The visa run to Laos from Thailand is so popular that a Google search on the subject turns up over 800,000 results. However, what the results don’t tell you is how exhausting and uncomfortable the whole ordeal is. This week I did my visa run to Laos to get my non-immigrant type B visa in order to work in Thailand. Luckily I had the help of my school and GVI complete all the paperwork for me. So armed with stack of papers half an inch thick, signed, copied, and sealed in an envelop I started to organize my journey across the border.
Since the Thai-Laos visa run is so popular multiple companies are now popping up that only provide services for this very trip. I used AYA to book my trip since most of the other TOEFL and GVI staff had used them. I overheard that the drive was pretty rough but there were no details attached to that comment, so I didn’t give it that much weight. I had contemplated flying, turned out to be outside my budget, and then searched online for VIP buses, they ended up being even longer due to a transfer in Bangkok, and finally booked the van through AYA. It was 1500 baht for round trip service from your hostel in Thailand to the Thai Embassy in Laos with “supposed” help crossing the boarder. After the research I thought AYA was the best idea given the price.
Now safely but achy back in Chiang Mai I think now that I should have spent the extra money to fly.
I started my journey on Tuesday night at 6:30pm. We, being Tanner, Emma, and Jose, were picked up at our hotel by two very nice Thai men in a 11 passenger van. Prior to leaving we were told that AYA had English speaking employees because they work with foreigners all the time. WRONG! The person that initially picks up the phone and schedules your van might speak English but that is the last person you will encounter on the whole journey who does. So be prepared for really long few days of playing charades with the people you encounter.
The guys that picked us up in the van told our coordinator Jum that we would be transferring vans so not to unpack yet. We got into the van and drove for all of 10 minutes before we unloaded into the AYA office. There another lady, who did not speak English, looked at our tickets, passports, and visas and gestured to us to wait. The office started to fill up and knowing that I get carsick I tried to ask one of the employees which van we would be taking. I interpreted that we would be using two vans that night and the one that drove us to the office was one of them. I hastily placed my belongings back in the van as close to the front as I could get. I was a vary happy camper at this stage. Thinking to myself, “Heck yea! I scored a good seat, downloaded a few movies to watch, already popped my motion sickness tablets, and am ready to go!”
Slowly but surely other people caught on and claimed their seats on the bus they would occupy for the next 11 hours. We ended up leaving a half hour late because we were waiting on a couple to get back from dinner...considerate people were not really part of this journey. I was also on the bus with a man who probably didn’t bath for a week beforehand.
So at 7:30pm we departed. The lights dimmed, the air conditioning was blasting, as was the music. Nonetheless, Emma and I popped in our headphones and started to pass the hours with the newest Spider-man movie. (I should note here that I think Emma and I may have had the best seats in the van. We were right behind the driver in a bench row with one other guy. We are both around 5’11 so it gave us some extra leg room and we placed the laptop in the console area in between the driver and front seat passenger. Another little perk I found was an outlet that came in quite handy after the first movie.)
Not even 30 minutes into the drive I realized why the previous passengers said the ride was rough. Even though Emma and I had on seat belts it did not really matter as we slide across the seat bumping one another, swaying and jostling with every curve and bump. The Thai roads up until now have not been terrible, but I now understand that it is because the drivers were going at a decent speed. Our friendly Thai driver was not. He was pressing on the gas pedal as we entered into turns, rarely braking, and he seemed to be aiming at potholes. The lines on the road also seemed to be suggestions not obligations as he would drive where ever he liked.
Minus the roller coaster like movements of the van my motion sickness medicine was doing its job and the movie was distracting me enough not to be too annoyed. However, in the way back Jose had mistakenly chosen a seat which was not fully secured to the floor. After the first stop he and Tanner informed me that Jose’s seat would tilt a good five degrees with every turn. It was not the best seat for the 11 hour journey. (I want to stress again here the value and importance of choosing a good seat if you decide to go the van route.)
We had our first bathroom and dinner break around 10 or 10:30pm. I bought some snacks and a toastie, which I would like to thank Alex for introducing me to. I popped another motion sickness tablet and stretched before entering the van for another few hours. After Spider-man was finished Emma and I watched Book of Eli. It was slow to start but had an interesting concept.
Two movies and about 6 hours in my eyes were dry, my legs were stiff, and all I wanted to do was lay down and sleep. Instead I settled for sitting upright, swaying if not falling over and resting my eyes in between hoping we would not run off the road and die. (Tanner later told me he sort of wanted us to crash and get injured so that the company would have to increase the quality of service for future travelers. He is always looking out for everyone else, love him.)
After being restless and in and out of sleep for the next few hours we stopped once more to use the facilities. Two more motion sickness tablets were ingested with the hopes of knocking me out until we arrived at the boarder.
The next few hours were a blur to me as the tablets did their job and I was out with the exception of a few really rough road patches that I either ran into Emma or felt the need to hold on for dear life.
I awoke groggy and confused as we entered Udon Thani, the Thai-Laos border town. The van parked and all the achy sleepy travelers exited the van and were ushered into the AYA office. Yet again no English. We were given forms, our passports were checked, our wrists were stamped, and we were ushered into a smaller, cheaper, and much dirtier van. This van had an adorably animated chubby cheeked Thai man who drove us to the border.
I assumed the process would be simple, similar to an airport customs and immigration office. NOPE! There were many stops, lots of little forms, many windows, money given for god knows what and we were herded like cattle in and out of lines, vans, and passed over to another man who didn’t speak English. Fun times! (In all actuality it was entertaining. Two of the people that were in our van overstayed their visas and one didn’t have enough pages in his. The chubby cheeked Thai man got really frustrated and watching him gesture and yell in Thai at these irresponsible and now confused travelers really brought the spirits of the group up after such a long journey.)
All four of us made it over the Thai border, boarded another van, crossed into Laos, and were escorted to the Thai Embassy in Vientiane. As soon as we exited the van people on the street were asking us all sorts of questions and we were guided over to a stall outside the Embassy. I felt like we were getting swindled but besides paying 20 baht for an application, which he did disclose was free inside but he would read over it out here, everything they did was necessary.
We filled out the visa application form, got new pictures taken (apparently you must be wearing a collared shirt in the photo, no one told us), the pictures were glued to the application, we got copies made of our newly acquired Laos visa and then allowed to leave the stall and go to the Embassy.
All four of us go a number and were told to wait until we were called. We arrived just shortly after they opened the gates and I was already number 55. After waiting and waiting my number was finally called, or more correctly numbers 50-60 were called. Everyone at the Embassy seemed to be in the same impatient, rushed, exhausted mood. I also forgot to mention that Thursday was a holiday so my group had to arrive on Wednesday, drop all the paperwork off and wait until Friday to pick it up.
The line filled up quickly and yet again I waited. This whole trip just seemed like a big game of hurry up and wait. But you do what you have to do in these situations. So I get up to the window and a gentlemen checks over my forms, reads something and then highlights....my heart jumps, “What is he highlighting? Did I already mess up? Does everyone’s stuff get highlighted?” I tried to ask him but yet again the English was not understood. I looked through Emma’s paperwork to see what page he was on and highlighting and luckily it was just my name. Crisis averted. Panicked calmed. Heart mellowing. (Tanner, Emma, and I all have been placed at the same school so some of our forms have three names on them. That highlighted form was one of them.)
After the application window I actually got to enter the Thai Embassy. I forgot to mention that earlier, the visa application process is all done outside, yup outside.
Inside the embassy I waited again for my number to be called. I fell into a light sleep. Woken by recognizing the calling of my number, I paid and was finally free from the chaos until Friday afternoon when I could hopefully pick up my non-immigrant type b visa.
After all four of us had applied and paid we got a tuk-tuk to Sihome Backpacker’s Hostel. Our room was not ready when we got there so we went to grab a bit to eat. We all napped after lunch and then Tanner and I went out to explore the night market near the river. After scoping out the scene we went back to the hostel to grab Emma and Jose and went to have Indian food. Yum!
We spent the rest of the night walking through the market and along the river. Jose even got in on a local futbol match. It was the perfect relaxing night after such a hectic one.
The next morning we all decided to rent bikes and roam the city. We navigated the early morning traffic and found our way past multiple temples and visited Patuxai and That Dam. Once the sun reached overhead and the heat became unbearable we all retired to an indoor coffee shop and rested until we no longer were sweating. The rest of the afternoon we all went our separate ways and met up for dinner at Moon The Night. Live music, a personal mini-keg of beer, and good food were all enjoyed. After dinner we rode our bicycles to a hole-in-the-wall karaoke bar to continue our drinking while we sang our hearts out to bad 90’s music for the rest of the night.
We awoke the next day ready to grab our visas and get back to Thailand. However, the Thai Embassy only does visa pickups from 1:30-3:30pm. So we all hung around the hostel, ate complimentary breakfast, and then ordered lunch to go from Ray’s Grille (an amazing little restaurant down the street that serves Philly cheese steak subs and a bangin’ falafel burger.) Mom, Tanner said you would like the sub so I guess that means you have to come visit Laos too!
After getting lunch to go we followed the advice of a Canadian girl we met the day before who told us to get there early because the Embassy gives you numbers similar to the visa application. We arrived and were about 20th in line. We ate our lunch and waited in the hot sun for an hour and a half, but it paid off. We were 22, 23, 24, and 25 respectively and each successfully picked up our visas! Congratulations Emma, Jose, and Tanner! We can now teach legally!
We all skipped out of there and boarded a van to the Laos border. I was asleep the first time so I didn’t realize how long the drive was. I mistakenly got in the far left corner of the backseat and didn’t take any motion sickness tablets. Big mistake on my behalf. Not even five minutes into the ride I got really sick. Nausea crept over my whole body, I turned pale, became sweaty, and started to cry. It was really embarrassing to be that girl who travels all over the world but can’t get into a moving vehicle without getting ill. So after getting a trash bag and managing not to get sick for the remainder of the journey we arrived at the Laos boarder where I drug myself out of the van and promptly collapsed onto the sidewalk with my head in my hands and my stomach in knots.
Tanner got me water and placed something cold on my neck. I rested there and composed myself before making my way to the border to fill out even more paperwork and stand in more lines and wait at more windows. Just an FYI crossing a border on foot is not for the impatient or faint of heart.
All four of us made it across the border once more and called AYA to come pick us up for another lengthy van journey. The ride back in my opinion was worse than the ride to Laos. I had a middle seat this time and couldn’t sleep or get comfortable. I am sure you can understand that the journey to any place is way more exciting, the anticipation is high. On the way home you are exhausted, tired, and probably a bit cranky. Plus you know what the drive will be like so there is not much to look forward to.
I am happy to say I am now back in Chiang Mai. I did have to sleep on the floor of the Eco Resort when I got back before my room was ready But since I have showered, napped, had breakfast, and am finally relaying my Thai visa run journey with you all!
I hope you enjoyed and below are some helpful links and the costs laid out so you can get a better idea of what to expect on your journey.
Now go out and enjoy the world!
- Molly
Thai Visa Run Costs:
AYA service: 1500 baht
Snacks along the way: 400 baht
Laos Visa: 36USD
Thai non-immigrant b Visa: 2000baht
Tuk-tuk to hostel: 160 baht
Hostel for two nights: 800 baht
Bicycle for the day: 600 baht
Beer Lao: 60 baht per beer
Food for two days: 2000 baht
Tuk-tuk to Thai Embassy: 160 baht
Van to Laos border: 200 baht
Total: ~9,600 baht or 300USD
Helpful links:
Thai Embassy: http://www.thaiembassy.org/main/
AYA: http://www.ayaservice.com/
Sihome Backpackers Hostel: http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Sihome-Backpackers-Hostel/Vientiane/69394
Night Market: http://www.visit-mekong.com/laos/vientiane/shopping/riverside-night-market.htm
Patuxai:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/laos/vientiane/sights/landmarks-monuments/patuxai
That Dam: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/laos/vientiane/sights/landmarks-monuments/that-dam
Moon The Night: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moon-The-Night-Restaurant/114880221939861
Ray’s Grille: https://www.facebook.com/raysgrilleLaopdr
Eco Resort, Chiang Mai: http://www.ecoresortchiangmai.com/default-en.html
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