What Time Does The Border Into Savannakhet/Laos Shut Down?

[lostinisaan]

 Hello,

 

         Just received a phone call of a friend, who's on his way to Mukdahan, starting from Sisaket. Does anybody know when they close the boarder to Sawannalhet?

 

Then another serious question. I've seen the Ubon Ratchathani- Sawannakhet bus quite a few times at the bus terminal in Ubon. 

 

  Does this bus also drive on weekends and how often?  My friend just wanted to sleep in Laos to make it to the consulate pretty early.

 

Thanks in advance for any helpful information. 

[lostinisaan]

 Sorry wanted to change it to border...too late.....

[metisdead]

 Sorry wanted to change it to border...too late.....

 

 

Has now been corrected.

[lostinisaan]

 

 Sorry wanted to change it to border...too late.....

 

 

Has now been corrected.

 

 

 Thank you very much!!!!

[SunsetT]

This guide says its open 0600 to 2200:

 

http://www.travelfish.org/location/thailand/northeast_thailand/mukdahan/mukdahan

 

You can always 'google' to find info. like this. Just as I did. I say google as I believe it is the best search engine.

Edited August 3, 2014 by SunsetT

[lostinisaan]

This guide says its open 0600 to 2200:

 

http://www.travelfish.org/location/thailand/northeast_thailand/mukdahan/mukdahan

 

You can always 'google' to find info. like this. Just as I did. I say google as I believe it is the best search engine.

 

 Thanks a lot. Did my search and found the right answer, already forwarded to my friend.

 

   But the Lao border doesn't open before 8 am. 

 

 

      Thanks to you and to the best search engine....

 

 

   But i couldn't find out when the shuttle bus from Ubon Ratchathani's driving to Sawannakhet. 

Edited August 3, 2014 by lostinisaan

[NiwPix]

The question wasn't asked, but I thought I would throw in some "new" information regarding savannakhet.

From reading the visa section here on TV, they do same day visa processing. Go to the Thai consulate in the morning and pick up your visa after 3pm. However, not sure if this applies to every visa or only certain ones.
I will be heading there next week and plan on doing it that way.

Julian


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lostinisaan]

The question wasn't asked, but I thought I would throw in some "new" information regarding savannakhet.

From reading the visa section here on TV, they do same day visa processing. Go to the Thai consulate in the morning and pick up your visa after 3pm. However, not sure if this applies to every visa or only certain ones.
I will be heading there next week and plan on doing it that way.

Julian


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

 

 

       Hi Julian,

 

                 Sorry, had no time to drive to Ubon, as I'd just renewed my visa three months ago, applied for a new provisional TL and will get my work permit tomorrow,

 

It's true that you'll receive your visa now on same day in the afternoon. All types of visas. All nationalities. 

 

Just try to be there early enough, they open their gate at 8.30, but I've heard of crowds of 600 people waiting there, just recently.

 

If you're part of the second/ third round, you might be able to pick your passport up at 4, or 4.30 pm.

 

   Cheers-

[DJH77]

The Bridge shuts at 10pm but on the Lao side the Visa Office closes at about 6pm usually so if you don't already have a visa for Lao i would not leave the  Mukdahan side after about 4.30 or 5 pm.to ensure you don't get stuck on the Lao side and have to return to Mukdahan until the next morning. Also i am not sure but the bus you talk about from Ubon probably links up at Mukdahan Bus Station with the Mukdahan - Savannakhet bus to go over. I have never seen any bus with Ubon - Savannakhet on it going over the bridge. Also i have never seen more than 20 people at the Thai Consulate quewed up to apply for a visa in the past 10 years, so if there are 600 as mentioned on a previous post there must be an awful lot of people getting caught out by the clamp down on visas. 

[puchooay]

The Bridge shuts at 10pm but on the Lao side the Visa Office closes at about 6pm usually so if you don't already have a visa for Lao i would not leave the  Mukdahan side after about 4.30 or 5 pm.to ensure you don't get stuck on the Lao side and have to return to Mukdahan until the next morning. Also i am not sure but the bus you talk about from Ubon probably links up at Mukdahan Bus Station with the Mukdahan - Savannakhet bus to go over. I have never seen any bus with Ubon - Savannakhet on it going over the bridge. Also i have never seen more than 20 people at the Thai Consulate quewed up to apply for a visa in the past 10 years, so if there are 600 as mentioned on a previous post there must be an awful lot of people getting caught out by the clamp down on visas. 

 

There is no link up of buses. You get off what ever bus you are using to get to Mukdahan and then buy a ticket for the bus over the bridge to Savannakhet.

 

I was there last week. Far more people than 20.

 

Nothing to do with people getting caught out either, as 90% of people were Laos people applying for Thai visas. I only saw about 8 westerners.

 

Interesting that the Loas people still have to get a visa to come to Thailand but Thais are allowed to go to Laos without. Will be even more interesting at the end of the year when ASEAN is fully implemented.
 

[DJH77]

 

The Bridge shuts at 10pm but on the Lao side the Visa Office closes at about 6pm usually so if you don't already have a visa for Lao i would not leave the  Mukdahan side after about 4.30 or 5 pm.to ensure you don't get stuck on the Lao side and have to return to Mukdahan until the next morning. Also i am not sure but the bus you talk about from Ubon probably links up at Mukdahan Bus Station with the Mukdahan - Savannakhet bus to go over. I have never seen any bus with Ubon - Savannakhet on it going over the bridge. Also i have never seen more than 20 people at the Thai Consulate quewed up to apply for a visa in the past 10 years, so if there are 600 as mentioned on a previous post there must be an awful lot of people getting caught out by the clamp down on visas. 

 

There is no link up of buses. You get off what ever bus you are using to get to Mukdahan and then buy a ticket for the bus over the bridge to Savannakhet.

 

I was there last week. Far more people than 20.

 

Nothing to do with people getting caught out either, as 90% of people were Laos people applying for Thai visas. I only saw about 8 westerners.

 

Interesting that the Loas people still have to get a visa to come to Thailand but Thais are allowed to go to Laos without. Will be even more interesting at the end of the year when ASEAN is fully implemented.
 

 

Lao people can come over without a visa but can only stay 2 nights i think. If they stay longer they must pay 500 baht overstay per day. Many of these Lao people come by boat, not over the bridge, straight into the Indo-China Market. There are still Cargo boats that run across the river as well as passenger boats which only Thai and Lao people can use. Foreigners must go via the bridge ever since it opened.

[TerryLH]

"Foreigners must go via the bridge ever since it opened."

I crossed by boat and returned by the bridge, but that was a long time ago, but since it first opened.

Something was mentioned in an earlier post, but not stressed.
Apparently the bridge opens earlier than the Lao Visa office, so if you need a visa, and get there too early, you might have to wait a bit to get a visa.

[flattop]

 

 

The Bridge shuts at 10pm but on the Lao side the Visa Office closes at about 6pm usually so if you don't already have a visa for Lao i would not leave the  Mukdahan side after about 4.30 or 5 pm.to ensure you don't get stuck on the Lao side and have to return to Mukdahan until the next morning. Also i am not sure but the bus you talk about from Ubon probably links up at Mukdahan Bus Station with the Mukdahan - Savannakhet bus to go over. I have never seen any bus with Ubon - Savannakhet on it going over the bridge. Also i have never seen more than 20 people at the Thai Consulate quewed up to apply for a visa in the past 10 years, so if there are 600 as mentioned on a previous post there must be an awful lot of people getting caught out by the clamp down on visas. 

 

There is no link up of buses. You get off what ever bus you are using to get to Mukdahan and then buy a ticket for the bus over the bridge to Savannakhet.

 

I was there last week. Far more people than 20.

 

Nothing to do with people getting caught out either, as 90% of people were Laos people applying for Thai visas. I only saw about 8 westerners.

 

Interesting that the Loas people still have to get a visa to come to Thailand but Thais are allowed to go to Laos without. Will be even more interesting at the end of the year when ASEAN is fully implemented.
 

 

Lao people can come over without a visa but can only stay 2 nights i think. If they stay longer they must pay 500 baht overstay per day. Many of these Lao people come by boat, not over the bridge, straight into the Indo-China Market. There are still Cargo boats that run across the river as well as passenger boats which only Thai and Lao people can use. Foreigners must go via the bridge ever since it opened.

 

The 600 could be mostly Vietnamese migrant workers now trying to enter Thailand legally whereas before the post coup immigration clamp down they were pouring over the bridge at Nakhon Phanom (and maybe elsewhere) I suspect illegally. I know this because last Winter on 2 x 60 day visa runs I saw minibuses constantly arriving from Vietnam at Thakhek international bus station carrying organised groups of young Vietnamese on there way to Bangkok to find work. About 200 were waiting for every Thai-Laos bus which arrived every 30 mins rather than the scheduled hourly bus. The bus companies and immigration were really cashing in as it appeared that on top of the purchased bus ticket, the bus drivers were taking 100bt from each migrant as they scrambled to get on the bus. Laos and Thai immigration were also each taking 100bt inside every passport, and on the Nakhon Phanom side they were made to change buses paying another 100bt for the short trip to NP bus station. I counted 120 reboarding my bus at the bridge. Do the maths! Strangely, given the numbers, they seemed to be clearing immigration really quickly. I wonder why!

[flattop]

Further to my post above, I dont know how long the above was or has been going on, but if this is the scale of such activity, I can understand why the current immigration crackdown is happening. I think it has little to do with a few farang coming and going illegally.

 

Moderators feel free to post my info. elsewhere.