Vientiane Laos From Lampang/phrae

[altman]

i used to live in chiang mai so i came to know exactly how to make my border runs as cheaply and/or as comfortably as possible.

now i live between lampang and phrae.

what i used to know and take for granted is just not valid anymore. i have had to develop an entirely new routine for my border runs. and meanwhile the thai gov't has moved the goalposts!

so this may be of some use to those of us who are out in the sticks but still want to remain compliant.

first. a side note. there is a vip bus from lampang at 10:30 am to mae sai. it has taken me 3 months to find it, but it does exist. i did not, however, get the name of the company.

next, and given the new rules limiting the practicality of the mae sai border run, there are vip buses going to udon thani. but this is where it gets interesting...

from den chai, a common point for all travel to isaan from our area, there are no vip buses. nakon chai ar and nakon chai tour are your options there. you can try calling: 054-613-3239 for more information.

from phrae: if you heard about a piss off between a tiny little thai girl and an enormous farang bully, that would be me and nid. getting information is not necessarily the easiest thing to do in thailand. especially if you don't speak thai...

there are 2 companies that service udon from phrae. Chakaporn Tour and Sombat Tour. we had taken a Sombat tour bus once and it was the single best bus ride i have ever taken anywhere. period. bar none.

so my hopes were up that they would do udon.

they do, but only every third day. for my time frame that meant xmas day, dec 25. nid was not pleased.

the alternative bus company had received a less than favorable review from another runner, so, given my past experiences with really abysmal buses, i wanted desperately to run away. but, here is what they have:

Chakaporn Tour, #1 bus, 616B, leaving at about 2045. their phone number is, i think: 053-248-815 (i know. only 9 digits)

the Sombat tours info: #2 daily, but i did not get their prices for that or for the #1. their phone number is: 080-445-5404

from lampang: someone else who lives there may have better knowledge.

the information desk people here are perhaps the best information desk people in the entire world. and they speak english. believe what they say.

sombat has a presence there, but not for udon.

chakaporn is there and has a #1 and a vip to udon.

the #1 is daily

i am not sure of the frequency of the vip. it comes down from chiang mai so maybe easier to check from there. the cost is 657 B. it leaves lampang about 2130 and arrives in udon at about 0700. free meal at about 0300, yawn. 44 seater.

when we booked they were full for a bus leaving 2 weeks in advance! but they have added a second vip bus from lampang.

that is essentially what i found out from my travels to the various bus stations around here.

i hope others can fill in more details.

[TerryLH]

You might want to look at busses to either Khon Kaen or Nong Khai.

From Khon Kaen there is a bus direct to Vientienne. I think it's just under 200 baht.

A Lao visa is required to use this bus, to avoid delays at the border.

From Nong Khai it's just a tuk tuk ride to the border.