Money
The official currency in Laos is the kip. 260 kips for 1 Thai baht. 8000 kip for 1 US Dollar.11000 kips for 1 Euro. These rates tend to fluctuate as the currency is not tied to the world currency markets.
Kips are available in notes of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10.000, 20.000, 50.000 .
Thai baht and US Dollars are freely accepted in most towns but less so in rural areas.
Banks will exchange Euros and other currencies from Monday - Friday from 8:30am to 3:30pm.
Credit cards are not widely accepted but there are machines to withdraw cash in most main cities. Ask Hamish where the nearest money machine is.
Most card machines (ATM) will only allow you to withdraw a maximum of 700.000 kip in kip notes and you will be charged 20.000 kip as a service fee. You can take out the maximum up to 3 times per day. The Lao Development Bank will let you withdraw 1,000,000 kip.
Make sure you take your money out before the weekend as the machines often run out of cash and are very unreliable.
Please note: You can only buy the kip in the country and you can not sell it outside the country as no one will accept it. So don’t get caught out!
The official currency in Laos is the kip. 260 kips for 1 Thai baht. 8000 kip for 1 US Dollar.11000 kips for 1 Euro. These rates tend to fluctuate as the currency is not tied to the world currency markets.
Kips are available in notes of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10.000, 20.000, 50.000 .
Thai baht and US Dollars are freely accepted in most towns but less so in rural areas.
Banks will exchange Euros and other currencies from Monday - Friday from 8:30am to 3:30pm.
Credit cards are not widely accepted but there are machines to withdraw cash in most main cities. Ask Hamish where the nearest money machine is.
Most card machines (ATM) will only allow you to withdraw a maximum of 700.000 kip in kip notes and you will be charged 20.000 kip as a service fee. You can take out the maximum up to 3 times per day. The Lao Development Bank will let you withdraw 1,000,000 kip.
Make sure you take your money out before the weekend as the machines often run out of cash and are very unreliable.
Please note: You can only buy the kip in the country and you can not sell it outside the country as no one will accept it. So don’t get caught out!
Sysomphone Guest House tel: +856-71-252543.