Visa run to Laos

Vientiane, Laos

Because Thailand likes to keep things complicated we've had a lot of run around when it comes to visa procedures and staying in Thailand legally. Most recently, Emiliya and I had to take a trip to the neighboring country of Laos in order to reapply for our tourist visa, allowing us another 90 days in the country. We've constantly been asking why we keep leaving the country and visiting local immigration for visa extensions when we could just get a work visa, but these decisions are up to our company so we're just going with the flow at this point. And besides, each visit to immigration gets us a day off work and we often welcome the break.                

The Mekong River, separating Thailand and Laos

Our trip to Laos took us to Vientiane, the capital and largest city of Laos. It's right on the border of Thailand and Laos, sitting just over the edge of Mekong River. Thailand is deceivingly large, so although we were just hopping the border it was still about an eight hour drive from Bangkok. We went through a visa service so overall it was a really simple trip. We handed over our money at the beginning of our journey and our driver handled all of the complicated stuff for us, which left us plenty of time to explore the city of Vientiane. I've heard from numerous people that there isn't much to Laos, especially in Vientiane, but I was determined to prove otherwise.
Our journey got off to a rocky and tired start due to the weird schedule of our van. We left Bangkok about 9pm and drove through the night, only to arrive at the Laos border at 4am. There we sat in the van for close to two hours, and then at 6 AM we had to get out of the van and line up in the street, waiting for the border to open. As soon as we saw the doors to immigration open people actually started running towards the building. It honestly felt like I was in some strange refuge movie where I was fleeing the country. Needless to say, it was intense. Anyways, the morning was filled with long lines and paperwork, both to apply for our Laos visa in order to enter, and to apply for a new Thai visa in order to get back to Thailand. By the time we finished it was the afternoon and we were running on very little sleep from the night before. Emiliya and I had a decent list of things we wanted to see in Laos, but we were tired and defeated and decided to take a nap, cutting off a lot of opportunity to see the city. 

Once we woke from our nap half the day was gone, so we decided to skip to our most eagerly awaited item on our list: french bread. During the early half the the 20th century Laos was under the control of the French colonial empire, and as a result there are still some French charms lingering throughout the city of Vientiane. We hit a cafe and had some delicious coffee and fresh bread, which we are sorely lacking in Thailand. Well rested and well fed we headed towards the city center to check out the Patuxai Arc, another French influence in the city. It was built in dedication to those who fought for independence from France, and obviously pulls a lot of influence from the Arc de Triomphe, although the detailing is more Asian than French. We paid 15฿ (about 30 cents) to climb to the top of the arc which offered stunning views of Vientiane. The atmosphere of the city center was great, because it's surrounded by busy traffic but the land itself is very calm. We enjoyed a nice Beerlao (Beer brewed in Laos) which we found to be cheaper than beer in Thailand ($1.50 compared to $2). At this point it was almost dinner time (free through the visa company), and I am not one to pass up free food so we headed back towards our hotel. If we had had a full day in the city we would have ventured to at least two other places in Vientiane, first being Pha That Luang. It's a gold covered Buddha stupa which is thought to have been built in the 3rd century. It's a UNESCO world heritage site and a national symbol for Laos. Our other stop would've been Buddha Park, which is a large plot of land home to over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues. Beyond that, not much else up on our search for activities in Vientiane, perhaps it is a sleepy town afterall!

The next morning we treated ourselves to more coffee and bread and then headed to immigration to pick up our passports, and then it was time to head back to Thailand. 

Even though the visa company handled a lot of the paperwork and logistical stuff for us, we still spent 5-6 hours in lines at immigration within 24 hours. Legally staying in Thailand is so much more complicated than predicted and as a result I've now been to two different Thai embassies, the US embassy and various Thai immigration offices, and I have to go back to immigration next week! I still don't know how to do taxes, but I'm a pro at visa paperwork, so that has to count for something, right? 

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Logistical Info 

-The visa company charges 5550฿ and includes round trip transportation from Bangkok to Vientiane, a hotel in Vientiane, meals, assistance with paperwork, and transportation within Vientiane to all necessary locations (hotel, immigration, the border etc)

- Laos has their own currency, but in Vientiane they accepted Thai baht as payment, however they usually give you change in the Laos currency 

Cash vs Plastic around the world

 One thing that I always try to research before traveling to a new country is if I'll be able to use debit/credit cards without any issue. The use of cards in the country determine how much foreign currency I'll take out before traveling abroad. I also find myself observing others while I'm abroad, seeing what the locals use; if everyone is using cards I find myself pulling out my own card before using cash.


I prefer to take out cash before leaving the country, mainly because it's free and Chase bank has always been able to get me whatever currency I need within 2-3 days. On rare occasions I've used ATMs
within the country, but I've found that the fee for using an American card really adds up. I've also had my fair share of card troubles while abroad. For example, ATMs in Turkey will suck your card into the machine if you leave it in for too long, and you'll get weird looks in Russia if you even move towards your credit card, because no one trusts using plastic in their country.
Below is my ranking, which doesn't have much of a system to it, but it's my interpretation of the best and worst countries for cash vs cards.

By far the two countries with the least amount of cash use are Iceland and Sweden. They both are consistently ranked for all transactions being 90% or higher in plastic. While in both countries I didn't touch a single bill, instead I paid for everything from car tolls to meals with a credit/debit card. I traveled to both countries with extreme confidence that I would survive with just my cards and wouldn't need to track down an ATM along the way.


Australia has a currency that is both water proof and rip proof, which made me want to take out some bills before venturing down under, just to see what they looked like. If it hadn't been for my curiosity I probably wouldn't have needed to take out any cash, because I used my card for almost every purchase including ferry tickets and souvenir shopping.

Next I found that Switzerland and Liechtenstein almost always have an option to pay with a card, however, the locals seem to use more cash than plastic. The smallest bill in the Swiss Franc is a ten franc bill, meaning that the coins really add up, which is heavy and annoying. I usually take out a decent amount in Swiss Francs, but attempt to make larger purchases with my card.

Countries on the euro seem to have an even mix of cash vs cards. I've stumbled upon small hotels in Italy that would only accept cash, but could easily point me in the right direction of an ATM. Train stations usually have ticket machines that accept cards, but when in the European Union I usually carry a decent amount of euros so I'm not stuck in an awkward situation.

Balkan countries have given me mixed opinions on cash vs cards. I found in Croatia that most restaurants were completely fine with using cards, but I realized that locals around me were usually paying with cash. The problem came when it was time to buy bus tickets. Even when paying for a ride half way across the country they would still only accept cash, which completely drained my wallet. Afterwards I went to the post office to mail some postcards and found they wouldn't accept my card there either, so I had to hit up an ATM before mailing anything.  I tried to keep at least the currency equivalent of $50 USD on me while wandering around Croatia. Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro showed similar results as Croatia; restaurants were fine with cards but smaller tourist shops and bus stops would only accept cash.

Lowest on the list of cash friendly countries are Thailand, Turkey and Russia. As I stated above, Russia isn't considered a safe place to use cards, because systems are easily hacked, leaving your bank account at risk. I don't know anything on the security of cards in Turkey, but I found that almost everywhere I looked people were using cash instead of cards. However, I haven't been to Turkey in 5 years, so this might not be accurate anymore. Thailand, and many other Asian countries (Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia) don't seem to be up to date on the technology that allows credit cards. In Thailand the only place I used my card during my six months there was at Tesco, which is a large department and grocery store. In many Asian countries, larger and more expensive restaurants often accept cards, but even so I still try to carry around enough cash just incase.

I prefer to be over prepared when traveling, and I also enjoy seeing new currencies, so when in doubt I take out at least a small amount of foreign currency before leaving the country. However, in this day and age the use of cards is becoming more widespread and it seems that cash flow is slowing down, especially in Europe.