Savannakhet, Laos, presents a low-key option for getting a Thai visa instead of making a Thai visa run to Vientiane.
Sunrise on the Mekong River at Savannakhet, Laos
Savannakhet, Laos is located just across the Mekong River from Mukdahan, Thailand. If you are heading to Savannakhet to make a Thai visa run, it’s best to first find your way to Mukdahan.
Buses leave from Bangkok’s Mo Chit Northern bus terminal to Mukdahan:
- Non-air con buses leave throughout the day: around 350 THB, about 12 hours
- VIP buses leave around 8 pm to Mukdahan: cost about 800 THB (confirm everything with bus terminal in Bangkok), about 12 hours
From Mukdahan, Thailand there is a bus service that runs about every hour across the border to Savannakhet, Laos.
Thai Visa Savannakhet
The Thai Embassy in Savannakhet is actually just a Thai Consulate – General, and they give Visas!
How Much Time Does it Take to Get a Thai Visa in Savannakhet:
At the very least you will need 9 am Day 1 – 2 pm Day 2 (29 hours or so). Yes, you will need to spend the night in Savannakhet, Laos (see below).
Step 1
I arrived at the Thai consulate (day 1) at about 8:30 am. The consulate is located right in the center of town, with a Mekong River view. It’s possible to walk to the consulate from just about anywhere in town.
View Thai Consulate – Savannakhet, Laos in a larger map
Step 2
You can get a Thai visa application form right outside the gates of the consulate. There are a number of makeshift stalls that also take visa photos and offer photocopying services.
They charge 20,000 Kip for 9 passport photos and 2000 Kip for a single page photo copy (a bit expensive). The forms they supplied us were free. If you can pre-arrange your photos and your photocopy, you won’t need to worry about this!
This is what you need for your Thai visa:
- Passport (usual valid for 6 months or more)
- Visa application filled out
- 2 Passport photos
- 1 photocopy of main page of passport
- Thai Baht, or USD
Thai Visa Savannakhet
Step 3
The Thai consulate in Savannakhet opens the gates to applicants at 9:00 am (despite the sign saying 8:30 am). Nothing get’s going too early when you’re in Laos! You enter the gate and submit your visa application at the counter.
Step 4
The Thai visa costs 1000 THB for a 2 month visa and 2000 THB for a 2 month double entry visa. There is no options on the visa form to select double entry, so make sure to tell the clerk that you would like a double entry. He will examine your passport for a few seconds and then write double entry at the top. Note that you must ask him!
Step 5
You will be handed a small receipt with a number on it, and your visa will be ready the NEXT (day 2) business day at 2 pm.
NOTE: Be sure to look at the schedule of Thai and Laos holidays to avoid having to waste more time than you need to on a Thai visa run to Savannakhet.
Getting From Savannakhet to Mukdahan
Immediately after getting your Thai visa (Day 2), it’s possible to head straight to the Savannakhet bus station and catch the bus back to Mukdahan (if you are on a visa run from Thailand), or continue on you Laos travels. I walked to the bus station and it took about 20 minutes, so you can either walk or take a tuk tuk.
Here is the Savannakhet to Mukdahan bus terminal schedule:
Savannakhet to Mukdahan Bus Schedule
Cheap guest houses in Savannakhet:
- Leena Guest House: Nice location with 40,000 Kip double rooms
- Phone Vilay Guest House: Decent guest house, about a 10 minute walk from city center with rooms ranging from 25,000 to 50,000 Kip per night.
Savannakhet, Laos
It’s one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my entire life, and it’s located in Savannakhet, Laos. After turning in your passport on Day 1 of the visa process, head over to the main square of Savannakhet and the small breakfast restaurant is located right across the street from Phongsavanh Bank (biggest building in Savannakhet?).
Best Sandwich in the World
Thanks man for all your great informations and advices.
It’s clear and easily understanding!
I live in Paksé for 2 years and never been in Savannakhet!But i need a visa to go in Thailand next month so it ‘ll be all right !
Glad it can help David. If you have a chance, try to get that sandwich and let me know what you think!
Hi
This post is great ! It’s short and sharp, and helpful.Thank you.
I plan to have a same run, did you buy your return bus ticket (Mukdahan to Bangkok) at Mochit in advance? May i have your advise?
Many thanks
Hey Shalyn, thanks a lot for taking a look.
The last time I went to Savannakhet, I actually crossed the border further south in from Ubon (Thailand) to Pakse (Laos), and then I went north from there to Savannakhet. I would recommend just going and not buying a return ticket. I would guess that there will be time to buy your return ticket later.
Hope you have a great trip to Savannakhet,
Mark
Thank you Mark for your useful infomation.
ok… so I think i would not buy a return ticket, and hope i could catch the bus to bangkok on the same day of collection without having to spend a night in Mukdahan…
Cool Shalyn, let me know how it goes! Have a good trip.
Hi Mark
One important question. If I enter with 2 weeks visa (visa on arrival) can I get 2 months visa In Laos?
Best Regards and many thanks for your post!
I’m not fully sure the answer to this question, but I think you can. You may want to ask on a forum though for more support as I only speak from my own personal experience on this article.
Your answer not help very much, sorry to say this…anyway, that means better make 2 months visa before enter Thailand for be sure, right? If someone did 2 moths visa in Laos after visa on arrival(15days)…will be nice to share it here with us.
I have found more info that can be useful:
http://www.rent-apartment-pattaya.com/visa-run-mukdahan-savanakhet.html
Thanks, appreciate the extra info!
Dear Mark,
We are now offering a Thai Visa Run to Savannakhet, Lao PDR. Our packages start from 999 THB. We would like to invite you to try and comment on our service on your next visa run. For more information regarding our program and Thai visas in general, please take a look at our website at http://www.savanvegas.com/visarun
Thank you!
Hi, thanks for sharing this, looks like a pretty cool option. I’ll get in touch with you when I need to make another visa run, thanks!
MARK!
Thank you so much for this blog! I had a friend refer Savannakhet to me over going to Vientiane and I am so doing this form now on! I live in Southern Thailand and this was my first trip here. I did pretty much everything you said and had no problems. Also, there is a morning 2nd class bus that leaves Mo Chit at 0730. I reached Mukdahan around 6:30pm and hoped on the bus to cross the boarder around 7pm. Flawless! ALSO, I totally ate that sandwich this morning and you are right my friend, it was delicious!!! Im heading there in the morning to have a 2nd go at it! Thanks for sharing!
Hannah
Hey Hannah, awesome, thanks a lot for the update, and glad it’s still an easy process to get a visa in Savannakhet. That’s incredible you got the sandwich, it is one of my favorites in the world!
Hi Mark. I arrived in Savannakhet this morning after taking the bus from Mo Chit Bus Terminal in Bangkok to the Laos border at Mukdahan. It may be worth mentioning that in order to get into Laos a visa on arrival is necessary, which costs 1,300 baht and requires one passport photo. Did you do this when you came here?
Hi Tony, good to hear you made it to Savannakhet. Yes, I definitely also had to pay the Laos visa fee, and thanks for mentioning it!
Mark,
I’d also like to recommend the Savanniramit Guest House in Savannakhet. It’s a short walk from the bus terminal in the direction of the Phongsavanh bank. The rooms are very clean and new with air-conditioning and hot shower, free WiFi, TV and a double bed with a ‘real’ hotel-quality mattress. The room I had was called a ‘Happy Room’ and cost only 500 baht per night.
I also found a delightful Café that is ideal for relaxing and eating while waiting for the visa to be processed. It’s called Café Chai Dee (www.cafechaidee.com) and is run by a very nice Japanese man, Koichi-san. It’s also on the same street as the Phongsavanh bank.
By the way, I ate 6 of those sandwiches while I was in Savannakhet!
Hey Tony, awesome thanks a lot for sharing these extra tips. Will be sure to use them the next time I’m in Savannakhet. Wow, awesome, glad you found the sandwich spot!
Hi. Im Siobe and im from philippines. my tourist visa is about to expire soon and i need to get new visa before it expires. My question is, is the double entry visa still available in savannakhet? And how much does it cost? I have been to Vientienne lots of time and I know that my visa application there is going to be denied and it get more strict in Vientienne every yearso I need to know another option in obtaining Thai double entry visa. Thank you.
Hi Slobe, as far as I know you can still get a double entry, but you’ll probably have to ask for 2 entries when you apply. Have a good trip!
Hi David ,
Thanks for the very informative post. I was wondering if this applies to all nationalities as I am an Indian..would the same 2 month rule apply?