The Golden Triangle Rider

[Dr. G]

[blue] Laughing into Laos from Chiang Khong was a hoot. I had kept a copy of my entry forms from when I entered in March, so when I showed up at the south side of town Immigration Office (next to the police station) in Chiang Khong the guys recognized their earlier work. (There is a copy place about 100 meters back in towards town where I took their earlier paperwork and made copies). This time the guys wanted to know if the ladies in Laos were prettier/friendlier than those in Thailand. I volunteered nothing (Tea Drinkers are gentlemen, don't talk out of school) other than to agree with the one kind of English speaking guy that western women were a "problem" when he talked about Britney and Madonna licking each others tonsils. This brought quite a laugh from the other boys in the office when he explained it to them.
One guy did the paperwork, filling out a form called INFORMATION OF CONVEYANCE which listed the motorcycle frame/engine numbers, then a second form called a CREW LIST. He used some carbon paper, kept the originals, affixed a rubber stamp to the two copies he gave me and asked for two copies of my passport. It all took about 10 minutes, and then he asked for 100 baht for doing the paperwork.
The next step was new: a visit to the Customs Office (on the street behind the wat in the midle of town). There a Customs guy looked at my paperwork (rental agreement and permission letter from Joe's Bike Team, the two copies from the Immigration guys), then filled out a white TEMPORARY IMPORT/EXPORT form (one page, with a copy). He was a little more serious, so I didn't laugh with him. No money was charged. I got my copy and off to the boat landing I went. There I got stamped out at Immigration, the guy at the Customs office stamped my IMPORT/EXPORT form, and then it was down to the river bank. So the bottom line was you still have to visit two Immigration Offices and now two Customs offices.
The car ferry seems to run when there are enought cars/trucks to make it worth the run (so maybe a couple of times a day) so you end up making a deal with the boat boys in the tent down by the water. 500 Baht (and 20 Baht for loading) got the bike loaded into the front of a boat and across the Mekong in about 20 minutes.
Once on the Laos side I had to get a sticker affixed to the bike for permission to ride in that Provence, for $1.00 US, then to a second office where the bike numbers were entered into a book and a green form was filled out and stamped, for $5.00. The I had to ride down to the middle of town to the Immigration Office, fill out an Entry/Exit form, get stamped and "Bingo", I was in and Beer Lao was soon to follow.
The interesting change in the game is there is now a window/ofice on the Laos side next to the Immigration Office that sells you a VISA on the spot. 1,500 Baht or $30.00. You need two 3 x 4 cm photos also. I'd gotten my Laos 15 day VISA in Bangkok, "slow application" from one of the Visa services for 1,000 Baht, and a friend scored one there for 1,400 one day service, so they're a little cheaper in Bangkok than at the border.
Getting back into Thailand was easy, except I think the Loas guys were playing jerk the weasle as I got to Immigration at 5:00pm and they said Customs and Immigration in Chiang Khong was open until 6:00 PM, but there was no boat to take me across. I smiled, told the guy Britney and Madonna were really guys who had Thai/Bangkok operations and I knew this to be true from stuff I had read in the Bangkok Times. He smiled, nodded knowingly several times, and went back into his office, not understanding a word, while I walked down to the water and did a deal with some boat guy for 500 baht to run me across. The Laos Customs guy took my green paper (after calling his boss to kill some more time), then the Immigration guy yelled down to the boat boys to confirm they were going to take me across. He then took out my Laos Immigration form from my passport and stamped me out.
What I figure he (they) were trying to do was to get me to stay one more night on the Laos side to spend some more money.
When I hit the Thailand side there was a Customs guy standing right there at the shore, wanting to know if I had the TEMPORARY IMPORT/EXPORT FORM, which I did. He smiled, said "You are a good boy" and took it. Then I rode up to the Immigration Office, filled out an Immigration form, got stamped in for another 90 days and bingo, I was in at 5:49 PM and in time for High Tea at the teak guest house.
In the morning I stopped for gas and saw the Thai guy from last week at Immigration who wanted to know why western women were so twisted as to swap spit on global TV. He said, I think (his English is better than my Thai), that it would be good if Britnney and Madonna stayed in the USA so as not to muddy the ladies of Thailand. I told him, I think, that I would pass that on to both next time I had a drink with them. We both laughed and he said "Welcome back to Thailand."
I'd write more about the wild Laos nights at the discos, how a Laos oil massage differs from others, and the number of crashes I saw on the Laos side, but I'll leave that for some other traveller.
I will pass on a word from an Austrian who had entered Laos 2 weeks ago from the Friendship Bridge: His rubarb was rubbed for 5 1/2 hours by the Thai guys at Customs. He had no Carnet and failed to get the Temporary Import/Export Form when he came into Thailand from Cambodia (He did not know to get it and the Thai Customs guys did not know to give him one). His advice: Don't forget to get the form. After 5 1/2 hours the Thai Customs guys decided there was nothing they could do, so sent him back to the Laos Customs guys with no form. The Laos guys let him in after he told them the Thai boss said there was nothing they could do, but that it did not matter anyway because he was "in transit" and leaving anyway. 5 1/2 hours wasted riding back and forth across the Friendship Bridge.
A quiet bit of news for farang riders who have been getting away with some foolish riding. The Roayl Thai Police Maj-Gen Panu Kerdlarppol, traffic police commander, announced the signing of a new regulation on Nov. 26 that ups the amount police are able to keep from giving out tickets for traffic arrests (traffic stops). "Of fines collected from traffic violators, 60% is set aside as rewards for the arresting traffic officers and the other 40% go to supporting officers at police stations as well as traffic volunteers." I was once told by a Harley-Davidson rider from the States who I had made wear a motorcycle helmet while riding here in Thailand that "if you ride a Harley-Davidson in America you don't have to wear a helmet." My guess is the Thai police don't go along with that fable....but I've been wrong before. Looking at the number of Thais wearing helmets versus 6 months ago, it's pretty clear somweone has been passing out the word.
Dr. G, from the road

[Davidfl]

Dr G
Good to know that you got into Laos ok.
My experience the last few months at Chiang Khong / Huay Sai has all been good.
However just 2 days ago I was surprised to meet an Asian Motorcycle Adventures tour group in Doi Mae Salong - they were supposed to be on tour in Laos, but claimed they could not get in at Huay Sai as their bikes had no plates on. So it certainly seems as if things are getting tighter, or AMA are not so well connected anymore. It could also be that individual bikes are ok, but not unlicensed tour groups?

The Information of Conveyance Form, is the one the Thai immigration ay Nong Khai like you to have & hassle you if you don't.

In Laos, how was the road from Pak Beng to Udom Sai? Last time I was on it, they were doing some serious work in the middle section; with part of it race track asphalt. How much is there now - any chance you could make a very brief report on it for the Laos forum?

Davidfl
Keep the power on