Popular Post JanKlimo Posted October 16, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted October 16, 2014 Just returned this morning, so here are a few points that might be helpful if you're planning the trip. TLDR: My school advised me to go to Savannakhet to get my ED extension, since you can get it the same day and it's a no-hassle option. This all proved to be true. Getting to Mukdahan There are lots of buses leaving from Mo Chit terminal in Bangkok. I got there at 5:45pm and was on a bus 10 minutes later. I got a VIP bus ticket (2+1 seats in one row) for 553 THB. This one was rather basic, but comfy. The nicer ones are ~ 1000 THB. You can get your ticket on the 3rd floor. I made the mistake of getting there too early. Choose a bus that arrives in Mukdahan around 8am. Mukdahan to Lao check point No need to get a tuk tuk to go to the border (150 - 200 THB). Get a bus ticket in Mukdahan - it will take you all the way to the Lao check point across the bridge. If you do get a tuk tuk like I did, you can get your bus ticket at the Thai check point (50 THB). The first bus passes the bridge at around 8:30am. Lao check point Bring a copy of your passport. The page with your picture is all you need. You'll need 1 photo here. Bring money for the Lao visa fee in USD, otherwise they'll ask you for 1,500 THB. The fee depends on your country, it was 30 USD for me. It's worth checking how much you're supposed to pay, so they don't charge you more than that. Got a tuk tuk to the consulate (100 THB/person). Consulate Opens at 9am. There were about 25 of us on Wednesday, done in 30 minutes. Fill in the one page form, attach 2 photos, copy of your passport and docs from your school, pay the fee. You can copy your passport (again, the page with your picture only) in a booth next to the consulate. They can also fill the forms for you but you'll be charged. You can do it yourself. 2,000 THB for single entry ED visa, 5,000 THB for multiple entry. Warning: check if your country happens to be on this list. My friend (Moroccan) was denied visa (a true FML moment) despite having no problems in Hong Kong or Malaysia before. You don't want this to happen. You can pick up your passport at 3:30pm. Nobody had any problems as far as I know. Tourist, ED, or marriage visa, everybody said it was very smooth. Enjoying your free time Chez Boune and Cafe Chai Dee are nice places with good food and free Wi-Fi. It's a small place, all the tuk tuks know the main spots. Heard good things about Lin's Cafe, but it was closed that day. Have the traditional baguette with beef, you'll see it on the streets. Back to Mukdahan Tuk tuk to the border (100 THB/person). Two weird fees here. 40 THB for a stamp on your visa. Then 50 THB if you pass the checkpoint after 4pm. Looking around, all the Thais paid this as well. Bus to Mukdahan is 50 THB again. Mukdahan to Bangkok The first VIP bus leaves at 8pm (~ 1000 THB). Got on a normal bus at 6pm, since there is nothing to do at the bus station (~600 THB), not that bad. Back in Bangkok at 5am.Summary Make sure to check this list. You'll need about 5,000 - 6,000 THB for the trip. Bring USD only for the Lao visa fee, THB is accepted anywhere in Laos, exchange rate is fair. Copy your passport, bring 3 photos, docs from your school. You get your visa the same day. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenl Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Thanks for the report. I presume you're talking ED visa, not ED extension as you mention? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanKlimo Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 Thanks for the report. I presume you're talking ED visa, not ED extension as you mention? Correct. Thanks for catching that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Fairfield Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Very good report, thanks OP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somchai jones Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Excellent report JanKlimo. This is extremely useful. Thanks for taking the time to compile it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falang07 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 excellent report, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyL Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Very good report indeed. Just a few remarks.From the bus station in Mukdahan Savannakhet to the new Royal Thai Consulate, the samlor (tuk-tuk) fare should not exceed 20 baht or 5000 kip per person if you share this vehicle with another person (if you are alone for this ride, 40 baht or 10000 kip should suffice). The samlor drivers will try to ask for a much higher fare, but it's quite possible to pay as low as I wrote: I did it very recently.I did not pay any 'weird fee' at the border on my way back to Mukdahan. I only paid 5 bath more (overtime fee) for my bus ticket at the Savannakhet international bus station as explained here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/697299-worry-free-non-o-visa-savannakhet/page-12#entry8477611 Edited October 17, 2014 by ubonjoe changed to Savannakhet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrybeirne Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 very good detailed report, thanks for taking the time to do it. i'm off to vientiene in a few days time, hope mine goes as smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Very good report indeed. Just a few remarks. From the bus station in Mukdahan to the new Royal Thai Consulate, the samlor (tuk-tuk) fare should not exceed 20 baht or 5000 kip per person if you share this vehicle with another person (if you are alone for this ride, 40 baht or 10000 kip should suffice). The samlor drivers will try to ask for a much higher fare, but it's quite possible to pay as low as I wrote: I did it very recently. I did not pay any 'weird fee' at the border on my way back to Mukdahan. I only paid 5 bath more (overtime fee) for my bus ticket at the Savannakhet international bus station as explained here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/697299-worry-free-non-o-visa-savannakhet/page-12#entry8477611 Thanks for that Guy, does the Tuktuk stop at the border on the way to the Thai Consulate from the bus station? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyL Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 (edited) Very good report indeed. Just a few remarks. From the bus station in Mukdahan to the new Royal Thai Consulate, the samlor (tuk-tuk) fare should not exceed 20 baht or 5000 kip per person if you share this vehicle with another person (if you are alone for this ride, 40 baht or 10000 kip should suffice). The samlor drivers will try to ask for a much higher fare, but it's quite possible to pay as low as I wrote: I did it very recently. I did not pay any 'weird fee' at the border on my way back to Mukdahan. I only paid 5 bath more (overtime fee) for my bus ticket at the Savannakhet international bus station as explained here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/697299-worry-free-non-o-visa-savannakhet/page-12#entry8477611 Thanks for that Guy, does the Tuktuk stop at the border on the way to the Thai Consulate from the bus station? Sorry, I meant from the bus station in Savannakhet (not Mukdahan). Don't know if I still can edit my previous post. It's more clear in my other report here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/697299-worry-free-non-o-visa-savannakhet/page-12#entry8477611 Edit: Too late now for me to edit my previous post, but I have reported it and explained my mistake, hopefully, a mod will correct it soon. Edited October 17, 2014 by GuyL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn72 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Are they requiring the same paperwork (from the school) as Vientiane? My school insist me to go Vientiane, because they don't know the requirements in Savannakhet (none of the they students went there yet). I'm really like to avoid going to Vientiane, because i hate waiting in lines for hours, under the sun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Are they requiring the same paperwork (from the school) as Vientiane? My school insist me to go Vientiane, because they don't know the requirements in Savannakhet (none of the they students went there yet). I'm really like to avoid going to Vientiane, because i hate waiting in lines for hours, under the sun... They ask for the same documents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn72 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Thanks Joe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paz Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Check if any letter is addressed to Vientane. In that case you would need it address to Savannakhet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn72 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Check if any letter is addressed to Vientane. In that case you would need it address to Savannakhet. That has to done before the application sent to to MoE, or that something the school can change before i go to the Consulate? Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paz Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Check if any letter is addressed to Vientane. In that case you would need it address to Savannakhet.That has to done before the application sent to to MoE, or that something the school can change before i go to the Consulate? Thanks for the help! The letter from the school need to be done again if it is addressed to a different consulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn72 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdfrules Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Gotta say man, thank you very mak mak for this post. It saved me so much research time seeing all this info in one spot! As a side note, in case anyone sees this today (Oct 20), I just posted a related question, asking about bus schedule times today from Mo Chit to Mukdahan here.Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdfrules Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I did this visa run yesterday successfully. Applied and picked up passport the same day. Just want to add: Bus times from Mo Chit You can check bus times from Mo Chit here: http://www.thaiticketmajor.com/bus/index.php?la=en. You can book in advance, although I wasn't able to. They had no bus times showing for the current day, which was the day I needed. I guess they don't do advanced booking for the current day. Which bus time to take from Mo Chit It seems most days have a lot of buses around 9:30 pm and 10:30 pm. I got to the bus terminal at 9 pm and the 9:30 tickets were sold out (at the one both I tried at least). So maybe you should try getting there at least an hour early if you didn't book ahead of time. Catch at 10:30 pm bus to arrive in Mukdahan around 7 am, in time for the first bus to the border, which I think is at 8 am. Actually I may have arrived at 8:30 am. Can't remember now. The bus ride from BKK to Mukdahan There are a lot of stops along the way where you can eat and pee. Try not to pee in the bus bathroom, it's absolutely disgusting. Bathrooms along the route aren't great either, but they are better. Bus from Mukdahan to the Savannakhet The bus from Mukdahan to the border goes all the way to Savannakhet bus terminal. No need to get a tuk tuk until you are in Savannakhet. Just make sure the ticket says Savannakhet. Maybe they all do, but not sure. Same thing in the other direction. Although it's faster if you take a tuk tuk from the border to the consulate for 100 baht. As taking the bus to the terminal to the consulate is back tracking. Same thing in the other direction. When I arrived at the Thai side of the border on the way to Laos, I was last in line at the check point booth. Then they made me walk to the immigration office because I needed to transfer the stamp from my old passport to the new one. That took me maybe 30 or 40 minutes, and the whole bus waited for me! I figured they would just leave without me, and I'd catch a tuk tuk, but maybe the driver thought I might have a bag on board. Applying for the visa at consulate I applied for a double entry, and he charged me for a single. I didn't notice. When I picked up my passport, it was a single entry. No explanation was offered, and I didn't notice until it was too late. So make sure the fee is correct when you drop off your PP. It was 1000 for a single, and I'm not sure what double entry is. And make sure you check your number of entries on the visa, and other details, when you pick it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baneko Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Just back from Savannakhet. Non Immigrant O based on marraige. No problems at all although you do still have to stay overnight in Savannakhet. Night Market worth a walk through in the evening. Lins Cafe good in the afternoon for food and wifi and Pilgrims Inn good for Indian/Mexican/European food. All close to the Night Narket. Was told to pick up passport 1500 the following day although the tuk tuk told us they open at 1400. Arrived at 1500 as was in no rush. No queue at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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