NEW DIRECT ROUTE: Bangkok to Vientiane Train Review🇹🇭🇱🇦 [4k] 

That's really nice of you to notice! Appreciate your comment really!

Thanks, Ric. I think probably vendors did get on to sell food in Third Class, and they never made it as far as my carriage. Newbies error on my part! When I did finally get a coffee it tasted way better than it probably was! I thought Laos was definitely worth visiting.

Many thanks, Phil!

Cheers, Geoffrey, always appreciate positive feedback! 👍

I think that would be really fun. Although the Police did look fairly serious!

Thanks. I've been looking at Kunming also. I like the look of their short-term visa. Obviously, you still have to change stations in Vientiane, but the direct service from Bangkok definitely improves things!

@@balloonchaser may I know, once the train arrived in Vientiane, is this the area where they called Luang Prabang? Or I still need to take train to Luang Prabang that goes to Boten?

@foolc8360 You need to take another train. The good news is that since the end of 2021, it's a 160 km/h train that links Vientiane & Luang Prabang, and it goes twice a day in less than 2 hours.

@@balloonchaser tqvm for Ur info n reply! Really appreciate it! If U have any chance of visiting Brunei , feel free to ask me anything.

@@foolc8360 Many thanks for your support. Brunei, maybe one for the future! 👍

Many thanks, Mal. Coincidentally I'd never been to Laos, either, but I saw enough on this brief trip to make me think I should go back and visit other parts of the country. Multiple entry permit is so useful for doing numerous short trips.

Cheers. The train between Vientiane and Luang Prabang us s loy more modern then the one that caresses the Thai border!

Many thanks for your positive comment! I'm told you can't use an e visa at this particular crossing, which is a shame. Hopefully, that will change!

Very nice of you to say so, Richard. Thanks!

Pleasure, Jim!

Hi SG. Thanks for the compliment! It was a fun trip, but I'm back already. How's things going with you?

@@balloonchaser All good with us thanks BC , we are off to BKK in a couple of hours but we have thoroughly enjoyed our month in Thailand and our 2 weeks in Pattaya. It was really great to meet you mate ! Thanks so much ! Will touch base again next time we are in LOS . Until then we'll continue to enjoy your videos 👍🏼🍻🇦🇺

@sandgroper1980 Wow, time flies, mate! Hopefully it will also move quickly until the next time you visit. Great to meet you too! Regards to your family!

Thanks, Patrick. Glad you enjoyed it. I think this rail option will become more popular as people find out about it. Certainly a useful alternative to other routes! Cheers!

@balloonchaser I think its aimed more at the Thai and Laos market. The farangs might prefer to fly to udon with the likes of Air Asia or Nok, maybe spend a night or 2 there then get the train to Nong Khai for 11 baht or a bus from Central for 50 and from there cross the bridge into Laos. Unless you're an expat or have lots of time on your hands then a 12 hour night train isn't worth the savings.

​@mothoin Many thanks, you're probably right about the target audience. You can't really justify the length of the trip with all those alternatives. Unless you treat the trip as being part of trip itself. Then it's nice to be able to travel directly from Bangkok. Slow Travel 2024 style!😊

@@balloonchaser yes, when you've all the time in the world then slow travel is the way to go

@@mothoin Absolutely right. Seems to becoming more and more popular. I'm certainly not in any hurry!

Yes, it's a shame that there's not any long distance trains from Hua Lamphong anymore. But I guess we can't stand in the way of progress. Really was a beautiful place to start journeys!

Many thanks for the positive feedback. It's appreciated!

Thanks, David. The stations at both ends of this route look like they were constructed for the next 20 years plus. I know Bangkok will have the high speed trains eventually, but not sure what the plans for Vientiane stations are. I have to agree with you on sleeping. 4 people in my sleeping "room". 3 from different countries woke up saying how well they slept. Me questioning whether I actually slept at all!

That may be true for you, depending on where you come from, but it's not true for Laotians,Thais or most Europeans.

@balloonchaser You didn't spend much time is Laos did you?

@yaterspoon57 I spent time making a video about how to get there from Thailand and spoke to dozens of locals and visitors and read the signs. Hopefully, that is useful to some people. 👍

My pleasure, Henry. Hope it's useful.

Always a pleasure!

Thanks, Charlie. The line itself has been extended, so this is a new station closer to the centre of Vientiane. The old terminal station Thanaleng seems to be closed, although the train paused as the Thai driver and staff are replaced by Laos ones. Hope you are well!

Many thanks. I've got so many places I still want to visit. It's almost scary. But I'm going to make the effort!

Thanks, Jimmy. I'm not really one for sharing either to be honest with you. I prefer trains with first class where you can book a room and close the door! Unfortunately no first class on this route yet. But a few minutes after boarding most people just rest on the bed behind the curtain and you don't see or hear from them until morning. I was on a very quick visit to try the train. Plans to go back and explore in near future!

​@@balloonchaserTry the trains in China ( and maybe ones in Vietnam used to be like it) where 2nd class sleepers were 3 bunks each side. Always a bugger having to throw yourself into the middle one only to end up feeling claustrophobic.

@maxineb9598 Wow, haven't seen ones like that. Not sure I'd like to be the meat in a bunk bed sandwich, but it certainly sounds different!

@@balloonchaser 😂😂😂

Many thanks! I don't know what should happen, but the person in front of me in the queue actually had an e-visa. He was told that e-visas can't be processed there, and he would need to enter by a different checkpoint. (How that might work wasn't explained). He was then he could buy a "visa on arrival" and enter at the railway station, so he got the same visa as I got. Whether that will change in the future, I don't know. But that's what I saw when I arrived.

Many thanks, Keith. The visa on arrival gave me a 30 day permission to stay. I'd have loved to have been able to stay longer. I'll return!

Thanks, BB. Normally the upper bunk is cheaper because it doesn't have access to a window. But here, neither berth has a window. It's lucky you explained the real reason for the price difference to me!

@@balloonchaser Always happy to help.

@bigbopper6311 With me being the occupant of the lower bunk, that was a huge clue, on reflection 😀

Thanks for the positive feedback, David!

@@balloonchaser Its great, im relocating in November, possibly to Pattaya. One of the main attractions to living in Thailand will be visiting other locations on a long weeked etc, Samui, Phuket, Hua Hinn etc. The alternatives to flying is great, overnight trains, buses etc. Your clips are really well put together. Thanks again

@davidbuckley9307 Many thanks for the compliment, David. I'm in Pattaya at the moment, but I spent 10 years living in Bangkok. To be honest, starting trips to all the places you've mentioned is much easier from Bangkok. So much so that I'm looking to move back there in the next few weeks!

@@balloonchaser Yeah, i could see why. I do love BKK and have thought about it. I will def start in Pattaya, hour and half away, BKK is always going to be a once possibly every couple of months weekend away. Keep them coming

@davidbuckley9307 Yes, David. Kind of the opposite of what I did at first. I had a place in Bangkok and then came to Pattaya some weekends, just to relax by the beach. As you say, it's not that far! For travelling Bangkok is the obvious starting place but you can always overnight in Bangkok and then start your next journey fresh the next day. It's all good, mate!

Always a pleasure, PFI !

Thanks, Steve. I just did the quick calculation using 600 kip to the Baht, which isn't far off. Didn't notice anywhere trying to use a dodgy conversion as a rip-off. Think many places would rather have the baht. Always worth checking that they are ok to accept baht before ordering. There was just one place, a food court in a shopping centre, that said no baht. Otherwise, all good!

Well, you probably don't want to exchange Thai baht for Laotian kip...Do you know why all the Thais come to Laos, first of all, they exchange Thai wat for Laotian kip? because in any restaurants, shops, taxis, hotels etc., if you want to pay Thai baht (not Laotian kip), then they give you the price they want, and not like the rate in banks, where for every baht you lose 100 kip...for example, the rate at the bank is 1 Thai wat = 650 kip, in shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. they will calculate what rate is profitable for them, for example, 1 Thai wat = 550 kip, and not 650 kip, like the rate at the bank...That's why every tourist, every person, when you travel to any country, must exchange for the currencies of the country where you are.

Thanks. In terms of timing it's difficult to be precise on any one day because there's so many variables and a lot is down to luck. The train should arrive at 9.05 as you said. However today it arrived at 9.28 (I just checked). Immigration can be quick if you are at the front of the line. One important thing is make sure you have a pen with you to fill out the forms. I wasted a good few minutes by not having one. The line for people paying 40 dollars moved quicker than the free entry for Asians. But probably allow 30 minutes, based on my experience. Hope this helps.

@@balloonchaser I appreciate the quick response 🙏🏻 I’m Filipino (free visa upon entry) so it seems that it will take longer for me 😅 I’ll bring a pen then, thank you! ☺️ I’m still deciding if i’ll book the train a day earlier instead or same day of arrival with my appointment. Whew! But I’ll keep on checking their times of arrival to give me an idea… Thanks again and more power to your vlogs! 💫✨

@lousison7204 it's my pleasure to help. Yes, the thai train tracker will give you a good idea if the train is regularly late. It was on the day I went. I should also say, because I went in the first week of operation, the visa process wasn't straightforward. It might be better now as they're using the proper immigration desks. The queues will be better organised.

@@balloonchaser Thai train tracker, it is! 😍 Will keep on monitoring 👀

Thanks, Peter. My reason for trying it was because they opened the line extension and new station at vientiane. And they added a sleeper carriage to the train that used to terminate at Nong Khai (I think!). For me it wasn't horrendous, but would have been better had they added a first class carruage and some more food! Breaking the journey might still be a good idea as well!

Many thanks for the positive feedback, Jeff. Always appreciate it. Visa seems a bit steep for a short visit, but actually valid for 30 days. Would like to have stayed longer tbh. Asians get in free but waited over 30 minutes in line. Laos does online visas, but they aren't accepted at this entry point for some reason. So there's another ready-made excuse if you need one!

@@balloonchaser The visa to each country costs differently... to some countries it is free (all ASEAN countries and some countries...), to some countries the visa costs 20 dollars, 30 dollars, 40 dollars, but it seems that the most expensive visa is to Canada - 45 dollars...

@@vientianetv7384 Many thanks for the additional information. That's useful to know. Cheers!

Thanks, Paul. I think the train looks busy because only a small number of carriages actually cross the border. So other than third class, there's just one second-class air-conditioned seated carriage and one second class sleeper carriage. In terms of the demographic in my carriage, there were some Thais, some Koreans, and some Filipino people. Mostly fairly young I'd say. But then again, everyone looks young to me these days!

@@balloonchaser I was about to say looking "young" to you. Surely that is a majority 😉 I hope there is a follow up vlog around Laos

Just looking right now about going to Hat Yai and then crossing into Malaysia to head to KL. Love to go by rail to Singapore. One of my favourite places in Asia, so far!

Hi! No trains between Australia and Thailand, yet! When you in Thailand?

@balloonchaser maybe a few months, then we should catch up

​@@smessdup5286Look forward to it, mate!

Thanks, Roger. I use a physical sim card in Thailand, and I added a 3 day roaming package (data only) for 199 baht from the MyAis app online. Worked fine!

Thanks, Alain. My original plan was to go Luang Prabang business class on one of their super modern Laos China trains. Didn't make it thus trip, but will on the next one! The French influence around Vientiane is nice!

Many thanks for the information. I probably just needed to walk further down the train then. 👍

There are various companies operating slow and speed boat services between Koh Samet and Ban Phe (Rayong). Scheduled boat services only run in daylight, from around 07:00 - 18:00 daily year round.

@@balloonchaser that’s great info ℹ️ Better off booking a stay 😅 don’t wanna miss the fire show, cheers

@@lori25hu Yeah, fire show more suited to after dark than trying to navigate a ferry full of people! 😀 👍

Thanks. This is the Google maps location maps.app.goo.gl/q8j93bRTtZbvHJUB9

Thanks. It's a new thing that started on 19th July 2024. There's also a separate train running from Udon Thani, so there's two direct services running. Obviously, they stop at other stations, so for example, some people got on at Nong Khai. Anyway, interesting new line extension to the outskirts of Vientiane!

Thanks for the question. I'm told that different passport holders may have different rules applied. I hold a UK passport and I was given a 30 day visa on arrival for 40 USD. The train journey from Bangkok to Vientiane takes almost 12 hours, and this includes a 40 minute stop at Nong Khai where passengers to through Thai immigration formalities to "exit" the country. Hope this helps.

Welcome to the channel and many thanks for your comments. Sorry you couldn't get to Laos and Cambodia. Hopefully, one day!

Definitely worth visiting 100% 👍

Thanks for your input. For me, if I was going to stay in Laos for reasonable amount of time, I'm sure I'd change some currency to Lao Kip. For a short trip, I didn't and that's what I reported here. Yes, you can lose on the exchange rate, but when I sat down with a calculator and worked out how much the difference was, it wasn't significant to me in terms of the overall trip. Thanks for explaining an alternative viewpoint.

@@balloonchaser Thais who decided to go to Laos for 2-3 days (Thais give them free 3 days and no passport and no visa if they only go for 3 days)...and so they exchange Thai waht for Laotian kips where they calculate how much money they will spend in 2-3 days...otherwise, for every watt you lose 100 kip... and for every 1000 watts, you lose 100,000 kip, and believe me, that's a lot of money...

@@balloonchaser maybe not every hotel, restaurant, shop you will lose 100 kip every Thai watt...maybe 50-70 kip will be lost every watt... but what you will lose is 1000%

@vientianetv7384 Thanks again for an interesting point. I have to say the worst "exchange" rate I was given was when I asked to pay in baht at an Italian restaurant. The owner explained he could only give 600 kip per baht, on a day when the bank exchange I think was 611. For me, the convenience outweighed any loss. Others may see it quite differently, which of course is fine, and you've provided some interesting food for thought. Thanks.

@@balloonchaser yes, in Laos they also accept baht... but if it weren't for the favorable conditions, the Thais wouldn't exchange them for Laotian kip... since they exchanged everything for Laotian kip... it means they had to, otherwise you would have lost a lot of money...

Unfortunately, Thailand doesn't have many new trains for the railway. Think the newest ones are the CNR carriages that were bought from China in 2016. But SRT staff are very good at reconditioning old stock!

I have a one-year Thai visa. To maintain that, I need a re-entry permit for when I return to Thailand. I was informed that these are not available at the Nong Khai Railway Station crossing and, therefore, need to be obtained before (at a local immigration office). This only affects people on long-term Thai visas.

@@balloonchaser Oh thanks for this. I really appreciate this video as there were few vlogs about this new route. Just a quick question again, we can easily go back from vientiane to thailand through this route again right? I jsut booked the tickets roundtrip. Thanks so much. This is really helpful!

@ayrabrigette1685 Yes, absolutely! There should be no difficulty in doing a round trip on this route at all! Sit back, relax, and enjoy. I'm sure you'll love it!

@@ayrabrigette1685no you can't, all the trains are one way, there's a big train scrapyard next stop CLOWN

@@jeffrussell488 What do you mean? I was able to book them.

Yes, you'll get your thai visa stamp at Nong Khai on the way back.

Yes, Ben. The most common problem is that people naturally search from "Bangkok," which is logical. But you need to use Krung Thep Aphiwat as your starting point. I've just checked, lots of availability for January 2025. Let me know if this works!

@@balloonchaser Legend thanks! Out of interest what would you choose, direct train to Vientiane in 2nd class sleeper, or train to Nong Khiaw in 1st class sleeper followed by the border crossing etc.?

@@bensmith1448 Glad to help. I think I'd probably take the second class all the way, although first class and change at Nong Khai is definitely an alternative. Personal choice at the end of the day 👍

They told me cash only in US Dollars or Thai Baht

Thanks, Dave. I should have known that before. Rookie error by me! Then again, the food and particularly the coffee, on the overnight to Chiang Mai was excellent. Guess they must have a restaurant car!

fwiw, I'm a rookie on the crossing into Lao thing, and I live in Udon lol.

​@davehobwest We all learn every day. That's the fun. Or in my case, learn, forget and re-learn! 😅

I read it in Thai and I read it in Lao, and that's what I came up with. But as long as we both know what place I'm talking about it's ok by me

Thanks for the question. I'd read elsewhere that the trains were freezing. That's certainly true of the second class seated carriage. But my sleeper carriage wasn't really cold when I went. I did take a thin hoodie just in case. It's probably best to be prepared, but the night I went it was OK.

Thanks, Toby. That was exactly my experience. Nobody seemed to want Laos Kip, and I don't think you can change it back outside the country. The only good thing was I finally became a millionaire! 😀

Well, you probably don't want to exchange Thai baht for Laotian kip...Do you know why all the Thais come to Laos, first of all, they exchange Thai wat for Laotian kip? because in any restaurants, shops, taxis, hotels etc., if you want to pay Thai baht (not Laotian kip), then they give you the price they want, and not like the rate in banks, where for every baht you lose 100 kip...for example, the rate at the bank is 1 Thai wat = 650 kip, in shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. they will calculate what rate is profitable for them, for example, 1 Thai wat = 550 kip, and not 650 kip, like the rate at the bank...That's why every tourist, every person, when you travel to any country, must exchange for the currencies of the country where you are.

@@vientianetv7384 Nope. Not correct. Do you not have a currency converter on your phone?

@@tobyprice1092 Thais who decided to go to Laos for 2-3 days (Thais give them free 3 days and no passport and no visa if they only go for 3 days)...and so they exchange Thai waht for Laotian kips where they calculate how much money they will spend in 2-3 days...otherwise, for every watt you lose 100 kip... and for every 1000 watts, you lose 100,000 kip, and believe me, that's a lot of money... yes, in Laos they also accept baht... but if it weren't for the favorable conditions, the Thais wouldn't exchange them for Laotian kip... since they exchanged everything for Laotian kip... it means they had to, otherwise you would have lost a lot of money...

@@tobyprice1092 for example, in hotels, restaurants, shops, etc... they set a rate that is beneficial to them, and not beneficial to you, like the exchange rate at the bank... well, if you don't want their rate, then they'll tell you to go to the bank to change it and then pay them kip...

I think the "branch line" train maybe more to your liking?

Actually, I do agree with you if you read it in Laos or Thai. You're correct. Thanks.

Thanks for your comment