TAT Launches Gateway to Thailand: 10 Self-Drive Road Trips From the Laos and Malaysia Borders

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched Gateway to Thailand, a free self-drive guidebook that turns nine land border checkpoints with Laos and Malaysia into the starting points of 10 road trips across 19 provinces.

Launched on 28 October 2026, the guide is aimed at the growing number of visitors who drive into Thailand in their own cars, from Vientiane, Savannakhet and Champasak in Laos, and from Kedah, Perlis, Perak and Kelantan in Malaysia. It comes as a printed book in Thai and English, and as e-books in Thai, English, Malay, Chinese and Lao.

Thailand has 97 border checkpoints across 27 provinces, according to the guide. TAT chose nine of them: the four Thai-Lao Friendship Bridges at Nong Khai, Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom and Bueng Kan, the Chong Mek land border in Ubon Ratchathani, and four crossings from Malaysia at Sadao, Wang Prachan, Betong and Sungai Kolok.

What’s in the guidebook

Each route begins at the checkpoint itself and is planned day by day. The book gives driving distances between stops, opening hours, addresses and phone numbers, petrol and EV charging stations along the way, and a QR code that opens the whole route in Google Maps. The routes range from a two-day city break to a nine-day island trip, and run from about 90 km to more than 450 km.

It also covers the practical side of crossing with a car: the documents to bring, the steps at immigration and customs, tips for driving on the left, and emergency numbers, along with TAT offices, hospitals and garages near each route.

Five routes from Laos into Isan

Nong Khai to Udon Thani is the shortest trip, two days and about 110–120 km. It starts less than 30 minutes from central Vientiane and follows the Mekong past the giant sculptures of Sala Keoku before heading to Udon Thani’s lakeside park and its 99-metre golden dragon.

Bueng Kan is a four-day route for hikers, with Three Whale Rock, the cliffside walkways of Wat Phu Thok and the serpent-scale sandstone of Naka Cave. Nakhon Phanom to Sakon Nakhon traces French and Vietnamese influence along a 13 km riverside lane, ending with a sunset boat ride on Nong Han, the largest freshwater lake in Isan.

From Chong Mek, one of the few crossings made on solid ground rather than a bridge, the route visits the Two-Color River, the 3,000-year-old rock paintings of Pha Taem, and Pha Chana Dai, where the guide says you can see Thailand’s first sunrise. Mukdahan to Khon Kaen moves from Naga legend to dinosaurs, with the Sirindhorn Museum in Kalasin and a dig where more than 700 bones have been found.

Five routes from Malaysia into the South

Two routes start at Sadao, the busiest crossing. One is a three-day food trail through Songkhla’s old town, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2025, and Hat Yai’s night markets. The other runs five days up the Gulf coast to Thale Noi’s waterbirds and Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan in Nakhon Si Thammarat, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2026.

In Betong, Thailand’s southernmost district, a dawn drive leads to Skywalk Aiyerweng, a 61-metre glass walkway above the sea of mist, then on to Than To Waterfall and the Hala Bala forest. The longest trip, nine days from Wang Prachan, mixes the car with boats: cave kayaking in the Satun UNESCO Global Geopark, two nights on Ko Lipe, Trang’s islands and Krabi’s four-islands tour. From Sungai Kolok, the last route visits peat swamp forest, Kolae boat painters, Pattani’s Krue Se Mosque and Yala’s 1,200-year-old cave Buddha.

Before you drive across

According to the guide, cars registered in Laos and Malaysia are exempt from the Department of Land Transport’s Foreign Vehicle Permit, but they still go through customs and immigration. Drivers need the original registration document, a consent letter if they don’t own the car, insurance that covers Thailand, and a driving licence. ASEAN licences are valid in Thailand.

Every traveller, children included, must also register for the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) at tdac.immigration.go.th within the 3 days before arrival. Checkpoint hours vary, from 05:00–23:00 at Sadao to 07:00–18:00 at Wang Prachan, so check them before you set off.

Why it matters

Drivers from Laos and Malaysia now have ready-made routes from the moment they cross the border, reaching provinces in Isan and the deep South that most international visitors never see. TAT says it will promote the routes online and offline, including with travel bloggers and influencers.

Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand, Gateway to Thailand guidebook; TAT announcement, 28 October 2026. Photos: Tourism Authority of Thailand.