Luang Prabang Travel Forum

I am currently in Vietnam and thinking of going to Laos for a week or 10 days but I am not sure if I need that much time. I would have to cross into Loas from near Hue. The plan would be to go from Dong Ha to Savannakhet, then on to Vientiane and then to Luang Prabang.

I am hoping that I can cross into Thailand from Luang Prabang by bus but cannot find any info for that. I am not too keen on taking the slow boat for 2 days and I would prefer not to have to go back to Vientiane either. I have been told by tour operators in Vietnam that there is bus service available from LP to the Thai border but I don't know if I can rely on that.

Any info would be appreciated.

There are regularly scheduled buses between Luang Prabang and Vientiane which pretty much takes up a full day (9-11 hour busrides) and there are regularly scheduled buses between Vientiane and Nong Khai and Bangkok but no direct bus from LP to Bangkok.

You could catch a bus from Luang Prabang to Luang Namtha in the northwest of Laos, which like northwest Vietnam, is popular for its concentrations of ethnic minorities BUT you would still have to take a bus from Namtha to Huay Xai to exit to Thailand's Chiang Khong, and then onward to Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai or book budget flights back to BKK.

Another good option is to fly back from Luang Prabang to Vientiane for about U$65 and then take the VIP buses or night sleeper train to Bangkok. There are several bus companies in Vientiane that go direct to Bangkok.

Thanks for the info. I had considered using the route you suggested and see some minority villages. Maybe that is what I wiil decide to do.

The Luang Nam Tha - Huay Xai road is newly-reconstructed by the Chinese and is quite fast & smooth.

Another option is a 1-day jetboat from L.P to H.X., but that's a real nerve-wracker and occasionally dangerous as well.

Another way to look at it is L.P to H.X. by bus via L.N.T. is probably 2 full days of bus rides: 1 to LNT and another to HX. (I don't know of a direct non-stop bus from LP to HX, though it's not out of the question these days with the new LNT-HX stretch; check once you're in LP.) Spending those same 2 days on a slow boat could prove a more attractive option. (Upriver the slow boat is much less crowded than downstream.)