Nong Khai to Vientiane Visa Run

[peterpan]

Originally Posted by mia farang

Sorry if I'm missing something here but can someone just clear up the return journey from Laos into Thailand for me.

My husband and I want to cross the bridge from Thailand into Laos in the morning spend 1 day and 1 night in Vientiane then come back the next afternoon. I understand the bit about the visas to enter Laos.

I want to come back into Thailand on a tourist visa (I am aware this will be 15 days) using a British passport. Do I get my tourist visa at the Laos side of the bridge before crossing to come back into Thailand?
Do I have to pay for the tourist visa to return into Thailand?
My husband has a Thai passport, his ID card has currently ran out as he has been living in the UK with me for 2 years. Will they want to see that in addition to his passport? (If so we will need to arrange to get that re-validated before we go to Laos).

Do I get my tourist visa at the Laos side of the bridge before crossing to come back into Thailand?
No, you get it on entry to Thailand after you cross the bridge from Lao.

Do I have to pay for the tourist visa to return into Thailand? No

My husband has a Thai passport, his ID card has currently ran out as he has been living in the UK with me for 2 years. Will they want to see that in addition to his passport? No

Hopefully someone will explain the difference (again) between tourist visa and whatever is the term for what you get at the border.

[melvbot]

Originally Posted by mia farang

I want to come back into Thailand on a tourist visa (I am aware this will be 15 days) using a British passport. Do I get my tourist visa at the Laos side of the bridge before crossing to come back into Thailand?

You dont need a visa, when you go to immigration they will just stamp your passport for 15 days. Visa's are what get issued through embassies and consulates which you apply and pay for, the stamp you will get is permission to enter for 15 days not a visa.

Do I have to pay for the tourist visa to return into Thailand?

Its not a visa that you get, so no . Arriving without a visa doesnt cost anything.

[mia farang]

Thanks guys

Thats cleared that up so we can cross into Laos as explained on this post then come back across the bridge and my passport will be stamped for a 15 day visit upon return into Thailand.

I was worried I'd get some abuse for asking a silly question but you have been really helpful.

Cheers

[dirtydog]

^The abuse section is in the lower part of the board

[Floridathunderstorm]

OK. Spent 5 days in the Phon Phisai area with my wife (Thai born but American Citizen) and son (American born). Flew up to Udon Thani and back via Nok Air. Good flights. Good airline. I was impressed. Also, Nok Air had more leg room than the Korean Airlines B777 and B747 I came over here on. Udon Thani airport is a nice modern one. Nicer than most smaller airports in the US. Nong Khai seems to be a peaceful city, although we only spent a few hours there. Go to the Dang Restaurant on Bunternjit Road. Thai food with a western standard. Clean, good food, efficient, air conditioned. Took the Friendship Bridge to Laos for obtaining return visas to Thailand. Stayed 1 night in Vientiane. The visa run through the Thai and Laos immigrations, on both sides of the bridge, including the processing for 60 day tourist visas in the Thai Consulate in Vientiane, were pure torture. Don't do it if you are not ready for punishment. Absurdly crowded, most folks not knowing what to do, and pretty unhelpful authorities. That, coupled with the rip-off touts, make this such a pleasant experience. At my age, and working and living overseas half of my life, I prepare fully for any contingencies. Well, it didn't matter. The authorities apparently don't go by any in-place plan or organization. So, half of my pre-planning went for naught. If possible, get a 60 or 90 day toursit visa in your home country before coming to Thailand. Spent half a day processing through going and half a day processing through coming back. A total joke except none of us were laughing. We had a little 4 year old girl with us and it was especially rough on her.

Vientiane is a beautiful city. I would like to retire there it's so nice. Looks nothing like Thai cities, IMO. With the exception of parts of Bangkok, much more modern and more western looking. Possibly the French influence. Stayed at a very nice and super clean hotel located right on the main avenue of Lanexang Road. The hotel was called Sengphachan and had all of the ammenities of any modern hotel. 600 baht a night including a buffet breakfast. Good service and nice people. I'm a 69 year old American, and not a backpacker or a person who seeks out the cheapest thing in the city, and I was very pleased with this hotel. Typical of a person such as myself I was ready to stay at the City Inn or Lao Orchid for 3 to 4 times the price.

In Phon Phisai we stayed at the BanWas Resort located just off Route 212. Modern and clean 1 bedroom bungalows including some studio apartments. Fully equipped and fully up to western standards. 600 baht per night. The owner and her daughter made us feel welcome. I don't think they ever stop cleaning. BanWas can be reached at 089-5707782 or 081-7089424. Try them out. You will love the place. By the way, they overlook the Mekong river. What a view.

I will add some photos just as soon as I figure out just how to do it on this forum. May have to upload the photos to a web page and then give the web page address.

[peterpan]

The fact that the consulate must be a veritable cash cow for Thailand doesn't seem to provide any incentive to upgrade the comfort facilities, not even a Toilet or a drink dispenser, how much money would a small cafe and sit down area make for them? but No fcker cares a scrap for the comfort of the people throwing the cash at them.

I went over the border yesterday, got there early to have to wait while the bus accumulated enough passengers, sadly in the meantime 3 tour buses arrived, two full of back packers.
I swear not one of these cvnts had the forthought to get the payment ready before they reached the window, so I stood in line behind 30 of the fvckwits scrabbling around between them to get the cash ready,
"Can some one lend me 5 Dollars?
I will provided you buy me banana pancakes for the next week"
fvckers.

[Floridathunderstorm]

Originally Posted by peterpan

The fact that the consulate must be a veritable cash cow for Thailand doesn't seem to provide any incentive to upgrade the comfort facilities, not even a Toilet or a drink dispenser, how much money would a small cafe and sit down area make for them? but No fcker cares a scrap for the comfort of the people throwing the cash at them.

I went over the border yesterday, got there early to have to wait while the bus accumulated enough passengers, sadly in the meantime 3 tour buses arrived, two full of back packers.
I swear not one of these cvnts had the forthought to get the payment ready before they reached the window, so I stood in line behind 30 of the fvckwits scrabbling around between them to get the cash ready,
"Can some one lend me 5 Dollars?
I will provided you buy me banana pancakes for the next week"
fvckers.

In all fairness to the Thai Consulate they do have ladies and mens restrooms. Men's on the ground floor and ladies on the 2nd floor. Although there was not enough seating, there was seating available. Albeit, plastic hard chairs. The Thai Consul spoke with my wife and apologized for the conditions. He stated that they just built and moved into this building, and that he was trying his best to organize the processing to make it quicker and smoother. The real problem, that I could see, was the lack of pertinent information available so that one could at least get all of the documents filled in and gathered together. I noticed that most people did not have a clue what paperwork or copies of documents they required, which of course added to the confusion and uncomfortable situation.

I myself had problems with the documentation. Had downloaded the Visa application form from the Thai Embassy website. There were 5 of us together and I had made sure that each one of us had our packages completed and ready to go. Well, who was to know that the Thai consulate in Vientiene only accepts the Visa application from the Thai Consulate in Vientiane. Why do they even bother to put forms up on their website? You would think that they would have a standard Visa application which would be good for all Thai Consulates worldwide. So, all 5 of us, one of us being a 4 year old with an American Passport, had to re-due the applications. Of course there was nowhere to write and we had to share a couple of pens that we had. Then there was the gluing of the two photos to the new application form. That was tricky considering there were only about three bottles of glue with no applicators attached for hundreds of people.

The only good thing that came out of all this, besides getting to spend some quality time touring around Vientiane, was that we did not have to pay for the 60 day Thai visas. Something about a three month moritorium. However, we did have to pay $35 per person for a visa to spend 1 night in Laos. You wonder about the brainpower (that's an oximoron) of the Laos government. Nobody wants to go to their Marxist paradise anyway and then they make it expensive to try and go there to boot. Also, their immigration officers were something to beholden. At least the Thai officials were halfway civilized. Especially a living doll of a lady officer.

Needless to say I will never cross the "friendship bridge" ? again in pusuit of a visa. If I want to visit Vientiane, another time, I will fly in.

[peterpan]

In all fairness to the Thai Consulate they do have ladies and mens restrooms

Improvement from the old site then>

[peterpan]

I have not got a tourist visa before, as they are free thats what I will get one come next Monday.
Is there any supporting documents required ?
I can get 2 x 60 days, and can activate the 2nd 60 days within Thailand, do I have to pay for this ?

[Floridathunderstorm]

Originally Posted by peterpan

I have not got a tourist visa before, as they are free thats what I will get one come next Monday.
Is there any supporting documents required ?
I can get 2 x 60 days, and can activate the 2nd 60 days within Thailand, do I have to pay for this ?

From someone who just went through this.

The documentation that you need for the Thai Consulate in Vientiane is:

* A completed official Visa Application Form, from the Thai Consulate in Vientiane. You have to obtain this document upon arrival at the consulate. Or, if you are able to download it on your computer. Just make sure it's from the Royal Thai Consulate in Laos and not the standard application form that is provided by the Thai Consulate or Embassy on their website. (I made the mistake of downloading the standard application and filling it in prior to arrival. Had to re-do it when I got to the consulate as they do not accept the standard form.)

* Two Passport Size Photos. (These will be glued to the application form upon arrival at the consulate. The consulate provides the glue. You have to do the gluing. I would suggest that you bring your own gluing stick, from office depot, as 500 people are sharing eveything all at once at this consulate. )

* A copy of your Passport - face page only. (this is important as they were turning away people who did not have a copy of their Passport and making them go and make a copy.)

* Your original Passport.

** Don't attach any other additional paperwork, forms, or copies of anything. Only the above is necessary and required. Additional paperwork just clutters up their processing.

Make sure that you check the Tourist Visa block on the aopplication. It will ask you for your intended stay. I put 60 days. However, I would imagine that you can put anything you want in that block. 90 days, 120 days, etc. The Consulate will give you the maximum days that are applicable with their Tourist Visa policies regardless. Maybe you will get more than 60 days depending upon your situation.

I have no idea about extending a tourist visa in-country. Some people say it can be done. The Thai Immigration office that I called, prior to going to Laos, stated that a Tourist Visa could only be extended out of country. Maybe they were talking about my 30 permission to stay stamp when I originally arrived at airport, which may not be able to be extended in-country. I understand that they don't call this type of entry stamp a Toursit Visa, per se, but a Permission to Stay stamp.

As far as going across the Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai, between Thailand and Laos, you only need a filled in Departure Card, for the Thai Immigration and a filled in Arrival Card, for the Laos Immigration. I had filled in a Visa application with Passport Photos, prior to arriving at the Laos Immigration Border Crossing Post. However, they just threw those back at me. All they wanted was the filled in Arrival Card , $35 US dollars or 1,500 Thai Baht, and your original Passport. It is obviously cheaper to pay them in US Dollars. Upon returning back across the border to Thailand you will only need the filled in Laos Departure Card and your original Passport. For thai Immigration you will only need your filled in Thai Arrival Card and your original Passport. By the way, there is no fee for your Thai Tourist Visa at the consulate in Laos. To encourage tourism the consulate has waived all fees for a couple of months. Maybe 3 months.

Luckily, I do not have to do this all again as I am departing back to the States May 5th. This will probably be my last trip to Thailand as I'm getting too old for all of this nonsense. If the Thai government wants to encourage foreign tourism they should figure a way to give more than 30 days at the airport upon arrival. Most people should get at least 6 months or 1 year. But, then again, their partners in crime at the borders would not be able to rip off the very tourists that they are trying to encourage. Go figure!!!!

[Marmite the Dog]

^^ Did you not read the thread?

[peterpan]

^ I did but by the time I finished reading I have forgotten what was at the start.

[Marmite the Dog]

Originally Posted by peterpan

I did but by the time I finished reading I have forgotten what was at the start.

Ahh, the pleasures of getting old....

[peterpan]

My daughters decided they want to go as well,(anything to get out from summer school) but one passport has expired, reading thru here on the dogs OP it seems they can get a border pass.
Presumably I can get this at the visa shops for a 100bt payment?

[ossies]

Just a quickie which hopefully someone can give me the answer.

I am thinking of taking an Air Asia flight to Udon Thani which arrives 17.15. I then obviously have to get mini bus from airport to Laos border, buy visa and cross over.

How long does the mini bus ride take from Udon Thani airport to border?

Does the border close overnight? If so, will I have enough time to get across?

I note the OP mentioned the border closing at 10pm and someone else in thread says 8pm.

Thanks in advance.

[peterpan]

A little bit of additional info I got from may last trip a couple of weeks ago.
I arrived at the border with my 5 yo, they looked at her passport and said, Laos won't let her in because her passport has less than 6 months to run (actually 4 months) You have to get a border pass for her.
This was obtained from the women who does the photographs near the Thai border immig.
As there was only my daughter, I rang my wife to get her ID card number, the woman did a run to wherever they issue border passes and after putting my wife's ID into the Computer, it brought up all her details including photo. They printed all this out and made a Border pass for her, cost about 300Bt.