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how long can the vehicle stay in Laos or Cambodia how long can the vehicle stay in Laos or Cambodia
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West and South Asia From Turkey to Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Ladakh and Bangladesh
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  #1  
Old 11 Mar 2014
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how long can the vehicle stay in Laos or Cambodia
Hello!

Our plans to continue our overland (4x4) trip to Vietnam have just fallen through this afternoon as from now on one needs an escort vehicle if you wish to drive your own foreign-registered vehicle there and it is unaffordable (ca. 1,000 USD per day!)

(Un)fortunately we are committed to meeting up with friends in mid April, so we need to decide where to leave our Toyota in a safe but convenient place that allows us to still visit Laos and Cambodia without doing too many loops.

Ideally we would like to enter Laos soon (this week if possible), spend ca. 3 weeks in there (or Cambodia as fallback), leave the car somewhere and fly to Ha Noi, to return maybe 3 weeks later from Ha Noi or around Hue/Danang or maybe even Ho Chi Minh (we're relatively flexible here).

That would mean the car being in one of the countries for 6 weeks.

Does anyone know if that is possible and/or which authorities I should try to be contacting to find out?

Our last resort is to leave the vehicle in Thailand where we know we have permission to do so, but this would really be our final alternative.

Thanks in advance for any pointers!
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  #2  
Old 15 Mar 2014
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I left my had my KTM in Cambodia much longer than my visa was. I came into the country from Thailand in the beginning of december 2013 and left with the bike about a week ago. I left the country for about 2 months while the bike was in storage. Cambodia didn't have any paperwork for me at the border but they tried to say I was missing the correct paperwork :confused1:

Laos didn't have any import documents when I stopped at customs coming in from Cambodia. The guy looked at my reg and handed it back to me.

No stamp in means no leave it as long as you like I guess.

I would try to go into VN with your toyota. Worse case scenerio is they turn you around. And you never know.. they might let you through.
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  #3  
Old 15 Mar 2014
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Drop it at the Toyota shop for some simple, preventative maintenance work? TOYOTA (CAMBODIA) CO., LTD

That has worked for me in the past.

Have not had good luck with parking at airports in Cambo. Plus, airports can get expensive.

Cheers,
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  #4  
Old 15 Mar 2014
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As things are always changing with these countries. I wonder if anyone has recently entered or tried to enter Vietnam with a foreign motorcycle or auto lately.
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  #5  
Old 17 Mar 2014
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roameo View Post
As things are always changing with these countries. I wonder if anyone has recently entered or tried to enter Vietnam with a foreign motorcycle or auto lately.
My american friend went through the very southern boarder crossing last week on thai registered xr250. He said it was way to easy and he was scared to ask questions.
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  #6  
Old 17 Mar 2014
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I will be there sometime later this year and will try myself. Worst they can do is say no. Then I will try and find a place to leave the bike in Cambodia if unsuccessful. It would be good to here from others out there as well who have tried and succeeded/failed.
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  #7  
Old 18 Mar 2014
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Hi again

Thanks for the suggestions! We'll definitely try to get to the Vietnam border and see what happens, but I don't hold out any hope at all having seen the regulations issued in November for foreign cars.
Somehow I think it might be easier to sneak in a motorbike (side cases and top boxes might be a giveaway though) than a Toyota Landcruiser with foreign plates :-)

For info if anyone needs it: after 30 minutes of begging and trying to explain to non-English speaking customs officers at the Chong Mek/Vangtau crossing Thailand to Laos, they gave us a 60 day permit for the car; no cost, no bribe. But 90 days was definitely out of reach. Enough for us anyway: happy about that.
We might try the same when we get to Cambodia, just as an info exercise.

Toyota should be a good bet here as well: in India they always said no when we needed a spot for a week.

@ Snoah: hope you are enjoying your trop: let us know what happens when you leave Laos: am intrigued!
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  #8  
Old 19 Mar 2014
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Yup, Lao is pretty easy -- they have an established process. A few years ago they were only allowing 7-10 days for vehicles. Now 30 is standard. The insurance requirement is the only gray area. I get supplementary Lao coverage in advance from my primary Thai provider.

As for Cambo, European plates + CDP = easy entry. 30 days is standard, but I have never been penalized for either overstaying or leaving the vehicle there while flying in & out. Always goes unnoticed, at least in the recent past.

Cheers,
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