Overview 

Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge No. 1 is an International Border Checkpoint. It is located in Hadsayfong district, Vientiane Capital that shares border with Thailand to the South. The checkpoint is about 6 km away from Hadsayfong district, the nearest large town and 20 km from Vientiane Capital with a population of 840,940 persons. It is opposite to Nong Khai International Border Checkpoint in Nong Khai province, Thailand. The checkpoints have permanent offices at both sides of the borders where immigration offices are located. 

The bridge serves as the shortest corridor between Vientiane Capital and Thailand’s Bangkok and Laem Chabang ports in 640 km and 696 km respectively. Travel time by truck approximates 12 hours.  

Since it opened in 1994, the traffic across the bridge has been steadily increasing. On weekends and official holidays, traffic congestion at the checkpoint is highly likely that there could be over 2,000 vehicles including freight trucks, passenger-carrying buses and private cars etc and 15,000 travellers crossing the checkpoints daily.  

Daily Capacity 

There are at least between 200 and 300 freight transport vehicles entering and exiting the checkpoint daily. On average, clearance process per one import shipment at the checkpoint takes 8 hours and 52 minutes. 

There are three inspection sites, one at the checkpoint itself, the second one at Thanaleng warehouse nearby the Friendship Bridge 1 and the third one at the Container Yard close to the train station. The customs declaration can be entered and submitted prior to the arrival of the shipment. 

Unlike other customs checkpoints, there is Standard Authority conduct the physical examination on electronic products and fuel prior to the customs declaration. This operation was just newly introduced as a pilot at the Friendship Bridge 1, which has led to longer cargo clearance time at this checkpoint. 

Customs Clearance 

The Ministry of Finance’s Customs Division, a regulatory authority for imports, requires submission online of tax exemption certificate (in case of humanitarian goods) including supporting documents on NSWA+, a computerized platform of the Lao National Single Window (LNSW) which recently is integrated into Lao customs clearance for import (ASYCUDA) that became known as the NSWA+. The platform can be accessed at https://www.laonsw.net/ 

Charge for NSWA+ is USD14 (or 291,000 Kip) for one transaction, which excludes customs, duties, tax, fees and service fees of relevant agencies. 

Charges per time for importing truck include:   

Remark: charges (round up) in USD are based on BCEL exchange rate USD 1 = 20.752 kip as of 16 October 2023. 

Payment channels and methods: Importers and exporters can pay the service fee electronically at service units of the Bank Pour Le Commerce Exterieur Lao (BCEL) and the Lao Development Bank (LDB) which includes BCEL i-Banking, BCEL One, LDB Corporate Banking by cash, money transfer, and cheque. 

For more information on customs, please see the following link: 1.3 Customs Information.   

Other Relevant Information 

Under Ministry of Finance, Laos’ Customs Clearance for Imports (ASYCUDA) is implementing smart customs project that the digitalization of imports and exports at international border crossing is being modernized. The ministry adopts the Lao National Single Window (LNSW) and integrates it into the ASYCUDA that became known as the NSWA+.  

The NSWA+ is a computerized platform used to manage the import and export of all types of goods including tax exempted ones. From June 2019, the system is put into force at Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge No.01. 

Documents that are typically required for customs clearance for non-foods and food items are: 

Tax exemption document from relevant partner government ministry, Commercial Invoice, Bill of Lading or Air Waybill, Packing List, Certificate of Origin, Analysis Certificate, Phytosanitary Certificate, Fumigation Certificate, Import Permit for Food (issued by Laos’ Food and Drug Department, Ministry of Public Health). 

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List.