The Ultimate Guide to the Slow Boat From Thailand To Laos

Taking the slow boat from Thailand to Laos (or vice versa) is one of those experiences that are quintessentially Southeast Asian. I missed out on this experience the last time I was in Southeast Asia, but when we decided we were going to be in Northern Thailand, we knew that we were going to take the slow boat to Luang Prabang. I cannot urge you enough to take advantage of this opportunity before it’s too late. Dam projects that are soon to start along the river will prevent this from being an option in approximately the next 5 years.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN PREPARING TO CROSS

✈︎ Don’t prepay for the whole process. You can go through agencies which may give you peace of mind, but you’ll usually pay a lot more if you do this. Instead get a tuk-tuk to the border yourself where you get your visa and take the shuttle across the bridge. From there, grab another tuk-tuk to the river where you can buy your slow boat ticket right there. The ticket price was 210,000 kip total at the local ticket office.
✈︎ Bring food with you. There’s absolutely food to buy on the boat, but they jack the price up at least 2x. We went to the 7-eleven in Chiang Khong and stocked up on goodies to keep us fed for the next two days on the boat. Even the food near the ports are much more expensive than it would otherwise be.
✈︎ Don’t book your accommodation for the night in Pakbeng. When you arrive in Pakbeng people crowd the boat trying to get you to stay with them. It’s amazingly cheap. I mean, the rooms aren’t anything fancy, but we got a fan room for $6. If you pre-book you’ll likely pay so much more than this.
✈︎ Get your visa at the border ($35 for U.S. citizens). This is true of all the border crossings that I’ve experienced. It’s always much simpler than it’s described and typically much less expensive as well. If you can, have USD set aside for this or they’ll charge you extra.

CROSSING THE CHIANG KHONG / HUAY XAI BORDER

Do It All In One Day Or Stay in Chiang Khong?

I highly recommend getting to Chiang Khong the night before you intend to catch the slow boat. This just makes your life easy. We stayed at Chiangkhong Green River and it was definitely a beautiful location. We sat right on the river looking across into Laos. The rooms were comfortable, clean and affordable. They also called us a tuk-tuk, which we negotiated with to get a fair price. Plus, it was a short walking distance from 7-eleven where we stocked up on food for the journey.

Border Crossing Breakdown

✈︎ Get an early start. Although the border actually opens at 6 a.m., the shuttle that you have to take from the Thai border to the Laos border doesn’t start until 7:30am (runs every 30 minutes and cost us 50 baht). We got to the border around 7:30am and it was plenty of time for us to get our visa.
✈︎ Take a decent amount of kip out at the ATM. Although the places you’ll stop between the slow boat pier and Luang Prabang will all take baht as well, you’ll pay more than if you just paid with kip.
✈︎ The tuk-tuk from the Laos border to the Slow Boat port doesn’t budge on their fee. When we crossed the border, my arm was broken so walking wasn’t really an option. However, the drive is only about 5-10 minutes. They drop you off at a little stall to buy food and then you walk down the hill toward the ticket office and dock.

SLOW BOAT NEED-TO-KNOW

✈︎ The ticket you purchase is for that day and the next. It is very important that you do the slow boat trip in two days. We met a couple that had too much fun in Pak Beng and didn’t make the boat the next day. Once on the boat, they collected all of tickets before taking off. They checked the dates on the tickets after collecting them and noticed there were two tickets with the wrong date. They weren’t taking off until those people spoke up. The couple had to pay the cost of the ticket AGAIN! Such a bummer!
✈︎ Be sure to know what time the boat leaves. We took the slow boat in the rainy season, so times can vary between rainy and dry season because more boats leave during dry season. The first day, it left between 11 am-1 pm and the second day it left somewhere around 8am. Everything is always on Lao-time, so I say just shoot for the earliest time and be prepared to wait because they will leave without you if you are late.
 
✈︎ Choose your seat well. Take notice of the people around you. People can get hammered and loud on the boat, so sit with people you vibe with. Also, sit closer to the front of the boat because the motor is in the back and it’s noisy.
✈︎ The boat makes more stops than just Pak Beng. Locals ride the slow boats as well and the slow boat pulls over along the Mekong to let people out.
✈︎ The slow boat doesn’t take you to the actual city of Luang Prabang. It used to be that the slow boat took you right into town. Now it stops about 15-20 minutes outside of town where you have to catch a tuk-tuk. It’s a smart move on their part. Unfortunately for travelers, you have to get off the boat there and pay your fee into town. It is what it is.

WHY YOU SHOULD TAKE THE SLOW BOAT

✈︎ It’s a beautiful journey. This was one of the most gorgeous, slow-paced journeys I have ever taken. The Mekong is surrounded by mountains and jungle. If felt wild, free and beautiful.
✈︎ It’s about to be gone. You should definitely jump on the opportunity because soon it’ll no longer be available.
✈︎ It’s a great place to make friends. It’s a long journey in a confined space. This makes an awesome opportunity to have a beer with fellow travelers or locals and make a friend.

DOES THE SLOW BOAT SOUND LIKE YOUR KIND OF ADVENTURE? HAVE YOU TAKEN IT BEFORE? DID I LEAVE ANYTHING OUT OF THIS GUIDE? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS.

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LUANG PRABANG? CHECK OUT OUR ULTIMATE GUIDE!

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