This should be quite an informative write up for anyone needing a 3 month visa for Thailand. Having recently set up The Stratton ABC Foundation and finally got registered it was time for me to end my current Visa and change for Non- immigrant B.
Armed with the nessecary paperwork; in this case the Foundation registration paperwork,(copies); my passport and 2 passport photos and a letter from the Foundation stating my need to come to Thailand to fulfil my obligations to the Foundation, I headed off to Vientiane, with my friend Somboon, early Tuesday evening.
The day before I had booked seats on a minibus to Nongkhai,(1200 baht per person), through Queen Bee Tours, on Moon Muang Rd, Chiang Mai.
We were due to meet the Mini bus driver at 7pm. One of our neighbours kindly gave us a lift into town and we were there at half past 6. Just as well we were early because I had actually forgotten the passport photos and had time to get them done at the Fuji shop just up the road from Queen Bee,( 100 baht for 6).
The minibus arrived just after 7 and it was clear that it was going to be full. Indeed, after picking up two more from a hotel on the way to the minibuses travel office, the bus was so full there was one person sitting in the middle in the ‘cab’ of the bus.
The wait at the Aya Service office, close to the train station, was probably the most annoying part of the trip. we seemed to be there for an age, processing everyones ticket , etc. It was after 8pm before we finally left Chiang Mai.
Despite the lack of leg room, I have to say that the bus was very comfortable and the driver very sensible. So many Thai bus drivers seem to think they are in a Grand prix….but this one was very good and I felt totally safe.
There were a couple of short fuel stops on the way where we got to stretch our legs and use the toilet and at around 5.30am we were at Nong Khai for breakfast by the river, at Ruen Rim Nam, before carrying on to The Friendship Bridge just up the road.
Getting out of Thailand was quick for me but I had to wait about half an hour for Boon to get the nesseccary forms done and completed for him to get a 3 day pass.
We then joined the bridge bus to the Lao immigration point.
Luckily, while I was waiting for Boon I had managed to get the two white forms needed for the entry visa into Lao from a bus tour worker who had a surplus. having filled them out while waiting for Boon I was able to join the entry queue with no further delay.
It was, however, quite a long queue and the total wait for handing in my passport with payment(1500), and getting the passport back was a little over an hour.
Still Boon had been busy whilst waiting for me and had arranged a taxi direct to the Thai Consulate for a very reasonable 300 baht.
At the Embassy before 9 we were all done there by just before 10.
We chose to go over the road to what appears to be a newly opened restaurant/bar.
The food was excellent and the prices very reasonable, as their sign says. We paid around 380 baht for 3 dishes and 2 iced teas and 1 iced coffee.
The servings were very generous and the service very good.
We then took a tuk tuk to Avenue Lane Xang, about 10 minutes ride, where we had stayed in a very nice hotel last time we visited Vientiane.
Unfortunately when we enquired the hotel was full. So we took the short walk across the road to The Kham Khoun Hotel and got a twin air-con room, with TV and shower room for 700 baht, breakfast included.
We showered and slept for a while before taking a walk down to the Monument to relax in the shade.
Still tired from the travelling we returned to the hotel for a very good steak dinner and a quiet night in.
Our friend Marc, one of our first customers in our guest house days, who is currently working as an english teacher in Vientiane, popped in to say hello, which was nice.
We also met his lovely girlfriend Ivana.
The next morning we were up reasonably early for breakfast, which was ok but I won’t rave over it.
We were just killing time really and took a walk around the nearby market and then back down to the Monument for a while, before heading back to the Hotel to check out before midday.
Then it was over to the Consulate again where we returned to the restaurant opposite for lunch, before joining the queue of people waiting to collect their passports and Visas, when the Consulate opened at 1pm.
That process was very quick and we were out by 1.30pm. A tuk tuk ride back to the hotel where we then booked tickets for the VIP bus back to Chiang Mai. this was also 1200 baht per person; but this included transport to Vientiane bus station and the international bus from Vientiane to Udonthani where we boarded the VIP bus.
The international bus left Vientianne at 4pm and we got to Udon at around 6.30, having an hour and a halfs wait for the VIP bus which left at 8pm.
There was a twenty minute stop at Phitsanulok, with free food included in the bus ticket price; again I’ll not say too much about the food, just that I didn’t partake.
The bus was very comfortable and again the drive was not as reckless as I have known such journeys in the past. I managed to sleep quite well.
The only problem was a toilet trip I had to make shortly before arriving at Chiang Mai. When I pressed the flush water poured out at great speed shooting out of the toilet and soaking my trousers. It threatened to flood the bus for a while. God knows what the other passengers thought when I came out!
We arrived back in Chiang Mai Arcade bus station at 6.30am and got a taxi home to Mae Salab for 250 baht.
I’d slept so well on the bus I was even able to complete the morning school run to Sarapee.
For more photos please visit our photobucket album here.
Eventually I went to investigate and discovered that they had chased a young cat up one of our trees. Even after shutting the dogs away in the kitchen the frightened cat refused to move from its precarious perch.
A little further we rode through a delightful village and came across further stages in the coffee production process…..
There is something about the lush green mountain forests and those twisting roads with their overhang tree ‘tunnels’, brightly coloured flowers and sounds of the wide variety of bird and animal life that means that I can never get enough of it.
The road appeared to be in mildly better condition than the previous time but there were still stretches of potholes that would appear suddenly; stretches where the forest was doing its place to reclaim the road, making it very narrow at times; and most concerning, places where the mountain was reclaiming the road.
We did stop for lunch at the National Park restaurant which sits beside a delightful mountain stream and we spotted many varieties of rarely seen birds as we ate.
Before reaching Huai Kaeo we stopped to see Mae Kapong waterfall, which is just a few metres from the roadside and then stopped at a wonderful new coffee shop in the village that has a great balcony overlooking the main village in the valley below.
Our work preparing Stratton House Childrens Home has progressed well and was further helped by a visit from our Australian friends, Heather, Luca and Chloe from our Faa Gamma Fund Raising Team. We would like to thank them very much for their donations of clothes, bedsheets and games and for their physical help during their visit. The photo shows the fenceposts that our visitors funded and helped to start preparing, here they are in various stages of being painted.You can see full details on 
