Soutchai Travel

The shuttle bus never picked me up. I had to contact them to find out where they were. They sent a taxi, who asked me for payment as he was not informed the ride had been paid. When we reached the Thai Border crossing, I was held up and the bus left me there! I had to call a taxi to get to the bus station. I still have not heard back about reimbursement of the taxi.

The departure time on the ticket was 8 am, and I was supposed to be waiting at least 30 minutes before that. In the end, they picked me up almost at 9 with a tuk-tuk. Then we went to a place where they keep their buses, and we waited there until 10 am (so already 2 hours after the departure time stated on the ticket). In the end, they took so many people that they had to add some extra “chairs” to the van, and those poor people were sitting in very bad conditions. I felt sorry for them. And of course, we arrived in Vientiane later than the time stated on the ticket.

Pretty nice on the way to Pakse. Nothing to complain about. Clean and fast. On the way back it was freezing the aircon was so cold all of us were shivering, and we got stopped while police searched bus

Fully understanding this company is local, I get why they only speak their language. However, when you have a large percentage of travelers who are tourists, and a vast majority of them speak English, it might be a good idea to have a local who is multi-lingual to assist travelers at the bus station AND on the bus. The stops that offer toilet breaks is confusing when people are constantly loading and unloading throughout the trip. At the very least, the rest stops should be listed on 12Go's site when purchasing the ticket, or on the app, or via text (LINE, Whatsapp) before arriving at the stop so passengers can prepare. The transfer was horrendous! Was told IN WRITING via email, "Vientiane Transfer" meant I'd be picked up at my hotel, only to find out, it was too far out, which caused me to miss the bus AND had to pay another night at the hotel. Next day took a taxi to one of the pickup places (One Vientiane Hotel) only to be told to walk (with all my luggage) to what appeared to be a laundry location, to wait for transportation to the bus station. I could've just gone to the bus station, it was closer to my hotel than the pickup spot and less LAK! Then, while waiting, the laundry person's cat, which I'm not a fan of (not a cat person) kept bothering me. It was annoying and uncomfortable, she kept calling it away. After waiting for 40 minutes she hurries me into a car with 2 other people and drives like a lunatic while arguing with someone on her cell. Get to the bus station (where I could've gone in the first place) load the bus after 30+ minutes of waiting, get to the LAO border and immigration to check out, back to the van, to Thailand immigration/boarder, then to the final bus to get back to CM. The experience was INSANE, with no one explaining anything. We all were just following each other. The best thing was the lady who waited for all passengers to get through Immigration before we boarded the van, to get to our respective buses at different locations. She spoke enough English to communicate with us effectively. I hope she gets paid very well, cause that seems like a harrowing job. But I was very thankful for her and her assistance during the entire debacle. Finally, the bus to CM arrived, but it was shaky, meaning it rocked side-to-side, and the suspension had us bouncing like balls. We were ROCKING AND ROLLING, literally! Not fun, through winding roads in the mountains! I've taken several bus lines before, but will never use this one again. Unfortunately it was the only one available for the time I wanted to get back to CM. Next time I'll fly.

The first bus took 2 hours longer than it was supposed to for no apparent reason. Due to this we missed the second bus by an hour and I was forced to stay in Pakse for 24 hours for the next bus. The second day with almost no guidance I rode on four different vehicles and arrived in Phnom Penh after a 13 hours, and a total of 53 hours, 33 hours later than expected. The company did pay for my accommodation in Pakse but I would not recommend this route unless you are fine with having ur plans upended for a couple days and spending days in the car.

It was a 9 h trip experience in a regular bus. It stop every moment for food, for WC, too pick up people. Although people don't speak english, try to help you in every moment

Time of departure Sunday 03 Aug for 1300 hrs Vientiane ~> Thakhek Received an email update at 9am the same morning of the departure to be in the hotel reception by 1100am. Collected at 11:15 for a car transfer. on board the bus 1200 hrs. The two of us were first on board. Bus eventually 95% full. Seats comfortable, partial inclining seats like a plane. Tiny overhead storage. Standard under seat storage. Main hold storage was dry and reasonably clean. You may get the odd inconsiderate passenger who has their phone volume up load whilst flipping though annoying reels and clips ! Take ear plugs or covers. Arrived an hour early, probably due to it being Sunday low traffic density. Overall very pleased with the 12Go purchased $18 seat tickets. trip

The bus was one hour to late, a bith risky to get our flight…

For the price wise, the trip were acceptable because we arrived our destination without any accident. But there was too much vehicle changes ,which we needed to carry around our luggage and there was only one break time for lunch. I mean there was no time for toilet and few minutes break to stop by local shop on our way. I respect their hard work of the driver and passengers ,our patient.

Great journey. I was picked up by the driver on time. Plenty of room in the van for my suitcase. Stop along the way to buy food. Chilled, relaxed journey. Thank you.

I have never expected to have 5 people sleep together

Firstly they said pickup was 1 o’clock however I didn’t get picked up until 2:15. They didn’t drop me off at the location it said. Instead I had to pay for a tuk tuk to take me there. Driver was very rude and not helpful even when I used google translate to make him understand better

No sleep because not enough place in the sleeping bus, and I had tonwait 2h30 for the tranfer to come

They didn't pick me up to go to the station as advertised in the PDF and ticket purchase. I had another company offer me a ride since they were already at my hostel and they were WAY more helpful

We booked this (more expensive) option because the website said we would arrive at 9AM in stead of 4AM (the other options) and we didn’t want to arrive in the middle of the night. To our surprise, we arrived in Thakhek at 2AM in stead, resulting in a short sleep, still having to find a guesthouse in the middle of the night and spending more money than needed!

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Would not recommend this trip. The journey took 5 hours longer than suggested, we arrived at 12pm instead of 7am. Beds were extremely uncomfortable. Bus broke down on the side of the road at 2am for at least an hour. Very dirty

We were picked up on time from our pick up point and taken to the bus station. We then got on the sleeper bus which stopped at Pakse station, the drivers were rude waved us away to the incorrect bus, whereby the driver of said bus also waved us away. Felt quite stranded for some time until a nice gentleman who didn’t even work for the station communicated on our behalf and we eventually got picked up. Just felt like a unnecessarily complicated journey that needed some more communication or instruction from the transport team.

After transfer from vang vieng had to contact operator as it was unclear where we needed to be picked up for the next bus, beds small but expected

Easy ride, picked up from location and taken to a bus station for a overnight journey.

Good communication, Soutchai emailed to say when the taxi bus would arrive. They took us to the bus station where we boarded the bus - the overnight double bed is small. Hubby is over 6 ft and it was really made for a 5ft person. The people guided us through the whole journey, bus, minibus and ferry - there was always someone making sure we were on the right transport, so all good. Not sure we'd do the overnight bus again but it was all a good experience. Toilet on the bus was basic but clean. Everyone was very kind and friendly. There were no food stops so bring your snacks - there was food at the first bus station though.

Overall a comfortable ride. Blanket, snacks and drinks provided. I would suggest having your own pillow and eye mask for extra comfort. Staff do not speak English.

The pickup did not show up. After waiting 2 hours I got a tuktuk paid by the company because I would miss the big bus. That’s quiet stressfull. The whole bus had to wait for me and I had the last free chair. Did not like this for sure.

the bus left late, lost my airpods on the bus - i knew i had dropped them under the seat but was basically dragged off the bus and not given the chance to look under seat for them- the driver literally started driving away. the operators were rude

Great flexibility. I originally had booked for 13:00, but was very early in Vientiane. They gave me the possibility to get on the 9:00 bus.

Bus left two hours later than was promised. We had to wait two hours at the busstation and employees told is multiple times the bus would leave shortly, but it didn’t. Eventually two busses left. One fully packed with people (we we’re in this one) and one with just three people in it. The A/C in the bus didn’t work, so it was so warm.

Very smooth trip! On time!

Easy and efficient

Tuk tuk arrived on time at our hotel to take us to the bus station. From there it was one bus to Udon Thani with stops at the border crossings. Fast and efficient. Would recommend.

A very pleasant and easy journey. Had to swap 30 minutes outside Savannakhet to a minivan which was safe and easy. The beds are for 6ft tall or less, but comfortable

Went with a bus with almost no air-conditioning (which was especially noticeable in 37C) and the departure was pushed back without advance warning from 1pm by an hour presumably so we could all get a nice tan under the midday sun. But that's Laos! Apart from the above everything went smoothly

On time, really fast, nice driver:) 8.45am pick up from hotel, around 12am in vangvieng.

I had a bad experiece using Soutchai Travel. I thought I was paying a premium to travel in a nice shuttle van (as pictured on their webpage), but instead it was just a tuk-tuk that took me to the Central Station, then a dirty, old bus. But this bothered me less than the way time was managed. I was ready 30 minutes before the pick-up time as instructed. The tuk-tuk driver showed up about 40 minutes later. Fine, whatever. Then we drove across town to another hotel for another pick-up. The other passenger wasn't there. I sat there for another 25 minutes before the driver finally gave up and we went to the Central Station. He bought my ticket at the station, just as I could have; the station is only 10 minute walk from where I was staying. And I really wish I'd done just that. Leaving Vientiane later than expected - for no reason - made me stress about making my Udon Thani flight. TL;DR - I paid a premium for Soutchai to waste my time and stress me out.

The places are to small- I had not enough place for my legs. We need 3,5 hours more for the journey. But the driver looked for a safe journey!

Picked up on time at the hotel, transferred to the bus pick up point and had a seamless trip to Vang Vieng.

Super impressed with this travel company ! My hostel was not on the list for pick up so ended up going to their office, despite not having booked it direct with them they still changed my pick up for me to my hostel. Super smooth. Good minivan made it to Vang Viengbin about 2 hours !

The coach was two hours late and the communication was terrible.

Did not get the minibus I booked but an old big bus. Had to wait for 1,5 hour after arriving at the station. Arrived 45 minutes late. Well, this is Laos.

The driver who did the transfer from the accommodation came looking like he walked out of his living room, coughed without covering his mouth and spit through the window. The trip was fine. It was 9.5 h long (for 300 km) because the road going south from Vientiane is horrible, but that's not the carrier's fault. The driver and the ticket seller didn't know a word of English and acted as if there were no foreigners in the van. They didn't understand when I was trying to ask them how long the break is going to be (not even in broken Lao).

Good just only vehicle condition but service was bad and not on time (2 hour late)

Very crowded, very late, not much space for legs. friendly people and driver. Good driver.

This was suppose to be a 4 hour journey but we were only half way through at this point. It ended being a 7 and a half hour journey without any communication

According to the TOS they can change the vehicle type. I booked a minivan with 5.5h travel time and ended up in a bus with nearly 8h travel time. The problem was not the changed vehicle, it was the changed schedule. I booked 11.30am - 5pm. The new schedule was 1pm - 8.30pm. So the day was ruined because I had to wait from 10.30am in the lobby for the pickup. The pickup I got was later than they told me. I tried to call the buscompany but the number on the voucher doesn't work. The number which I found on google worked but no one answered my calls.

Driver die not find me at first to bring me to the busstation, but did not give up. Good service.

The taxi never turned up to our hostel to pick us up. We had to repay for another form of transport to the train station and then had to pay for another ticket for the train. We are yet to be refunded!

They yelled to wake us up for the check point Yelled at us because we wanted to change seats Favorite Lao people over us Didn’t speak English and just tapped on our shoulder and walked so we had to follow them..

The car was really good and the road too Unfortunately, the driver put a children bench between two of the seats and since I was the last to be picked, I was the one that had to be seated 2 hours on it, without a place to rest my back.

The driver came far too early, the open vehicle was okay but I was in constant fear our luggage would drop off. In hindsight I should simply have bought the ticket myself and take a grab taxi to the bus station. More comfortable, less waiting time, much cheaper.

Waiting so long time and size of van very small with all passenger with our bags. No good

On time pick up at hotel although rushed demeanour which became confusing when the tuk tuk then dropped us off at the van to only be told come back in 50mins and we will be departing. We had left bags on the van and then had to switch vans at that point meaning people had lost their seats they were saving. A bit of a shambles start. Proceeded to stop at an autorepair place for a car part before driving out of town about 20mins to only return back the same way and head in the right direction. Once on the road surprisingly good although a little hot (weak air con), but the 1hr40min delay to actually hitting the right direction was a little frustrating. Somehow arrived on time though. Wouldn't highly recommend but we got from A to B.