Chong Mek ↔ Vangtao: the Thailand to Laos border crossing
You change here rather than crossing aboard, and you should budget about 90 minutes for the formalities on top of the journey either side.
Thailand ↔ Laos · about 90 minutes · 1 service · 1 written-up journey
How the crossing works
Chong Mek ↔ Vangtao
Thailand ↔ Laos- Where
- Road border, everyone off the coach and back on
- On the train?
- No — walk through both posts while the coach waits
- Luggage
- Yes, carried across
- Visa
- Lao visa-on-arrival is normally issued here in US dollars cash. Bring exact notes and a passport photo; the photo booth is not always working.
- Cash on the far side
- US dollars in small notes for the visa, and Thai baht — southern Laos takes baht more readily than kip in some places.
- Time cost
- About 90 minutes of formalities
The trap. There is an unofficial "overtime fee" collected outside office hours and at weekends. It is small, it is real in the sense that you will be asked for it, and arguing costs more time than paying. Arrive on a weekday morning and it does not come up.
What crosses here
| Service | Operator | Time | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubon Ratchathani → Pakse Cross-border coach via Chong Mek | Long-distance coach | 4h | $12 |
Typical scheduled running time for the crossing leg itself, which does not include the 90 minutes of formalities above. Allow for both when you are working out whether a connection holds. Fares are indicative.
Long-distance coach. Several operators run these corridors at varying quality. An aggregator is the sane way to compare them. Punctuality: fair.
Getting to each side
The frontier is rarely the problem. Reaching it on a day when something onward is still running usually is.
Ubon Ratchathani
Thailand| Reached by | Operator | Time | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surin → Ubon Ratchathani Special Express / Rapid (Isaan) | State Railway of Thailand | 2h 30m | $5 |
Pakse
Laos| Reached by | Operator | Time | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pakse → Savannakhet Route 13 coach | Long-distance coach | 5h | $10 |
| Pakse → Si Phan Don (Don Det) Minibus to Nakasang, then a longtail | Long-distance coach | 3h | $10 |
Journeys through Chong Mek ↔ Vangtao
Written up in full, each with this crossing in its proper place in the itinerary rather than as a footnote.
- Bangkok to Pakse overland 3 legs · 2d · $67
Plan a journey through it Pick two places and the crossing appears in the itinerary, with the buffer it needs.