How To Catch The Slow Boat from Thailand to Laos
Traveling from the north of Thailand into Laos is a popular route. Many travelers visit Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Pai in the north of Thailand and then cross the border into Laos. The border isn’t far from these popular destinations in Thailand, and it's easy to access the main hot spots in Laos—Luang Prabang and Vientiane.
Most people will travel from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang or to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. But in our honest opinion, Vientiane is worth skipping altogether. We found it to be the least interesting place we visited in Laos and only used it as a stopover destination before getting the bus to our next destination.
In this blog, I will be going over the different options for traveling from Thailand to Laos and everything you need to know about the slow boat and the border crossing. Josh and I took the slow boat from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang, and it was one of the best experiences we had in Asia and was a great introduction to Laos.
Passing by other Slow Boats on the Mekong River.
Transport options from Thailand to Laos
Plane
If you're short on time and need to get to Laos quickly, flying is definitely the quickest choice but also the most expensive and isn’t as budget-friendly for backpackers. Most flights from Chiang Mai Airport or Chiang Rai Airport to Luang Prabang or Vientiane can range anywhere from $150 to $400. There aren’t many direct flights either, and most will fly to Bangkok first before flying back up to either airport in Laos. The travel time can vary from 1.5 hours to 8 hours, depending on layovers.
Bus
The bus is usually the most budget-friendly option but the most boring. It's long, and most travelers would choose an overnight bus.
Travel times vary depending on the bus company you choose, the length of the border crossing, and the number of stops the bus makes for breaks.
Travel times via bus from each destination:
Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang - from 14- 17 hours
Chiang Mai to Vientiane- 10 - 12 hours
Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang - 10-12 hours
Chiang Rai to Vientiane - 12 - 14 hours
Buses range in price, anywhere from $50-$100. Prices depend on whether the bus is a sleeper bus or a sitting bus. Sometimes, you may be transferred between minivans and buses to different buses when crossing the border. You can book on the 12asia go website to find the best deals. We have found booking transport through your hostel or tourist information providers when you get to Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai is usually the cheapest, and they can also give you the best options for sleeper buses.
Important to mention: Some sleeper buses have double beds, and if you are a solo traveler, you will likely be paired to share a double bed with a random. Let me tell you, these aren’t big double beds, and you will likely be spooning these strangers. To avoid this, try and book single-bed sleeper buses or you will need to pay for two seats on a double bus.
Slow Boat
Our favorite way to travel and the whole reason for this blog!!
This route is one of the most popular routes among backpackers when traveling from Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang as its a similar price to the bus and it’s such a cool experience although it does take a whole 24 hours longer. You don’t take this route because you want to travel to Laos as quickly as you can; you take it to enjoy the views of the Mekong Delta, being surrounded by nature for two days, and immerse yourself in local Laos culture. As this is a popular route for backpackers there are many other travelers on the boat and it’s a great way to meet people whom are heading to the same destination as you! We ended up traveling with three people we met on the boat for over two weeks after our slow boat trip in Laos and are still great friends to this day.
The boat leaves from a little town on the Laos side of the border called Huay Xai . To catch the boat, you will travel from Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai to the border. From the border, you’ll cross into Laos and be transported to the boat port. Each day you spend about 6-7 hours on the boat. On the first day, the boat stops in a little town called Pakbeng overnight. I will go into more detail on how to catch the slow boat in this blog!
How to book the slow boat.
There are a few ways to book the slow boat - Via a tour provider or by yourself.
Via a Tour
Most people choose to opt for a “tour” because it takes away the stress for you and is generally only a little more in price than booking it yourself. In our opinion, we prefer to pay the extra $20 for someone to do most of the work for us when it comes to border crossings. When booking through a tour, it includes everything - transfers from Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai to the border, visa assistance before you get to the border, transfers from the Laos side of the border to the boat port, and the boat ticket for two days. The tours don’t include one-night accommodation in Pakbeng and you will need to book this yourself.
To book the slow boat via a tour provider, this can be booked on Get Your Guide. However, we found the easiest and most affordable way to book the tour was through our hostel in Chiang Rai. We found most hostels or hotels in Asia provide this service or most tour providers and tour stands on the streets in Chiang Mai can book the slow boat tour for you from Chiang Mai too. Trust us, every second store in Chiang Mai is a tour provider and you won’t be short on options.
From Chiang Mai - it’s a little more expensive and they stretch out the tour over 3 days because it’s more travel as Chiang Mai is a 3-hour drive from Chiang Rai. Most of the tour providers we spoke to in Chiang Mai included a bus to Chiang Rai, a tour of the famous white temple, a night accommodation in Chiang Rai, transfers to the Laos border the following day, assistance with the visa, transfers from the Laos border to the boat and the boat tickets. This tour ranged in price but generally, the starting price was around $150 AUD.
From Chiang Rai - We opted to take the tour from Chiang Rai as we wanted to make our own way to Chiang Rai to explore the city in our own time before traveling to Laos. We booked our tour through our hostel - The Busket Hostel. Our tour included early morning transfers from the hostel to the border, visa assistance, transfers to the boat from the Laos border, and the boat ticket for two days which was roughly $90-$100 AUD.
Booking the laos slow boat on your own and crossing the border INDEPENDENTLY
It’s possible to book your transfers, cross the border, and book the boat yourself, and is the cheapest option if you’re budget traveling. But there are a few moving parts and logistics to know, to ensure your trip goes to plan and smoothly.
If booking the slow boat yourself, you will need to arrange:
A bus from Chiang Rai to the border.
Visas at the border.
Transfers from the border to the port.
Boat tickets
Accommodation in Pakbeng
The great thing about going through a tour provider is they pick you up at around 5 am to ensure you cross the border and get to the boat on time as they generally leave around 9 am. The issue with booking the trip independently, the earliest bus to leave Chiang Rai to the border is at 6 am and it’s roughly a 2-hour bus ride. If there is anything we’ve learned, buses in Asia usually don’t leave on time and they travel whenever the bus driver is ready. Therefore, if you’re to take the first bus, it likely won’t make it to the boat departing at 9 am.
Another thing to mention: When we were in Chiang Rai, we noticed the 6 am bus wasn’t currently running and the earliest bus to leave for the border each day was at 9 am. We weren’t sure if the 6 am bus had been canceled completely or if it wasn’t running during our time in Chiang Rai. Keep this in mind when you’re planning your travels as the bus schedule from Chiang Rai seems to change often.
Due to this, most people who caught the slow boat on their own crossed the border during the day and had to book a night accommodation on the Laos side of the border in Huay Xai also known as Bokeo so they could make the 9 am boat the next day. Most guesthouses in this town sell tickets for the slow boat or you can buy them from the port when you arrive but they sell out fast and it’s recommended to get there early. You can easily take tuk-tuks from the border to the port or from your accommodation and it should only cost a couple of dollars.
Playing with the locals on the boat.
Crossing the border
We traveled with a tour provider who made this process very easy. They gave us all the forms needed before we arrived at the border, and took our passport-style headshots and our payment for the visa so that when we arrived at the border, we had everything we needed to give the immigration officer our documentation.
But whether you choose to travel through a tour provider or on your own, the process is similar. Firstly, you will need to exit the border through the Thai side in Chiang Kong where they will stamp you out of the country. From there, you will need to pay around 75 cents to get the bus across the Friendship Bridge from the Thai border to the Laos border at Huay Xai.
Once you arrive at the immigration building in Laos, you will need to fill out the forms for the visa, which they have readily available at standing desks in the immigration building. We required a passport photo for the visa and our tour provider took this picture for us but if you are crossing the border on your own it’s recommended that you carry a few passport-sized photos with you.
The fee for the visa was $30 USD and we were issued a 30 day single entry tourist visa. You can pay for this visa in USD or KIP.
However, if paying in USD, make sure your notes are clean, crisp, and are new USD notes. The immigration officers are extremely particular about the notes and they go into great detail to inspect the notes to ensure they’re up to standard. For this reason, we paid in KIP to save the hassle.
Important to note: When crossing the border, it’s best to have a mixture of currencies (Thai Baht and Laos Kip). When we crossed the border, we had some unexpected fees pop up. The immigration officers didn’t speak much English but after paying for the visa we also had to pay 40 Thai Baht. We have been told these fees are to pay for the ink in your passport or their random bribe fees with the officers but honestly, we will never really know what it’s for. At the end of the day, 40 Thai baht is roughly AUD 1.50 and we prefer to save the hassle and pay this tiny fee over arguing with an immigration officer who doesn’t speak English (it’s all part of the fun of traveling through Asia!)
Slow Boat Day 1.
Open-style boat with old bus seats and not much leg room!
The slow Boat experience - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW- THE FUN PART
Okay, now that we have the boring logistics out of the way, let’s get to the fun part!
Firstly, let me paint a picture in your mind - Imagine sitting on an old wooden boat, with open windows, old bus seats, and water buffalos on the shore of the Mekong, sailing past small Laos towns and kids waving at you from the shoreline while they hold their goats on a leash (yes we saw that) and a boat full of backpackers and locals drinking beer together and playing card games on the floor….. HOW MUCH BETTER DOES THAT SOUND THEN FLYING OR CATCHING A BUS?
Yes, the slow boat takes the longest but it truly is the most special way to see the Mekong. The boats are large, wooden, open-air vessels. They are long and fit roughly around 50 people in each boat. The seats are nothing special, they’re old bus seats cramped in rows of two or three. Usually, the locals sit close to the front and tourists occupy the back. The boat has two basic toilets… let’s say I wouldn’t be doing a number two in them. There is also a small shop at the back with a lady selling the basics from beers to hot pot noodles, snacks, coffee and tea.
Day 1
The boat departs from the port at around 9-9:30am. But, before you board the boat, be sure to grab yourself a pre-made sandwich from one of the ladies at the cafes at the port. There are two cafes there and you can buy the most delicious baguettes to go. You can also buy your morning coffee, smoothies, and drinks for super cheap. We bought a few beers and the owner made us a DIY Esky and packed our plastic bags with ice so our beers stayed cold!
On our boat tickets, we had seat numbers written on them but don’t assume that will be your seat. We were one of the last to get on the boat and chose any seat we could find. The seat numbers don’t mean much so if you want to choose your seat, it’s recommended to get on early.
As soon as the boat departed we were welcomed with beautiful views. The lush green mountains and picturesque views of the untouched land around us while we got to know our seat neighbors who were also fellow backpackers. As the day progressed, we started to see people split off into groups of the people sitting around them. Everyone slowly re-located to the floor to play board games, people moved around their seats and folded them down to make makeshift tables for card games, the beers were flowing and the tunes were cranking.
As soon as the boat departed we were welcomed with beautiful views. The lush green mountains and picturesque views of the untouched land around us while we got to know our seat neighbors who were also fellow backpackers. As the day progressed, we started to see people split off into groups of the people sitting around them. Everyone slowly relocated to the floor to play board games, people moved around their seats and folded them down to make makeshift tables for card games, the beers were flowing and the tunes were cranking.
The first day roughly took around 5-6 hours and we arrived into Pakbeng around 4pm. When you get off the boat, there will be many people waiting at the dock holding up signs for accommodation. If you want the cheapest deal, its best to book your accommodation with one of these guys when you arrive.
Private rooms usually vary from $10-$15 for the night or if you have found friends on the boat to share a room with for the night, you can find a 4-6 bed dorm for as little as $2 each. We chose to book our accommodation on booking.com because we knew we couldn’t be bothered to haggle with them when we got off the boat. We found a private room for $12 for the night. All the accommodation in Pakbeng is basic so don’t expect anything fancy!
Once you have checked into your accommodation, go and explore the little town of Pakbeng. Its very small and cute with small restaurants scattered through the town. Be sure to head down to the Mekong where you arrived on the boat to watch the sunset. In the evenings, most backpackers head to HIVE Bar for drinks and to play pool. Although Pakbeng is a small town, this bar goes off as its the only place that’s open if feel like getting rowdy into the night!
Day 2
The boat departs at 9 am on day 2 but we recommend getting their an hour earlier to get the best seats. The boat on the second day differed from the boat on day 1. It was a lot smaller and there was a mix of old bus seats, wooden benches and very little floor space for people to sit on the ground and play card games. Let me tell you, the wooden benches didn’t look comfortable at all and we were so glad we got up early to get the bus seats. Before you get on the boat, don’t forget to buy yourself a to- go sandwich from the town. There are a few bakeries near the port and restaurants with signs selling baguette rolls and they were just as delicious as the baguettes we bought on day 1 from the port.
As the boat sets sail on day 2 you’re immediately welcomed with views of the lush jungle and panoramic views either side of the boat being towered by large limestone cliffs. The views on day 2 were even better then day one and as we crept closer to Luang Prabang the cliffs became even more impressive. The atmosphere on day 2 was more quiet in the morning as there were a few sore and hungover heads from the night before. The middle of the days on the boat can be hot and although the boat has a roof, if you’re sitting on the same side of the sun, it can belt down on you so be sure to have your sun cream close by!
The boat journey is a little longer on day 2 and was closer to a 6-6.5 hours. In the last 2 hours of the ride as we crept closer to Luang Prabang the atmosphere on the boat started to pick up and the beers started flowing again as everyone started to speak about their plans for the evening once they arrived to Luang Prabang.
We arrived at the port in Luang Prabang at around 4:30 pm and were absolutely pumped after the most amazing two day on the Mekong.
Slow Boat Day 2- Wooden Seats at the front of the boat and hanging with the little locals
Arriving in Luang Prabang
The port where the boat docks is a further out of town and is roughly a 15-20 minute tuk-tuk drive depending on where you’re staying. When you arrive to the port, there will be plenty of tuk-tuk drivers there all offering you a ride into town for an overpriced amount. Your best chance of paying a low price is to find a group of people from the boat to jump travel into town with. The tuk-tuks can fit anywhere from 4-12 people depending on the size and most groups will be heading in the same direction as you so don’t be afraid to speak up and find some friends to travel with!
When we arrived, tuk-tuk drivers were trying to charge us $500,000 KIP for a 4 person tuk-tuk which is $37 AUD which is extortion! We got our guy down to 100,000 Kip each which was about $8 per person and we thought that was a great deal. But when we arrived to our hostel the receptionist couldn’t stop laughing at us because of how much we paid. He said you shouldn’t pay anymore then 30,000 KIP each which is $2.20 AUD. At least now we can laugh about it.
If you’re looking for great budget-friendly accommodation we highly recommend the Sunrise Riverside Hostel which is nestled right next to the Mekong River and is within walking distance of all the main sights in town.
In Conclusion
As you can see, there are multiple ways to travel to Laos from Thailand but the slow boat has our hearts. If you’re like us and traveling South East Asia long term, there will be many other times during your travels when you will need to catch a bus. If you’re traveling from the north of Thailand into Laos, this is a great way to take a break from the long, uncomfortable bus rides and travel more uniquely. The Mekong River spreads across 6 countries but in our opinion its the most beautiful to see from Thailand to Laos because it feels completely untouched and the mountainous scenes are views we will never forget.