Crossing the border of Thailand and Laos in Ubon Ratchathani - From Chong Mek 🇹🇭 to Vang Tao 🇱🇦

The Chong Mek and Vang Tao border between Thailand and Laos located between Ubon Ratchathani province of Thailand and Champasak province of Laos respectively has a border market at both the border area.
This border crossings provide the opportunity for travellers to explore both provinces before embarking further into the respective countries. The border markets at both end has a good range of items of which people can buy and will be interesting to spend some time to browse the market.
Not too disance away from the Chong Mek border, you can also head to the Sirindhorn Dam to get some nature walk on the pedestrian bridge overlooking the dam.
It is also worth spending some time to pray or take a look at the architecture of Wat Phu Phrao also located within the Chong Mek border which overlooking spectacular and marvelous hills and river. The highlights of Wat Phu Phrao is the glowing Bodhi tree and floor decors during night time with its glowing features.
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[@mohammadnajeeb1268]

Thanks for showing this Video 😍

[@kidtan]

You are most welcome.Najeeb. Please subscribe to my channel so you get notifications for new videos. Thank you for your support.🙏

[@fujirock99]

I like your style. A lot of great information here. Well done!

[@kidtan]

Thank you so much Brent. That statement is a lot of encouragement and support. Hope you have a good day ahead and please continue to watch my next upcoming videos.

[@davidnorton7464]

You pay a driver to take you to the sister Temple of Ankor Wat just bear Pakse then you go to Pakse to have lunch on the river and visit the large market

[@kidtan]

Hello David, thank you for the suggestion. I just visited Pakse during a brief travel to Ubon Ratchathani recently with the international that took me directly to the capital of Champasak province in Laos. Unfortunately, wasn't told about the Lao version of Angkor Wat by anyone in Pakse. But if you refer to Wat Phu, I had visited ggat 12 years ago when I was still actively blogging. You could refer to my profile information on the blogging site and search under Laos. Thank you for dropping by the channel and appreciate your comments , viewing and suggestions. Please subscribe to the channel and click the bell button for notifications of other new videos. Thanks once again.

[@garyhky7133]

Very informative… thank for showing us the interesting places/market across the 2border ThaiLao. How the beerlao? As Good as Chang beer? The wat phu phraw architecture really interesting… it should look stunning once the flooring and building light up at night?

[@kidtan]

This is definitely one of my favourite border crossings between Thailand and Laos. I had been traveling out from Chong Mek to get into Pakse and vice versa. Pakse was indeed a very interesting small town in Champasak province of Laos. A walkable town with some nice sights, Wats, historical palace and not forgetting Wat Phu, one of Laos few wonders. On the reverse I travelled from Pakse to Ubon while on backpack in central Highland of Vietnam in Kontum and Pleiku. While it was exhausting and struggling with Vietnamese language, it was all worth the sweat and tiredness. Beer Lao was definitely good and as good as ever. Not sure any other versions would able to beat this Lao gems but my first time with the dark stout. To my surprise it was superb. Yes. Wat Phu Phrao looks stunning during night time in photos but I was never there myself at night. I believe it should be.

[@RIRI-el6xm]

I so miss Lao/Isan food. Impossible to eat that in my small city in europe The best Asian cuisine. the saddest, ironic thing is that there is a strong Laotian community here, and what do they do, Vietnamese or Chinese food... How sad.

[@kidtan]

Riri, Lao food is no less tasty and me too enjoy its food in particular the soup noodles or pho, the baguette and the grilled chicken with sticky rice. I agree the focus should be more on the food from where the community originated from but more often than not, people focused mainly on what's popular and not on their identity. It's always about profitability and wealth but not on passion and nationalism. It's really sad.

[@johnwalk123]

do we need to go into Lao or just a u turn back to Thailand is ok for a chop

[@kidtan]

Hello Clarence. Thanks for watching this video. If you cross over the border from Thailand to Laos, yes, you need to get your passport stamped. You should consider crossing to Laos to check out the Vang Tao border market. This is a consumer goods shopping market and unfortunately there was no food market there. At the Thai side of Chong Mek, the border market is huge and you have many options here to choose from from consumer goods to food and beverage. So, even if you choose not to cross to Laos, you can go shopping and dine at the Thai border of Chong Mek.