Vientiane Lao: any safety issues / scams to look out for ?

[BKKdreaming]

My friend is going to Vientiane for a month internship and School

Just wondering if there is anything to look out for that you would not run into living in BKK

Does a Thai have to carry a passport or is a Thai ID card good enough for everyday ?

How safe are Taxis and TuKTuks ?

and are there many pick pockets , motorcycle bag grabs ?

Or anything else to be aware of ?

Thanks for your thoughts

[koo wallety tourist]

it illegal for laos to "consort" with foreigners of any description.

[nottocus]

it illegal for laos to "consort" with foreigners of any description.

Rubbish.

[weary]

Nope, not rubbish.

"The Lao Government prohibits sexual relationships between foreign and Lao nationals, except when the two parties have been married in accordance with Lao family law."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/laos/local-laws-and-customs

http://www.laos.embassy.gov.au/vtan/AEV001002.html

[BKKdreaming]

ummm thats not what I was asking ,

just scams like Palace closed today etc but a local flavor !

[koo wallety tourist]

the scams start after the even and put palace closed today scams in the shade by all accounts.

[nottocus]

Nope, not rubbish.

"The Lao Government prohibits sexual relationships between foreign and Lao nationals, except when the two parties have been married in accordance with Lao family law."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/laos/local-laws-and-customs

http://www.laos.embassy.gov.au/vtan/AEV001002.html

So when you say it's illegal for foreigners of any description to have sexual relations with Lao people, that's rubbish.

I am a foreigner of some description and I have sexual relations with my wife…legally of course.

[Ban Merry]

Bag snatching does happen mainly to Woman who ride thier bikes alone late at night. Don't leave bags-purse etc on a resturant table as people walking by sometimes grab as well. Thai ID card is okay if you get stopped. Tuk Tuks can be expensive but if your Thai then should be the same price as Lao. Mainly they hike up the price for the white face. Renting a motorbike is the best way to get around.

As for sleeping with Lao woman. The police are a bit more relaxed on that front but if the girl your with doesn't get paid or you treat her bad she might get the cops onto you. The only people I've heard get arrested were complete dicks anyway. Vientiane is okay for the woman, be more careful outside of the capital.

[willyumiii]

Nope, not rubbish.

"The Lao Government prohibits sexual relationships between foreign and Lao nationals, except when the two parties have been married in accordance with Lao family law."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/laos/local-laws-and-customs

http://www.laos.embassy.gov.au/vtan/AEV001002.html

If it is a law, they are as lax as Thailand about enforcing their laws.

I did not partake, but on my last trip to Vientiane at least four Lao women in bars made offers.

In fact, speaking of law enforcement, I did not see a single law enforcement officer during my three day stay.

To the Op..

I felt very comfortable there, safer than I do in Bangkok.

Some tuktuk drivers can be a little pushy, but no big deal.

A fool is a fool anywhere and will have problems.

But, if you are street wise enough to get by in Bangkok, you should have no problems in Vientiane.

[koo wallety tourist]

walked into a shop. saw overpriced sandwich in plastic box, was dubious so ask counter staff is it fresh. thai would of answered no it 3 days old. laos counter assistant/manager stated categorically yes it is fresh

so i bought it. yes it was at least 4 days old. handed it back and left without asking for a refund. left the country early next morning. sorry not my preferred culture.

just one example. could give more. been there quite a few times for visa issues. leave fast as possible most times. even before getting a visa on more than one occasion. only suitable for NGO and other druggies

[Ban Merry]

Yes Vientiane is not for everyone. Personally I love the place but you'd need to stay a while to figure out all the goings on. Plenty of cafe's sell fresh sandwiches so no need to buy them in a platic box. Visa runners are never happy. Next time just turn around at the border.

[anotheruser]

Nope, not rubbish.

"The Lao Government prohibits sexual relationships between foreign and Lao nationals, except when the two parties have been married in accordance with Lao family law."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/laos/local-laws-and-customs

http://www.laos.embassy.gov.au/vtan/AEV001002.html

So when you say it's illegal for foreigners of any description to have sexual relations with Lao people, that's rubbish.

I am a foreigner of some description and I have sexual relations with my wife…legally of course.

The law also does not apply to homosexuals.

[Ban Merry]

Plenty of Vietnamese massage parlours with happy endings. No need to worry!

[brewsterbudgen]

Plenty of Vietnamese massage parlours with happy endings. No need to worry!

In Laos?

[Ban Merry]

Yes in Vientiane. One of the best is next to the Vientiane Plaza Hotel. Plenty of places in the burbs too.

[DP25]

Tuk Tuks can be expensive but if your Thai then should be the same price as Lao. Mainly they hike up the price for the white face.

That's not the case in my experience, the Thais I talked too all were getting ripped off too. They view Thais as rich foreigners and try to rip them off too. Thais may be able to negotiate easier because of the language but they will start off overcharged too.

The transport situation in Vientiane is really bad if you don't rent a bike. Very difficult to get around without paying a lot of money. There are some local buses though if you can figure them out, I used on to get from the friendship bridge to Vientienne and managed to avoid the scammers at the bridge that way.

[Ban Merry]

Yes agree they probably do rip off the Thais as well. Personally haven't taken a tuk tuk for a while as they are expensive for the distance. The yellow taxis have meters and overall probably a bit cheaper than a tuk tuk as you can negotiate the price if your doing a city tour.

Local Buses. As you come through the Lao side of the border. Walk straight past the tuk tuk drivers and you'll see a bus shelter in front of you. Big green buses leve here every 20 minutes to the morning market (city center) for 20baht. No need to get a taxi etc. These green buses leave from the morning market to the Northern and Southern bus stations for 20baht as well. That's if you're travelling North or South of the country.

[lazygourmet]

Avoiding visa runners would be my main preoccupation if I had to spend one month in Vientiane.

[Ban Merry]

And their Thai girlfriends,

[koo wallety tourist]

you will also notice that the druggies are not very creative. their addled brains will all parrot the same script or they wouldnt have anything to say, this also entrenches their us and them agenda. should thank laos for keeping at least some of them out of thailand i guess

[Ban Merry]

Not sure where this druggie thing comes from as not my thing. Seems its all over SEA anyway so narrowing it down to Laos is not really on.

I've said nothing against Thailand as a country but sure the Visa runner does have a problem.

[koo wallety tourist]

Not sure where this druggie thing comes from as not my thing. Seems its all over SEA anyway so narrowing it down to Laos is not really on.

I've said nothing against Thailand as a country but sure the Visa runner does have a problem.

is it fresh?

[Ban Merry]

Seems someone doesn't have a soft spot for Laos. And yes the sandwiches are fresh! Will be back Monday as off to Thailand for the weekend. Visa Run!!

[koo wallety tourist]

Seems someone doesn't have a soft spot for Laos. And yes the sandwiches are fresh! Will be back Monday as off to Thailand for the weekend. Visa Run!!

word on the the vine has it that due to public outcry the sukhumvit pee police have been redeployed to the friendship bridge. anyone who refuses to pee goes straight to jail.

[BKKdreaming]

Thanks everyone

FOR NOTHING !

look at all the posts and see how many have ANYTHING to do with the subject !

Mod please kill this thread , it now has nothing to do with the subject !

[Ban Merry]

To the OP, if you read through the posts everything has been pretty much said about scams and things to watch out for. But agree the forum has gone a bit off topic.

Vientiane is not like BK so there aren't any scams of such besides isolated incidences, but read into that what you like.

There are some markets however that the scales have been tampered with so you might not get the 1kg of veg, meat etc. Instead getting 900gm. Just buy off the vendor who has the most customers and you'll be ok.

Tell your friend to enjoy and not to worry about Vientiane. Temples, etc do close at 12pm-1pm but this is not a scam.

[cigar7]

Tuk Tuks can be expensive but if your Thai then should be the same price as Lao. Mainly they hike up the price for the white face.

That's not the case in my experience, the Thais I talked too all were getting ripped off too. They view Thais as rich foreigners and try to rip them off too. Thais may be able to negotiate easier because of the language but they will start off overcharged too.

The transport situation in Vientiane is really bad if you don't rent a bike. Very difficult to get around without paying a lot of money. There are some local buses though if you can figure them out, I used on to get from the friendship bridge to Vientienne and managed to avoid the scammers at the bridge that way.

My experience with tuk tuk drivers: I hired a tuk-tuk driver in Vientaine, license plate ends in 2772, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for 1,000 baht to drive around town. He stopped at 2 p.m. wouldn't drive us to the local market, about a 10 min. drive by tuktuk. He wanted to get paid at 2 p.m. I said no, no payment until 5 p.m. unless I get a discount. He said no discount, let's go to Police station, so we went to a traffic Police booth then to a small substation - no results. Police didn't want to be involved. Then we went back to hotel, from the Police substation, hotel staff tried to help. Eventually I walked out of the hotel at about 3p.m. toward a local store. He grabbed my Thai GF and started yelling at her. I responded, told him if he wants to get physical, lets box, leave her alone, he ran away. I continued walking to the store and he came after me with a tire iron, stood in front of me, told me to get back to the hotel. I said no, and walked into the store. After coming out of the store,he was gone. At about 3:30 p.m. I got a call in my hotel room asking me to meet with the hotel manager and the tuk tuk driver. We met, I paid the driver 1,000 baht, he gave me back 100 baht, and the hotel manager drove us in his car to the market and picked us up around 7 pm.. Hotel manager said, never offer more than 100 baht for anywhere in town. Our 100 baht offers for tuk-tuk rides, regardless of the original asking price, was always accepted for the remainder of our stay.

[cigar7]

I found the following warnings in a restaurant menu. See attachment

[jspill]

Not much of a serious nature comes to mind.

Lot of ladyboys riding around on motorbikes will heckle at you. Not much of an issue if you don't let them get in range of your pockets.

[TuskegeeBen]

Nope, not rubbish.

"The Lao Government prohibits sexual relationships between foreign and Lao nationals, except when the two parties have been married in accordance with Lao family law."

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/laos/local-laws-and-customs

http://www.laos.embassy.gov.au/vtan/AEV001002.html

If it is a law, they are as lax as Thailand about enforcing their laws.

I did not partake, but on my last trip to Vientiane at least four Lao women in bars made offers.

In fact, speaking of law enforcement, I did not see a single law enforcement officer during my three day stay.

To the Op..

I felt very comfortable there, safer than I do in Bangkok.

Some tuktuk drivers can be a little pushy, but no big deal.

A fool is a fool anywhere and will have problems.

But, if you are street wise enough to get by in Bangkok, you should have no problems in Vientiane.

Exactamento! However, make no mistake about it, the plain-clothed cops are everywhere in Vientiane