Getting a Thai visa in Vientiane has managed to place itself on the podium of easy and quick places to obtain this precious document which allows us to stay in the country for two months.
Just like the Thailand visa in Penang (Malaysia), you don’t have to submit thousands of requirements or wait days and days, since you hand in all the little paperwork needed one morning, and the next afternoon you can pick up your visa.
If we compare these two countries to see where it is best to get it, although you must pay for the Laos visa upon entering the country (which is not the case with the Malaysian visa), being able to arrive quickly and easily by land from Thailand means you do not need to catch a flight to get to Georgetown.
The first thing you will need to do is go to the Thai consulate in Vientiane, not the embassy (you can see the map at the end). To get there, you can take a tuk-tuk from any point in the capital of Laos.
Since we went with our own motorcycle, we only had to look for the embassy on Google Maps, and there they told us that we had to go to the consulate, which was not far from there.
WARNING: Once there, someone will approach you wanting to “help” you with the forms, photocopies and everything else. Don’t listen, take all your papers and fill them out inside, because they will charge you a lot of money (500THB per person) for a couple of photocopies of your passport and for filling out the form.
We were left with poker faces when he told us the price, and we only paid him 100 THB after commenting on how bold he was.
We were initially swayed because we were short on time (it was nearly 11:30) and thought that if they handled it, we’d have no problem getting in, even if it was past the cutoff time. But that wasn’t the case, and we ended up unable to process our Thailand visa that same day. Consider yourselves warned.
Remember also that, although the office hours are until 12:00, the Thailand visa processing is only open until 11:30. If you arrive 5 minutes late, they will close the door and refuse to let you in. And if you manage to get in after annoying the security at the door, once inside they will not process it for you.
In order to apply for a Thailand visa in Vientiane, you must have all the necessary documents and requirements as follows:
Although the form can be downloaded online, it can be requested at the same office where the visas are processed.
If you have forgotten to photocopy your passport or you do not have any photos, you will have to go to those who “help you”, as we have previously reported, so it is better to have everything or, failing that, to negotiate the price with them before doing anything.
Inside the consulate, you can also make photocopies because there were signs stating it, but there was nothing written about photos.
Once you have everything, you will go to the counter (one of two available) and hand in all the paperwork along with your photos and passport. We arrived at 9am and there was no one there, so you won’t spend much time there.
Remember that to process the Thailand visa in Vientiane you have to go between 8:30am and 11:30am.
They will give you a paper with an assigned number, ‘like a ticket,’ which you should keep to collect your passport with the visa the following day. The fees are also paid when you pick it up, not before.
Now all that remains is to wait for the next day (from 1:30 pm to 1:30 pm) to go and collect the Thailand visa which will have been stuck onto one of the pages of the passport. It couldn’t be easier or faster!
