Chong Mek Voyage Tips and guide

Chong Mek (ช่องเม็ก) is a township in Isaan.

Chong Mek primarily functions as a border crossing between eastern Thailand and southern Laos. Vang Tao is the corresponding border town on the Lao side.

You can buy a Lao visa at the Chong Mek/Vang Tao crossing. However, when entering Thailand without a visa, most nationalities will get a free 15- to 30-day Thai visa stamped into their passport. Thailand only allows 2 overland entries per year, visa on arrival. Check beforehand for the current rules.

There appears to now be an official fee of 10,000 kip to exit Laos at this border. You will be issued a bill and directed to a payment window that issues you a receipt. They may allow you to pay 40 baht if you don't have 10,000 kip. Crossing the border on a public holiday appears to cost 50,000 kip (2024) but this is probably an informal "fee" that you may be able to negotiate your way out of.

A taxi can be hired at the taxi counter at Ubon Ratchathani airport or bus terminal for roughly 1,000 baht. The trip takes under an hour at a distance of 60 km. Buses (called rot tour or rot air by Thais) also make their way to Chong Mek from the bus terminal. Depending on the bus you may need to change buses at Phibun Mangsahan.

VIP buses from Ubon take about 2 hours and charge US$5/200 baht in Ubon bus station near Big C. If you book it in advance on 12go, it will cost you double. If you don't have too much luggage, there are also vans to the border bus station for B100. After crossing into Laos, there is a big food center about 100 m from the border, where transport is waiting. Vans cost 25,000 kip from there to the new market in Pakse.

The Thai-Lao international bus between Pakse and Ubon Ratchani (126 km, 2-3 hr) is much more comfortable. Buses leave Pakse at 08:30 and 15:30, and from Ubon Ratchatani at 07:30 and 15:30, and will wait at the border for passengers to complete border formalities. In Pakse this bus will drop off at a bus station on Road 38 about 1 km east of the big Arawan Riverside Hotel. Agents in downtown Pakse book this for 90,000 kip, which includes a ride to the bus station. It may be a bit cheaper if you can get to the bus station yourself and buy a ticket there.

Cool off and watch the sunset with some water buffaloes at 15.12398105.414131 Saen Tor Beach.  (updated Feb 2026) on the enormous Sirindhorn Reservoir.

Chong Mek was once a thriving market selling cross-border goods popular with Thai tourists. Most of the bustle has moved to the market in Mukdahan since the opening of the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in 2006. This bridge provides easy access to the Lao town of Savannakhet.

Take a bus to Ubon Ratchathani (75 min, 60 km) or cross the border into southern Lao and take a bus to Pakse (45 min, 45 km)