The currency is the Kip. As of April 2024, US$1 = around 21.100 kip at the interbank rate. But the exchange rate is not stable – google “Lao kip per dollar” for the current rate. Don’t worry if you can’t read Indochinese numerals — all Lao banknotes also show the value in Arabic numerals.

Credit cards are only accepted in high-end hotels, shops and restaurants in major cities. Everywhere else you need cash. Fortunately, Lao cash is easy to get, however changing any excess kip back into foreign currency at the end of your trip is extremely difficult. Note that Lao currency is useless outside of Laos — you can’t buy it or sell it, except to another tourist if you’re lucky.

If you bring foreign currency with you, US dollars and baht are the easiest to use — they are the only foreign currencies accepted for payment of a Lao visa on arrival, and some merchants will accept them instead of kip for large purchases. For small purchases, and in remote towns and villages generally, ONLY kip are accepted.

Most major world currencies can be exchanged at good exchange rates in major cities, either in banks or in gold and jewelry shops. GOLD AND JEWLERY SHOPS OFTEN GIVE A BETTER RATE THAN THE INTERBANK RATE! All foreign banknotes must be crisp, with no tears or markings of any kind. US dollar notes must be dated 2009 or newer.

If you don’t want to bring and carry large amounts of cash with you, you can use your ATM card. Use BCEL bank ATMs— they are everywhere, many marked on Google Maps, and they give you the interbank rate, minus only their clearly-advertised fee of 30,000 kip per withdrawal. If at all possible, use a card that doesn’t charge you foreign exchange fees. I use a credit card at ATMs for that reason – the interest that my credit card charges me on cash advances, is WAY less than the foreign exchange commissions charged by my debit card. Explore credit and debit cards with no foreign exchange fees in your home country before you travel.

Several people have told me they got terrible exchange rates when taking cash on Visa cards — they say that Visa builds a commission of 6-10% into the exchange rate. Using my Mastercard at BCEL ATMs, I never had that problem — I always got the published interbank rate, minus only BCEL’s transaction fee (currently 30,000 kip).

ATM machines are available almost everywhere except remote villages. As of April 2024 you can take up to 2.5 million kip per transaction (about US$120) and pay only 30,000 kip ($1.50) commission. That’s only 1.2% commission if you take the maximum allowed — quite low by international standards.

You can find most BCEL ATM’s on Google Maps. Type in “BCEL ATM” and the name of any city in Laos.

Bring multiple ATM cards if you can. Some people (particularly Dutch and Germans, for some reason) had trouble getting their cards to work. Having more cards decreases your risk.

Bring some US dollars cash no matter what. For one thing, you need $40 cash if you are getting a visa on arrival. And most hotels, restaurants and souvenir sellers also accept dollars and baht, usually at a good exchange rate. That is handy especially at the end of your trip, if you don’t want to buy kip that you might not need. .

If travelling by bus, you can usually change excess kip at the border for dollars or baht as you leave the country, at a terrible exchange rate. But once you’re outside of Laos, no one will exchange kip for you.