Luang Prabang

[khunerik]

I'm going to Luang Prabang for a 10 days holiday from Bangkok. Can I manage with Thai money there all the time? No exchange to Lao money and no US dollars?

[anotheruser]

You can use all three. You should exchange some money to Kip for small purchases. You can pay your hotel at the end in either Baht or dollars. If you only use Baht you will get a poor exchange on everything you buy.

[MyFrenU]

Always wanted to go there from Vientiane but just couldn't stomach the 300 bend,2-3 hour journey by bus I'll have to rent a motorbike next visit!

[anotheruser]

it's a great ride, do it in the day not on the night bus. the scenery is spectacular.

[khunerik]

Air Asia fly from Bangkok

[Stone Inscription 1]

As 'Another User' mentioned, you do not get a great exchange rate on the Thai baht. Use the Lao kip and try to make sure you use them up before you leave Laos as no other country wants Lao money.

[burgdawg]

..if you are in Vientiane, catch a flight to Louang Prabang and then take bus just one way back. Both the flight and the bus ride are spectacular. When you land in LP, you almost land right at the famous Temple in the middle of town.

[anotheruser]

..if you are in Vientiane, catch a flight to Louang Prabang and then take bus just one way back. Both the flight and the bus ride are spectacular. When you land in LP, you almost land right at the famous Temple in the middle of town.

This is a solid way of doing it.

[burgdawg]

Louang Prabang is a 'Not-miss."

Well worth any effort in arriving there.

Makes one wonders why President Eisenhower and Kennedy were intent on bombing the place.

Try this with any Cambodia, VietNam, Laos---type the country's name into Google Search, followed by "uxo"

as in Vietnam.uxo, Laos,uxo, etc.

[phuketrichard]

i find i always use Kip for 90% of my purchases and than $$ ( sometimes) for hotels

otherwise u get lousy rates, in any of my many trips thru Laos never saw Baht being used except in Vientiane.

10 days in LP would be way to much for me, I find after 4-5 i am ready to leave, Take a trip out to Phonsavan ( plain of jars) or down to Vang Vieng

[bendejo]

On 7/15/2016 at 6:10 AM, MyFrenU said:

Always wanted to go there from Vientiane but just couldn't stomach the 300 bend,2-3 hour journey by bus I'll have to rent a motorbike next visit!

Are you talking about Luang Prabang?  Bus from Vientiane is more like 10 hours. 

 

[bendejo]

OP: you can bring baht or dollars but expect to pay a little bit more for things.  Maybe exchange TB locally to kip for trips to the night market, street peddlers, etc.  When I lived in Vientiane I needed to do monthly visa runs, which included a trip to the Thai ATM, I paid my rent in TB. 

An example: visa-on-arrival at Nong Khai was $US35, in baht would have been 1,500, which is around $US50.

 

[wooloomooloo]

Quote

Can I manage with Thai money there all the time? No exchange to Lao money and no US dollars?

Yes, but take small baht denomination, i.e. twenty baht notes.

My wife and I went to Laos about four years ago for a two day trip and took 10,000 baht worth of twenty baht notes and came out with a 7000 kip note and a residual amount of baht. The 7000 kip note is still knocking about in the kitchen draw somewhere.  

The hotels and flights were already paid for and I had back up cash and credit cards should the need arise.  The small denomination baht was a good choice as otherwise all your change from large baht notes will be settled in kip.  No one wants kip, least of all the Laotians.

[wooloomooloo]

I should add that the Laotians will take your baht all over the country.  It is the no.1 currency in Lao.

[MyFrenU]

23 hours ago, bendejo said:

Are you talking about Luang Prabang?  Bus from Vientiane is more like 10 hours. 

 

Wow,10 hours that's a long way,I must have been thinking of Chiang Mai to Pai or something?

[MyFrenU]

23 hours ago, wooloomooloo said:

Yes, but take small baht denomination, i.e. twenty baht notes.

My wife and I went to Laos about four years ago for a two day trip and took 10,000 baht worth of twenty baht notes and came out with a 7000 kip note and a residual amount of baht. The 7000 kip note is still knocking about in the kitchen draw somewhere.  

The hotels and flights were already paid for and I had back up cash and credit cards should the need arise.  The small denomination baht was a good choice as otherwise all your change from large baht notes will be settled in kip.  No one wants kip, least of all the Laotians.

5,000 Lao Kip is the tip I generally give there,around 40 Baht if my calculations are right (they may not be!)

[anotheruser]

On 8/2/2016 at 2:38 AM, wooloomooloo said:

I should add that the Laotians will take your baht all over the country.  It is the no.1 currency in Lao.

 

I lived in Laos for 10 years and absolutely do not agree with you about Baht being the number one currency in Laos. Kip is the most widespread by far. Taking 20 Baht notes is simply crazy. Change into Kip and you can easily change back anything left over. Walking around with 10,000 Baht worth of 20 Baht notes would be more annoying than using Kip by far,

 

This is not sound advice. 

 

Any hotel uses all three currencies but the bigger ones typically set prices in Dollars. Baht is typically used by vendors who import things from Thailand so many mid range purchases are done in Baht. Kip is used for everyday purchases and I can assure you it is by far the most widely used currency in the entire country. 

 

If you use Baht and the change comes out in odd denominations do you really think they are going to round the amount up or down? 20 Baht comes out to 4,645 Kip so you will essentially be rounded up to 5,000 every time your purchase isn't completely round. 

 

To carry around small baht notes thinking that it is the most common currency in the country is insane.

 

[raro]

What about driving? Is the Thai drivers license accepted? Can I rent a car in Vientiane?

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