This week I toured the Lao side of the new bridge. Only one guard was at the bridge and he allowed us to walk to the middle of the bridge. Everything looks complete. The visa procedure consumes a lot of time filling in the form and providing a photo. The visa cost is very high for foreigners starting at $35 and going up to $80 based on which passport you are holding. Not sure how the Laos side can handle this. Many farangs don't want to pay this fee for a one day visit.

One day? Some doing a visa run its just about 30 minutes ! Its nothing more than another way to extract money. Gives people a job though.

The communist sytem in Laos has proven that it does not work. The poor people are everywhere trying to scrape out a living off the land. The Visa cost to travel to Laos are unreasonable. Don't know if it will change in 2015 when ASEAN opens up. The new bridge at Chiang Khong is scheduled to open with ceremonies starting Dec. 12-22. We wait and see how the Laos immigration can handle the crowds. They could care less about customs checks.