If you’re planning to travel to Laos, you should exchange money. Keep in mind that it’s not allowed to export or import the national currency kip, although most likely no one is going to check or enforce this strictly. In this article, we want to show you everything you have to know about exchanging money in Laos. As you might expect, the exchange process is pretty straightforward. Nonetheless, we want to provide some tips, since there are a few peculiarities you might not know about.
Where to exchange money in Laos
Generally, there are two ways to exchange money in Laos: You either go to an official exchange shop or you go to a bank. The latter is rarely necessary, since there’s always a currency exchange service available in more touristic areas and in an emergency situation other currencies are usually accepted as payment. As always, there are some best practices to keep in mind, before and after exchanging money:
- Ask about the fees
- Compare exchange rates
- Choose a realiable exchange location
- Don't get distracted
- Take your passport with you
In most cases, the exchange process is pretty easy, and we never had any problem. Quite the opposite: Whenever we changed money in Laos, the experience was really nice.
What to know about the exchange rates
You‘ll be surprised when you exchange money in Laos. The reason for that is the incredible exchange rates. Unlike in many other countries, where you’ll always get a rate that’s a little bit worse than the one you see online, in Laos, you might get a slightly or even significantly better one. What sounds crazy is the reality in many exchange shops and is partly due to the weak national currency. Many people in Laos, especially the ones in bigger cities, prefer to deal in foreign currencies like USD or Thai Baht. Therefore, you might get amazing deals. Just don’t exchange at airports or similar places. If you do that, you’ll get way worse exchange rates than the ones online.
Why you don't always need kip
Laos is one of the few countries in Southeast Asia, another one being Cambodia, where you don’t necessarily need the local currency. Especially the US Dollar and Thai Baht are widely accepted. This especially applies for more touristic areas like Vang Vieng, Vientiane, or Luang Prabang. If you’re in rural areas, the situation is a bit different. Since there might be no bank or exchange shop around and many people don’t even know the worth of foreign currencies, it’s advisable to carry some kip with you. In general, we recommend to use local kip. Usually, you’ll have to pay a bit less than if you pay outright for goods or services in a foreign currency.
Popular exchange shops in Laos
If you’re expecting exchange shops or franchises like SuperRich in Thailand, we’ll have to disappoint you. Still, there are some common exchanges you can find, and one of them is the JMart. As you can see in the picture above, the JMart doesn’t just offer groceries, but also currency exchange services. The rates are usually pretty decent, even though there are some smaller shops that offer better rates.
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