Driving from Udon to Chiang Rai via Laos?

[ChaangNoi]

Hi all, not sure if this is the right place to ask but does anyone know if my wife will be able to drive her SUV from Nong Khai into Loas and then exit Laos near Chiang Rai? There are two boarder stops one Huay Xai (Chinese Casino?) and one unnamed in Phayao.

I'm sure she can enter Vientiane as she owns the SUV and has all the correct documents. What I'm not sure about is how far can she enter Laos with the SUV and if she can leave at a place she did not enter.

We want to see Vientiane, Vang Vieng, and Luang Prabang. We will be starting and ending in Chiang Rai but we want to see Udon as well and will drive in Thailand to get there.

Anyway ideas and helpful hints welcome!

Thanks.

[tomtaylor1]

Hi, yes you can drive from Nong khai up through Laos and then cross over into Chiang Kong over the new friend ship bridge, which is adjacent to Huey Xia or take the river ferry at Huey Xia, about 1/500 Baht. As far as I know no ferry crossing is available at the casino for cars but Thai Nationals can cross over by boat to Chiang saen or The Golden Triangle, foreigners cannot.

You will need a passport for your car, insurance can be bought at Vientiane border control, but not on Sundays.

An alternative is, providing you have a good ground clearance on your vehicle, you can drive on the dirt road from after crossing over the friend ship bridge at Chiang Khong to Pak Tha onto Pha Udom to Pak Beng, then on down to Luang Prabang. The route is shown on www.GT-Rider.com Laos map.

Have done this many times in The Jeep Wrangler.

Regards Tom

[cumgranosalum]

OK - quite an easy routs but you need to bear in mind that Laos is quite mountainous and the roads follow the valleys rather than go directly where you want.

From Vientiane, go north to Vang Vieng. After Vang Vieng there is a choice of roads - I think it splits at Kasi - both go to Luang Prabang - the older route is more scenic.

After Luang Prabang, go north to Luang Namtha. After that head South-east along AH£ to Huay Xai border - Friendship Bridge 4 is quite new and wasn’t at all crowded when I last crossed it about a year ago.

This brings you into Thailand just North of Chiang Mai.

You should have no problems with an SUV, but the roads can vary from season to season. When I drove from Luang Namtha to Chiang Rai last time the road was an excellent - Chinese built? - two lane highway.. Some of the other roads had lost their asphalt surfaces for stretches, but a bit of rain will keep the dust down, but make you glad of 4WD.

[ChaangNoi]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.

The Laos map gets me a 404 error here http://www.gt-rider.com/maps-of-thailand-laos-maps The map I used before was just from google earth and pretty much follows the path cumgranosalum suggested.

I'm going to head to Central in a day or so and get some sort of GPS unit as well. Better safe than sorry:)

The SUV is a 4x4 Ford Everest. It has decent ground clearance. I assume diesel is pretty easy to get? I wish I had your Jeep, it really is too bad they cost so much here in Thailand.

[cumgranosalum]

My experience is that Google has no voice-over in Laos. I used "OSMand" on my tablet which worked fine. You can get a Laos SIM card sorted - best to go to the head office is Vientiane, but can be sorted elsewhere. Laos has good 3G with surprisingly good coverage

[ChaangNoi]

Yeah, I'm shocked Laos has decent 3G but I might get a GPS unit anyway as I will be traveling in Europe and Latin America soon. Too many SIM cards:)

[Tomtomtom69]

Just came back fLaosa business trip to Laos. Drove my pickup truck in (actually it's technically my fiancees's truck as it's in her name as we originally bought the truck on finance using her employment details) but with a power of attorney I could bring it across myself. Went through the new phu doo crossing out through Vientiane to nong Khai.

No problems crossing back into Thailand at any Thai-Lao international crossing but not the golden triangle crossing since there's no vehicle ferry there. Instead of the Chiang khong crossing an alternative is Thung Chang in Nan province. Ban Huak in Phayao won't work yet as it's neither an international crossing yet nor will they be set up for stamping car import/export documents. In the near future yes but not now. Insurance is available at all border crossings or in nearby towns. Driving is on the right so be careful when passing. Otherwise enjoy your trip.

[ChaangNoi]

Something I just thought of, will the international boarders be open on Songkran?

Also will Huey Xia be open on the Sunday before Songkran (the 12th) ?

Thanks

[ChaangNoi]

As far as I can tell the Huey Xai border will be open every day even Sundays and Songkran from 6am to 10pm. If anyone could confirm that would be awesome.

Also can anyone give me a good estimation of how long it will take us to get all the paper work for the visa and the "car passport" on both sides of the boarder at Nong Khai? Is this like a 2 hour event or an all day event? We have a Thai car owned by a Thai and also farang. One of the Thai only has a ID card and no passport. The car owner has a passport.

Thank you.

[ChaangNoi]

"The road from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang is poorly maintained, remote, unlit, unmarked and dangerous for the unfamiliar, particularly in the wet season. Buses regularly travel the route in 14–16 hours."

Google map shows this as being 6 hours 45 mins. Who is correct?

[Tomtomtom69]

As far as I can tell the Huey Xai border will be open every day even Sundays and Songkran from 6am to 10pm. If anyone could confirm that would be awesome.

Also can anyone give me a good estimation of how long it will take us to get all the paper work for the visa and the "car passport" on both sides of the boarder at Nong Khai? Is this like a 2 hour event or an all day event? We have a Thai car owned by a Thai and also farang. One of the Thai only has a ID card and no passport. The car owner has a passport.

Thank you.

Every Thai-Lao border crossing is open daily with the exception of 1) the Sri Chiang Mai to Vientiane passenger crossing that apparently only opens 2 days a week and 2) the lonely Beung Kan-Paksan crossing, which is closed on Sundays, although you may still be able to cross then if you are willing to charter a vehicle or passenger ferry (in case you aren't bringing over a vehicle) and are willing to pay the overtime fees and wait a long time, especially on the Lao side.

The 4th Friendship Bridge crossing is indeed open from 6am to 10pm, in line with the other 3 Friendship Bridges.

Car passport should only take an hour or two, depends on how many people are at the Land Transport Department at the same time.

I would recommend getting it only in the province in which the car is registered, otherwise it may take a whole lot longer than just a couple of hours. I have heard that border provinces will happily do it for out of province vehicles, but I wouldn't recommend it as they may need to co-ordinate with the home province and therefore it could take a couple of days or more. Of course, if your vehicle happens to be registered in Nong Khai then you are good to go.

The owner of the vehicle does not need a passport to get a car passport, they are completely separate issues. You will need a power of attorney from the owner to bring the vehicle across to Laos and it needs to state that travel to Laos is authorised. A vehicle owned by a foreigner will most likely need another address verification other than a Tabien Ban, unless of course said foreigner is actually listed on a Tabien Ban. Most however are not, and therefore an address verification from the embassy or immigration will be required and this would make it more time consuming and difficult to do in Nong Khai for a foreigner as no foreign embassies or consulates are located nearby.

Once all your documents are in order, crossing the border won't take too long but the Nong Khai-Vientiane crossing is busy and can take a while to cross in a vehicle, particularly in the direction of Laos to Thailand. It's best to avoid Friday evenings and weekends. My recommendation for crossing is either early morning (6am to 8am) or mid to late evening (7pm to 10pm).

The last time I crossed from Chiang Khong to Huay Xai the bridge wasn't open yet. I believe it is much less busy than Nong Khai/Vientiane, but during Songkran it could get busy as these days apart from local traffic increasing number of Chinese registered private vehicles cross over there especially during holiday periods, as it's one of two land borders where they are allowed to cross by car (the other being Nong Khai/Vientiane).

[cumgranosalum]

As far as I can tell the Huey Xai border will be open every day even Sundays and Songkran from 6am to 10pm. If anyone could confirm that would be awesome.

Also can anyone give me a good estimation of how long it will take us to get all the paper work for the visa and the "car passport" on both sides of the boarder at Nong Khai? Is this like a 2 hour event or an all day event? We have a Thai car owned by a Thai and also farang. One of the Thai only has a ID card and no passport. The car owner has a passport.

Thank you.

So long as you have all your docs, it can be so quick, you get the feeling they've forgotten something. I normally think it takes 30 min to an hour to clear - about the longest is waiting for your passports to appear on the VoA window..

the first time you show up with a Car passport, I think you ave to go to an extra window which might take a little longer.

As pointed out, holiday traffic may make it longer.

i crossed Friendship 4 into Thailand on Boxing Day 2013 and there were only about 2 other vehicles there.......over in a flash!

PS - i'm wondering if there is a limit to how (or where) long a Thai person can enter on an ID card.

[cumgranosalum]

"The road from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang is poorly maintained, remote, unlit, unmarked and dangerous for the unfamiliar, particularly in the wet season. Buses regularly travel the route in 14–16 hours."

Google map shows this as being 6 hours 45 mins. Who is correct?

Where did the former quote come from? you need to check dtes on condition reports as the roads can change from season to season

it also depends on which road they are talking about - I doubt if it's the one via Luang Namtha.

[Tomtomtom69]

"The road from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang is poorly maintained, remote, unlit, unmarked and dangerous for the unfamiliar, particularly in the wet season. Buses regularly travel the route in 14–16 hours."

Google map shows this as being 6 hours 45 mins. Who is correct?

Google maps is a bit optimistic I guess but if you're familiar with mountainous roads and take great care you shouldn't take too much longer than this. In some places there will be a bend every 50m or so and that for like 200km so be prepared. It's a completely different experience to driving on fairly straight Thai roads.

Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha took me 2h45m in 2013 along an excellent joint Thai-Chinese built road. The distance between the two is about 200km but if you're coming from the bridge, which is south of Huay Xai there is no need to enter town at all so you can save 10-15m and a few km and head directly to LNT in about 2h30m or similarly if coming from the other direction.

Luang Nam Tha to Udom Xai via Na Teuy, just 20km south of the Chinese border at Boten is around about 120km I think and should take around 2 hours at most (90 minutes on average I'd say), again along a pretty good though somewhat narrower and winding road. The Boten-Na Teuy-Udomxai section, total 99km is Chinese built and features a drainage canal for rainwater on the mountain side but unfortunately no overtaking/passing lanes, probably to save money, which makes overtaking more difficult. Fortunately traffic is quite light but if you're stuck behind a truck or bus, well, just keep trailing because you won't have enough visibility for overtaking.

From Udomxai to Luang Prabang is 200km and takes up to 4 hours. By this time you're travelling on "real" Lao roads with lots of broken sections but for the most part the road is in decent condition, especially the last 50km into Luang Prabang, which are straighter and going along the Mekong. So a total travel time of perhaps 8h30m or so is what I'd estimate for the entire Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (or Friendship Bridge) sector, going in either direction.

I wouldn't recommend travelling at night, although I happened to travel parts of the Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha and Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai sectors at night and it was OK, but perhaps only because those sectors are in great condition, feature reflective lighting and in the case of the HX to LNT sector, is quite wide with decent shoulders. Travelling south of Udomxai to Luang Prabang at night is not recommended due to unpredictable road conditions, poor lighting and wild animals/people crossing the road at night.

Take your corners carefully and always stay in your lane. Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it. Always remember where you are (just tell yourself in Lao keep RIGHT) and don't make that stupid Thai "mistake" of trying to cut corners on winding roads by ignoring lane markings (which are actually rare on most Lao roads anyway) and drifting half way into the other lane as a head on collision will be all but unavoidable if you do. Unlike in Thailand you rarely have shoulders so if you drift even a short distance into the wrong lane and a massive Thai, Chinese, Lao or Vietnamese truck comes the other way, well then your trip will end prematurely to say the least.

[ChaangNoi]

Thanks for all the tips guys. This is helping me plan this out better.

Okay, the car is owned by my Thai wife and is registered in Chiang Rai. We wish to enter Laos in Nong Khai and come back to Thailand in Chiang Rai. Should we try to get the "car passport" done in Chiang Rai before we go to Nong Khai? Honestly if this is an option I will do it as it will be better for all of us to have it done here rather than Nong Khai. We will be traveling with young children so any type of short cut would be great.

[cumgranosalum]

"The road from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang is poorly maintained, remote, unlit, unmarked and dangerous for the unfamiliar, particularly in the wet season. Buses regularly travel the route in 14–16 hours."

Google map shows this as being 6 hours 45 mins. Who is correct?

Google maps is a bit optimistic I guess but if you're familiar with mountainous roads and take great care you shouldn't take too much longer than this. In some places there will be a bend every 50m or so and that for like 200km so be prepared. It's a completely different experience to driving on fairly straight Thai roads.

Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha took me 2h45m in 2013 along an excellent joint Thai-Chinese built road. The distance between the two is about 200km but if you're coming from the bridge, which is south of Huay Xai there is no need to enter town at all so you can save 10-15m and a few km and head directly to LNT in about 2h30m or similarly if coming from the other direction.

Luang Nam Tha to Udom Xai via Na Teuy, just 20km south of the Chinese border at Boten is around about 120km I think and should take around 2 hours at most (90 minutes on average I'd say), again along a pretty good though somewhat narrower and winding road. The Boten-Na Teuy-Udomxai section, total 99km is Chinese built and features a drainage canal for rainwater on the mountain side but unfortunately no overtaking/passing lanes, probably to save money, which makes overtaking more difficult. Fortunately traffic is quite light but if you're stuck behind a truck or bus, well, just keep trailing because you won't have enough visibility for overtaking.

From Udomxai to Luang Prabang is 200km and takes up to 4 hours. By this time you're travelling on "real" Lao roads with lots of broken sections but for the most part the road is in decent condition, especially the last 50km into Luang Prabang, which are straighter and going along the Mekong. So a total travel time of perhaps 8h30m or so is what I'd estimate for the entire Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (or Friendship Bridge) sector, going in either direction.

I wouldn't recommend travelling at night, although I happened to travel parts of the Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha and Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai sectors at night and it was OK, but perhaps only because those sectors are in great condition, feature reflective lighting and in the case of the HX to LNT sector, is quite wide with decent shoulders. Travelling south of Udomxai to Luang Prabang at night is not recommended due to unpredictable road conditions, poor lighting and wild animals/people crossing the road at night.

Take your corners carefully and always stay in your lane. Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it. Always remember where you are (just tell yourself in Lao keep RIGHT) and don't make that stupid Thai "mistake" of trying to cut corners on winding roads by ignoring lane markings (which are actually rare on most Lao roads anyway) and drifting half way into the other lane as a head on collision will be all but unavoidable if you do. Unlike in Thailand you rarely have shoulders so if you drift even a short distance into the wrong lane and a massive Thai, Chinese, Lao or Vietnamese truck comes the other way, well then your trip will end prematurely to say the least.

I agree basically with this post...BUT one point about RHD....

"Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it" visibility is actually BETTER on windy roads on left hand turns and on the edge of roads with steep drops on the right - again especially on a left-hand bend This is why in many mountainous countries trucks are often the opposite to the norm.

If you are not used to driving RHD on DoL roads then remember you (the DRIVER) should be near the curb

[cumgranosalum]

Thanks for all the tips guys. This is helping me plan this out better.

Okay, the car is owned by my Thai wife and is registered in Chiang Rai. We wish to enter Laos in Nong Khai and come back to Thailand in Chiang Rai. Should we try to get the "car passport" done in Chiang Rai before we go to Nong Khai? Honestly if this is an option I will do it as it will be better for all of us to have it done here rather than Nong Khai. We will be traveling with young children so any type of short cut would be great.

"car passport" - is the "purple book" - without a doubt it is best to get it from your local DoLT.

At my local dept, it took less than 2 hours.

You will need a proof of address from immigration amongst the car documents.

The cost of the purple book is about 200 or 250 baht...BUT my local immigration charge about 800 baht for the letter confirming my address - cheeky buggers!

the book is valid for a year and after that requires a new stamp inside.

[Tomtomtom69]

"The road from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang is poorly maintained, remote, unlit, unmarked and dangerous for the unfamiliar, particularly in the wet season. Buses regularly travel the route in 14–16 hours."

Google map shows this as being 6 hours 45 mins. Who is correct?

Google maps is a bit optimistic I guess but if you're familiar with mountainous roads and take great care you shouldn't take too much longer than this. In some places there will be a bend every 50m or so and that for like 200km so be prepared. It's a completely different experience to driving on fairly straight Thai roads.

Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha took me 2h45m in 2013 along an excellent joint Thai-Chinese built road. The distance between the two is about 200km but if you're coming from the bridge, which is south of Huay Xai there is no need to enter town at all so you can save 10-15m and a few km and head directly to LNT in about 2h30m or similarly if coming from the other direction.

Luang Nam Tha to Udom Xai via Na Teuy, just 20km south of the Chinese border at Boten is around about 120km I think and should take around 2 hours at most (90 minutes on average I'd say), again along a pretty good though somewhat narrower and winding road. The Boten-Na Teuy-Udomxai section, total 99km is Chinese built and features a drainage canal for rainwater on the mountain side but unfortunately no overtaking/passing lanes, probably to save money, which makes overtaking more difficult. Fortunately traffic is quite light but if you're stuck behind a truck or bus, well, just keep trailing because you won't have enough visibility for overtaking.

From Udomxai to Luang Prabang is 200km and takes up to 4 hours. By this time you're travelling on "real" Lao roads with lots of broken sections but for the most part the road is in decent condition, especially the last 50km into Luang Prabang, which are straighter and going along the Mekong. So a total travel time of perhaps 8h30m or so is what I'd estimate for the entire Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (or Friendship Bridge) sector, going in either direction.

I wouldn't recommend travelling at night, although I happened to travel parts of the Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha and Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai sectors at night and it was OK, but perhaps only because those sectors are in great condition, feature reflective lighting and in the case of the HX to LNT sector, is quite wide with decent shoulders. Travelling south of Udomxai to Luang Prabang at night is not recommended due to unpredictable road conditions, poor lighting and wild animals/people crossing the road at night.

Take your corners carefully and always stay in your lane. Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it. Always remember where you are (just tell yourself in Lao keep RIGHT) and don't make that stupid Thai "mistake" of trying to cut corners on winding roads by ignoring lane markings (which are actually rare on most Lao roads anyway) and drifting half way into the other lane as a head on collision will be all but unavoidable if you do. Unlike in Thailand you rarely have shoulders so if you drift even a short distance into the wrong lane and a massive Thai, Chinese, Lao or Vietnamese truck comes the other way, well then your trip will end prematurely to say the least.

I agree basically with this post...BUT one point about RHD....

"Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it" visibility is actually BETTER on windy roads on left hand turns and on the edge of roads with steep drops on the right - again especially on a left-hand bend This is why in many mountainous countries trucks are often the opposite to the norm.

If you are not used to driving RHD on DoL roads then remember you (the DRIVER) should be near the curb

In many ways you are very right. Anyway, I had no problems driving my RHD Thai pickup truck in Laos this past week. Will be doing it again next month and quite often from now on due to a new business in Laos. Good thing I got the 1 year Lao car insurance - in fact that seemed to be the only option available when I purchased it at the bank anyway.

[Tomtomtom69]

Thanks for all the tips guys. This is helping me plan this out better.

Okay, the car is owned by my Thai wife and is registered in Chiang Rai. We wish to enter Laos in Nong Khai and come back to Thailand in Chiang Rai. Should we try to get the "car passport" done in Chiang Rai before we go to Nong Khai? Honestly if this is an option I will do it as it will be better for all of us to have it done here rather than Nong Khai. We will be traveling with young children so any type of short cut would be great.

"car passport" - is the "purple book" - without a doubt it is best to get it from your local DoLT.

At my local dept, it took less than 2 hours.

You will need a proof of address from immigration amongst the car documents.

The cost of the purple book is about 200 or 250 baht...BUT my local immigration charge about 800 baht for the letter confirming my address - cheeky buggers!

the book is valid for a year and after that requires a new stamp inside.

Yep, so get it from Chiang Rai before going to Nong Khai, much easier that way.

Purple book costs only 50 Baht plus a 5 Baht processing fee BUT they will probably want to sell you some international licence plates that you don't need for an additional 200 Baht, plus 20 Baht for a translation of your registration so the total will be 275 Baht. The validity date is until your next road tax renewal date. You can renew the book twice, one year at a time after that before requiring a new book. Best would be the get the booklet at the same time you renew your road tax, to ensure the longest validity. If you only have like a month or two left before your road tax expires, you might as well renew it first before applying for the permit as otherwise you'd have to go in again to renew the booklet, which would suck.

Each border checkpoint seems to stamp differently - some of the smaller checkpoints will stamp a Thai entry or exit stamp along with a customs one, while the Lao one will do the same. Nong Khai however stamps one customs entry stamp only, while the Lao side places two stamps.

The procedure is similar for Lao cars using their yellow international transport permit booklets, which are also valid for Vietnam.

[ChaangNoi]

Okay awesome help guys, thanks. I would have had no idea to get the purple book here in CR. So much better this way.

Can someone tell me what I will need to do once I get to Nong Khai or will it be as simple as just go to the bridge with all the passports and books and get in the car line?

Thanks

[cumgranosalum]

"The road from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang is poorly maintained, remote, unlit, unmarked and dangerous for the unfamiliar, particularly in the wet season. Buses regularly travel the route in 14–16 hours."

Google map shows this as being 6 hours 45 mins. Who is correct?

Google maps is a bit optimistic I guess but if you're familiar with mountainous roads and take great care you shouldn't take too much longer than this. In some places there will be a bend every 50m or so and that for like 200km so be prepared. It's a completely different experience to driving on fairly straight Thai roads.

Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha took me 2h45m in 2013 along an excellent joint Thai-Chinese built road. The distance between the two is about 200km but if you're coming from the bridge, which is south of Huay Xai there is no need to enter town at all so you can save 10-15m and a few km and head directly to LNT in about 2h30m or similarly if coming from the other direction.

Luang Nam Tha to Udom Xai via Na Teuy, just 20km south of the Chinese border at Boten is around about 120km I think and should take around 2 hours at most (90 minutes on average I'd say), again along a pretty good though somewhat narrower and winding road. The Boten-Na Teuy-Udomxai section, total 99km is Chinese built and features a drainage canal for rainwater on the mountain side but unfortunately no overtaking/passing lanes, probably to save money, which makes overtaking more difficult. Fortunately traffic is quite light but if you're stuck behind a truck or bus, well, just keep trailing because you won't have enough visibility for overtaking.

From Udomxai to Luang Prabang is 200km and takes up to 4 hours. By this time you're travelling on "real" Lao roads with lots of broken sections but for the most part the road is in decent condition, especially the last 50km into Luang Prabang, which are straighter and going along the Mekong. So a total travel time of perhaps 8h30m or so is what I'd estimate for the entire Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (or Friendship Bridge) sector, going in either direction.

I wouldn't recommend travelling at night, although I happened to travel parts of the Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha and Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai sectors at night and it was OK, but perhaps only because those sectors are in great condition, feature reflective lighting and in the case of the HX to LNT sector, is quite wide with decent shoulders. Travelling south of Udomxai to Luang Prabang at night is not recommended due to unpredictable road conditions, poor lighting and wild animals/people crossing the road at night.

Take your corners carefully and always stay in your lane. Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it. Always remember where you are (just tell yourself in Lao keep RIGHT) and don't make that stupid Thai "mistake" of trying to cut corners on winding roads by ignoring lane markings (which are actually rare on most Lao roads anyway) and drifting half way into the other lane as a head on collision will be all but unavoidable if you do. Unlike in Thailand you rarely have shoulders so if you drift even a short distance into the wrong lane and a massive Thai, Chinese, Lao or Vietnamese truck comes the other way, well then your trip will end prematurely to say the least.

I agree basically with this post...BUT one point about RHD....

"Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it" visibility is actually BETTER on windy roads on left hand turns and on the edge of roads with steep drops on the right - again especially on a left-hand bend This is why in many mountainous countries trucks are often the opposite to the norm.

If you are not used to driving RHD on DoL roads then remember you (the DRIVER) should be near the curb

In many ways you are very right. Anyway, I had no problems driving my RHD Thai pickup truck in Laos this past week. Will be doing it again next month and quite often from now on due to a new business in Laos. Good thing I got the 1 year Lao car insurance - in fact that seemed to be the only option available when I purchased it at the bank anyway.

My one year insurance lapsed....but I only went in a couple of times last year and a short run at New Year.

Yes I remember paying 50 baht now when I got the Malaysia docs, they gave me a new book. - the number-plates I bought for Malaysia were no good - I still had to buy the stick on type at the Malaysian border . To be clear -THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED for Laos.

as for driving on "the wrong side" - I've driven all over Europe in RHD and all over UK in LHD and can't really say that it is a huge bother.

If you are worried about pulling out from behind a vehicle into the oncoming traffic....just keep an eye on your passengers face - if it starts to look like the Scream by Edvard Munch then pull back in again ....... (joke).............

[Tomtomtom69]

Google maps is a bit optimistic I guess but if you're familiar with mountainous roads and take great care you shouldn't take too much longer than this. In some places there will be a bend every 50m or so and that for like 200km so be prepared. It's a completely different experience to driving on fairly straight Thai roads.

Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha took me 2h45m in 2013 along an excellent joint Thai-Chinese built road. The distance between the two is about 200km but if you're coming from the bridge, which is south of Huay Xai there is no need to enter town at all so you can save 10-15m and a few km and head directly to LNT in about 2h30m or similarly if coming from the other direction.

Luang Nam Tha to Udom Xai via Na Teuy, just 20km south of the Chinese border at Boten is around about 120km I think and should take around 2 hours at most (90 minutes on average I'd say), again along a pretty good though somewhat narrower and winding road. The Boten-Na Teuy-Udomxai section, total 99km is Chinese built and features a drainage canal for rainwater on the mountain side but unfortunately no overtaking/passing lanes, probably to save money, which makes overtaking more difficult. Fortunately traffic is quite light but if you're stuck behind a truck or bus, well, just keep trailing because you won't have enough visibility for overtaking.

From Udomxai to Luang Prabang is 200km and takes up to 4 hours. By this time you're travelling on "real" Lao roads with lots of broken sections but for the most part the road is in decent condition, especially the last 50km into Luang Prabang, which are straighter and going along the Mekong. So a total travel time of perhaps 8h30m or so is what I'd estimate for the entire Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (or Friendship Bridge) sector, going in either direction.

I wouldn't recommend travelling at night, although I happened to travel parts of the Huay Xai to Luang Nam Tha and Luang Nam Tha to Udomxai sectors at night and it was OK, but perhaps only because those sectors are in great condition, feature reflective lighting and in the case of the HX to LNT sector, is quite wide with decent shoulders. Travelling south of Udomxai to Luang Prabang at night is not recommended due to unpredictable road conditions, poor lighting and wild animals/people crossing the road at night.

Take your corners carefully and always stay in your lane. Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it. Always remember where you are (just tell yourself in Lao keep RIGHT) and don't make that stupid Thai "mistake" of trying to cut corners on winding roads by ignoring lane markings (which are actually rare on most Lao roads anyway) and drifting half way into the other lane as a head on collision will be all but unavoidable if you do. Unlike in Thailand you rarely have shoulders so if you drift even a short distance into the wrong lane and a massive Thai, Chinese, Lao or Vietnamese truck comes the other way, well then your trip will end prematurely to say the least.

I agree basically with this post...BUT one point about RHD....

"Since your steering wheel will be on the opposite side of the car for the side of the road you are driving on, visibility will be reduced but it's not particularly difficult if you are careful and you'll soon get used to it" visibility is actually BETTER on windy roads on left hand turns and on the edge of roads with steep drops on the right - again especially on a left-hand bend This is why in many mountainous countries trucks are often the opposite to the norm.

If you are not used to driving RHD on DoL roads then remember you (the DRIVER) should be near the curb

In many ways you are very right. Anyway, I had no problems driving my RHD Thai pickup truck in Laos this past week. Will be doing it again next month and quite often from now on due to a new business in Laos. Good thing I got the 1 year Lao car insurance - in fact that seemed to be the only option available when I purchased it at the bank anyway.

My one year insurance lapsed....but I only went in a couple of times last year and a short run at New Year.

Yes I remember paying 50 baht now when I got the Malaysia docs, they gave me a new book. - the number-plates I bought for Malaysia were no good - I still had to buy the stick on type at the Malaysian border . To be clear -THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED for Laos.

as for driving on "the wrong side" - I've driven all over Europe in RHD and all over UK in LHD and can't really say that it is a huge bother.

If you are worried about pulling out from behind a vehicle into the oncoming traffic....just keep an eye on your passengers face - if it starts to look like the Scream by Edvard Munch then pull back in again ....... (joke).............

To be honest the "international" number plates seem to be some kind of a scam, because no country that Thai cars can enter require them and one of them (Malaysia) expressly forbids them! So while I paid for and will pick mine up, I doubt I'll ever use them. No idea why some Thais entering Laos use them, as they aren't required! It would be a waste of time and money buying and carrying around a screwdriver to undo my existing plates and screw on the international ones when I enter Laos when Laos has no such requirement, and they can read Thai anyway!

The international plates might have been issued at a time the Thai DLT claimed that an agreement was reached with countries like Vietnam on allowing Thai cars in and vice versa, but as most of us who know the rules know, Vietnam has never allowed Thai cars in (and vice versa) and there are no indications that this will change anytime soon. Even if it did, since Lao cars never have anything but Lao plates when driving in Vietnam, there's again absolutely no reason why Thai cars would need to change their plates if they could enter Vietnam, so again a mute point. Similarly for China, Lao plated vehicles driving in Yunnan (where they're allowed in) always have Lao plates only.

On another matter, if you add another name to the registration of your car, would you need to get a new purple book or can it be amended to show both names?

[ChaangNoi]

Okay awesome help guys, thanks. I would have had no idea to get the purple book here in CR. So much better this way.

Can someone tell me what I will need to do once I get to Nong Khai or will it be as simple as just go to the bridge with all the passports and books and get in the car line?

Thanks

Going to repost this as I have never done it before. Any help would be great. Thx

[ChaangNoi]

My wife went and got the purple book and everything went fine other than that it took 24 hours (not a big deal cuz we went before our trip) but they did forget to give us the sticker.

I asked my wife for the sticker and she was like what are you talking about? Had her call back and yeah they forgot. I'm not really sure what they are used for and if they are needed but I would not have known if not for the info in the thread.

Thx

[cumgranosalum]

My wife went and got the purple book and everything went fine other than that it took 24 hours (not a big deal cuz we went before our trip) but they did forget to give us the sticker.

I asked my wife for the sticker and she was like what are you talking about? Had her call back and yeah they forgot. I'm not really sure what they are used for and if they are needed but I would not have known if not for the info in the thread.

Thx

I renewed my purple book on Monday; took less than an hour and cost 25 baht.

I have a "T" sticker on the back of the car, but I didn't put one on the front as in most countries it either isn't required or isn't enforced and there isn't anywhere to put it. If someone complained, I guess I'd rest on in the cab on the windshield.

I got my threads crossed the other day - and thought they'd closed this one........... I did ask when you were going, as I intend to cross the border at Vientiane on 11 or 12 April.

BTW - there is an insurance shop directly after you go through the Laos barriers after clearing. You can stop outside it and they will sort your insurance - you get a little yellow sticker to put on the windshield - the sticker is probably the mostr valuable part of the deal, as for about 300 baht per week, I can't see it giving much real cover.

Years back I did get my Thai insurance company to extend the cover to Laos a couple of times, but eventually they refused.........you might try asking your company. One can but ask!

[ChaangNoi]

Oh, so it is just that big T sticker, well that is not a big deal I hope. I'll still pick it up anyway.

I don't know why it took them 24 hours for the book but it was not a big deal as we had time.

They did not mention anything about new plates. Should I even bother getting them ever?

Also we will cross in Laos around the 7th or so. By the time you get in, if all goes well we will be in north Laos.

[ChaangNoi]

I would like to double check on this, my wife saw on some Thai website that to bring the SUV into Laos she would need to bring her house book. Is that correct? Just the purple book and her Thai ID is fine correct?

Thanks

[cumgranosalum]

I would like to double check on this, my wife saw on some Thai website that to bring the SUV into Laos she would need to bring her house book. Is that correct? Just the purple book and her Thai ID is fine correct?

Thanks

Don't know - I have never crossed with a Thai person without a passport.

Why not bring it just in case?

BTW on arrival at the Thai border there are a couple of forms to fill out..... they are probably lying on a table in the open, or just ask someone in one of the kiosks.

They require things like engine/chassis numbers - this is all in the blue book.

and details of passengers and drivers.

I find it all very confusing but normally the Thai officials point me to the next kiosk.

As I'm perpetually confused by all this, i nose-park my car in the lay-by in front of the customs area and walk about doing my stuff, then return and drive the car through and over the bridge. (make sure you follow the signs for private vehicles.....

Once over the bridge you'll see the lane marked for private vehicles ...park up and get your Laos visa on arrival....when you have done that, it is again a case of visiting 2 or 3 windows in kiosks until someone says "OK"/..."Go to Laos" - I've always found the officials to be helpful in telling me which window to use.

after all that I pick up my insurance in the Yellow office on the right just after going through the barrier. ten KEEP RIGHT and follow the road to Vientiane - not far [20 km?] or thereabouts.

[cumgranosalum]

Oh, so it is just that big T sticker, well that is not a big deal I hope. I'll still pick it up anyway.

I don't know why it took them 24 hours for the book but it was not a big deal as we had time.

They did not mention anything about new plates. Should I even bother getting them ever?

Also we will cross in Laos around the 7th or so. By the time you get in, if all goes well we will be in north Laos.

Don't bother with the number plates - you don't need them for Laos and Malaysia has their own they stick on for you....you may notice a few cars driving around Thailand with what looks like an old UK black and white numberplate stuck on the front and the back. i leave mine on so everyone knows I've been to Malaysia!!!

have a good trip.....

[ChaangNoi]

Again thanks for the info. My wife will have the passport, her car blue book and the purple book. But will she need her house register book as well? A Thai website told her she does need it however that seems a bit much.