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Maxim **********
This is a summary of
Maxim **********
's contributions to the platform. They have posed 9 questions and added 1388 comments.

QUESTIONS

COMMENTS

Maxim ***********
You are black, and African. These are the reason it's taken so long. If you were white from the UK, you would be okay already. Yes, they are taking longer because of that and the chance of rejection is higher. No, I do not think that's it's fair, but it's the world we live in.
Maxim ***********
Nong Khai, I dont know about Mukdahan.
Maxim ***********
@Steve ******
I've done it a few time, yeah u can, I might still have pictures of it but it was before Covid.
Maxim ***********
You probably havent cross that border in years.
Maxim ***********
I left Khon Kaen by car in the morning so I dont know exactly, somewhere between 11am and 1pm.
Maxim ***********
@Henrik ***
I don't get your point? You can go anywhere you want by bus. You still need to be stamped out of Thailand, and in Laos.
Maxim ***********
@Henrik ***
It doesn't matter where you get what. You need to be stamped out of Thailand, and in Laos. You can't get back into Thailand if you are stuck between two countries.
Maxim ***********
@Henrik ***
You absolutely need to cross the bridge to border bounce/run. To enter Laos, you need your visa on arrival which is on the other side of the bridge. To go there, you need to take the 35 baht bus like everyone else. There is no way around it. Then, when you have the visa, you turn around and leave Laos. Then take the same 35 baht bus back over the bridge. Then, you enter Thailand with visa exempt entry.

Also, those dedicated line I've not seen that for a very long time. And this is part of what I said about not arriving there went group bus are also there.
Maxim ***********
@Henrik ***
There is no agent at that border. Only thing they have is some "fixer" that will hold your hand in the process and then drive you to Vientiane. But the numbers of people paying for such useless service is very low (only some first timer). Nobody is losing time over not doing this.

Second, if you take a group bus you won't save any time at the border, unless you don't know the process at the border to begin with. You follow the queue like everyone else, you do not skip line. In fact, the reason why the queue can be long is if you arrive at the same time as a few of these buses that go from Udon to Vientiane. If you are unlucky you arrive at the same time or slightly after and can be a lot of people ahead of you. But if you plan ahead and know went these buses usually arrive, you will be fine.

And on top of that, OP is talking about a border bounce, not visa run. Border bounce mean u cross the border, turn around, and come back immediately to Thailand 10 min later, or few hours if you want to shop around. You do not go to Vientiane went you border bounce.