# Transport Updates

> A dated list of the border, visa and transport changes we have checked and confirmed ourselves, each linked to the page it affected.

**Source:** https://laosbustickets.com/transport-updates/  
**Language:** en  
**Last verified:** 23 September 2026  
**Written by:** Laos Bus Tickets, Vientiane, Laos
**Other languages:** [Français](https://laosbustickets.com/fr/transport-updates.md) · [Deutsch](https://laosbustickets.com/de/transport-updates.md) · [Español](https://laosbustickets.com/es/transport-updates.md) · [한국어](https://laosbustickets.com/ko/transport-updates.md) · [Русский](https://laosbustickets.com/ru/transport-updates.md) · [日本語](https://laosbustickets.com/ja/transport-updates.md)  

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A short, dated list of the border and transport changes we have actually checked and written up ourselves, not a feed of every small edit to this site. A bridge opening, a rule changing, a crossing closing: that goes here, linked to the page it affects. Wording tweaks and translation fixes do not. This is not everything that happens in the region, just what we have confirmed. See [Sources](/sources/) for how we check things.

- 1 May 2025: [Thailand made the digital arrival card (TDAC) compulsory for every foreign national entering by land, air or sea.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-thailand-border-crossings/)
- 13 April 2026: [A daily Jinghong to Xieng Kok cross-border bus opened a second Laos-China road link, at a crossing that does not appear on the Lao immigration register.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-china-border-crossing/)
- 16 September 2026: [Sam Neua to Hanoi can no longer be booked online: no seats on any date we checked, so the route is now listed without a booking link.](https://laosbustickets.com/routes/)
- 2 December 2025: [Vietnam e-visa expanded from 42 to 83 checkpoints and un-tied from a single named entry point (Resolution 389/NQ-CP).](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-vietnam-border-crossings/)
- 27 December 2025: [5th Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge (Paksan–Bueng Kan) opened to the public.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-thailand-border-crossings/)
- 8 January 2026: [Cross-border bus service launched on the 5th Friendship Bridge, 100 baht flat fare, four departures a day each way.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-thailand-border-crossings/)
- 29 August 2026: [Flooding in Luang Namtha closed Route 13 North to the Boten crossing; the Laos–China Railway kept running through the same stretch.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-china-border-crossing/)
- 9 September 2026: [Thailand's Transport Co. (BKS) launched a direct bus, Route No. 2, from Udon Thani Bus Terminal 1 via Udon Thani International Airport to Vientiane: 80 baht, one round trip a day.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-thailand-border-crossings/)
- 9 September 2026: [The Lao immigration register dropped the eVisa at Nongnokkhene from available to not available, settling in favour of the traveller reports that had long disputed it.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-cambodia-border-crossing/)
- 15 September 2026: [Thailand's visa exemption changed from 60 to 30 days, with land-border entries capped at twice per calendar year.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-thailand-border-crossings/)
- 23 September 2026: [Corrected: Vientiane's Khamsavath station is the terminus of the train from Nong Khai and Bangkok, with a direct overnight sleeper (trains 133/134), not the Laos–China Railway station, which is a separate station 14 to 15 km from the centre.](https://laosbustickets.com/vientiane-bangkok/)
- 23 September 2026: [Savannakhet to Mukdahan is no longer sold online: no bookable seats in either direction on any of seven dates checked into November. The bus still runs to timetable, so buy locally; the route stays listed.](https://laosbustickets.com/routes/)
- 23 September 2026: [Vientiane to Vinh is no longer sold online: no bookable seats in either direction on any of seven dates checked into November. A daily 06:00 sleeper still appears on the timetable; ask at the Southern Terminal.](https://laosbustickets.com/vientiane-hanoi/)
- 18 August 2026: [Thailand's Cabinet approved in principle vehicle tolls of 50 to 500 baht on the 5th Friendship Bridge; still under legal review, no start date, and the scheduled cross-border bus will be exempt.](https://laosbustickets.com/laos-thailand-border-crossings/)

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_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._