hi lewis,
nice to have more detailed information from you as my last trip
to vientiane dated back to last year. do not remember all the details.
maybe you are true for tuk tuk in Laos. as i speak lao i do not encounter
the same problem as westerners. last time the ride from the friendship
to central morning market costs me 5000 kip (current exchange rate
1 euro = 13 303 Lao Kip). you can pay your trip in bath too. current
exchange rate is 1 bath = 266 LAK).
bon voyage to all.
lewisfd@hotmail.com (F. D. Lewis) wrote in message news:<5fd54d5d.0401050009.4c18c327@posting.google.com>...
> in general, good report. here are some comments:
>
> mai_paris@hotmail.com (mai_paris) wrote in message news:<8114f078.0401040134.61cc7c24@posting.google.com>...
> > cheapest way to get to vientiane, laos from bangkok is to take the night
> > train in bangkok to nongkhai. departure is 19:00 or 19:30 and you
> > arrive in nongkhai next morning at 07h00.
>
> depart Bangkok at 8 or 8:45 PM. arrive Nong Khai at 6 or 8:55 AM.
> depart Don Muang (airport) at 7:25 PM. arrive Nong Khai at 7:20 AM.
>
> > ...
> > total costs are :
> > - train from bangkok to nongkhai 2nd class sleeper 650 bath.
>
> 2nd class sleeper costs 568 baht for lower and 638 baht for upper
> (with AC)
>
> > - tuk tuk from the train station to the friendship bridge 20 bath
> > - laotian visa 31 usd + 2 ID photos + other entry taxes a few
> > thousand Lao kips.
> > - tuk tuk to the morning market in vientiane 5000 Lao Kip
> > (1 bath = 266 Lao Kip at current exchange rate.
>
> 10 baht for the bus across the bridge.
>
> for the ride from the bridge into Vientiane there are posted rates.
> an airconditioned taxi which delivers you to your hotel costs about
> 200 baht.
>
> tuk-tuk rides are not as simple as the OP indicates. Westerners and
> even Thais who are not local have to bargin furiously. at the Nong
> Khai train station we had to point out that the next train arrived in
> the evening as well as threaten to walk to our hotel. after we walked
> away twice the operator relented and only slightly overcharged us. 20
> baht is very, very low for a tuk-tuk ride.
>
> in Vientiane the tuk-tuk drivers are far greedier than they used to
> be. they now will wait hours to get 50 baht from a tourist rather
> than a fair rate of 30 baht.
>
> > the whole one way journey to laos would cost you less than 700 bath
> > much much less than taking a direct flight from bangkok to vientiane.
>
> quite true. one-way fare on Thai Airways is 4,605 baht. if you fly
> to Udon Thani and then take the bus to Nong Khai, a special one-way
> air fare is now 1,900 baht.
>
> another item. at an exchange rate of 10,500 kip/US$ or so you do not
> want to use kip. especially since the largest note is 5,000 kip. a
> friend of ours paid for a $2 meal with a $50 bill and got kip in
> change. this sure made his pockets bulge! forutnately he was able to
> pay for his hotel room with kip. all prices in big towns are quoted
> in baht, US$, and kip. most people use baht as it is convenient. a
> friend who used to go out on expeditions in remote areas had to take
> backpacks full of kip to pay for things. |