Bus trip to Vientiane.

[malt25]

Good morning all.

 

Would appreciate some advice, info, on a trip from Sakon Nakhon to Vientiane. We, myself & Thai wife, live in Sakon Nakhon. We would like to take a bus trip & discover some of the Laos countryside & a few days in Vientiane.

 

Initially I thought of driving to Nakhon Phanom & leaving the car at the bridge car park & taking a bus from there. On second thoughts we might be better off getting a bus from Sakon Nakhon & doing a round trip. Sakon Nakhon - Nakhon Phanom - Vientiane - Nong Khai - Udon Thani - Sakon Nakhon.

Any issues with me getting a visa to enter Laos ? I understand my wife can get a few days entry with her Thai ID card ?

 

All suggestions much appreciated.

 

Thanks.....     Mal.

[allane]

Most importantly, get a Thai Re-entry Permit before you leave, or you wil void your Thai visa/extension of stay. Assuming you are from a developed western country, you should have no problem at the border. Have a couple of photos with you to save time and money. 

[tonray]

You can save a few bucks if you bring US Dollars for the Lao Visa.

 

$35 US or 1500 Thai baht. not a big deal but will pay for lunch

[ubonjoe]

41 minutes ago, malt25 said:

Any issues with me getting a visa to enter Laos ? I understand my wife can get a few days entry with her Thai ID card ?

 

You will get a visa on arrival. The fee depends upon your nationality. See: http://www.laos-guide-999.com/visa-on-arrival.html

You wife can get a border pass that will will allow her to stay in Vientiane for 3 days. She has to apply for it at an office near the bridge.

If she has a Thai passport she will get a 30 day visa exempt entry.

[asanee]

The permit your wife can get with only Thai ID is not free, and should be valid in all Lao provinces that border TH, not just VTE. Dont know if they make probs on that when exit at other province as enter. Pasppt is better way. You also need to have passpt foto's for the visa-though they can make them on the spot for the odd $$ extra.

There are more or less frequent (hourly) buses all those sectors, but (there should be some report on it in this forum too-somewhere) those cross-bridge near NPhanom was very scarce. The ride as such is honestly not that interesting, even less so on Lao side as in TH.

Also reportedly often quite long processing times when entering LA at NKHai bridge-