Vientiane - Non B Visa Run tips

**Chris88** · 13th July 2011 08:13

Hi All

They didn't want all those photocopies of stamped pages of my passport. Nor did they want "a map showing the school" - not sure where this was coming from? My school insisted this was a cornerstone of getting a Non B-Visa

Make sure you get to the Thai embassy - and not to some guesthouse paying commission to TukTuk drivers.
You will save by staying near the embassy - there are guesthouses and hotels nearby.
Get Dollars at the exchange at the Lao end of the Friendship bridge.
Take the blus bus for 6,000 Kip to the bus station.
(Turn right and keep walking for a bit over 1 km, past some impressive National Building). Then right at the BoonYoung Bank (???) with a guard house on the corner. Keep walking for about 500 meters. Turn left, the embassy is on he left and has high metal gates).
There are buses from Vientiane bus station to Thai cities, including Udon Thani (24,000 Kip).
No need to pay 20 Baht for an application form, you get them for free inside and can fill them out on tables in minutes).

Enjoy Vientiane!

**hayleyma** · 3rd January 2012 16:47

Hi, I'm going to the consulate tomorrow for my non B - do I need dollars? I have 2000 baht I thought this would be okay?

I'm right in thinking that the thai visa place and thai embassy are in two different places yeah? the one i need is on Avenue Kaysone Phomvihane right?

Would you recommend getting there early?

thanks!

**hayleyma** · 10th January 2012 19:41

for anyone who is wondering about this baht was fine. it's only at the laos border getting your visa for laos that dollars works out cheaper than baht.
all tuk tuk drivers know how to take you to the correct visa place.
and getting there early (7.30) is a good idea!!! or you could get there at 11 and be done by 1. just dont get there between 8.30 and 10, you will wait the longest.
good luck to all doing this trip, for me it was horrendous!

**Soi Ghost** · 11th January 2012 16:50

Originally Posted by hayleyma

good luck to all doing this trip, for me it was horrendous!

Why not just go with one of the visa run companies? You can't save that much doing it yourself.

**zeusbheld** · 11th January 2012 17:31

Originally Posted by Soi Ghost

Why not just go with one of the visa run companies? You can't save that much doing it yourself.

two reasons: you save enough to make it worth it, and you're not stuck spending a large chunk of time with the sort of people who go with one of the visa run companies.

**chuck_s** · 11th January 2012 19:45

Don't forget, if you are arriving in NongKai bus station. Wait for the bus that goes from NongKai bus station into Vientine, Laos. Avoid anyone who comes up to and offers to give you assistance. They will put you into a TukTuk and then take you one of them Visa helpers not far from the bridge. They will tell you, that you made some errors and will make it look better. Avoid them or you will be paying an extra 2000 THB. Avoid their drivers to.

**Anna Key** · 11th January 2012 19:46

Originally Posted by Chris88

They didn't want all those photocopies of stamped pages of my passport. Nor did they want "a map showing the school" - not sure where this was coming from?

Yeah, Chris, but if you hadn't have had them then they would have wanted them (I know that sounds weird but I think you get my drift.)

I was with a guy there, some years ago, and they decided that they wanted photocopies of every single degree of every single foreign teacher at his school. I'm not kidding. Mad panic ensued with 'phone calls to the school - it was a holiday - and then him (and me) sitting by a fax machine in the guest house as these degrees peeled off, courtesy of someone his school had got hold of.

Off he shot back to the embassy just before the security guards closed the gates at lunch time. He made it in, submitted this pile of papers and repaired for a beer.

Meanwhile back at the guest house, more degree copies had been spewing forth - so he had not actually given them what they had directed him to give. What they had given him was a classic fuck around.

Now, anybody reading this and thinking I'm shitting you, I'm not- trust me, I was there, right behind him in that waiting room after dropping off my measly bundle.

So what happened?

Here's my tip and heed ye well.

He turned up (an Int.School teacher) in his baggy shorts and T-shirt. I don't think that's a good look.
Secondly, when he was called up to the counter by the lady, he did all this over-enthusiastic wai-ing and sawadee-ing as he made his way there. Big shit-eating grin on his fizz as he did so. What a complete and utter fucking cock.

I'm not into schadenfreude (much!) but we were staying at the same guest house and when I had come down for breakfast that morning he and another random were taking the piss out of me because I was dressed as if for work; shirt, tie and shiny shoes. "Oooh. look at him" they were giving it. Yeah, look at me and my wonderful creases and despair twats, because I'm applying for a visa that will allow me to work in Thailand as a teacher - not a mouth-breathing whore fucker.

That's my tip. Look the part. Be modest. Don't try to be funny with officials.

PS: Sorry, I forgot. Yes, he did get his Non-B the next day. We all did. They didn't want any of that fax paper! He just got a spank.

**zeusbheld** · 11th January 2012 20:29

regarding buses into Vientiane: they're great if you like waiting for everyone on the bus to sort their border crossing, including the turd who doesn't fill out his paperwork until he reaches the window, the turd who doesn't bring correct change to purchase a Laos visa, the turd who didn't bring enough cash and will hunt for 15 minutes to find an ATM, and of course the turd who's going to waste half an hour dropping a log, as if it's the last bathroom he'll ever see even though it's only a few minutes to downtown Vientiane. if you're unlucky a) they'll all be on the same bus and b) they'll all do the same stuff on the way back, having learned nothing.

i take the train, share a tuk tuk, (don't stop at an 'travel agencies' who can 'get you a visa'), speed through immi, and share a taxi with at least 3 people. it's fast, convenient, and cheaper than a visa run package. another advantage of trains vs buses: the overnight bus will invariably stop at some shitty restaurant they're taking kickbacks from, so you can load up on whatever snacks they're selling. this will happen some time between 4 and 4:30 am, about an hour and a half before they wake you up to have breakfast at the restaurant in Nong Khai they're taking kickbacks from. oh yeah, and if you happen to have long legs, expect the dipshit in the seat ahead of you, upon feeling some resistance to his putting his seat ALL the way back, to crash his seat into your knees with all his might. furthermore expect the dipshit to never, ever learn from this experience and do this several times per trip. the moral of the story is: don't take a bus if you can help it, but if you can't help it ride with Thais. at least they're small and won't tell you in exhaustive (and exhausting) detail about why their bargirl is better than anyone else's, as if those really large headphones you're wearing were merely decorative...

regarding flying into Vientiane: it used to be hideously expensive, and the airfield looked even older than Siem Reap. did Laos have an air force in World War I? that said, i haven't been there in 3 years, and there may be cheaper flights (and a remodeled airport) by now...

**Anna Key** · 11th January 2012 20:38

I found the train very soothing. Worth a mention for the soothe quotient.

**zeusbheld** · 11th January 2012 20:45

Originally Posted by Anna Key

I found the train very soothing. Worth a mention for the soothe quotient.

yep, even if you don't get a bed it's still easier to sleep (i have taken the train in the cheap seats before, much comfier than the bus).

**KarenB** · 23rd July 2012 19:51

I've heard several people recommend the train, as it's more restful. However, I've also heard it's notoriously late, which wouldn't be so much trouble on the return trip, but if one wants to get into the consulate in Vientiane before noon, and the train arrives in Udon at, say, 9:30, and then maybe another hour to get to Lao border, and then getting processed at the bridge -- seems like it could be a real time crunch there. You guys who take the train had trouble with this?

I heard one person recommend going to Lao consulate in Bangkok and getting Lao visa prior to traveling, to save time at border. Thoughts?

**THX 1133** · 23rd July 2012 20:20

Originally Posted by zeusbheld

two reasons: you save enough to make it worth it, and you're not stuck spending a large chunk of time with the sort of people who go with one of the visa run companies.

Hell yes!

**MeMock** · 23rd July 2012 20:23

Originally Posted by zeusbheld

regarding flying into Vientiane: it used to be hideously expensive, and the airfield looked even older than Siem Reap. did Laos have an air force in World War I? that said, i haven't been there in 3 years, and there may be cheaper flights (and a remodeled airport) by now...

$150 from Bangkok one way seems the go at the moment. If I am not driving myself then it is the plane every time.

---Update---

Originally Posted by Chris88

(Turn right and keep walking for a bit over 1 km, past some impressive National Building). Then right at the BoonYoung Bank (???) with a guard house on the corner. Keep walking for about 500 meters. Turn left, the embassy is on he left and has high metal gates).

.... and arrive looking like you have just taken a swim and smell like the pool was filled with elephant pee? No thanks!