Screw this visa companies. Van from Udon airport to the bridge - 200b. Taxi from the bridge to VTE centre - 300b or bus for 8000 kip (30b)

...and I would avoid an organised trip to Vientiane because with some cursory googling and a little bit of adventure (and really only a little bit) it's easy and much cheaper to do it by yourself

@Robert ***********

True i guess. I think the data that Google and Facebook hold on us is far more scary/invasive/creepy

I think the reasons some people have a problem with it is because, a) their record with data security is, at best, mixed, b) there is already an immigration database, so why can't they just share info internally, and c) the fact that this is with the Ministry of Defence tends to suggest an underlying view that 'foreigners' need to be tracked because they are some kind of threat.

@Tony *******

yeah, that's what I originally said ("It's more that they realise that there is an overall economic benefit to you being here, so they begrudgingly accept it and want to keep an eye (or several eyes) on you")

@Tony *******

No shit

@Tony *******

Well, also the part that creates different rules at the bank, different rules for buying a sim card, various databases for 'tracking' foreigners while they are in Thailand, different prices for all sorts of stuff, etc

@Tony *******

No, which is why i said "it reflects an opinion among parts of the officialdom"

@Tony *******

I'm not saying 'all Thais hate us all', I said that a policeman genuinely said that, and it reflects an opinion among parts of the officialdom that foreigners are to blame for crime and other various social ills

@David *********

- yes, it could be much, much worse -