Laos Friendship Bridge No Entry

Thanks for the warning.
This all seems a bit odd, but perhaps they have just decided to enforce the rules yet again - and someone got out of bed on the wrong side that morning.
I spoke to Miss Khampean on the phone this morning (Frid 10th Feb) & she was very apologetic.
"They" are trying to sort this out for us farang on Thai registered motorbikes.
I am in Chiang Khong at the moment, & about to enter Laos at Houei Xai in a few hours & will let you know how we go.
Regarding riding from Nong Khai to Chiang Khong to enter, I would recommend you go south & try the 3 border crossings there. If Chiang Khong does not work, the your stuffed & got nowhere else go. At least in the south you've got 3 chances…..good luck & thanks for the tip (plus phone call last night.)

Davidfl
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Filip
No trouble getting into Laos at Houei Xai.
The situation there was normal & took about 40 minutes on the Laos side to process the paperwork for a 2 week temporary import.


1. From the car ferry boat landing, go up the steps to the Customs office.


2. Enter room # 7 "The Computer Room" on the left. Complete the bike import papers in about 15-20 minutes if you're lucky.


3. Go back down the steps to the staff under the umbrella & get the papers validated - stamped & signed - then "your in" & on your way.

Simple - welcome to the Laos PDR.
Wonderful country & wonderful people!

Davidfl
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Update 16 Feb 2006.
After visiting the boss at the bridge on 16th Feb I can confirm that indeed there has been a policy change - a telephone order from the Ministry of Transport in Vientiane - NO Thai registered bikes are allowed into Laos from Nong Khai.
All other border entry points are ok.
The boss at the Friendship Bridge is not happy about the situation & would like to help, but until he gets a new order from Vte, then all Thai registered bikes will have to enter Laos at another crossing.
Note (1) Non Thai registered bikes are still allowed to enter Laos at the Friendship Bridge. Only Thai registered bikes are affected.
Note (2) it is no trouble to exit Laos from the Friendship Bridge, Thai or other rego.

My take on this is that it will be a temporary "thing" (spat?) for a few weeks / month or two at the max. Stay tuned.

Davidfl
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UPDATE SATURDAY 4 MARCH 2006
Just back from an hour at the bridge & the news is NOT good.
They have now received a letter from The Ministry of Transport in Vientiane advising that NO bikes, regardless of country of registration, are allowed in without prior approval from Vientiane.
This applies to ALL bikes, not just Thai bikes, as originally thought at the bridge.

My guess is that this is a re-assertion of official policy in Vientiane, as three? years ago this was the situation. You needed approval, gained via a registered tour office, before you could get in. It had to be setup in advance, a minimum of 48 hrs, & usually cost 1,500 Thai baht.
The staff at the bridge are not happy about this, so don't complain to them, but Vientiane & The Ministry of Transport.
I will attempt to verify the situation at the MoT on Monday. Should all this be unfortunately correct, then I will suggest a couple of tour offices to use for the permits.
Supposedly other border crossings are still ok, & you don't need prior approval.
Now should you get stuck, just grin & bear it. Ask for a tour company to get approval for you & pay the fees. Eventually I would hope that it will return to "normal."

Of note today too, was a suggestion from "the bridge" that "we" use the Pakxan (L) / Phon Pisai (T) border crossing, which customs claim is international. Pakxan is about 100 kms south of Vientiane. I thought that this one was only a local border crossing, but a customs officer from Pakxan was there at the Friendship bridge, & said yes it was ok for foreigners. This is all news to me, so does anyone want to have a go there?

Davidfl
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BobS
1. Confirmed the town across from Pakxan is Bung Kan. Bung Kan is 135 kms downstream from Nong Khai. Phon Pisai is much closer to Nong Khai. (So you got me!)
2. NO Laos visa on arrival.

Not many (if any) farang have crossed here before.



Pix above: Bung Kan imigration overlooking the ferry landing

I had an interesting 45 minute tussle with the two Thai immigration officers at the border post, before we "agreed" to go & see the boss (Inspector) in Bung Kan town, 5 kms away.


Pic above: Bung Kan Immig HQs with a smiling polite officer. He even offered to take photos of me outside the office! Excellent service.

The Inspector was a perfect gentleman, spoke excellent English & clearly understood what my multiple entry 1 year Thai visa was. This was in stark contrast to the two border staff, one of whom had seriously impaired lateral thinking, & the other who proclaimed with supreme confidence, but in weak English: I know everything & you don't know." Indeed it took a mere 1 ¼ hrs to Thai immigration at Bung Kan! I was not impressed, especially considering I was the only customer.
Customs in comparison was easy & straight forward, although they too had never seen a farang crossing there with a big motorbike before.


Pic above: Bung Kan customs overlooking the ferry landing.

As you can see from the photos, the offices overlooking the ferry landing are not exactly a modern high tech set up & currently hardly used by foreigners as an international crossing. But it is. Give it a go sometime, just for the experience.

My next crossing at Bung Kan could be interesting. You've been warned, so tread carefully.

Davidfl
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UPDATE 6 MARCH
Well folks the news is NOT good - NO private / individual bikes into Laos.
Only group tours / caravans - that are approved in advance.
This is a ruling from the Ministry of Transport, and early Feb a letter was sent out to all the provinicial border crossings.
I have a copy of the MoT letter, plus a request from the bridge admin official seeking clarification from Vte. These were obtained from the MoT in Vte.

The agent that I used in Vientiane several years asked about a permit for a single bike & the answer is NO - only caravans / group tours.

A complaint has been made at the NTAL - Laos tourist office - and they will seek a meeting with the MoT to discuss the issue. This may take months to sort out.

Meanwhile the only optimistic view that I have is that some of the provinical border officials may not want to apply the rules & still let individual / private bikes in. But you'll have to suck it see which ones do / don't work.

Davidfl
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UPDATE 10 MARCH
On 8 March I exited Laos at Pakxan, 150 kms downstream from Vientiane.


Pic above: Entrance to the Laos joint Customs / Immigration air-con office in Pakxan.

Laos customs was exceptionally friendly - I was leaving.
When asked if I could come back into Laos this way in a couple of weeks they said yes, no problem.
I asked about any news from Vientiane advising not to let bikes in & they said had heard nothing; as far as they were concerned you could enter Laos with a bike at Pakxan.
Confusing eh?
So my current take on it it all is that it could just be Vientiane trying to apply the "NO bikes across the bridge rule" perhaps, & everywhere else is ok?


Pic above: Entrance to the Pakxan port office compound.


Pic above: View towards the ferry landing at Pakxan.


Pic above: view from the Pakxan ferry towards the Pakxan Port compound at the top left.

Anyone else want to tackle another border crossing?

Davidfl
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UPDATE 13 MARCH
Below are unofficial translations of the two relevant letters regarding motorcycle import into Laos at the Friendship Bridge.


1. Above the letter from the Friendship bridge admin querying the new rules / policy.


2. Above the letter from the MoT advising the bridge admin what the situation is = NO motorbikes.

Stay tuned for more news. There are people working on it....

But if time is not on your side, & you can't get in at the Friendship Bridge, then try some of the other international border crossings.
In the South
1. Pakxan
2. Tha Khek
3. Savannakhet
4. Vang Tao (Pakxe)
5. Veun Kham
In the North
1. Houei Xai

Good luck

Davidfl
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Rectravel
Agreed that is a possibility, but not one I'd put money on. But let's wait & see what happens after the congress is over. It would be too good to be true if that's the case.

Davidfl
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Jim
At Customs in BK I reckon that you should have just been handing back in your temporary import form, from whatever port you entered Thailand at. But it looks like you did not have one, & that's probably what got them confused, so they had to issue something to match up with what was going in the computer, & issued a new one. If you have a look at the form it does say "Simplified Customs Declaration Form, for motor car and motor cycle temporarily imported or exported."
I’m not surprised that the tall BK Immigration gentleman remembered me, but I am surprised that you found the actual border staff at the ferry landing were very friendly, but then again perhaps they too remembered our / my encounter & had "smartened up" a little after we ended up in the boss’s office.
I also note your Pakxan "charm" comments & congratulate you on spending a night there. It certainly did not look to "charming" to me, but then I was there mid day in the oppressive heat trying to “escape” with a 2 week bike over stay.
Your totally right though "all in all it was fun, why we do what we do" - despite the odd border hiccups, life on the road is a bit alright!

Davidfl
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Andrew
1. Yeah the GT Riders would be extremely disappointed with your supposed intelligent teacher mate from Bkk if he stupidly & coarsely harassed Miss Khampean in Room # 6.



You could not get a sweeter, more helpful government official.
It has taken us years to cultivate such a good relationship & we would not want some moron upsetting the apple cart unnecessarily!
2. If your wise mate has been doing a lot of riding in Laos & Thailand & not watching or contributing to the GT Rider board then he certainly needs a substantial rap over the knuckles.
3. Do you have any contact details for him so that he may be interviewed as potential leading candidate for the Mekong River Jump?

Davidfl
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