Lao-Thailand Border
5 July 2019.
Crossing over to Thailand
At 0730, the songthaew was waiting outside the Guesthouse. There were two Spaniards joining me to the bus station, each paid 15,000 kip for the ride. They were heading to Pak Mong and planned to check out the ticket prices at the bus station as buying from bus tickets from the guesthouse would be more expensive. Indeed, my 90,000 kip paid to the guesthouse for both my bus ticket ticket to Huay Xai (Bokeo) and a songthaew ride to the bus station could have been lowered to 75,000 kip as I later found out that the bus ticket to Huay Xai (Bokeo) was only 60,000 kip when purchased directly from the bus station.
Upon arriving at the bus station, the songthaew driver insisted that I waited in the songthaew whilst he went to get my ticket. Whilst the guesthouse had conveyed that the bus would leave for Huay Xai (Bokeo) at 0830, the departure time listed at the bus station was instead, at 0900. The bus would be manned by a driver and a bus attendant. The bus attendant helped strap out luggages to the roof and he later tirelessly stood at the door of the packed bus throughout the entire four hour journey, opening the doors for those alighting halfway and collecting money from those who got on the bus halfway.
I decided to ask the bus driver if the distance between Huay Xai (Bokeo) bus station and the border was walkable. He was patient with my broken Thai, although I could not fully understand what he was saying, I caught the gist of what he meant. I would need a get a songthaew to the border, however, he wasn’t sure of its price.
“It could be 20,000 or at most 40,000 kip. You will have to ask around.” he shrugged.
I decided to play it safe. With only 21,000 kip on me, I went to the bus ticketing counter to exchange 20 Chinese Yuan for 25000 kip (1 yuan = 12500 kip). Well-equipped to cross over to Thailand with this new grand total of 46,000 kip, I had around half an hour to spare and decided to walk around the station.
Luang Namtha Bus Station. Most buses to other Lao cities depart at 0900. 0808 hr.
Entry to the washroom at the bus station cost a further 2,000 kip. There were food stalls behind the bus station and despite the variety of breakfast options available, I was only looking to get sticky rice for my bus journey.
“Do you sell sticky rice?”
“Yes, we do.”
“How much is it?”
“5,000 kip”
I only had 4,000 kip to spare after a visit to the washroom and allocating 40,000 kip for my journey to the Thai border.
“Is it possible to give me only 4,000 kip worth of sticky rice?”
“Sure,” the stall vendor laughed. She placed the bag of sticky rice on her weighing scale, removed some rice and handed the rest to me. 4,000 kip of rice seemed more than enough. I also unexpectedly met the Chinese bus driver who drove us from Jing Hong to Luang Namtha, he was driving back to Jing Hong that day.
Shopping for Breakfast. 0821 hr.
Seats on the bus were reserved on a first come first serve basis. I was seated at the back with four others. The bus was packed to the brim when it left the station at 0852, passengers who later got on the bus along the roadsides had to stand at the doorway with the bus attendant.
Checking our tickets. 0828 hr.
An hour later, the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere for a toilet break in the wild. There was also a twenty minute break at 1020 when the bus stopped beside a local market for passengers to buy food. We reached Huay Xai (Bokeo) bus station just before 1300 and I rushed to the ticketing counter to ask for a songthaew to the border. The lady directed me to a group of drivers sitting near where I had previously alighted.
“They just went off.” One of the drivers replied when I asked him for a ride to the border.
“When?”
“Just now. There were five people going to the border.”
“How much is it if I go to the border alone?”
“200 baht.”
Interestingly, you can pay them in either Thai baht or Lao Kip at Huay Xai. It was expensive going to the border alone and I could only wait for more people to join. After about half an hour, the songthaew driver turned to me.
“I think there’s only you left who wants to go to the border.”
“Is there really no one else?”
“Hey hey!” another driver called out from afar. He was pointing to two ladies who were approaching one of the songthaews. The driver I was speaking to stood up and walked over to him. They gestured me to go over with my backpack.
“Lucky you. They are going to the border. They went to eat just now.”
“Thank you so much,” I laughed, glad that the ladies were joining me. The ten minute ride to the border was 20,000 kip.
Bokeo/ Huay Xai Bus Station. Sharing a ride to the Lao-Thai Border. 1325 hr.
After getting stamped out of Laos, it was almost an hour long wait for the bus to bring us to the Thai border. Tickets can be purchased for 25 baht at the counter Phet Aloun Transport Service Counter just outside the Lao immigration. There is a shop for currency exchange as well as convenience stores where you can purchase Thai SIM cards from, however, they do not stock tourist SIM. There is also a currency exchange counter available.
The bus that brings us to the Thai Border. 1342 hr.
The 4th Thai-Lao Friendship bridge. Laos is on the tight, Thailand on the Left. 1415 hr.
After getting stamped into Thailand, it would cost another 60 baht for a songthaew ride into Chiang Khong city. The songthaew only leaves when full, my ride that day was shared with both locals and Chinese nationals who relocated to Chiang Khong. Being the last to alight, the driver dropped me off at Baanfaai Guesthouse at 1500.
Arriving at my Guesthouse in Chiang Khong, 1509 hr.