Driving your own car to Laos - Mukdahan to Savannakhet

[Tomtomtom69]

So a handy tip also would be (when they give you the "translated" License plates) to have a screw driver in your car so you can change the license plates when entering Laos and changing them back when coming into Thailand

where would you get those plates from? border will certainly NOT issue them.

i do get pulled over a lot as it is but with plates like that, driving here in issan - i'd be permanently parked!!!

You would get the plates from the DLT and would only have to change them to "translated" plates if you cross the border and change back to Thai plates when coming back into Thailand of course.

Look here what jonw8uk wrote

<snip>

One question, I recently got the car passport, and now I'm currently waiting for some license plates from the DLT....

<snip>

Yep you get the plates at the same time as you get the car passport. For Laos at least, there's no point in using them. Whenever I'm in Laos, I see some Thai vehicles with those plates but why bother? First of all, Lao can read Thai, secondly there is no law in Laos that requires plates to be changed. Thirdly, Lao vehicles coming to Thailand don't have English plates either. So in summary, you don't need them. It's basically a money spinner for the DLT. They get 200 Baht, you get plates that no neighboring country requires or recognizes (Malaysia requires a white on black sticker in English but doesn't recognize the English number plates from the DLT go figure!)

[doctorbailey]

Manfred,

Great report and many thanks.

Were you required to have or ever asked for an International Driving Permit? I had read that Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar did not sign the ASEAN domestic driver license agreement whereas the other 6 countries did. Obviously a RHD vehicle with Thai plates is an easy target for a corrupt policeman looking for a little extra.

Regarding the Roman Letter Thai car plates, I applied in Banglamung, Chonburi (Pattaya) and received a purple passport with a new plate number printed on the booklet and a letter after a week or so (had to go back twice as they had made typos the first time and tried to give someone else's papers the second time). They said that the new plates would be ready in about 2 months but all that was needed to do was put an ugly T sticker on the car in the meantime (which they provided). My road tax expires in about 2 months so I will enquire again about the plates at that time.

[manfredtillmann]

Manfred,

Great report and many thanks.

Were you required to have or ever asked for an International Driving Permit? I had read that Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar did not sign the ASEAN domestic driver license agreement whereas the other 6 countries did. Obviously a RHD vehicle with Thai plates is an easy target for a corrupt policeman looking for a little extra.

Regarding the Roman Letter Thai car plates, I applied in Banglamung, Chonburi (Pattaya) and received a purple passport with a new plate number printed on the booklet and a letter after a week or so (had to go back twice as they had made typos the first time and tried to give someone else's papers the second time). They said that the new plates would be ready in about 2 months but all that was needed to do was put an ugly T sticker on the car in the meantime (which they provided). My road tax expires in about 2 months so I will enquire again about the plates at that time.

thank you, doc

no, i have never been asked for an idp, not here in thailand, or in laos or in any of the 14 other countries in have driven in over the last 40 years with either my german or australian licence.

and my local ltd definitely does NOT issue these roman letter plates, we just rung this morning to find out if they were perhaps lying under the counter over there waiting for me to come to collect. they would really only make some sense if you where crossing the border into malaysia.

[jb5music]

Some good information in the posts up there about the details of vehicle registration but I would think most people would like

a simple explanation/ recount from the start.. say when you..

) are in line to drive across into Laos? you?.. what?.. have to fill out forms to take your car across?

can take your car across? cant take your car across? Your car is a right side steering wheel

transitioning to a right side drive country? No problem with that? No vehicle ownership verification? insurance

for the new country? fee for driving the car into the new country?...

) Thai drivers license. You can function in Thailand without a Thai drivers license and motocy license?

Your Thai insurance is good in a crash when drive only on a euro or western license in Thailand?

I don't think so.

)Laos doesn't recognize Thai drivers license? Didn't sign ASEAN agreement someone said up there?

.. just a few extra little questions about actually driving a car from Thailand into Laos. sorry.

Edited July 15, 2016 by jb5music

[manfredtillmann]

Some good information in the posts up there about the details of vehicle registration but I would think most people would like

a simple explanation/ recount from the start.. say when you..

) are in line to drive across into Laos? you?.. what?.. have to fill out forms to take your car across?

can take your car across? cant take your car across? Your car is a right side steering wheel

transitioning to a right side drive country? No problem with that? No vehicle ownership verification? insurance

for the new country? fee for driving the car into the new country?...

) Thai drivers license. You can function in Thailand without a Thai drivers license and motocy license?

You're Thai insurance is good in a crash when drive only on a euro or western license in Thailand?

I don't think so.

)Laos doesn't recognize Thai drivers license? Didn't sign ASEAN agreement someone said up there?

.. just a few extra little questions about actually driving a car from Thailand into Laos. sorry.

you have not read the original post or you would not ask your first question. this has been answered by me in detail.

'doc's question regarding the idp was post specific and i stated i did not need one in laos (i got pulled over 3 times by police and all they were interested in was insurance cover).

what happens in thailand with insurance cover and a foreign licence has been covered in many other posts and will depend entirely on what level of disclosure you documented prior to taking out the cover. i.e., obviously, commercial rental cars are covered.

and i am certain that if you inform your insurance company in writing and as part of the contract when you initially take out your insurance that you are not holder of a local licence and the insurance company accepts payment and issues the policy - as it happened in my case - there is no way they can withhold cover retrospectively.

given how many thai's drive over to laos on a daily basis it would appear to be highly unlikely that laos does not accept thai licenses. my wife's cousin is over there right now and i know she does not hold an idp.

[jonw8uk]

Some good information in the posts up there about the details of vehicle registration but I would think most people would like

a simple explanation/ recount from the start.. say when you..

) are in line to drive across into Laos? you?.. what?.. have to fill out forms to take your car across?

can take your car across? cant take your car across? Your car is a right side steering wheel

transitioning to a right side drive country? No problem with that? No vehicle ownership verification? insurance

for the new country? fee for driving the car into the new country?...

) Thai drivers license. You can function in Thailand without a Thai drivers license and motocy license?

Your Thai insurance is good in a crash when drive only on a euro or western license in Thailand?

I don't think so.

)Laos doesn't recognize Thai drivers license? Didn't sign ASEAN agreement someone said up there?

.. just a few extra little questions about actually driving a car from Thailand into Laos. sorry.

Did you read the thread at all?

Everything you've asked is answered.

[jb5music]

Some good information in the posts up there about the details of vehicle registration but I would think most people would like

a simple explanation/ recount from the start.. say when you..

) are in line to drive across into Laos? you?.. what?.. have to fill out forms to take your car across?

can take your car across? cant take your car across? Your car is a right side steering wheel

transitioning to a right side drive country? No problem with that? No vehicle ownership verification? insurance

for the new country? fee for driving the car into the new country?...

) Thai drivers license. You can function in Thailand without a Thai drivers license and motocy license?

You're Thai insurance is good in a crash when drive only on a euro or western license in Thailand?

I don't think so.

)Laos doesn't recognize Thai drivers license? Didn't sign ASEAN agreement someone said up there?

.. just a few extra little questions about actually driving a car from Thailand into Laos. sorry.

you have not read the original post or you would not ask your first question. this has been answered by me in detail.

'doc's question regarding the idp was post specific and i stated i did not need one in laos (i got pulled over 3 times by police and all they were interested in was insurance cover).

what happens in thailand with insurance cover and a foreign licence has been covered in many other posts and will depend entirely on what level of disclosure you documented prior to taking out the cover. i.e., obviously, commercial rental cars are covered.

and i am certain that if you inform your insurance company in writing and as part of the contract when you initially take out your insurance that you are not holder of a local licence and the insurance company accepts payment and issues the policy - as it happened in my case - there is no way they can withhold cover retrospectively.

given how many thai's drive over to laos on a daily basis it would appear to be highly unlikely that laos does not accept thai licenses. my wife's cousin is over there right now and i know she does not hold an idp.

I see now. I was completely oblivious that it had put me down on page 2. I did not even see page 1 with the original post. Very good. I'll go back and read all that.

[jb5music]

Some good information in the posts up there about the details of vehicle registration but I would think most people would like

a simple explanation/ recount from the start.. say when you..

) are in line to drive across into Laos? you?.. what?.. have to fill out forms to take your car across?

can take your car across? cant take your car across? Your car is a right side steering wheel

transitioning to a right side drive country? No problem with that? No vehicle ownership verification? insurance

for the new country? fee for driving the car into the new country?...

) Thai drivers license. You can function in Thailand without a Thai drivers license and motocy license?

Your Thai insurance is good in a crash when drive only on a euro or western license in Thailand?

I don't think so.

)Laos doesn't recognize Thai drivers license? Didn't sign ASEAN agreement someone said up there?

.. just a few extra little questions about actually driving a car from Thailand into Laos. sorry.

Did you read the thread at all?

Sorry no. I told manfred that it set me down on page 2 of the whole thread. I didn't even realize there was a

page 1 with all the information. Very good. Now I have to find out how to get a car passport

Everything you've asked is answered.

[MJCM]

We got our Purple Car passport today at our Local DLT, costs were 55 THB in total and took approx 15 mins max

 

They gave us 2 big T stickers, one to attach to the windshield and one on the back of the car.

 

When we asked about when will we get the number plates with the English writing on it, they said we will not get them as there is no need for them.

 

Thanks again @manfredtillmann for your detailed report.

 

[manfredtillmann]

2 hours ago, MJCM said:

We got our Purple Car passport today at our Local DLT, costs were 55 THB in total and took approx 15 mins max

 

They gave us 2 big T stickers, one to attach to the windshield and one on the back of the car.

 

When we asked about when will we get the number plates with the English writing on it, they said we will not get them as there is no need for them.

 

Thanks again @manfredtillmann for your detailed report.

 

thank you, n.f.w.

there really is no need for these plates at all unless you drive into malaysia.

cheers

mft

 

[turgid]

Thanks for this

 

I just made a trip  from Mukdahan to Savanakhet. It was my second drive into  Laos, so i am in the system,  but my first via this route. My first drive was via Nong Khai.

 

The differences I note from this procedure

 

1: Prior to processing they took my purple car passport and added a computer printed barcode sticker to it. Presumably this is going to make things even easier in the future.   I assume new car passports will have the barcode automatically.

2: I had 3  photocopies as per this post,  none were required. The only form I had to fill was the visa form. They looked at my blue book and printed the forms for me to sign.     

 

On the Laos side the only difference I noted is there is only one insurance shop so get your insurance before you exit. They wouldn't let me come out without paying anyway which seems sensible. It was 200 Baht for 7 days.

In Nong Khai there are multiple shops insurance outside.

 

We got an internet only Laotel SIM for 10,000 KIP (45 Baht)  which gave 1.5GB for 7 days. You have to register the SIM by phone before you can use it.

I used Maps.Me to get around. Google will give you a route but wont give instructions.

 

Fill your tank before you go, fuel is cheaper in Thailand and E20 isn't available in Laos .

 

Both sides were very efficient.

My only  beef remains that with all the computerisation Laos  still has a full page 1 time use visa in Laos which could be a tiny stamp. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edgarfriendly]

very informative!!

 

i always wondered how ppl managed to drive from asia to europe or vise versa with constant/regular insurance validity issues.