Why does this site say 33 checkpoints when other sources say a different number?

33 is a direct count of every entry on the Lao Department of Immigration's own full checkpoint listing, checked on 5 September 2026. The register's own summary page separately states "31" in its introductory text, while its own per-country breakdown (Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, China, airports) sums to 33. That is a discrepancy on the register's own site, not one we have resolved by picking a number; we publish the one we could count directly.

Which of these 33 can I actually use?

The 18 covered in depth on this site's border and train pages carry real, bookable passenger transport: the five Thai–Lao Friendship Bridges, Vang Tao, the nine Laos–Vietnam checkpoints, Nongnokkhene into Cambodia, and Boten plus the Lao–China Railway checkpoint. Of the other 15, the four airports and Khamsavath station also carry real scheduled traffic, by air and by rail; the remaining ten land checkpoints are not currently useful for a traveller without their own vehicle.

Are the visa on arrival and eVisa columns here official or from experience?

Official, straight from the register, unless a note says otherwise. Where this site's border pages have found a gap between the official listing and what travellers actually experience, that is disclosed on the relevant border page, not repeated here row by row.

Gilded stupa gateway over the road at Boten International Check Point

Reference · Verified 5 September 2026

All 33 Laos Border Checkpoints

The official Lao immigration register lists 33 checkpoints: four international airports, and 29 land and rail crossings. Eighteen carry real tourist traffic and have their own detailed pages on this site; the other fifteen are here for completeness.

33 checkpoints, directly counted
18 covered in depth
15 minor or reference-only

Search live routes

How many border checkpoints does Laos actually have?

The Lao Department of Immigration's own register lists 33 named checkpoints: four international airports, and 29 land or rail crossings. Eighteen carry real tourist and passenger traffic and are covered in full detail on this site's border and train pages. The other fifteen are minor or reference-only, listed here for completeness rather than because a bus runs through them.

The 18 covered in depth elsewhere on this site

Full hours, visa rules, fares and traveller reports for each of these live on their own pages, not repeated here.

6 checkpointsLaos – Thailand5 Friendship Bridges plus Vang Tao – Chong Mek.See all crossings → 9 checkpointsLaos – VietnamEvery official Laos–Vietnam crossing, both directions.See all crossings → 1 checkpointLaos – CambodiaNongnokkhene, the only legal crossing.See the crossing → 2 checkpointsLaos – ChinaBoten by road, plus the separate railway checkpoint.See the crossing →

The other 15, for completeness

Two of these carry real, regular traffic: the four airports have scheduled international flights (covered in detail on Flights to Laos), and Khamsavath is Vientiane's own railway station, covered on the Vientiane page and the train page. Both are listed here only for completeness of the register. The remaining ten land checkpoints, by contrast, carry little or no scheduled passenger transport. Names are exactly as the official register spells them, since a search for the local name sometimes turns up nothing while the official spelling does.

Minor and reference-only checkpoints on the official register.
Checkpoint	Category	Lao visa on arrival	eVisa
Wattay International Airport	International airport	Yes	Yes
Luang Prabang International Airport	International airport	Yes	Yes
Savannakhet International Airport	International airport	No	No
Pakse International Airport	International airport	Yes	Yes
Golden Triangle	International border checkpoint	Yes	No
Meuangmom	International border checkpoint	No	No
Lanetoui	International border checkpoint	No	No
Namheuang Friendship Bridge	International border checkpoint	Yes	No
Namngeun	International border checkpoint	No	No
Phoudou	International border checkpoint	No	No
Pangmon	International border checkpoint	No	No
Banvang	International border checkpoint	No	No
Paktaphan	International border checkpoint	No	No
Pahang	International border checkpoint	Not re-checked	Not re-checked
Khamsavath Station	International checkpoint (railway station)	Yes	Yes

Common questions

Why 33 and not the number another site quotes?

33 is a direct count against the Lao Department of Immigration's own full listing on 5 September 2026. The register's own summary text elsewhere says "31"; its own category breakdown sums to 33. We publish the directly-counted figure and note the source's own inconsistency rather than pick a number.

Can I use any of these as a tourist?

The four airports and Khamsavath station carry real, regular scheduled traffic, see Flights to Laos and the Vientiane page. The other ten land checkpoints carry little or no scheduled passenger transport; they are documented here for completeness and for the traveller who has specifically found one of these names and wants to know what it is, not as a routing suggestion.

Laos Bus Tickets

Written and maintained from Vientiane. The people behind this site have lived in Laos for two decades and cross these borders themselves. Routes and visa rules get rechecked whenever something changes, not on a fixed schedule that lets stale information sit for months.

Sources for this page

Lao Department of Immigration: checkpoint list, opening hours and visa status