Nong Khai To Vientiane

[Briggsy]

I searched on the forum and couldn't find anything recent.

I am an unashamed cheapskate and will arrive on the night train from BKK in Nong Khai at 9:10 am some time in December with my long-suffering bird in tow. We are heading for a holiday in Laos. She has volunteered to act as porter/translator for the trip. In return I foot the bills. Hey, it beats paying for a Hong Kong trip or God forbid a UK trip.

Anyway, I'll get to the point. How do you get to Vientiane without a tedious battle with a taxi-driver? Is there a bus running at present?

I would appreciate any tips from members who have recently made the trip.

[londonthai]

tuk tuk from the station to the thai border than bus to the lao border than bus to vientiane.

are you joking about your girlfriend being just a porter for you suitcase?

[Briggsy]

tuk tuk from the station to the thai border than bus to the lao border than bus to vientiane.

are you joking about your girlfriend being just a porter for you suitcase?

Thanks for the reply. Your suggested modes of travel are identical to the last time I did this trip 9 years ago. I thought they laid on a bus. It's probably easier to do it this way rather than waiting for hours for the scheduled bus. Could you give me prices and where to get the bus on the Lao side. Is it hidden behind the taxis?

Semi-joking about my girlfriend. I didn't say she was only a porter. She plays many vital roles. Translator of Lao; official photographer; bargainer (not very good at this); moral compass; bad influence'; travelling companion; counterweight; spotter and many more.

[londonthai]

no, the bus stop is straith behing the emmigration terminal and depart every 30 minutes or so - from the Bangkok train you will be on the Lao side around noon.

the bus is packed in the morning with villagers going to the market - but noon and afternoon you will have a seat

[Briggsy]

no, the bus stop is straith behing the emmigration terminal and depart every 30 minutes or so - from the Bangkok train you will be on the Lao side around noon.

the bus is packed in the morning with villagers going to the market - but noon and afternoon you will have a seat

Cheers mate, thanks for the info

3 hours to clear immigration, that's of Vietnamese remote border crossing proportions. Are you sure? I arrive in Nong Khai at 9.10 am according to my train ticket.

Cushion is another role to add to the list.

[Pink Mist]

river might be down, you may be able to walk across

[johnnyk]

Train station is in between town and border, its 5 mins to bridge from train.

You will spend a bit of time checking out of Thailand then on the bus across the bridge.

When you get to Laos it is likely that travelers using agents will go first so you could spend some time waiting if there are quite a few of them.

Agents go to the head of the line I suspect because they pay kickbacks to the border boys.

Live with it, that's just the way it is.

It should not take 3 hours, maybe 1 hour.

Touts will then hustle you for a minibus ride to Vientiane, price is ok if you are in a group otherwise they will ask about 300 baht each, half of that is ok.

A tuktuk may be cheaper but it will shake up your internal organs as lao raods are a "bit" bumpy.

[lanny]

No, it doesn't take 3 hours to get from Nong Khai to Vientiane. However, a noon ETA is not far from the truth. I've been making the trip via the night train for 3 or 4 years, now, and I can't remember a time when the train was even close to being on time. One time, we sat in the station at Udon Thani for nearly an hour on the way up!

Transit time between the Nong Khai station and Vientiane is usually an hour or so, depending on the number of people crossing at the same time and traffic on the Laos side.

Also, I find it easier to obtain a Lao visa at the embassy in BKK. Takes time in town, of course, but makes the crossing so much easier. Get off the bus and walk directly to the possport check.

Edited November 22, 2006 by lanny

[Soju]

If you get a visa ahead of time, I believe you can then take the bus from Udon Thani direct to Vientiane and save a lot of time. If you don't have a visa, they won't allow you on the bus (or perhaps force you off at the border crossing) because they don't want to wait for you to get a visa on arrival.

[calibanjr.]

I'll emphasize two points mentioned above:

1. The train is NEVER on time. I did the BKK-Vientiane regularly up till about a year ago. Anywhere from 25 mins. to 90 mins. late in my experience. Which leads to:

2. Get your visa in advance in BKK.

If you get your visa in advance, you'd really have to have bad luck to not make the noon cutoff at the Vientiane consulate. There were a few times that I'd have had to stay an extra day if I hadn't done the advance visa. An extra day in Vientiane is not a nightmare, though, and if it's your first time, it's actually worth a couple of days to check out.

[johnnyk]

No, it doesn't take 3 hours to get from Nong Khai to Vientiane. However, a noon ETA is not far from the truth. I've been making the trip via the night train for 3 or 4 years, now, and I can't remember a time when the train was even close to being on time. One time, we sat in the station at Udon Thani for nearly an hour on the way up!

Transit time between the Nong Khai station and Vientiane is usually an hour or so, depending on the number of people crossing at the same time and traffic on the Laos side.

Also, I find it easier to obtain a Lao visa at the embassy in BKK. Takes time in town, of course, but makes the crossing so much easier. Get off the bus and walk directly to the possport check.

Yes, if the train is scheduled to arrive Nong Khai 8:30am or so then figure on a noon-1pm ETA in Vientiane.

No worries, there are no clocks in Laos and they make you check your watch at the border.

[abdulrahman]

Do thevisa in Bkk,both of you,leave the train in Udonthani,it will save some delay,bus station 5 min. walk,or songthew,or tuk-tuk,40 Baht at the most,bus to Viientiane,85 Baht.

You should manage to be in Vientianeby 1o'clock afternoon (if,of course,the train doen't break down!).

Many guesthouses in Vientiane to choose from!

Have a good trip.

[rak sa_ngop]

There is now I believe a regular Thai (big, comfortable) bus service from Nong Khai direct to Vientiane which goes 3 or 4 times a day. I have never taken this service myself but would be interested if anybody has any information on it.

[PREM-R]

There is now I believe a regular Thai (big, comfortable) bus service from Nong Khai direct to Vientiane which goes 3 or 4 times a day. I have never taken this service myself but would be interested if anybody has any information on it.

I think this is the one

Nong Khai - Vientiane Bus Service

[rak sa_ngop]

I think this is the one

Nong Khai - Vientiane Bus Service

Yes this is the service, the Thai buses look like the normal a/c buses running round the country (so probably more comfortable than the Laos buses).

Regarding the time it takes to cross the border, maybe no point in getting a visa before-hand to speed up the border crossing process as the bus will always have to wait for the slowest passenger who goes for visa-on-entry.

One question I still have is where does the Nong Khai bus start from, the main bus station in town, or the small tuk-tuk station down the road from the bridge?

[wornoutcowboy]

Hmmmm? I am a little confused byall of the replies. I live in Vientiane and do the border hop over to Thailand every month.

Okay from one major cheapskate to another this is the cheapest way to do it. (Well, you could always walk to town for cheaper I guess).

First, of all this talk about getting a visa in advanced is beyond me. The reasons behind it that is. I have never waited over 15 minutes for my visa at the Lao immigration at the bridge. Anyway, they just started charging different prices for different nationalities so I don't know where you are from but for Westerners the price is anywhere from US$30 to US$42(for the poor Canadians) Bring US dollars for thecheapskate way. The Lao will nail you if you do it in Baht.

Next, in order to be a real cheapskate you must take the public bus. That is the little one on the Lao side of the border. Do this, walk through customs, keep walking, there is an official taxi booth but pass it. After that you will be approached by drivers wanting 200 baht usually. Tell them to piss off. To your left you will see a parking lot. Walk into the parking lot and head up to the main road. There are two small white buildings with a drive way in between. Wait there. The number 14 bus will come along shortly. It cost 4,000 Kip which is less than 20 baht and will take you to the morning market in VTE. Cheap enough?

Chances are also good that a tuk tuk or taxi will pull up there and offer you the cut rate price of 50 baht. A deal for two people really being he will take you straight to the hotel in VTE. Thebn again this doesn't always happen.

So, figure on spending this. 30 baht from the train station

to the bridge. Another 15 baht to do the bridge run. And less than 20 baht for the ride in.One last thing, you can only board the international buses to VTE in either Nong hai or Udon Than iif you already have a Lao visa in your passport. So, don't even bother with those. Hey, I love cheapskates.

[asanee]

there are since early this year 2 separate busroutes: Nongh Khai VTE AND Udorn-VTE (bypassing NK). The BUSstation in Nongh Khai is however opposite side of town compared to train, this bus does NOT pass train.

IF the train to NKhai has to wait so long in Udon (Lanny above); it then has to wait for the earlymorning train NKhai-BKK to come into Udon (otherwise, the schedue says it should arr NKhai BEFORE this ldep), its single track, as you know, so no way to pass.

BUS BKK-Nkhai,once again, is quite good (NOT booked in the Mochit itself,but just outside; CHAN Tour) and arr NKhai about 6.00/6.30, with same dep as train from BKK.

Also: FROM the bekpek enclave KhaoSarn road there are DIRECT (this means not nonstop, but nochange) overnite buses to VTE, cost around 750/800 THB, booked locally, dep 20.30, arr VTE (with ample time to process via on arr at Laos side) around 8.30/9.00, smac in the mid of town= the fountain.

NOte that cost of laos visas varies with nationality and they are now all for 30 days.Most common about 33/35 US$. strangely, CZECHS get a much lower rate!

[abdulrahman]

Yes,the bus from KaoSan Rd to Vientiane IS very cheap,the time is about the same as a flight London=-Bkk,one or two stops on the way,only with less comfort.The local international buses from UdonThani or NongKhai to Vientiane are much more comfortable,but,as same Falang learned the hard way,they don't wait too long,you can be let stranded on the border if you are too slow filling the two formulary requested,one for the VOA,the other to attach in your passport.

If you are really kinjau,walk outside the compound and hitch a ride on a car,pick-up or Hyundai small truck,the Lao people are very friendly,thry will bring you to the city for free!l

[Briggsy]

There's some great info here. Thanks to you all. Top post goes to wornoutcowboy for the excellent saving suggestion.

This has led me to more thinking. I'm not going to Laos for a visa run but a holiday of sorts. If I take a load of baht, (say 20,000 for 10 days for 2 people), will I need to change this into kip or dollars or are baht universally accepted?

By the way, I have a Laos visa already.

I really appreciate you sharing your info here.

[abdulrahman]

There's some great info here. Thanks to you all. Top post goes to wornoutcowboy for the excellent saving suggestion.

This has led me to more thinking. I'm not going to Laos for a visa run but a holiday of sorts. If I take a load of baht, (say 20,000 for 10 days for 2 people), will I need to change this into kip or dollars or are baht universally accepted?

By the way, I have a Laos visa already.

I really appreciate you sharing your info here.

20000 Baht is the equivalent of 5400000 kip;two bricks of paper.

I'm sure you'll feel better spending a so big amount.Not so a cheapskate

[Briggsy]

So do you think I should change the lot into kip or will everybody take baht? Even in more remote spots outside of the capital.

Not an ultra cheapskate but I am a cheapskate nevertheless. It pains me to spend.

[wornoutcowboy]

20,000 Baht for 10 days! Well, I can see you are not a serious cheapskate. I mean I don't go through that in a month here. Maybe even two months depending if I have given up food several days out of each week.

Anyway, Baht flies everywhere in this country as well as the US dollar. Just remember when you pay in Baht you will be getting your change back in Kip for the most part. So, you have to keep up with the exchange rate.

A good plan would be to mostly bring baht and not the 1,000 note variety. That is sometimes hard to break in smaller places. This will save you tons of suitcase space being the biggest note you usually see here is a 20,000 Kip one with is equal to 2 bucks.

One last tip, unload the Kip before leaving Lao. No one wants it outside the country. Try not to collect too much of it either being at times it can be hard to exchange back to baht or dollars even at the bank.

[Briggsy]

Once again, thanks for your help, Cowboy.

Spending for 2 here! "I want ice cream" "No, it makes you fat" "Why you buy no ice cream for me. You ai ling khee neeo" "I bought you these bananas yesterday." etc etc and other pointless circular conversations.

Bus fares may eat up some of my spending money, I'm not sure how much I'll be paying from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, say. I just picked 20,000 as how much I'll be taking. If I can avoid blowing it all, I will.

[Soju]

A good plan would be to mostly bring baht and not the 1,000 note variety. That is sometimes hard to break in smaller places. This will save you tons of suitcase space being the biggest note you usually see here is a 20,000 Kip one with is equal to 2 bucks.

On my first couple of trips to Laos, the 20,000 Kip note was the largest I ever saw, but on my last trip I got 50,000 Kip notes on multiple occasions, so perhaps they're beginning to be used more frequently these days.

[Briggsy]

A good plan would be to mostly bring baht and not the 1,000 note variety. That is sometimes hard to break in smaller places. This will save you tons of suitcase space being the biggest note you usually see here is a 20,000 Kip one with is equal to 2 bucks.

On my first couple of trips to Laos, the 20,000 Kip note was the largest I ever saw, but on my last trip I got 50,000 Kip notes on multiple occasions, so perhaps they're beginning to be used more frequently these days.

I'm stockpiling 100 Baht notes now.