Laos/vientiane Report, Ed Visa Run, January 2013

[disagree]

Just returned from my Vientiane trip. Here's how it went;

I applied earlier in the month for a 1 year ED Visa with a Thai language school. Paid the deposit fee and started learning straight away ( proved to be a good helper for the trip )

2-3 weeks later, got the letter from the MOE so was ready to go since my Tourist Visa was about to run out.

Booked round trip flight with Nok Air to Udon Thani for Wednesday ~17 o'clock and back Friday 18:30. 4000 THB in total. ( They also have a direct shuttle bus service to Vientiane, but my schedule wouldn't allow for it )

Before going to Don Muang, stopped at the money exchange shop in Sukhumvit between soi 7 and 9, changed around 900 THB into 30USD. ( Check your Laos VISA price, it differs between 30-40USD based on nationality )

Took the flight, and arrived in Udon Thani around 18 o'clock. Went to the Limousine counter and paid 200 THB for ticket with VIP Minibus to the Laos border. At the Laos border went through the Thai side, no paper work required. Took the 20 THB 'open windows' bus over the friendship bridge, and filled out the Visa on Arrival forms for Laos immigration. Paid 31 USD ( per their calculation the 30 USD + 40 THB ) since I didn't provide the photo, so they had to make a copy. ( If you provide a photo you can save the 40THB / 1USD ). Now here's the catch : If you don't bring it in dollars, you will be asked to pay 1500 THB. So just exchanging 900 THB into 30 USD beforehand saves you around 600 THB.

Got out on the Laos side, 6 Taxi guys stormed towards me, everybody wanted 300 THB for a trip to Vientiane. It was late already, around 8pm, and they knew that that limits the options of travel of course. I decided for Jumbo, who didn't want to drive straight away for the 100 THB. So I waited ( not in a hurry ). 2-3 bus trips later, a Thai arrived with bags full of shells and seafood; he also wanted to take the Jumbo. We shared a few beers before the Jumbo decided to take off. ( Note for next time : If you are in a hurry, and don't want to pay 300 THB, just pick some random foreigners who go to the Taxi anyway, share the costs; e.g. 100 THB each. )

I actually changed my plan and went to the Thai guys place where we ate some sea food, drank some beers, and then his friends drove me to my hotel per motorbike; so for me the waiting was worth it

Checked into the La Ong Dao Hotel 1 which i pre-booked on Agoda for 500-600THB/night. It's quite the crappy hotel, but sufficient for sleeping. No cockroaches from what I could see. Stayed on 3rd floor. They have at night Karaoke on the ground floor in a few rooms, so if you don't like noise until 2am, this might not be for you. It was for me however, as I just used it for sleeping.

Next day walked over to the Thai Consulate ( only 5 minutes walk ) around 11:00. Once I entered the street, the guys from the tables came running towards me of course wanting to fill out my paperwork, check my papers and make copies. I showed them the paperwork, they saw my school's name, and said it's gonna be okay. Then he handed another guy my passport to send him to make copies. I stopped him right there as I knew it would cost 100THB. Asked them about the price so they would take care of the Visa work for me. They wanted 4500 THB ( 2000 non-imm. visa cost in the embassy + 2500 THB for them/bribes ). Way too much; I asked for 1000 THB, but they would only go down to 2000THB. They tried to convince me that I should use their service since it's 11am already, and the consulate closes at 12pm; so I might not get my application through today ( blah blah blah ). I thanked them for their time and went over to the consulate.

Picked a number, went upstairs to make the copy for some pocket change, went down to fill out the form. Handed in my application before the clock hit 12pm. Waited another 20 minutes to pay the Visa. Actually they disregarded the number system at the payment counter after around 12:15 to speed things up; just asked people to form a line. ( Sitting in front helped ) Great. Done for the day.

If you exit the consulate to the left, there's some other guest houses with some tables outside. Cheap coffee, beer and water and farangs sitting there. So that's where you can socialize. Later on in the night at the river is where the party is. For late night party people it would be 'At home' club which is open after all the other places close. Tuk Tuks know where it is. Expect to be charged maybe still 100 thb for your ride home ( after negotiating with 3 different tuk tuks ). They know exactly how desperate people are who are new in the town and don't know directions.

Great, checked out the next day around 12:45 ( nobody seemed to care ), walked over to the consulate. There was a huge line of people in front of the locked door - but honestly, I have no idea why people would stand 1 hour in line in front of a closed door in the sun just to be out 3 minutes earlier. Went for a coffee instead. 1pm, the door opens and I get inside. Some other farang was negotiating with a taxi driver, as he needed to go to the border. Quick chat with him, and we shared the cab. 100 THB each to the friendship bridge. The line moved swiftly and since it's in the left building you had to wait in the shadows, which is nice. Make sure you have your receipt from the day before, for payment of the VISA. My new farang friend didn't have it, so by showing his passport copy and remembering his number from the day before he could pick it up anyway. But it's a bit of a hassle.

So about 15 minutes waiting time, got my passport with my visa, and off we go to the friendship bridge in the taxi. Taxi driver found 2 more guys to drive with us, so he made his 400 thb on the ride. Fair enough.

At the border, long queue on the Laos side. Make sure you have your stamped departure card in your passport with you! After the wait, buy a ticked for 4000 lao kip ( 15 THB ) and drive with a 'open window' japanese sponsored mini/maxi bus over the bridge.

On the Thai side, fill out your arrival and departure cards - they are way in front at the immigration booths ( go between the lines to the table and pick it up there ). The copy machines on the left - you don't need them except you're from Laos or Thai. Filled out the forms, wait in line, you're through.

Now from here I can't help you, as I would have usually taken the limousine bus to the udon thani airport, but my farang friend was so friendly to drive me with his car, which he had parked at the border, to udon thani. There after eating something, had to haggle with some tuk tuks - first one wanted 200 thb to the airport, just walked away. Second one wanted 150 thb, so I asked them for 40 thb. ( Hey if they want a ridiculous price, why shouldn't I ask for one ). They went down to 100, I was stuck at 80 thb. No? Walked away. Few seconds later I was shouted back, another guy drove me for 80 thb. The trip is not so short, so I gave him actually a 20 thb tip. Usual prices seem to be between 75-150 thb from what I've read. In government regulated times the taxis charged you 300 thb for it.

Got on my flight in Udon Thani airport, and now I'm back in Bangkok.

That was it :-)

My school also offered a Visa run for 5500 THB ( + 1500 THB or 30/35 USD Laos Visa ); but I didn't want to sit in a bus for 10 hours each way. 1 hour flight + some fun haggling seemed to me to be the more fun way to go. And after ending up being driven on a motorbike through whole Vientane by locals for free, and being driven to Udon Thani for free as well, I think it was worth it. ( Not because of the expenses, but rather the experience )

Cheers

[disagree]

Costs breakdown:

Flight : 4000 THB

Travel to Vientiane : 320 THB

Travel from Vientiane : 220 THB

Hotel : ~1000 THB ( 2 nights )

Laos Visa : 30 USD + 40 THB

Non imm. Visa : 2000 THB

8480 THB + Food

Some people also manage to just stay one night, if they can arrive early enough in Vientiane. From my understanding just enter consulate before 12pm. If you arrive right after 12pm, they might sell you a waiting number for 200-300thb inside.

[lovelaos]

Why didnt you check out the karaoke in the hotel?

Good report and you didnt get ripped off on the Laos side, good to hear.

[disagree]

Why didnt you check out the karaoke in the hotel?

Good report and you didnt get ripped off on the Laos side, good to hear.

I already got drunk with the Thai and his friends at a half store/half barber shop which was owned by his girlfriend. Got to the hotel quite late, and was planning to do my visa work around opening time. ( You see how that worked, since I got there at 11am instead... )

Edited January 26, 2013 by disagree

[USNret]

Thanks for the report. I'll be doing something like this soon, not for the visa, but just for sightseeing with my wife.

Regarding your statement: "They also have a direct shuttle bus service to Vientiane, but my schedule wouldn't allow for it"... Do you mean a shuttle from Udon Thani airport? Who operates that shuttle bus & where do you find it? Will it wait at the border long enough for everyone to get through Laos immigration? and how much would it cost, if you happen to know.

Thanks!

[noob7]

Regarding your statement: "They also have a direct shuttle bus service to Vientiane, but my schedule wouldn't allow for it"... Do you mean a shuttle from Udon Thani airport? Who operates that shuttle bus & where do you find it?

Nok air, I think:

http://www.nokair.co...n-us/index.html

Edited January 26, 2013 by noob7

[disagree]

Regarding your statement: "They also have a direct shuttle bus service to Vientiane, but my schedule wouldn't allow for it"... Do you mean a shuttle from Udon Thani airport? Who operates that shuttle bus & where do you find it? Will it wait at the border long enough for everyone to get through Laos immigration? and how much would it cost, if you happen to know.

The link from noob7 is the correct one. The nok air shuttle brings you to the border, you have to cross it then within one hour. Another shuttle will pick you up on the other side. But price wise I don't think it's worth it, especially when you are travelling together. I think it's around 500 THB per direction more, so you'd spend 1000 THB per person; 2000 THB in total;

From my calculations you take 2x200THB Limo + 1x300 THB Taxi * 2 ( worst case ) and you're still better off with only spent 1400 THB ( even cheaper when sharing with others ). But that's peanuts; just good to be aware of.

Very important to compare both the flight to Udon Thani, and the shuttle flights seperately; as the sole flight seems to have much cheaper rates - especially when booking early. And of course also check out Air Asia to Udon Thani; but in my case Nok Air was cheaper.

Another alternative would be to fly to Vientanne airport directly with Laos Air ( code share with Thai Airways ). This connection is not viable for one night visa runs. Bad time schedule on the BKK flights there. More expensive than Nok/AirAsia, but you're saving a lot of time.

[chrisrazz]

You can't buy a ticket for the bus from udon to vientienne without a Lao visa. The railway staion in nongkai is closer to the border post than the nongkai bus station, probably a 15 minute walk at a guess. You can, however, get a bus from vientienne back to udon, though it will get stopped at the police checkpoint on the way out of Nongkai because its full of laoations. There is a bus service from the border on the Laos side to vientienne, you've just got to find it amongst the melee of tuk tuks and taxi drivers. I've been over there numerous times and find it quite easy and safe to walk around, vietienne is a small city and most of what you want to see is easily walked. Be careful with duty free allowance when comng back as there are plain clothed cops on the Nongkai side who delight in catching a farang with an extra carton of smokes. This is a new development as they never used to bother with it.

On the consulate. There are good days and bad days to go there. Don't go on a Monday, it's packed. The same applies to the day after any Thai or Lao public holidays. My experience in one of the cafes across the street from the consulate was not the best. My wife ordered an iced tea, I saw the girl repeatedly taste test the drink without any thought of washing the spoon.

Laos is generally more expensive than Thailand, an example is the food court in the shopping centre, the fare offered is of poorer standard and at least 50% percent more expensive, and comes without the levels of hygiene found in Thailand.

[lopburi3]

But you do not really need a bus to Vientiane - you travel from Udon to Nong Khai by whatever method you select and from there cross the bridge and get transportation into Vientiane. The through bus requires a visa so as to avoid waiting for visa on arrival issue.

[Randy Shan]

I heard from an agent that BKK immigration can change tourist visa to ED visa now. anybody knows this?

[lopburi3]

Believe it is normally only done for full time type study (university type setting).

[disagree]

I heard from an agent that BKK immigration can change tourist visa to ED visa now. anybody knows this?

so i attempted to do this ed visa change at bangkok immigration ( worst case scenario it'd be a waste of one day ). i don't think it's possible with the bigger ed schools as they are tight with the immigration workers in that section ( many special favors ), and the visa runs are running on sister companies of the ed schools; so that'd be bad business

everybody else ( also from other bangkok immigration sections ) was saying that it is possible; we even sat down with one of the higher immigration horses while waiting; nice chap, just couldn't do anything for us 'to not make the ladies from that section angry' if you know what i mean

it's down upon judgement of the immigration worker if they do it. i had paperwork done for a @bangkok transfer ( letter addressed to the thai immigration office ), but the moment she read the school's name, she called a local worker from the school to explain to me that she won't do it

in the end that 2 days laos trip was quite nice though