June 2017 LAOS experience (info/hints)

[bucefalo]

hello guys
I report here my experience in Laos hoping it can be handy to those going in this nice country!
first of all I flew from Italy to Switzerland to Thailand and then flew to Vientiane in Laos : NEVER HAD A single problem /stop on flights or customs with our beloved Mavic!
first I care to say I did sent 3 emails to LAO tourism for authorization to fly.. never got a reply!

Vientiane I had a problem nearby "arc of triumph" a couple of serviceman stop me by flying my drone and ask me to land(they did not see mavic just me playing with remote) they got me into their office ask passport and tried to make a small thing as a HUGE problem.. shortly : they wanted some money!
around arc of triumph don't fly(don't be physically there at least)
black stupa, golden stupa and buddah Park no problems at all!
vang Vieng no problems at all (except I hit a tree got my mavic stuck and one guy climbed it like a monkey and got it back to me).. mavic 100% working no scratch.. lucky me
if u were thinking on TUBING in vang Vieng and bring there your mavic: FORGET IT!
luang prabang... i'm still here enjoying mavic NFZ is very close to city downtown (Airport is just few km away) so pay attention! so far no problems I made all shots I wished to take
If you need some extra info I'll be glad to answer, when I get back home I'll show you the video of the crash

 

[bucefalo]

ok.. quick update:
today I went to kuang si waterfalls 1 hour by minivan from luang prabang. there was just one spot open(small though) to take off from and i did I made a great footage(basically in a forest) and one serviceman shows up and tell me to land the drone.. I obey and I ask where is the problem to fly in a jungle..
he answer me you need permission! shortly he calls his office they tell me I'll be good but I must delete my videos!
good news they thing is only on mobile [emoji6] so I delete them and walk free.. they say next time big problem "ask authorization at local police"
so.. guys be careful if things get nasty they could do basically everything, army /police is well corrupted here!

 

[WolfgangStiller]

ok.. quick update:
today I went to kuang si waterfalls 1 hour by minivan from luang prabang. there was just one spot open(small though) to take off from and i did I made a great footage(basically in a forest) and one serviceman shows up and tell me to land the drone.. I obey and I ask where is the problem to fly in a jungle..
he answer me you need permission! shortly he calls his office they tell me I'll be good but I must delete my videos!
good news they thing is only on mobile [emoji6] so I delete them and walk free.. they say next time big problem "ask authorization at local police"
so.. guys be careful if things get nasty they could do basically everything, army /police is well corrupted here!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It's very useful to have some first hand reports.

 

[bucefalo]

LAST UPDATE
i flew from LUANG PRABANG to Bangkok .. at airport they did not care at all ( i kept batteries and propellers inside a bag but separated from the drone itself)
from BANGKOK to Rome ... they didn't care. Just to be more specific once i left Laos and entered Thailand i DID ENTER Thailand country .. beene there the entire day and by night i've got back to airport and then left to Italy !
No questions. no extra ... just all smooth !

 

[ricardoalbucardoso]

I'm in thailand and had no problems bringing the drone, just didn't try to fly it because you need a permit that takes you almost two months to get.

 

[paulrawlingson]

Nice one! I didn't realise you had two threads and asked you a question from which I have a response here.. It seems Laos has put in place a new regulation requiring any drone over 200g to be registered prior use and prior importation, do you know anything about it? Thanks for your video!