What are the latest experiences and tips for visa updates at the Laos-Thai border in 2025?

DTV 6 month update - Laos border - August 2025:

Edit to add info: US passport holders on remote worker DTV

We had a successful same-day visa update on our own (no agency) by driving to Chiang Khong, parking at the vehicle checkpoint, and then taking the Friendship Bus over to Houayxay and back.

Immigration in Laos (Houayxay) tried to push us to stay for a few nights in Laos, saying that Thailand wouldn’t let us back in same day. We kindly said we still want to try, as friends (aka posts from this group) said that they had no issue. We had a friendly conversation and he stamped us out, saying we would need to get a new Laos visa if we are turned around by Thailand.

To confirm - no issue on the Thai side!

We’ve previously done a crossing at the Golden Triangle (Van Pak Len), but I would recommend Chiang Khong/Houayxay instead! It was simpler and didn’t feel as sketchy.

Just make sure your USD are pristine 🫧💵 - they will reject any bill with even the smallest mark.

We also encountered the 20B fee to exit Laos immigration - it seemed more official than other postings I’ve seen, giving you a QR code to scan to exit.