For information only.....Went over to Laos the other day to sort my visa out, unfortunately I didn't have the correct paperwork, so I ended up having to do a border bounce. I came back over to Thailand on a Saturday morning, I was the only foreigner at the border at this time, apart from the usual Laos workers going into Thailand. I sailed through the process, first in the queue, as the only none Laos/Thai person. No questions asked.
I ended up while in Laos going to the Thai consulate on Tuesday and Thursday, queued 2 1/2 hours on Tuesday and 4 1/2 hours on Thursday. It seems like everyone is now using Savannakhet rather than other destinations for Visa's.