How to Cross the Laos Cambodian Border

The Laos / Cambodia border crossing at Veun Kham/ Dom Kralor  is called a remote border crossing for a very good reason – it is in the middle of nowhere.

Getting to the Border

Getting to the border from either the Cambodia side or the Laos side is pretty straight forward. Bus tickets can be bought in most towns at the bus stations or very often through your hotel / guest house, although buying through a guest house will be more expensive.

When heading into Cambodia from Laos pretty much all buses stop at Strung Tren for a bus change, we choose to break our journey here for a night as the journey is slow and the roads are in very poor condition. Not much at Strung Tren but its perfectly ok for a night.

Heading north into Laos buses stop at the 4000 Islands which is a jolly nice place to spend a week or so.

Most buses will drop you at one side of the border and another bus will have been organised by the bus company to collect you at the other side of the border. You need to walk the 100m or so between borders.

At The Border

Visa are available at the border  for both Laos and Cambodia.

The Lao border post is a big new shiny brick building while the Cambodian border post is a wooden shack (but it a least has a toilet out the back)

Laos Visas cost US$30-US$35 for most countries plus they will usually charge you and extra US$2 for ‘processing in a remote location’

Cambodian Visas cost US$30 plus a US$1 for a ‘health check’

It is common practice to charge more at remote crossing, you can argue the the fee but you will not achieve anything so it is better to smile, be polite and chalk it up to life on the road.

Make sure you have passport size photos with you.

Once you passport has been processed at one border you will need to walk the 100 metres or so to the next border post.