Vientiane - Trip Report - Education Visa, Process & Issues

[jack244]

I share these 1300 words to help and update. If it helps you, then it was worth it.

General:

Vientiane is the main city in Laos PDR where you can consider getting whatever visa you need from the Thai Consulate. I personally feel, having done this trip, that they are becoming restrictive on Tourist Visas and some others. If in doubt, go elsewhere.

A Lao visa on arrival is available at the crossing, the most popular means of entering Laos by land. The crossing is actually around 20km from Vientiane and a few km from the centre of Nong Khai, but regular and affordable transport is available in both directions.

I met up with three others, two wanted a single entry Tourist Visa, one a Double. The singles were given, no questions, however the double was reduced to a single.

Consular Information:

This link will take you to the consular information pages, where you can find information on visa requirements for each visa type, consular holidays etc.

http://vientiane.thaiembassy.org/vientiane/en/consular/consular_check/

Exit Thai – Enter Laos:

1. Pretty much follow the crowds. Immigration office opening times are listed, and outside of these times you need to pay an additional fee of about a dollar.

2. Exit Thailand using your passport and departure card. Stamp out at Thai Immigration. Receive new stamp in passport (see tip below),get on the bus for 20Thb, cross over to Laos.

3. Laos visa on arrival, complete the tourist visa application form, give picture and passport in window 1, and pay the dollar amount in $ or Thb (I paid 1132Thb and got $36 the day before in Udon. At the bridge immigration office, expect pay considerably more, nearer 1500Thb).

4. After 15mins, window 3 opens, same chap, hands out passport with Laos Visa inside (A whole passport page is taken up by this).

5. Proceed into Laos. Shared taxis to Thai consulate, 20 mins, 80Thb each.

Thai Consulate:

1. Grab a ticket number, complete the Thai visa application form, Q up, and have documents and applications checked by staff in waiting area before you hand them in at the window.

2. Once they check them, they enter your passport number on your ticket, this prevents Q jumping etc. Then wait to be called forward to hand in application, passport and supporting documents. This is designed to check you have completed the application form correctly, they will not discuss issues.

3. Tip 1 – Passport - When you exit Thailand and enter Laos PDR, your passport will need updating as you now have a Laos PDR Visa (1page) and Exit stamp from Thailand in your passport. Get them pages photocopied and include them with your application and supporting papers, don’t forget to sign them too. Photocopies inside consulate or outside.

4. When your number is called, proceed to the window and hand over all your documents, pictures and passport. Answer questions! Then receive a payment slip. At this point some were refused, downgraded or questioned.

5. Proceed to payment office, 25 meters away, wait for your number to be called and pay for the visa. Receive a receipt, this you will need to collect your passport the next day.

6. That’s it.

7. Next day, appear at 1:30pm, grab another numbered ticket and then go to the payment building again, wait for your number to be called and collect your passport. It’s a lottery, some people were downgraded in visas.

I noted on day 1 there were approx. 200 people, the process took approx. 2 ½ hours, the second day same again, time to receive passport was approx. 1 hour.

Tip 2 – Locals: Outside the consulate, I saw 4 stands offering a range of services, I checked each one. They will photocopy your papers, take pictures and complete visa applications. Also, I was offered, pay 3500thb, sign an application form, hand over passport and they will ensure you have a Tourist Visa the next day after 1:30pm. Pay 5000thb, and gain any other visa. This means you don’t ever step inside the place.

Exit Laos – Enter Thailand:

1. Grab transport to the bridge from Thai consulate, cost 100thb each in a mini bus, taking 30mins. Go to duty free shop, stocking Marlborough and other cigs, booze etc.

2. Walk to Laos Immigration and stamp out using passport and Laos departure card.

3. Travel over on bus and go to Thai Immigration, complete arrival card, wait in line and hand over passport and arrival card to be stamped in. CHECK dates. I noted they had a notice stating the dates they would give for 30, 60 and 90 days.

4. Proceed into Thailand past customs, grab one of many taxis waiting.

5. Job done.

Travel:

Udon Thani Airport:

At the airport, there is a limousine service inside arrivals where you can buy tickets to transport you to either Nong Khai or into Udon. Opens for the first arrivals flight in the morning and closes after the last flight in the evening. Time is 1 hour to the bridge.

I could of taken the mini bus for 200thb to Nong Khai/Friendship Bridge, but, they only sell tickets after a plane has landed and after NOK Air have ensured all their customers have a ticket first. You are the last in the Q and not assured of a seat.

Outside there were plenty of tuk tuk’s and taxis waiting also. I stayed in Udon for the night. Central Plaza Shopping Mall was great; I also experienced some bars, and food.

Friendship Bridge:

There were plenty of taxis, tuk tuks etc to transport you either side of the bridge. All prices are negotiable.

Air Travel:

Fly NOK Air, service from DMK to Vientiane. This leaves DMK and arrives at Udon Thani. Once at Udon, you will be transported by a NOK Air organized bus to the Friendship Bridge and dropped off to complete the exiting of Thailand and the entry for Laos PDR, the Immigration entry procedures. Once through to Laos PDR, you will continue to Vientiane on the NOK Air organised bus. It will wait for you and give time for you to complete entry formalities. They will drop you at the city center Vientiane.

Fly Air Asia DMK to Udon Thani, some days they advertise special rates, I paid 610thb plus tax, costing all in 935thb.

You can also check Lao Central Airlines, very good rates but times are weird. Also many other airlines offer direct from LOS to Vientiane.

The following link will take you to Lao Central Airlines:

http://www.flylaocentral.com

Hotels & Vientiane:

Vientiane: I stayed at Lao Golden Hotel; it was ok for the price and a short walk to the consulate. Also the La Ong was next door. Both were very handy for the consulate. I noted some stayed in guesthouses, one called Mixay Paradise, bargain and close to bars etc.

Bars for food and play include the following, Khop Chai Deu, Bor Pen Nyang Bar and the Samlor Pub all were popular. Each offers freelancers, food etc. Beer was cheap, 60thb and food a little more expensive. I had great food at Bor Pen. Women were negotiable and not very attractive. Outside on the waterfront, many lady boys were in view plying their trade. 80thb tuk tuk back to hotel.

Notes:

Tip 3 – CHECK YOUR SCHOOL PAPERS - I will point out that, I paid money for the School to take care of my paperwork, they cocked it up, listing my parents as from Russia, passport number was wrong and even my name spelt incorrectly. I had much Thai paperwork in Thai, I managed to check and change 7 sheets before I departed. I had a copy when I should have had an original letter; luckily the Consulate lady informed me that she would, on this occasion accept my application. I feel this was because I was dressed smartly and gave bags of respect and smiles, or maybe just lucky.

Have a great day.......

[jack244]

Thanks to Ubonjoe and others who answered all my questions last week. Good advice.

[Kimagure]

Thanks, Jack, that was a very informative trip report!

I'll be heading up there in January to get my wife's visa sorted out. Didn't even think of photocopying the Lao visa page. Good point. Thanks!

We'll probably go with Lao Central airline. I've had really good flights with them before, but you're right; their schedule is crazy, and pretty much means we will be in Vientiane for at least 3 nights. It will be a nice relaxing break from BKK.

I also agree with you about the food and beer. The beer prices are really cheap, but the food seemed a lot more expensive than in Bangkok, even at the local places.

Anyway, thanks. We are looking forward to our visa run/get away from Bangkok.

[NomadRip]

I'll give a more thorough report on my experience this trip as well. Great write-up for this. Since you mentioned it in your report, I'll add on about the tourist visas here though.

We were getting Tourist Visas, applying for double-entries. We'd done it there once before after a single entry from elsewhere. We went on a Friday, as we wanted to spend time in Vientiane with friends. Best day to go to avoid the crowds. Nobody wants to have to stay in Vientiane over the weekend, so we were done in about half an hour, and were there about halfway through their open time window (about 10am).

We had a minor issue with the request for double-entry: My guy said they couldn't give me another double-entry again, only a single. After politely asking a couple different ways, he wasn't going to budge. So no problem, and he told me to go in to pay for the single.

My girlfriend was the next number (they'd been open for about 2 hours and our queue numbers were under 50), and she went to the same window. The lady next to the man who helped me looked her paperwork over and said double entry no problem. I was still standing there, he knew we were traveling together, he'd just rejected my double entry, but watched his coworker approve hers as he made a sandwich. It was kind of funny.

No big deal to us. We'll either use her second entry while she shops somewhere on the border trip while I sit at a consulate to get another, or we'll be somewhere else and waste her 2nd entry

Oh, and about that Friday drop off? It took us longer to walk up the driveway than to pick up our passports on Monday. Walked up to open window, handed ticket, handed passport, walked out (after checking to be sure everything was right).

We decided on Lao Central Airline for a cheap flight instead of the overnight train again. We had a nice VAT refund coming if we flew, so it was only slightly more cost and half a day of travel less each way. It wasn't a bad flight other than the odd times. Meal going up was better than the one coming back, but nothing negatively noteworthy otherwise.

[kward]

This is an excellent write-up. Very thorough and accurate. Thank you for posting this.

Personally, I've been doing my visa runs (NON-O) once every three months for the past 10 years in Vientiane. In addition to the OP's post, here are a few bits of advice I can offer:

Check the Calendar for Holidays

Obviously, the Thai consulate is closed on all official Thai holidays, however, this also applies to Lao holidays. Before heading to the embassy, it's a good idea to check the consulate website for any Thai or Lao holidays. Also, as mentioned above, don't rock up on a Friday (or even a Thursday afternoon) to apply for a visa at the consulate unless you don't mind spending the weekend in the city. You won't be able to pick up your visa and passport until the next Monday.

Use US Dollars for your Laos Visa-on-Arrival

If you're planning to get a visa-on-arrival when you first hit Laos, you can pay in either US dollars, Thai baht, or Lao kip. The prices for a VOA are actually listed in USD at the border and airport. The prices also vary depending on the applicant's nationality. For example, a US citizen would be charged $35 for a VOA. However, if paying in baht, that same person would be charged 1,500 THB ($46.00 USD). The exchange rates are waaaaay off and I have no idea where the Lao authorities are getting these numbers. It's been this rate for as long as I can remember though. There actually is an exchange counter at the land border, however its office hours are not always very dependable. It's best to have some cash ready before you hit the border/airport.

Staff at the Thai Consulate in VTE

For at least the past few years now, the main window (where you hand in your documents) has always been staffed by the same two people. One man and one woman who both look as if they're in their mid to late 20s. Neither of them are nasty to deal with, but they are both pretty no-nonsense about their work. They've usually got 200+ applications to review every morning and are just trying to be as efficient and thorough as possible.

From personal experience, I've been submitting virtually the same documents at this window for more than a decade. Usually I'm past the window in less than 30 seconds, sometimes I get a few extra questions ("Do you have the original of this?" "Do you have additional proof of your address in Thailand?" etc.). In general, be polite, be prepared, and use common sense and you should breeze right past them. If you're fluent enough to converse in Thai, put your skills to use here. You'll have very little contact with the staff at the service counter in the consulate itself. All you really do is hand over the fee for your visa and pick up your passport the next day at this counter.

Best Time to Arrive at the Consulate

I was previously of the opinion that it was best to arrive as early as possible and avoid the crowds when applying for or picking up my visa here. Unfortunately, everyone else also seemed to be of that same opinion. I've arrived at the consulate 30 minutes early sometimes to find 20-40 people still ahead of me waiting outside the gate. The backwardness in the logic of waiting 30 minutes in the hot sun outside of a closed building just to avoid waiting an extra 30 minutes inside that building quickly became apparent.

I now reckon it's probably best to rock up around 30-45 minutes AFTER the posted opening hours in the morning. By this time, most of the early birds have been cleared out and most of the people with hangovers from the night before haven't dropped by yet. The consulate staff hasn't dealt with enough people to piss them off by this time, they're just on their second coffee, and getting into their morning groove of application-checking. Afternoon service breezes by much quicker too.

Hope some of this helps in addition to jack244's very good advice above.

[GotR1GHT]

OP can i ask how much was cost of the entire trip+visa costs at the end?

[jack244]

OP can i ask how much was cost of the entire trip+visa costs at the end?

Hi,

Ball park, and your options may be cheaper if you wish, ie. hotels etc.

Transport, Taxi Udon to Bridge 600thb (I was alone)

Laos PDR Visa 1132thb (I changed to dollars before travel, $36 for UK Passport) or 1500thb at Laos Immigration

Friendship Bridge Travel - 20thb (Bus over bridge)

Taxi Bridge to Consulate 1 way - shared taxi, 100thb.

Visa Application (Ed) 2000thb

Consulate to Bridge - 100thb

Friendship Bridge Travel - 20thb (Bus over bridge)

Transport Bridge to Udon (Free lift, could of cost another 600thb or 200thb mini-bus etc)

Samui to DMK, Ferry, Bus Flight - 1700thb - Nok Air

DMK - Udon Thani - 932thb Promo Air Asia

Udon to DMK & DMK to Samui both Air Asia, approx 2900thb

Hotels (I pampered myself) 5500thb Approx

My bill approx 15000thb. On a budget I could of done it for a lot less. I had fun in Udon and enjoyed the trip.