South East Asian Trips

The Lao currency is the kip, which is inconvertible, unstable and generally inflationary. The largest bill is only 50000 kip, though the largest notes in common circulation are 20000 kip or 10000 kip; withdrawing 1M kip from an ATM (about US$100) could result in 100 notes of 10000 kip each. This makes carrying large quantities of kip quite inconvenient. Fortunately, there is little need to do so, as US$ are generally accepted in shops catering to tourists (although typically at somewhat disadvantageous rates - about 5-10% less than the official rate is common), and Thai baht are also readily accepted in many areas. For short visits to the main centres there's little point to exchanging kip, as changing them back is a hassle in Laos and practically impossible elsewhere. More touristy places and banks are also starting to accept euros. So if you're from one of the euro countries, just bring some just in case. This could be cheaper than changing your euros into US$ or baht and then into kip. The first ATMs have recently arrived in Vientiane, as well as at Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao in Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Pakse. (There is also an ATM on test run in Luang Nam Tha). They accept MasterCard, Maestro and a few others, but do not take VISA. Relying on them is at this stage risky due to their ludicrous unreliability — but if it doesn't work the first time, keep trying every few hours. Many banks, travel agents and guesthouses will allow you to take out cash from a credit card as a cash advance. This usually occurs by withdrawing the money in US$ from the card as a cash advance; the card issuer will usually charge a fee (about 3%), the Lao bank involved will charge about 3%, and then the agent providing the cash advance might (or might not) charge another 3%, and then the amount is converted from US$ to kip at a poor rate to the US$, costing another 5% or so - hence, overall, these transactions are much more expensive than the typical charge for withdrawing cash from ATMs in other countries. Changing traveller's cheques is easy in any large village. Banks give good rates, but abide in morbid fear that a tourist might stumble upon them and change money. To avoid this unpleasant eventuality, they ensure that the banking hours are very restricted and that both Laos and European holidays are fully observed, with generous buffer days between the official holiday and resuming work.