At least that’s what I heard from many people I came across who visited Laos. It may not be in your mind before you visit South East Asia but it will be, once you’re in the region. Laos has many things to offer and especially if you enjoy nature. If you like a more laid-back experience and a nice coffee experience, Laos also has a place for you. If you’re visiting this country after Thailand, be ready to be quite surprised and one tip for me, come without much expectation and you’d appreciate this place a lot more.

Here is my experiences going to Laos with the SRT (State Railyway of Thailand) with the 3rd class train from Krung Thep Aphiwat central terminal (Bang Sue) to Nongkhai Train Station along with my personal note about it.

How To Cross The Border Using The Thai Railway System (SRT)

In Thailand, they have a train class system. There are three of them, the first one is the nicest, followed by the second one and eventually the 3rd class train. I do not recommend that you book the 3rd class one unless 1) it fits your budget, 2) you’re adventurous, and 3) you want to mingle with locals and experience how locals travel from one place to another.

There are many people who told me that it’s not going to be the most comfortable way but I beg to differ in my experience. First, my level of comfort is pretty low; as long as I am safe, and get me to the intended place, I’d be okay with it. Second, I am used to economy class Indonesian trains which I found later was quite a similar experience. Third, I don’t think it was as horrible as people had told me.

The only inconvenience I experienced was because right now it’s about to be Songkran, which is the new year in Thailand, people are going back to their hometown to celebrate and see their family. There were many people sitting on the alley and also on the floor as I assumed that they booked the train without the seat option. But it got less as most people dropped off at Udon Thani and to Nongkhai, there were only a few passengers and I could stretch my legs and sit even comfortably.

Where to book the train

• Use 12go : It’s pretty convenient to book and they accept many payment options.

• Print the ticket just to be safe - It’s fine if you don’t as I’ve seen some locals just use the e-ticket but just to be safe. The place you’re staying will probably charge you 10 baht for printing.

Link : https://12go.asia/en

How to get to the train station from Bang Sue MRT

The first thing after you choose Krung Thep Aphiwat central terminal (Bang Sue) as your station, you can get on with the MRT from any MRT station to Bang Sue MRT.

After exiting the MRT, walk towards the sign that says "to the long distance train". It’s going to be a long walk, like an airport sized train station. So make sure that you arrive 30-60 minutes before your journey.

The train station is located above the MRT, so you have to go up, as far as I remember, it's on the right side from your MRT exit and take a few escalators up.

If you travel to Nong Khai, you will be in Gate 5, however from the MRT it will take you to gate 12. It’s another long distance walk to Gate 5. So, brace yourself and again, time management is important because the train station is quite big.

Seat for the 3rd class train

Then, check the time that your train will board. The process will be smoother from here but also make sure to have your google translate as the officers will say something in Thai about your lines.

Then check the carriage number on your ticket and the seat number. Then once it’s time to get into the train, find your seat and enjoy the ride!

Inside the train, the officer will also check your ticket and punch a hole in it. Make sure to always have it with you.

Then, it’s going to be a 12 hour ride from 9:51 PM to 9 AM. Make sure that you bring something to eat and water to drink. Though from inside the train there are sellers who sell food, water, coffee, and cold towels.

Crossing The Border From NongKhai Train Station

There are two options that you can do :

• The Thai friendship bridge border
• From nong khai to Thanaleng station

I was doing the first option, the Thai friendship bridge.

So, basically from Nong Khai, just mention Laos or friendship bridge and tuk tuk will be outside to wait for you. It is 50 Baht to get to the Thai side of immigration. As you walk to the departure, get your passport stamped over there and it’s not a complicated process.

Then as you exit you can find a bus for 35 Baht that will take you to the Laos PDR side. They will drop you in front of the immigration.

How to do the Laos Visa For ASEAN Passport Holder

As an ASEAN passport holder, you do not need a visa. This is a different case with many EU and US passport holders, even some Asian countries. But if you’re from Asean, you do not need a visa at all as per ASEAN agreement on Visa Exemption even on their 1st article. So, it’s not something you should be worried about. The only difference would be the length of stay. Now, here’s how to get your passport stamped;

• Go to immigration no 1
• Get the arrival/departure card
• Fill in the form
• Get to immigration no 2 or 3
• Some small fee(I think it was because the weekend) just give them 100 Baht and the officer will nicely give you the change
• Get your passport stamped
• Enjoy laos!

How to get to your place of stay in Vientiane from Thanaleng (Laos arrival)

There are a couple of ways of getting into the city centre. There are tuktuk, minibus, taxis and well, be ready to get hustled but it’s not that bad compared to taxis from DMK to the city centre. I was first approached by a man who offered me a minibus, a shared one with a couple of people for 400 baht to vientiane. Then, I said no and he was like, 350 Baht and I kept saying no, thank you.

I walked back a bit and found a guy offering me 400 Baht to vientiane in what they call a taxi which is just a nice SUV car and unlike what you think of Taxis.

When I told my friends back in Thailand that it cost too much, to me, it was safety money. Perhaps, it's too much but as long as it’s safe to get me to my destination, I wouldn’t mind paying that much. I paid that same amount in Indonesia to get me from the airport to a sketchy place and the car wasn’t that good. This one was a bit much nicer, so I wouldn’t mind at all. I ended up sitting in a nice car and air conditioned while process what the fuck just happened to me and how did I get to Laos.

So, the lesson here is to make sure that you have 600 Baht spare to get from Thanaleng to Vientiane.

Why do you write for ASEAN passport holders?

Before coming to Laos, all the experiences I got were from westerners and they were all telling me that I have to pay 15000 Baht for the visa on arrival. Most of the people I asked told me that “ you need to get the visa” etc but it wasn’t the case, not for me and not for ASEAN passport holders.

Another thing during my research is that there are many guides out there that are incomplete and mostly catered to westerners. I hope that whoever comes across this guide will find it useful especially for first timers. I made sure to try my best to write it in a detailed way because to me, everything was confusing and by writing it in a much more detailed way, I can also use this as a reminder to myself about how to get to laos.

The fun part about my 3rd class train Experience

I heard many things about the 3rd class train and it made me hesitate a bit. However, considering that it looks similar to an economy class train in Indonesia, I was much more relieved. “ What worse could happen?”

Back in Indonesia, I was sitting with 3 other people in the same seat for a 12 hour train ride from Yogyakarta to Jakarta. That was when I got back from Singapore then caught the train back to Yogyakarta. With that experience I had, how worse could it go? And apparently it was much better!

The seating was only for 2 people. I sat with another lady who got down at some station just a few hours before I reached Nongkhai. Then in front of me were 2 other passengers as well. The only difference is that the train was only using fans and the windows were open. Then some people bought tickets without the seat and were dressed fancily. Some with huge luggage and their pets.

The lady next to me works as a research analyst in a cafe in Bangkok and was going to her hometown to see her child. She speaks a little bit of English but I understood her pretty well. She told me that many people in the northeastern line are humble so that’s why they bought the non-seated ticket as long as they get to see their family. She even invited me to her condo if I make it to Bangkok again and gave me her number. And while boarding the train, the people were all friendly and I felt safe surrounded by them. It wasn’t as scary as what people have told me. This is where I learned that just trust your gut and trust yourself even more. This also reminded me of an experience when I was in Lombok where westerners love it but not me just because my experience there wasn’t amazing and I got scammed pretty hard over there. So I suppose, it’s almost like that. Just know that when someone is telling you their experience, it might not be yours and be fine with it.

Anyway, see you in my wandering post about Laos!