Pakse to Thakhek

By bus the journey from Pakse to Thakhek is scheduled to take from 5 to 8 hours depending upon which bus service you take.

Bus Times from Pakse to Thakhek

There are currently 10 bus services a day from Pakse to Thakhek available to book online.

Buy Tickets from Pakse to Thakhek

Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Pakse to Thakhek.

Pakse Bus Station

Green Paradise bus services from Pakse to Thakhek depart from the Green Paradise Tour and Travel Office in Pakse.

Thakhek Bus Station

Green Paradise bus Services from Pakse to Thakhek terminate at Thakhek Inter Provincial Bus Station.

About Travel to Thakhek

Thakhek is a relatively large city with around 90,000 permanent residents located in a sparsely populated province of Laos, most of which consists of two protected wilderness areas: Phoun Hin Boun National Protected Area and Nakai-Nam Theun National Park. Thakhek is also close to a major border crossing point to the north eastern region of Thailand close to Nakhon Phanom.

Thakhek City

Thakhek doesn’t have the same wide range of amenities as Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang, but it does attract enough foreign visitors to sustain a handful of hotels and restaurants which cater to international travellers.

Thakhek has a number of ‘backpacker’ style guesthouses, such as the Thakhek Travel Lodge which is probably the best known of these types of establishments. The Thakhek Travel Lodge is fairly cheap and fun. Travellers often gather around a fire in the evenings and drink beer. It’s not, however, a luxurious establishment.

For a better quality of accommodation you could stay in the charming Inthira Hotel, which has a good bar and restaurant, and nice rooms, some of which have balconies.

Places to Visit in Thakhek

Besides the scenic riverside views, there is little to see or do in Thakhek itself. The main attractions are all located some distance from the city centre in the Phoun Hin Boun National Protected Area. Sight seeing around Thakhek requires motorised transport, or possibly just a bicycle for some of the closer attractions if you are fit and willing.

Thakhek Loop

A popular option for touring the area is to rent a motorbike and attempt to drive along the roads around the edge of the Phoun Hin Boun National Protected Area on 450 km long route known as the Thakhek Loop or simply The Loop. Travelling by motorbike around the entirety of the Thakhek Loop takes 3 to 4 days. There are guesthouses and restaurants along the way which specifically cater to foreign visitors doing this journey. The roads on route vary in quality and in places the road surface is dirt which becomes difficult to drive over on a motorbike when it rains.

Caves to Visit

For visitors who don’t intend to drive a motorbike, there are some destinations you can visit on a day trip or on overnight trips. Two of the closer points of interest are caves: Tham Nong Pafa Cave (14.6 km from Thakhek) and Tham Nang Aen Cave (16.9 km from Thakhek).

Further away, but of more interest to most visitors, is Konglor Cave. It’s a 181 km long journey by road from Thakhek to reach the starting point for trips to Konglor Cave. This journey can be completed by public transport. We recommend that you enquire at your guesthouse or the local bus station near the market about the times of direct bus services. The journey takes around 5 hours. To then access Konglor Cave you need to take a boat trip. The cave is 7 km long and has a river running through it. There are also guesthouses close to the starting point for the Konglor Cave boat trip.

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