Laos Travel Forum

I've been reading up on the use of ATM's in Laos, and it seems that what with a limit on the amount that you can withdraw from them, and the fact that there might only be ATM's in Vientiane, I might need to organise cash & travellers cheques before I go. I'm thinking that travellers cheques may be a lttle hard to cash, so here's my question: Being an Aussie, it's not really a good time to be buying US$. Will I be able to cash A$ in Laos, or would I be better off buying Thai Baht, or just biting the bullet & buying US$?
Thanks for all replies.
betska

Looks like not many hits on this one so I'll give it a go. My trip to Laos was in 2006 and at that time my friend who only had AUD could not exchange any money, lucky I had US cash so we had to rely on this. Also at that many restaurants, hotel, shops you could pay in USD and get back KIP as change. BAHT was also accepted. Me, I would prefer to take USD, I find it easier to convert back in AUD to check prices and you never know the AUD exchange rate may increase before you go, if you can get +.70c I would take USD. Hope that helps.

Thanks, Meggy, I appreciate your reply. I figured as much! Sounds much like Cambodia, with US$ being accepted equally alongside kip. I'll have to do a bit of a clean-up here at home & see if I have any Thai Baht left over from previous travels, and yes, I will wait until the death to buy those greenbacks!
67 cents today, hopefully kharma will help my forex probs!
Happy travels-hope we can meet up one day!
Betska
xx

Some Lao banks such as BCEL and Lao Development will exchange A$ but many money exchange booths/kiosks or gold and jewelry shops won't. So it's best to have a combination of U$, Euros, or Thai bahts. With regards to TCs, Lao Development doesn't charge to exchange TCs into kip but BCEL charges nearly U$1 per TC regardless of the denomination of the TC so it's best to cash TCs in larger denominations.

I know what you mean but US$ is the way to go. We are also hanging for a rise we head to Cambodia in 6 weeks and need to change our AU$ to US$.

Thanks for your reply, Deb. I see you've some Lao & Cambodian pages!! I'll being having a peek at them very soon! I'm really enjoying reseaching this trip.

I'll be in Cambodia probably the last week of March, please email me closer to the time if you think we might be able to meet up.
Betty

Hi... you can nowsadays withdraw from ATM in many tourist places and provincial towns, I could withdraw it even in such a small place like Pak Lay - no ATM there last year but they got one a few months ago. However you're still limited to withdraw 700 000 KIP per once (which is now less then 70 euro) and you can do it up to 8 times in a day. This actually takes 720 000 KIP from your account plus yours bank charge for using cc or maestro in foreign country.

See the bank's page for details on location and exchande rates: http://www.bcellaos.com/

I would always have some dollar, THB or EUR in wallet, because even with ATM - they can go bad sometimes here in Lao, while there's always some exchange place to get KIP.

Hi guys
Yes the Aud going down compared to the US is like ouch. But, have a look at the rates, on my last look the Indochina money is tracking the AUD and the dollar.
What I mean is the Aud and the Baht or Dong are tracking the US.
Check some of the finance pages on the web and get the charts to see the trends
You may find you are loosing by buying local in local town with Aud . check your bank fees and your buy rate at home then check fees overseas.
But as someone said earlier have a variety pick up local small denom when you get there and take US small denoms to spend as well- not $100 notes

Since you are spending 3 weeks in Laos, do change your USD to Kips when you get there. Prices in usd might be higher than in Kips (you can ask to quote prices in both) but you may have to have a fair no. of US coins coz a bowl of rice noodles at small eateries costs between 7-10,000 kips = us1-1.30. Do tell of your experience. I paid everything in kips except once when converted,it was cheaper to pay in USD. That depends on how strong your home country's currency was vs US. Unfortunately for some of us who are not Americans, since the new administration, the USD has been strengthening but stablelising. USD is quite highly prized in Laos.

Teevee, do you mind if I ask. did you pay for your accomodation using kip or usd? the reason that I ask, is that all of the guide books/websites quote rooms in usd.

I paid all my stuff in kips. But i reckon you should ask the price in both denominations..maybe email them or ask up front when u get there. After the fact,depending on your exchange rate, it might be sometimes better to pay in usd!! In the Hmong market they ask if you want to pay in kips or dollars or baht. We mostly asked just in kips but one vendor quoted both usd and kips and we found that because of the exchange rate of my local currency, it was better to pay in usd. Wished i had did that more to compare which i would advice u to do. Perhaps bigger stuff you ask for both prices-usd and kips. Change some kips and some usd. Half half. I spent about usd220 incl accomodation,transport,food and shopping (not alot but not little either just some small stuff for me and friends). Your accomodation and transport might take up more if you travel/stay alone.

Oh, there's no airport tax when you leave!!!

bummer for me teevee...I'm flying back to KL from Phnom Pehn, so I get stung with US$25 departure tax!!
Can't wait to have a look at your new Laos pages!!

It did occur to me after i posted that reply that u will be taxed since you're in Cambodia.Yes, bummer. Many countries like Thailand,Philipines,Hong Kong,Vietnam all have airport tax so it more common than we wish it to be.