Do Thai Atm Cards Work In Laos?

[JoshBKK]

I'm wondering if it makes sense to take a Thai ATM card, in particular one of these VISA debit cards issued by Bangkok Bank, along to Laos. Can you withdraw money there? What are the fees like? Maybe somebody tried already and can report?!

From what I've read so far, carrying cash in US dollars (or in Thai baht, but at the moment dollars seem to be better concerning the exchange rates) seems to be the best option, as you'd end up with tons of kip banknotes when using ATMs, and it's hard or even impossible to change kip back when leaving Laos. Maybe somebody can comment on this as well.

[whatsupdoc]

I'm wondering if it makes sense to take a Thai ATM card, in particular one of these VISA debit cards issued by Bangkok Bank, along to Laos. Can you withdraw money there? What are the fees like? Maybe somebody tried already and can report?!

From what I've read so far, carrying cash in US dollars (or in Thai baht, but at the moment dollars seem to be better concerning the exchange rates) seems to be the best option, as you'd end up with tons of kip banknotes when using ATMs, and it's hard or even impossible to change kip back when leaving Laos. Maybe somebody can comment on this as well.

Do they have ATM's in Laos?

[JoshBKK]

From what I've read they seem to have ATMs at least in Vientiane. I don't think you can find them virtually at every corner like in Thailand, however.

[technocracy]

Blimey that's as almost as stupid a question as the yank who stopped me to ask if I knew if he could use his American Visa in an ATM here, as the ATM display 'Please insert you xxxx bank Visa card' . . . you know like ALL banks ATMs say insert there cards, I haven't seen any ATM saying 'Please insert a competitors card' . . ..

All the ATMs in Vientiane and there is bloody loads of them these days - take international cards be it Visa, Mastercard etc. As for other cities I believe there is at least one in most of the larger town/cities in the provinces these days.

I still fail to see why people think the ATMs in Laos which clearly have Visa, Mastercard etc signs on them won't work with said cards!!!

Yes they give out kip only - but you can withdraw upto 7,000,000 kip (10 x 700,000) in one day ~$740. The international charges if you use a BCEL ATM is 20,000kip (just over $2) for each . . dunno what the Lao-Viet bank, Phongsavanh or JDB bank charges are as I've never used them and probably never will.

As I've said many many times - take $ for your visa or you'll be over charged (1500baht instead of $35 for US or UK or $30 for Oz) then change baht to Kip and use kip you then won't get screwed on exchange rates in bars and restaurants. The is no problem in changing the kip back to dollar or baht. Although as would be said just change what you need 1000baht = 280,000kip (there abouts). If you run out of kip it's always nice to know that baht is acceptable everywhere (I've never seen anywhere refuse it, even today at a small stall at local food market I saw a local pay for 45,000kip worth of meat with a 1000baht note).

So there you go!

[JoshBKK]

Thanks for the very good information.

As I haven't been to Laos yet, I haven't seen any Lao ATMs and the signs they sport. So after reading some probably very outdated reports, I just wanted to get some more up-to-date information. Thanks in particular for your advice to actually use kip, as I would have had the impression otherwise that the situation is pretty similar to Cambodia.

[RubbaJohnny]

Can anyone update this please.

 

Can a Thai card be used to book the high speed trains?

[John28]

No you cannot pay the train by credit card. You can pay by cash only at the counter.

[jaizan]

Does anyone have any recent experience of LAO ATMs and cash withdrawal fees ?

 

Last time, I think I mostly used cash taken with me (~4 years ago).   

 

The one thing I noticed was that it was cheaper to convert GBP to THB in BKK Airport Rail station (about 0.5% loss v mid-market at the time) and then convert the THB to LAK in Vientiane than it was to directly convert from GBP to LAK in Vientiane. 

Having noticed the difference in spread, I checked the live exchange rates online, so this was definitely down to a poor GBP spread and not exchange rate movements.  

If the ATM charges are reasonable, I think I prefer that to taking cash this time.  

 

As for the trains, there is a separate thread for that. 

[kwilco]

I have used my ThaiAYM cads on various occasions at ATMSin Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Ken Thao, a small border town. It has always been out isde of te bank - I think if it goes wrong, I can go in and complain.

 

Only done it pre-Covid and the fees were not "noticeable" - I guess about 20 to 50 baht.

There was a limit on withdrawals of the equivalent of about 5000 bht I think.

 

BTW - I found many circumstances where people were quite happy to accept Thai baht  - probably not legal but they can pass the currency on.

Edited December 20, 2022 by kwilco