How to: Visa run to Chongmek

If you have a tourist visa with multiple entries and you need to leave the country and re-start the visa with a new entry it is very easy to go from Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand to Chongmek, Laos.

From the buss station in Ubon (close to Big C) it is possible to take a minibuss to Chongmek for 100 bath. The ride takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. When you get to Chongmek you have to depart from Thailand and get your passport stamped. Then you go to the Laos immigration office and apply for a Laos visa, this will cost 1400 bath. You will need a passport photo for the application. Then it is time to get around the corner of the building and pay an additional 50 bath to get your passport back. Unless you have something to do it Chongmek, now is a good time to go to another side of the same building and depart from Laos. Once the passport has a new stamp it is time to get back to the thai immigration office and get your passport stamped for your new entry.

Traveling in style

Safety first

Hand in your passport here

And walk around the corner to get the visa

When we did the visa run we left from the buss station in Ubon at 10.00 and we were back in Ubon with the new visa at 14.15. The total cost of everything was 1650 bath (34 euro or 49 USD). An alternative would be to simply drive to Chongmek on motorbike, but the minibus was fast, convenient and cheap.

The beauty of paperwork