for USD 23 a night (not too bad, really in VT) send me PM for a new, clean, aircon, tv etc. hotel at mekong. I stayed at some guesthouse for 150k kip which was CR*P and this one was 170k kip and very very nice (that's like uhm 100 THB difference or so)

TukTuk from that area (most populair with tourists) to Thai embassy should be about 15,000 kip one way.

Minibus from Thai embassy to border about 60-80 THB, but be prepared to wait 5-10 minutes for bus to filll.

More Q's,send me PM

Off to sleep now....

[Sisaketmike]

Nok Air flies there, I think daily, well.... to udon Thani.

Get a minibus from UDon Thani for 200 THB (book inside airport!)

Get visa at border. Pay THB 20 to get bus across border, you HAVE to do this.

Then several options. Get "expensive" tuktuk or go past the border and to your right and take a crappy looking small bus for THB 20 to Vientiane busstation, quite close to center/Mekong. From busstation in VT get tuktuk for about 10,000 kip to Mekong area/tourist/hotel area.

Return: Go to bus station in VT, and buy a ticket to Udon Thani direct for THB 90, set times, get ticket early!

If you have a visa for Laos, get that bus from udon Thani bus station for also THB 90 to busstation VT.

From Udon Thani airport it's About THB 50 (book INSIDE airport) to get to busstation udon Thani.

The booking of the minbus (bridge/border) and taxi to busstation (Udon Thani) inside the airport is INSIDE the building, right before the LEFT exit to your right. Ignore the guys standing there.

If not flying, get a bus to (sorry) whatever the city is close to the border (google maps) NE of Udon Thani and then take tuktuk to brigde/border. Rest of trip same as described above.

Need a nice hotel recommendation for USD 23 a night (not too bad, really in VT) send me PM for a new, clean, aircon, tv etc. hotel at mekong. I stayed at some guesthouse for 150k kip which was CR*P and this one was 170k kip and very very nice (that's like uhm 100 THB difference or so)

TukTuk from that area (most populair with tourists) to Thai embassy should be about 15,000 kip one way.

Minibus from Thai embassy to border about 60-80 THB, but be prepared to wait 5-10 minutes for bus to filll.

More Q's,send me PM

Off to sleep now....

I'd take a government VIP bus to Nong Kai, where the friendship bridge is located. Just go to the bus station in CM and ask for it. You can buy your visa for Laos in Nong Kai. Good luck.

[crgram]

Check out this thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Vip-Bus-Chia...ni-t365032.html

[Yunnie]

yeah I'm going to take that Mini bus straight to Nong Khai. I really should go to Arcade and book it.... I hate going through Agents. They always take a huge fee plus he's in town, last time I tried to go into town... people were setting tires on fire and soldiers everywhere.

I think I'm going Monday night. Would it be okay to go in Monday morning and buy the ticket or should I go now? And hope curfew isnt extended.

[crgram]

yeah I'm going to take that Mini bus straight to Nong Khai. I really should go to Arcade and book it.... I hate going through Agents. They always take a huge fee plus he's in town, last time I tried to go into town... people were setting tires on fire and soldiers everywhere.

I think I'm going Monday night. Would it be okay to go in Monday morning and buy the ticket or should I go now? And hope curfew isnt extended.

You don't book the mini bus in the Arcade, unless you just want to go through one of the agents there. As for booking same day, not advisable if your short on time. Might work, bus might be full.

cr

[brennanstimpy]

All of this seems so complicated. How much time are we talking from CM to Vientiane total? I just need to get to the airport, is a visa necessary? How much does all this cost? would it be a better idea to just fly into the airport if the visa is expensive by ground?

[Yunnie]

.... Visa is AWAYS necessary. How will you get into the country then? Illegal cross over? If you get shot by police... well then what can I say.

Depending on where your passport is from - Single entry Visa into Lao PDR is anywhere from $30 - 45 USD. If youre Canadian... that sucks.. $45 USD it is. Lao PDR only accepts USD and Baht. Its better to use USD unless youre from Canada, then it doesnt matter.

If youre flying its super expensive. Lao Air is about $435~ USD; Chiang Mai to Vientiane via Luang Prabang. SGA flight to Udon Thani is about 5000B+ round trip, then cost of getting to Friendship bridge.

other option - Train slow and dirty as hel_l from what I heard.

VIP bus out of Arcade Station - Chiang Mai to Udon. One way ticket is around 600B. So total is 1200B~ By VIP bus from what has been written takes about 12 hours minimum if conditions are good and nothing happens along the way. Then cost of getting to bridge from Udon and back.

There is a "mini Bus" - more accurately a shuttle bus (tour van) from Chiang Mai - Nong Khai/Vientiane. They run EVERY night. This is what I took a couple weeks ago and The service way good. As good as you can get for bumpy roads and barely any sleep. lol By bus it can take anywhere about 9 - 10 hours. Depends on how fast the driver is lol. On the way down we left CNX at 7:30 pm and arriveled in Nong Khai stop ( which is a restaurant) at 6:30. We had a few stops on the way - smoke break, potty at the gas station/ 7-11. On the way back took about 9 hours. Fast driver and only 2 breaks. left at 8:30 pm (hour late cause we waited for another group) and arrived back in Chiang Mai at about 5 am.

The main people who run this is aYa Service. Their office is right across the street from the Chiang Mai Train Station. There are agents around Chiang Mai that do sell tickets for them as well. One is in the Parking Lot of DK book store on the Moat. If youre int he city central - they pick you up for free. If youre outside you need to make your way to your agents office or to aYa's office.

I went from Chiang Mai right into Vientiane. round trip for 2500B. If youre doing a Visa run, its best you just do the CNX - Nong Khai/bridge (bit cheaper too about 2000 or a tiny bit less then) and once across get a taxi to take you right to the Thai embassy. Going into town like I did takes you far pass where you need, they drop you off a couple blocks down from Lao Plaza Hotel.

comfort on the Shuttle Van depends on the amount of people heading down there with you and where your seated. Great if you get a window seat cause you have something to lean against to try to sleep. if youre in the other seats well... hard to sleep then.

The Shuttle van isnt as cheap as the VIP bus, but comfort and speed was well worth it. No aircon breaking down - if anything it was too cold. So take a blanket and pillow with you too. lol

Edited June 12, 2010 by Yunnie

[sudo]

Any reason you need to go to Lao?

Air asia direct from CM to KL is another option. I think its usually about 300USD return, but if you book further ahead you might get cheaper.

Might be slightly more expensive accommodation/living expenses once your there though. But no visa fee : )

Edited June 12, 2010 by sudo

[rrose070]

I just did it last week, for like the billionth time. Take the (sp?) Crackaporn bus. 10 times better than the other one. It leaves at 7:30-8:00 PM and costs about 630 baht. It's an overnight bus, but very comfy. They stop about 2AM for a food and whatever break, for 20 minutes. They let you off at Udon; don't take a tuk to Nong Kai; there are buses there at the Udon station for 40 baht which will save you a ton. Depending on your budget, I like staying at the Riverside Hotel when I'm rich (800 baht) or, across the street at the RD guesthouse (5-600 baht when I'm poor). They're basically the same, just depends on how fine a finish you want. And it's a good idea, if you're new at this, to latch onto your seatmate and become "visa run buddies"...Just my 2 cents'

[rrose070]

Oh but make sure you book your bus at least one, perferably three, days in advance. They fill up.

[Yunnie]

I'm too lazy to do work to switch at Udon. I'll stick with my "mini bus" shuttle van thats takes right to the Friendship bridge or into Vienchan.

[chris5346]

i usually get the vip bus - better to get the ticket day b4 before 7pm (closes at 8pm) i have gotton a ticket the same day but it was the last ticket sold so risky , alway day b4 is fine. there's 2 or 3 buses so the earlier you can book ticket the better the bus you can get, when i'm at udon bus staion the next morning i buy a ticket for the return journey because there is a chance that you will end up on the second class bus on the way back if you just turn up without a ticket , it's risky because you may end up staying in laos an extra day and waste of money - it's nice to have a return ticket because you can also take your time coming back etc

the bus should be 10 - 12 hours but a few times its been delayed - can cause a problem if you want to go str8 to the thai embassy that day b4 12:00 to put in your application - there's a bus from udon to non khai but it takes well over an hour, if you want to get there as soon as poss you can get a taxi etc from udon bus term to the border - 500baht - share if you can there's usually many ppl in same situation.

you'll need 3 photos 2 for thai visa and 1 to enter laos - can get at the time but rip off prices.

if your only plannig to goto laos only once then kip is no use in thailand so spend it in the city you'll need to keep 3000 kip for the bus to take you back accross the bridge.

check to make sure the thai embassy is open - around holidays the embassy has been very busy.

try and share as much as poss. more ppl the less you pay generally but ask the driver.

i think the basic prices are :

600 baht for vip bus,

bus from udon to non-khai 40 baht.

non khai to border 60 baht (if more than 1 on tuk-tuk 20-30 baht)

bus to cross bridge 15 baht

tuk tuk or mini bus from border to vientiene or str8 to embassy b4 11:30 - 200 baht (if on your own)

tuk tuk to city center or can walk 60-80 baht.

same coming back except you can pay in kip 3000 to take you back accross bridge.

you can do everything in baht if your just going to the laos for visa run - if your heading into laos you'll need kip also.

oh yeah take 35$ for visa on entry is cheaper than paying the 1500Baht option.

not much around the embassy area, better to find hotel near fountain square and the river front.

it sounds complicated but very easy trip loads of ppl doing it , just keep an eye on the time.

hope this helps,

or any questions,

chris

[uptoyoumyfriend]

just like to point out that there is a viable train option too by switching in pitsanonluk i think.

i took the train up from bkk to nong kai and really liked it.met lots of locals on the train and had a good time.

from nongkai train station it is just a hop to the bridge.

[brennanstimpy]

You are all so helpful, Thank you. I am actually going to the airport to fly out of VT, not a visa run.

[gotlost]

just like to point out that there is a viable train option too by switching in pitsanonluk i think.

i took the train up from bkk to nong kai and really liked it.met lots of locals on the train and had a good time.

from nongkai train station it is just a hop to the bridge.

Must of been some good shyt you were on because there is NO train tracks from Pitsanonluk to Lao. Only Pitsanonluk to Chiang Mai.

[leininger]

That is not true there is now train to Nong Khai and Laos. I was at train station in Vientiane. The train only had 2 cars. However it is very unreliable, from what I have been told.

[gotlost]

That is not true there is now train to Nong Khai and Laos. I was at train station in Vientiane. The train only had 2 cars. However it is very unreliable, from what I have been told.

You better look at a map. Its Phitsanulok and its approximately 300 km east of Khon Kaen on Highway 11 and Highway 12. The train does not go from Phitsanulok to Khon Kaen only to Chiang Mai. If you want to go from Bangkok to Vientiane you follow Highway 2. You must be the navigator on Fly High Airlines. If you took a train from Bangkok to Phitsanulok you would of had to taken a bus from there over to Khon Kean. No train tracks.