The advantage of living in the VTE area is you are right near the border. When I stayed in Lao I would do the 30 visa run and included a trip to the Nong Khai Tesco to stock up on things not available in Lao, so that would (sort of) make the day trip something to look forward to. The visa extension was US$2 per day last I got one.

A few changes in the past ten years: quaint old buildings from the colonial era have been torn down and replaced with Brave New World architecture. Guest houses and hotels that had been catering to backpackers via being mentioned in Lonely Planet now are serving Chinese and Korean tourists (lovely bunch they, no?) and I suspect they are paying more than the backpackers did. I would suspect that online booking helped facilitate this change.

The advantage of living in the VTE area is you are right near the border. When I stayed in Lao I would do the 30 visa run and included a trip to the Nong Khai Tesco to stock up on things not available in Lao, so that would (sort of) make the day trip something to look forward to. The visa extension was US$2 per day last I got one.

A few changes in the past ten years: quaint old buildings from the colonial era have been torn down and replaced with Brave New World architecture. Guest houses and hotels that had been catering to backpackers via being mentioned in Lonely Planet now are serving Chinese and Korean tourists (lovely bunch they, no?) and I suspect they are paying more than the backpackers did. I would suspect that online booking helped facilitate this change.

I remember the Red Mekong in a beautiful old colonial mansion on one of my first visits to Vientiane,towards the end of the riverside and the Police Station,torn down and some ugly new building like a mini shopping centre in its place,shocking!

I cant believe nobody has mentioned the goats!

Thailand has dogs running round everywhere, and Laos has goats running around everywhere, which is much nicer.

I have been to Laos many times, and I tend to agree with a lot of the comments here about the people and food, plus the fact they have some casinos.

The only things I didn't like about Laos, was the 1500 baht for a visa which uses up a whole passport page, and the fact that they drive on the right.

Pay in dollars next time.

Pay in dollars next time.

I always do this,the last time they caught me out was for the extra USD $1 for a late crossing after 4 or 5pm I think?I asked the Lao immigration guy how much the USD $1 was in Thai Baht and he said something like 40 or 50 Baht!

The real rate was about 30 Baht then but I just laughed and handed it over,as the immigration officer laughed along with me,TiL,This is Laos!

I don't understand why this pro-Laos thread has to be a mutually bash-Thailand thread?  It's like saying Austria is great, and Germany sucks, or Canada is amazing, but the USA sucks.  They aren't ALL that different from each other.

 

Not to bash-Laos at all, but to balance the thread out a bit...it's not that exciting or interesting?  Laos is a sleepy little place...somewhat like being in a random small (but nice and boring) small town anywhere in Southeast Asia.  Sure, that's nice...but there are a lot of places like that.  Laos doesn't have a monopoly on boring, nice, and quiet.

The amount of rubbish thrown down the banks of the Mekong in Vientiane is quite disgusting. I really find it a put-off from walking along the river at sunset. And all that plastic is going to end up being carried out to sea when the next high water comes.

 

It's such a no-brainer for the authorities to clean up the environment and promote tourism....but it ain't happening.

 

I have now gone off Laos, I can see all the rubbish I want in Pattaya.

12 minutes ago, rak sa_ngop said:

The amount of rubbish thrown down the banks of the Mekong in Vientiane is quite disgusting. I really find it a put-off from walking along the river at sunset. And all that plastic is going to end up being carried out to sea when the next high water comes.

yes, similar to India, Pakistan, Kenya, Cairo, Philippines, Haiti, Vietnam, Bangladesh and many other places.

On 08/07/2016 at 3:16 AM, anotheruser said:

Laos is more expensive than Thailand but it can't really be compared on that level. You can buy a 200 Baht shirt in Thailand or a 200,000 Baht shirt at a Prada shop. In Laos there is little to consume. It is possible to live cheaper in Thailand on a bare bones budget eating only street food, but I think for anybody doing mid range Laos will cost less per day. I bleed money in Thailand. Even on the tighest budget the difference between 60 Baht noodles in Thailand and 20,000 Kip noodles on the street isn't going to add up much in a day. On the high end of the spectrum we all know which would be more.

Accommodation 2 to 3 times higher? Where do you think this is? You can really stay in Lao on the same budget as in Thailand but I will admit at the very top things are very expensive or they won't be as luxurious as Thailand. Your 1,000 Baht room probably won't have room service and a pool. If you are slumming it again there will be very little difference in price or conditions. You could probably spend less on Khao San but the 6 bedroom imperial pool villa suite in Phuket would dwarf even the most expensive rooms in Laos. Laos doesn't have the extreme top or bottom end of the spectrum. The $3 more on a $30 to $35 room will be offset if you drink two large Beer Lao.

Western food i think is about the same in either place. At the top end they will probably be closer in cost but I can probably eat at Pimenton or the like cheaper than Le Normandie in Bangkok. Obviously that is apples and oranges but what are we comparing? A sputnik burger with fries would be around 50,000 Kip and a whopper set would be around 269 in Thailand.

I would find it pretty hard to spend more than $200 a day in Vientiane and that is a very comfortable stay. If I stay in Sukhumvit which would be the best place to compare to VTE I would be going to the ATM the same night. I guess what i am saying is that there is sort of a ceiling on spending in Laos where as in Thailand the sky is the limit. So in reality it would be much cheaper for me to live in central VTE than where I live now in central Bangkok. Also don't forget to add the 7% tax to everything you buy in Thailand, which is most likely coming soon to Laos. So add this into the price on the sign and what comes to your bill.

Easy to stay in Suk on $100 a day. Lots of good 1500 baht rooms and plenty of good cheap restaurants if you look.