The airport in the capital of Vientiane is small. I can't say much about this. Upon arrival, the process of crossing the border is quite fast. Russians do not need anything other than filling out a border declaration. It is simple and, as it seems to me, no one pays attention to it. The main thing is to have it. If it was not given on the plane or you did not fill it out, you will have to fill it out. You will lose your place in the queue. Therefore, fill it out before you get in line at passport control. Baggage collection is fast, customs actually never checks or asks for anything. Upon departure, it is not tedious to arrive 3 hours in advance. 2 hours is more than enough for everything. The Dutik is small, the main alcohol of famous brands is there, perfumes are few. Prices are in dollars. Upon arrival, you can immediately buy a SIM card with the Internet. They differ in the length of stay and the number of gigabytes. But in general, communication is cheap in Laos. Yes, I forgot to add, in the general area of the airport, just behind the area where passengers are met, there is an ice cream shop where there is very tasty ice cream. I recommend trying Green tea almond!
A small but quite abnormal airport. We arrived and flew from / to Bangkok, we did not take any fees and duties (March 2024), the control was fast, the waiting room was quite normal.