Am About To Make My Laos Run...

[profjackie1899]

Greetings Forum Members,

I am about to make my Laos visa run. I am a US citizen and arrived in this country without a visa, but just a US passport. The 30 days will be up soon and my fiance and I spent this afternoon at the Immigration Bureau (the one that is now at the massive complex on Chaeng Wattana Rd.). We spent 4 hours talking to a variety of officials, none of whom could extend anything beyond 7 days.

I know that once entering Laos and heading to the Thai embassy there, we will be able to get a 30 day extension, which would be perfect since it will be during that time that my fiance has her K1 interview (thus the purpose of my extension: to be around to celebrate this).

I did this run before, in 2004. But I may have been ripped off. After getting off the bus, we were taken to an office where folks there processed a bunch of paperwork (for about 3000 baht at the time, if I remember correctly). My partner and I then went across the border, hung out, then returned.

This time, the officials said that there will not be any fees at the Thai Embassy in Laos. Now mind you, I didn't even go to the Thai Embassy in Laos during my 2004 visit to Laos. I just went to that office and did the paperwork, crossed the border, visited a few sites, and came back into Thailand. But the officials are saying I visit the Thai embassy for this effort...

My question is: from the moment I get off the bus, can I just take a taxi to the border (without the pricey paperwork), cross the border, find a Laotian driver to take me to the Thai Embassy, get the paperwork for the 30 day extension, and simply turn around and crosss back into Thailand? I'm asking because I was obviously ripped off in 2004 (or was that the norm?).

I'm a professor from the US and would rather not get into any shady practices as my fiance and I are very legitimate in our ways. We just want some extra time together so that I could be there for her big K1 day.

Thank you so much for any assistance that could be offered. I really appreciate this.

Sincerely,

Jack

[mussen]

You'll need a visa to get into Laos, but you can do that right at the border, or at the Laos embassy in Bangkok.

If you're after 30 more days in Thailand you can get a tourist visa at the Thai embassy in Laos which should give you 60 days, it's free also.

Cheers.

[Mario2008]

You do not apply for an extension, that is soemthing only immirgaiton in Thailand can do. But you can apply for a tourisit visa in laos, which will give you 60 days upon entry into Thailand.

You can also make a border run, meaning only cross the border and enter another country and return to Thailand. (No need to visit a Thai embassy). If you do this by land transport you will get 15 days on arrival, if you do this by air you will get 30 days at the airport.

[oilthebeast]

Train to Nong Khai, tuk tuk to the bridge, do not stop where they ask you to get a visa in a shop, go straight to the bridge, get visa for Laos on arrival, $35, then taxi to thai embassy and apply for visa, 60 days, free. Then hotel overnight in Vientiane and pick up passport the next day and head back to thailand. Buy a return train ticket before going into Laos so you know when it's leaving.

[Eazy-Going]

A visa to enter Laos is required and the necessary paperwork for the application, this can be obtained at the Laos side of the border. The Laos visa costs 1500Bht and allows you to stay for up to 15 days, as I have a Non Imm O I always just go through the control and come straight back out again as soon as I can. You will need one passport sized photo for the Laos visa, however there are many touts who can also provide this service at the border, of course for a premium, or you can requste this from the Laos official who prepares your visa, cost of visa and photo is 1560Bht. Easy to get to the embassy in Vientiene, Laos side of border heaving with taxi drivers, the cheapest way to do it is to share a tuk tuk, costs about 150Bht and takes up to 30mins. If you take the G/F, ensure that she has her passport and she can get into Laos FOC and her visa will be processed at lightning speed, yours will take anything from 10mins upwards, (longest I have waited is 2 hours but they were very busy at the border that day). If she only has her ID card she will have to pay a fee for her visa too, but only a few hundred Baht. Speak to someone from the Laos side when you get there, they will point you in the right directions for all of the paperwork and which window to go to for what, don't get conned into taking an expensive taxi giving you a tour of Vientiene, imo, there really is bugger all of interest to see there but each to their own.

Sorry, cannot give any concise info of process at the Thai embassy has never had to do this, I do know however that if you are not their before midday, (they close for lunch), you can probably expect an overnight stay as they will not have your passport for collection until the following day.

Hope this helps.

[Ulysses G.]

This is from my visa run to Laos about a week ago. It starts on the Thai side of the bridge:

Do not forget that Thai visas are only applied for at the Thai Consulate - not the Thai Embassy - which is a different location).

It costs 20 baht on the bridge to go from Thai Immigration to Laos immigration where you get in line for a visa application (if you do not have a visa already). It is 35 U.S. dollars, but they will accept Thai baht for a higher price.

Do not forget to pick up an Entry/Departure card in Laos and keep it somewhere safe for when you leave. The Laos authorities do not attach it to the passport as they do in Thailand and it can easily get lost and cause a big problem when you try to leave.

You have to apply for a Thai Visa in the morning and pick it up the next day in the afternoon. I paid 200 baht for a solo tuk-tuk from the border directly to the consulate.

Office Hours: Monday to Friday

08.30 Hrs. - 12.00 Hrs. & 13.00 Hrs. - 16.30 Hrs.Consular Section Monday to Friday

08.30 Hrs. 12.00 Hrs. : Application for Visa

13.00 Hrs. 15.00 Hrs. : Distribution of Passports Affixed with Appropriate VisaWeekly Holiday: Saturday Sunday

When you get to the Thai Consulate, go inside and head toward an open-air area to the right and take a numbered ticket from the machine. Push the button that is marked for visa application. The next day you will do the same thing to get a number to pick up your passport with the visa, but push the other button.

You will turn in your forms at the window near the ticket machine and all I can say is that I had no problem, but I brought every document that I could think of.

If your documentation is accepted, you head into the adjoining building to pay using the same number ticket that you used to turn in your documents. This building is also where you bring your receipt to pick up the visa the following day.

I have read many different prices that were paid to go to the hotels on the river, but the cheapest that I could get was 80 baht unless I could find someone to share with.

I stayed in the Riverside Guest House with a lift, English TV and all the mod-cons for 600 per night, but there are lots of cheaper and more expensive places close by and lots of good restaurants. One nice thing was that I could use my Thai telephone at no extra cost for calls to Thailand as it is right next to the river.

I had intended to take a bus to Nongkhai or Udon from the bus station in Vientiane, but when I got there I realized that most of the tickets were sold well in advance and I would have a long, miserable, hot wait. A Laos fellow offered me an air-con ride to the border for 200 baht in a nice new van and I was not sorry that I went for this instead. When I got to the border it was chock full of Asians, but the wait on the Laos side was not too bad - Thailand was a different story.

I had to pay a 9,000 Kip fee of some sort and Thais had to pay 10,000. I think that this fee is only on weekends.

DO NOT FORGET to find an Entry/Departure card as soon as you get to Thailand as they are nowhere in sight and I saw many people who stood in line for hours getting turned back at immigration and having to find one, fill it out and stand in line all over again.

I was able to easily find a ride directly to Udon from the bridge, but my guess is that it depends on your Thai language skills and some luck. it sure beat going into Nongkhai and waiting for another bus which would have added a lot of time and inconvenience.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[profjackie1899]

Thank you for the information folks. I am pleasantly surprised by the quick responses and from all your comments, I intuitively know what I will do. When I return, I will post for you my experiences and hopefully this will be able to simplify how others make this trek in the near future. Thanks once again as I much appreciate this...there appears to be a lot of camaraderie among expats!

Jack

Edited August 16, 2010 by profjackie1899

[profjackie1899]

You do not apply for an extension, that is soemthing only immirgaiton in Thailand can do. But you can apply for a tourisit visa in laos, which will give you 60 days upon entry into Thailand.

You can also make a border run, meaning only cross the border and enter another country and return to Thailand. (No need to visit a Thai embassy). If you do this by land transport you will get 15 days on arrival, if you do this by air you will get 30 days at the airport.

Is it possible, then, if after getting a 15 day extension I add another 7 days afterward? This last 7 days will suffice to cover my fiance's K1 interview on the 6th of September. Thank you once again!

Jack

[elliss]

Train to Nong Khai, tuk tuk to the bridge, do not stop where they ask you to get a visa in a shop, go straight to the bridge, get visa for Laos on arrival, $35, then taxi to thai embassy and apply for visa, 60 days, free. Then hotel overnight in Vientiane and pick up passport the next day and head back to thailand. Buy a return train ticket before going into Laos so you know when it's leaving.

correct ,,, do not go to the official looking scam visa , shop.

[lopburi3]

Yes they would extend a 15 day entry for 7 days but would likely want to see a ticket out. But why do that as the only extra cost for a 60 day tourist visa stay currently is one night in Vientiane hotel. The normal 1,000 baht tourist visa is free and that would allow extra time in the event of any change in plans.

[profjackie1899]

Yes they would extend a 15 day entry for 7 days but would likely want to see a ticket out. But why do that as the only extra cost for a 60 day tourist visa stay currently is one night in Vientiane hotel. The normal 1,000 baht tourist visa is free and that would allow extra time in the event of any change in plans.

Thank you Lopburi and everyone else here for the wonderful information. To answer your question Lopburi, my fiance is having her K1 interview on Sep 6. There's no need for me to get a sixty day visa which would require me to spend a night in Vientiane. I'm somewhat efficient-minded (and impatient) in this regard. So, what I will do then (in fact will do this in the afternoon today) is 1) go to Laos embassy in Bangkok and get the Laos visa, 2) Leave for Laos on Sunday morning (Aug 22), return back to Thailand on Sunday afternoon with the 15 day extension, which will get me to Sept 5, and then 3) apply for the seven day extension around September 2,3, or 4. With the 7 day extension, Sept. 6 will be in the window for me to await her interview outcome. Then I will leave that evening back to the US as my flight is that evening.

Will authorities be suspicios if I enter Laos from Nongkhai, hang around for lunch for about an hour, and then return into Thailand?

I bought my plane ticket online, however, so I don't have ticket. But I do have a departure card with the specified departure date.

Good karma to all of you and thank you.

Jack

[lopburi3]

There is no need to fool anyone at the border and if you are in Bangkok it would make more sense to use one of the visa bus/vans to the Cambodia border as advertised in Classified sections of English language daily papers. Cost total including lunch of about 2,000 baht and no need to obtain visa prior to travel. GF can normally travel at a reduced cost if you want.

Online you receive e-ticket information which you would print out and show if asked.

[profjackie1899]

.

Online you receive e-ticket information which you would print out and show if asked.

Yes, but of course! Best wishes and thanks again Lopuri.

[bangkokburning]

Hey friend, if you only need one month why don't you just take the train down to Butterworth. Have a few days in Penang and fly back??

Far less hassle.

[profjackie1899]

Hey friend, if you only need one month why don't you just take the train down to Butterworth. Have a few days in Penang and fly back??

Far less hassle.

UPDATE: Just got back from Vientiane from my visa run. Some wisdoms below:

I recommend going to the Laos Embassy in Bangkok to get your visa. For 1,600 baht, you'll have it in your hands within 2-3 hours. I got their with my fiance at 11AM, had lunch at the only air conditioned restaraunt in the area, a steak house about 30 meters from the entrance, and picked up the visa at 1:30PM.

We left for Nongkhai on Friday night (Aug 20) on an 8:30pm VIP 999 bus. The bus ride was good, but it was full of people coughing and sneezing. The ride was in pouring rain. I now have a cold because of this. We arrived at 6:30AM and as mentioned by all of you, took a tuk-tuk to the Friendship Bridge (60 baht). Along the way, we saw the "scam" visa shops. Boy am I glad I didn't fall for it this time thanks to all of you. Recall years ago I did fall for this as mentioned in my starter thread.

We then went through the usual. At the bridge, we did the paperwork to depart Thailand, took the bus across the bridge (30 baht), did the paperwork to enter Laos (don't remember, but paid a fee here too (I think it was 200 baht?)--not expensive though) and paid another fee to enter Loas (20 baht). Am glad I didn't have to do any visa paperwork at the entrance for that would have taken a lot more time. By now it was raining so hard that even the taxi hustlers in Vientiane were subdued, sitting around the benches at the entry point. A few did ask us if we needed a ride, but even they knew that one couldn't appreciate Vientiane in this deluge. We thus went over to the Duty Free, had some Dao Coffee, and within the hour, returned back into Thailand, paying another 20 baht exit fee. Keep in mind you'll have to fill out two sets of arrival/departure cards: one for Laos and one as you reenter Thailand. Both will be given to you at the entry point.

We then needed some rest since our VIP bus back wouldn't be leaving Nongkhai until 8:00-ish PM. We found a guest house called Ruan Thai (or Ruen Thai on some other websites) and paid 400 baht. It is about 30 meters from the Mekhong River. We had a wonderful brunch right next to the Mekhong as this area was nestled away in a corner where bars and pubs would come into action by night. Many expats were there already enjoying their brews by lunch. At night, we took another tuk tuk back to the bus station (60 baht) and got on the bus. Being it was a Saturday departure, the bus was quite empty, with only four other passengers not including my partner and me.

The good decision was to get the visa at the Laos Embassy. The bad decision was to leave on a Friday night (VIP filled to capacity) and to take the bus. In the future, I am taking the Express Train. I hear it is much more comfortable with by far less vibrations. The bus needed a suspension upgrade in spite of its VIP moniker.

At the border itself, there was some chaos, but given the heavy rains, even a first-timer would have seen the logic in getting into and out of Laos. Just be street smart and stay alert.

Thank you everyone for all your help!

And a final note: Bring something warm for the bus rides. They have the setting set at very cold temperatures even though the heavy rains had given the climate a much cooler feeling than what the AC needed to be set at.

Good karma to all of you.

Jack

Edited August 23, 2010 by profjackie1899