Vientiane to Bangkok

Rapid No. 134 leaves Khamsavath station at 18:25 and reaches Nong Khai at 18:55, where it waits until 20:15 for Thai immigration and a search of the train. It passes Udon Thani at about 21:00, takes the line through Bua Yai and Kaeng Khoi rather than Korat, and arrives at Don Mueang station, across the road from the airport, at about 07:03 to 07:13 and at Krung Thep Aphiwat at about 07:20 to 07:30. Timetables differ by those ten minutes.

It's the same short train as the one north, two third-class cars with fans, one air-conditioned seat car and one air-conditioned sleeper car with curtained berths and bedding. At SRT's price, third class is ฿281, an air-conditioned seat ฿574, an upper berth ฿784 and a lower berth ฿874, and agents add about ฿55–100. I'd book a berth. Reviews from 2026 say seats are assigned at random, the air conditioning is very cold and there's no food or hot water on board, so buy dinner in Vientiane and bring a layer.

The sleeper car is the first thing to sell out. By SRT's booking rules, the whole run should go on sale about 90 days ahead on the D-Ticket site and at stations, and a traveler on this train in September 2026 found the berths gone a month out. One 12Go customer this year booked a berth and ended up in a seat, so check that your ticket shows a berth number. If the berths are gone, ride No. 134 as far as Nong Khai and switch to the No. 26 sleeper there.

Khamsavath is about 7 km from downtown Vientiane, east of the Patuxai monument. It isn't the city's other station, Vientiane Railway Station, which is about 16 km north and serves the fast Lao–China trains to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, so tell your driver Khamsavath. Seat61 puts a metered taxi at about 80,000–100,000 kip and a car booked through your hotel at about 300,000 kip, and it recommends leaving the center three hours before the train leaves Nong Khai, which for No. 134 means about 17:15.

Lao exit checks are in the station before you board, and there's a 10,000 kip exit fee in cash, so keep some kip. Seat61 says to be at the station 45 to 60 minutes before departure. If you're coming down from Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang on the Lao–China railway, allow for the cross-town transfer between the two stations; 12Go sells van-and-train packages that pick you up there or at your hotel.

No. 26 is the better train from Nong Khai, a newer Chinese-built sleeper with two-berth first-class cabins and a restaurant car, and it leaves at 19:40, 45 minutes after No. 134 arrives from Laos. Take No. 134 for the half hour from Khamsavath, about ฿70 in third class or ฿120 in second, clear Thai immigration, and board No. 26, which reaches Don Mueang at 05:13 and Krung Thep Aphiwat at 05:30. Seat61 lists second-class berths at ฿894–994 and first class at ฿1,350–1,550 from Nong Khai. The early arrival suits a morning flight from Don Mueang.

You can also cross by road. International buses from Vientiane to Nong Khai bus station leave at about 06:30, 09:00, 14:30 and 17:00 on 12Go, about two hours with the border for ฿180–255 including its fee, or take a tuk-tuk to the bridge, where a shuttle bus runs between the two checkpoints every 10 to 20 minutes for about ฿30–40. Both checkpoints are open from 06:00 to 22:00. From Nong Khai, the day train, No. 76, leaves at 07:45, and buses to Bangkok leave between about 16:00 and 19:40 for ฿651–851 on 12Go, eight to twelve hours.

On 12Go, buses from Vientiane to Bangkok leave at about 16:00 and 16:30 and arrive around 07:00 to 07:30, about 15 hours with both borders, for about ฿1,200–1,460. Tara Tour's express at 16:30 is about ฿1,400. Transport Co. runs the route north from Mo Chit, but I couldn't confirm its departure time from Vientiane, so ask at Talat Sao bus station if you'd rather ride the state bus. At the border you take your bags through Thai immigration and find the bus on the far side, and one passenger in July 2026 said nobody told them where to wait, so ask the driver before you get off.

Pick the Bangkok airport first. Lao Airlines and Thai Airways fly nonstop to Suvarnabhumi, which is where long-haul flights leave, so take one of those if you're connecting home, and Lao Airlines advertises two flights a day. Thai AirAsia flies to Don Mueang, on the days it operates, in the morning and early afternoon. The flight is 1 hour 10 to 1 hour 25. Wattay airport is about 3 km from the center of Vientiane. Many listings on booking sites route through other countries and take most of a day, so filter for nonstop.

Domestic flights from Udon Thani are often cheaper than the international ones from Vientiane, and there are about a dozen a day. BKS and Lao buses from Vientiane to Udon Thani leave roughly every two hours from the morning to about 17:00, two to three hours with the border, for a few hundred baht; our Udon Thani to Bangkok guide lists 08:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 17:00, and 12Go's board shows slightly different times, so check at Talat Sao. From Udon's bus terminal, the airport is about 10 minutes by taxi. Flights to Don Mueang leave between about 07:45 and 20:45 and to Suvarnabhumi between about 08:40 and 19:40, so a morning bus still makes an evening flight.