Is it safer to go to Savannakhet rather than Vientiane for a student visa application?

I read the above comments and I understood it that there was a volunteer visa, then some tourist visas and possibly exempt entries, and now currently on a tourist visa.

So this would be first student visa (but not first Non-Imm type visa for OP). And either way, it's been over a year since the issuance of a Non-Imm visa.

In summary, I think it is safe to go to Vientiane based on OP's history. I don't always think the schools know best. They are getting their intel (at least it appears to me) from their students. And they'd have to be mindful of everyone's visa history, recent history in Thailand, etc in order to accurately give visa approval advice. As well as deal in a volume of incoming students. A report from months ago is not the same as one from this past week or two.