laos visa on arrival

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This page displays all the results for the Laos visa on arrival tag, sorted by the most recent activity. There are a total of 7 questions that have been tagged with Laos visa on arrival. Explore the questions to find discussions and information relevant to this topic.
Mar 12, 2024
8 months ago
Kay ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hello everyone, I hope you are all well. I am flying to Laos tomorrow to visit Vientiane and to get a Visa exempt coming back to Thailand. Can you please tell me if I can exchange euros to dollars at the Don Mueang Airport? I knew I could get a visa on arrival in Vientiane however I didn't realise until yesterday that they only accept US$. I'll be in Bangkok this afternoon so perhaps I can look for a SuperRich somewhere near my hotel, too (Sukumvit area). Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks and have a great day!
Aug 7, 2023
a year ago
Wylie *******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Planning to go to Savannakhet from Chiang Mai to apply for the multiple entry non-o visa. What are some of the best options to get there and back? It doesn't seem like I can fly direct, at least from what I can find.
Jul 24, 2023
a year ago
Brijendra *****
ORIGINAL POSTER
[Savannakhet Visa Run Experience]

Drove with personal car to Mukdahan-Laos border checkpoint and right before the Thai immigration there was a parking lot on the left which charges 250 THB/day. Then bought a bus ticket for 50 THB for the international bus and walked upto immigration where the officer stamped me out of Thailand and then I waited for the next bus. Since I was already stumped out, simply got on the bus and it took around 5-10 minutes to cross the bridge on to Savannakhet side and then I had to get off along with all my belongings for Lao immigration.

I didn’t have a Lao Visa so applied for a Visa on Arrival which took around 10 minutes as they asked me to fill a form and charged 1900 THB. Later I realized that this was overpriced and it would be cheaper if I paid in USD instead. I didn’t have a photo and they were fine with that. Didn’t charge me extra and just took a photo. Next, I got back on the bus and proceeded to the Savannakhet Bus station and then took a tuk-tuk to the hotel. I was charged 150 THB for a 5 minute tuk-tuk which is double of the regular price so try to negotiate if you can.

In the morning at the embassy I reached around 7:30 am. There’s a copy shop right in front which can help with printouts, copies or with taking photos and it opens pretty early. There also a small restaurant with decent food while you wait for the gates to open. The gates opened at 9:00 and the line was pretty short when I went and I was out by 9:20ish.

I just wanted a visa for less than 60 days to visit my wife’s family and was debating between the Non-O and Tourist Visa. Decided to go for tourist visa since it was 1000 THB so cheaper. I had an invitation letter, copies of house registration, ID card and passport from my wife along with my own foreign bank statement and copies of passport and Laos Visa. They asked me to open my back account on the online application and then they matched some transactions on random dates to ensure that the copy of statement is indeed authentic. I’m glad that I had working internet in this situation.

On the next working day, the gates opened at around 1:50pm for passport collection and this also took around 10 minutes. I took a tuk-tuk which picked me from my hotel, waiting for Mr at the embassy for an hour while I got my passport and then took me straight to the Savannakhet border so that I can proceed back to Thailand. Charged total 100,000 Kip for everything.

Crossing back into Thailand was same as well. Stamped out by Lao immigration, take the bus back to Thailand and then stamped in by Thai immigration into Mukdahan.

Some tips:

1. If you use THB in Laos, you’ll usually get a bad exchange rate but it’s widely accepted and okay for initial usage. I’d recommend exchanging your money at this place which has the best rates. I got 1 THB = 580 Kip while the official rate was 550 since foreign currencies are in demand and you can get a premium: [members only]

2. It was convenient to get a scooty/bike to get around Savannakhet. My hotel provided this to me for 150,000 Kip/day. They didn’t ask to keep my ID or passport etc. while other places usually do. This is probably the cheapest and easiest way to get around.

3. You can get roaming on your Thai/foreign SIM card which will be expensive or walk into a convenience store and buy a Unitel SIM card which gave me 60GB data for around 50,000 Kip which is around 2-3 USD.

Please feel free to reach out if you’ve any questions about food/hotel recommendations or anything else in Savannakhet. This group helped me a lot when I was planning this trip so I’d like to help back with my experience as well!
Jul 15, 2023
a year ago
Brijendra *****
ORIGINAL POSTER
[Regarding getting a visa at Savannakhet]

Hi everyone, I came to Thailand a few days ago with my Thai wife to visit her family and I entered on a Visa On Arrival (Indian Citizen). I wanted to be here for around 30 days however I only have 15 days on the VoA. Tried to extend it for “visiting Thai spouse” but the local immigration office told me that we can only do it on a TR on non-Imm O visa.

Anyway, now I’m planning to drive to Savannakhet since it’s only 3 hours away from me and then get a visa from the Thai embassy there. Some questions I had:

1. Will I need to show a flight ticket back from Savannakhet to get a Lao Visa on Arrival? I’ll just be driving in and then back to Thailand so I won’t have it.

2. Is it better for me to apply for a visitor visa based on visiting Thai family or better to apply for a O visa. I can apply for either but wondering which one has better chances of being approved or which is faster to get.

3. It might be complicated to take a Thai car into Laos so I’m wondering if there’s a way to park the car in Mukhadan, Thailand and then take public transit or walk into Savannakhet or something of that sort?

4. Is there anyone who has been there recently and can share their experience regarding the wait times at the embassy or anything else I should know with regards to documents I should have. I’ll of course take all usual docs such as marriage certificate (issued in Canada), copy of house registration, my wife and her ID, Passport etc. Can I pay the visa fees in THB cash or will I need another way of paying?

Thanks a lot for your help!
Jan 30, 2023
2 years ago
Tore *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Chong Mek Border bounce

Just some practical Q's :) Doing bounce in 2 days on the day my stamp expire (METV) First 60 day stay + extension expire. (Norwegian passport, Dutch residency))

- Are there easy Parking by the border? (Looks like on google maps)

- I understand i can pay the Lao VOA in baht?

- Can I walk right back, or should i go grab some food and wait a bit before walking back into Thailand?

3 proofs prepared, (flying back to Europe within 60 days).

Should be smooth sailing?
Jun 28, 2019
5 years ago
Erik ********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Going on a visa run to Vientiane and I have a couple of questions for those who have done it- if you pay for your visa on arrival in Laos with dollars, do they give you change in the local currency or dollars? Also, what currency do you pay for a non b visa with at the embassy- in Baht? I just wanted to check - thanks!
Jun 26, 2018
6 years ago
Steven ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hello guys. I need some information. I tried to Google but i can not find the answer. Anyone know the boarder by Mukdahan to Savannakhet it is open 24 hours a day? My driver is late and we will arrive about 7-8PM. Can we still get trough and get a Laos visa? I am going for a boarder bounce to get my 90 days stamp.

thanks in advance
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