The Border

I have been to Laos by crossing the Mekong at Nong Khai. The border further west is not formed by the river but is just a line drawn on a map which divides land. Is anybody able to say how this border is defined locally, please ? I am sure it is nothing like that between North and South Korea with a no-man's land but does it have lots of soldiers and barbed wire ?

I have no intention of crossing into Laos illegally or encouraging anybody else to do so and am just curious to know what is there. We quite fancy a house which is less than twenty miles from the land border and it would be nice to know what goes on in those parts. Do people just walk across through the jungle both ways ? Given the Thai/Lao attitude to life I cannot see them taking much notice of a line drawn on a map. Do locals even know there is a border ?

Noted, there have been mild and brief skirmishes regarding that border region as recently into the 1990s.....

What sort of "skirmishes", please ? I can't find anything on Google other than this

Thai-Lao meeting to solve border dispute

and these seem to be the result of local disagreements between villagers.

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Originally Posted by can123

I have been to Laos by crossing the Mekong at Nong Khai. The border further west is not formed by the river but is just a line drawn on a map which divides land. Is anybody able to say how this border is defined locally, please ? I am sure it is nothing like that between North and South Korea with a no-man's land but does it have lots of soldiers and barbed wire ?

I have no intention of crossing into Laos illegally or encouraging anybody else to do so and am just curious to know what is there. We quite fancy a house which is less than twenty miles from the land border and it would be nice to know what goes on in those parts. Do people just walk across through the jungle both ways ? Given the Thai/Lao attitude to life I cannot see them taking much notice of a line drawn on a map. Do locals even know there is a border ?

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Just jungle, people cross, bit hot right now, armies cracking down on illegal logging.
You can cross into Lao, no passports near Buntharik, where are moving, you may be my neighbor, few farangs out here. Jim

To Thailand, who are historic land-stealers of note, a line is flexible. What's mine's mine, what's yours is mine.

Your 20km distance may increase over time, unless the bordering country decides to send in the troops to chase the land-grabbers back. An ongoing problem in the region.

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Originally Posted by Waid

To Thailand, who are historic land-stealers of note, a line is flexible. What's mine's mine, what's yours is mine.

Your 20km distance may increase over time, unless the opposite country decides to send in the troops to chase the land-grabbers back. An ongoing problem in the region.

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You won't find any of this nasty historic content within the Thai frame of bias education.

Thanks, Jim. I thought as much because when I did a visa run through Aranyaprathet I was amazed to see dozens of people crossing the Thailand/Cambodia border to pick up waste paper and scrap metal. They all just walked by the checkpoints without a glance from the soldiers. Always struck me as being a bit silly Thailand deporting Cambodian beggars/workers when all they had to do was to walk back in again.

It is still going to be over a year before we move but we are thinking that Loei is now looking to be the favourite. It was going to be Nong Bua Lamphu but the wife's family have a rubber plantation there and they could be too near us for comfort (my comfort).

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Originally Posted by Waid

To Thailand, who are historic land-stealers of note, a line is flexible. What's mine's mine, what's yours is mine.

Your 20km distance may increase over time, unless the bordering country decides to send in the troops to chase the land-grabbers back. An ongoing problem in the region.

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National park this side, only a few small villages on the other side, just jungle until the Mekong.
No land grabs, forgotten part of the world. last big shot out 1986, safe as houses for farangs.
Go jungle, trail or mountain bike, have a US army rangers hammock [mossie net built in] never a worry.
Jim

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Originally Posted by can123

I have been to Laos by crossing the Mekong at Nong Khai. The border further west is not formed by the river but is just a line drawn on a map which divides land.

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Minefields.......

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Originally Posted by Necron99

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Originally Posted by can123

I have been to Laos by crossing the Mekong at Nong Khai. The border further west is not formed by the river but is just a line drawn on a map which divides land.

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Minefields.......

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Un exploded cluster bombs, bit of a problem on the Lao side, but they have passed their use by date. South towards the Cambo border, land mines are still a big problem. Don't leave the trails, otherwise safer than BBK traffic.

^ james , he is talking about up north near loei and dan sai

a few years ago I was staying up that way and was taken once to a river for a swim

on the way there we passed many abandoned army checkpoints and installations and came to a rocky river where we crossed over and had a swim and picnic sitting on the other side and I was told that we were in Laos

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Originally Posted by baldrick

^ james , he is talking about up north near loei and dan sai

a few years ago I was staying up that way and was taken once to a river for a swim

on the way there we passed many abandoned army checkpoints and installations and came to a rocky river where we crossed over and had a swim and picnic sitting on the other side and I was told that we were in Laos

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Yes, that is the part we are favouring at the moment. The trouble is that I am afraid of snakes, landmines and flooding. Looked at Dan Sai on Google and found the ghost festival Phi Ta Khon

Dansai - Thailand's Ghost Festival by Utopia

Is this a place suitable for a farang who only really wants peace and quiet ? Are there any bars to have a sherbet occasionally ?

So many people cross daily illegaly, you can do it also !

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Originally Posted by can123

Are there any bars to have a sherbet occasionally ?

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Not the frozen kind...

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Originally Posted by can123

I have been to Laos by crossing the Mekong at Nong Khai. The border further west is not formed by the river but is just a line drawn on a map which divides land. Is anybody able to say how this border is defined locally, please ? I am sure it is nothing like that between North and South Korea with a no-man's land but does it have lots of soldiers and barbed wire ?

I have no intention of crossing into Laos illegally or encouraging anybody else to do so and am just curious to know what is there. We quite fancy a house which is less than twenty miles from the land border and it would be nice to know what goes on in those parts. Do people just walk across through the jungle both ways ? Given the Thai/Lao attitude to life I cannot see them taking much notice of a line drawn on a map. Do locals even know there is a border ?

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The Mekhong is the border west of Nong Khai all the way to Loei. There is another small river that defines the border near Tha Li. A border post is almost complete in Uttaradit province on that border. It is being heavily promoted as a short cut drive to Luang Prabang. Still building a bridge over the Mehkong.

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Originally Posted by can123

What sort of "skirmishes", please ? I can't find anything on Google other than this

Thai-Lao meeting to solve border dispute

and these seem to be the result of local disagreements between villagers.

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General Chavalit started a border war in 1987 with Laos after losing one a bit earlier with Cambodia. There is an ongoing dispute [no fighting] in the P'lok and Uttaradit areas near the border. The borderline was done by the French. The soldiers [ mainly Issarn teenagers] and weapons went thru Loei City coz they had the best roads at the time.

When the French left they gave back all of the 20 km dmz area west of the Mekhong except for the area known as Luang Prabang which goes from Chiang Rai province to near Tha Li in Loei.

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Originally Posted by can123

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Originally Posted by baldrick

^ james , he is talking about up north near loei and dan sai

a few years ago I was staying up that way and was taken once to a river for a swim

on the way there we passed many abandoned army checkpoints and installations and came to a rocky river where we crossed over and had a swim and picnic sitting on the other side and I was told that we were in Laos

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Yes, that is the part we are favouring at the moment. The trouble is that I am afraid of snakes, landmines and flooding. Looked at Dan Sai on Google and found the ghost festival Phi Ta Khon

Dansai - Thailand's Ghost Festival by Utopia

Is this a place suitable for a farang who only really wants peace and quiet ? Are there any bars to have a sherbet occasionally ?

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Dan Sai thru to Phu Rua is a nice quiet area but no nightlife that I know of.

Thank you.