← Part of the Laos money guide
Laoschecked Jul 2026A catch or twoDo I need cash in Laos, or can I use cards?
Cash, and plenty of it. Laos is the most cash-dependent country we cover, and the friction is not acceptance, it is the ATM: low limits and a fee every time. A little planning fixes it.
At a glance
Currency
Lao kip (LAK)
Cards
Rare outside upscale hotels
Carry
Kip, in small notes
ATMs
Low limits, a fee each time
Cash, almost entirely, and the cash is the Lao kip. Cards work only at bigger international hotels and a few upscale restaurants and shops in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, often with a surcharge, so treat a card as a backup rather than your way of paying. Pull kip from a bank ATM and expect to do it more than once, because per-withdrawal limits are low and each pull carries a fee. Bring a fee-friendly debit card, keep small kip notes for stalls and tuk-tuks, carry a little clean US dollars or Thai baht as backup, and always choose kip on any screen.
Cash first, and the cash is kip
Street food, markets, tuk-tuks, guesthouses, small shops and almost everything outside a handful of city addresses run on kip in hand. Cards are accepted at bigger international hotels and some upscale restaurants and shops in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, frequently with a 2 to 3 percent surcharge, and Apple Pay and Google Pay are not widely supported. Plan your trip as a cash trip and you will not be caught out.
Because the kip is a high-denomination currency, the largest note is worth under five dollars and you will carry thick stacks. Keep small notes deliberately: a vendor often cannot break the biggest one, and having exact-ish change is the difference between a smooth transaction and a stalled one. One more thing to plan for: the kip is a closed currency you cannot exchange abroad, so spend it down before you fly out.
ATMs: low limits and a fee every time
This is the real friction. Bank ATMs in the cities and tourist towns take Visa and Mastercard and dispense kip, but most cap a single withdrawal near 1 to 2 million kip, roughly 45 to 90 dollars, and charge 20,000 to 40,000 kip each time on top of whatever your own bank adds. Several small withdrawals across a week add up to real money.
Three ways to soften it. Take the maximum the machine allows rather than what you need today. Step inside a bank branch, where you can often withdraw a larger sum for the same single fee. And carry a debit card that refunds ATM fees, which cancels the charge entirely and is the single most useful thing to sort before you fly. Use machines attached to real banks, in daylight, and take your cash and card promptly, since some machines retrieve them quickly.
Dollars and baht as backup, kip for everything else
Clean US dollars or Thai baht are worth carrying as a backup: they are accepted in some tourist spots and near the Thai border, and they are the currencies taken for the visa on arrival, which also wants two passport photos. Notes must be crisp and unmarked, and dollar bills should be newer than 2009. You will get a worse rate spending them than paying in kip, so treat them as insurance rather than spending money.
On any card terminal or ATM screen, choose kip. Taking the offer to be charged in your home currency is dynamic currency conversion, which layers a poor rate on top of a fee you are already paying. Check the rate before you travel too: the kip has had a rough few years of inflation, so a figure from a few months ago may be well out of date. This guide is written for US travelers departing the US. For more, see tipping in Laos, taxis and ride-hailing in Laos, and the Laos money guide.
Common questions
Quick answers.
Do I need cash in Laos?
Yes, every day. Kip is what street food, markets, tuk-tuks, guesthouses and small shops take. Cards work only at bigger hotels and a few upscale spots in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, often with a surcharge.
How much can I withdraw from an ATM in Laos?
Not much at once. Most machines cap a single withdrawal near 1 to 2 million kip, roughly 45 to 90 dollars, and charge 20,000 to 40,000 kip on top of your own bank's fee. Take the maximum allowed, or step inside a branch where a larger withdrawal often costs the same single fee.
Can I use US dollars or Thai baht in Laos?
Sometimes, in tourist areas and near the Thai border, and they are the currencies accepted for the visa on arrival. The rate is worse than paying in kip and small purchases are kip only, so carry a little clean, newer cash as backup rather than as your main money.
Can I take leftover kip home from Laos?
It is best not to. The kip is a closed currency that you cannot exchange outside the country, so spend it down or change it back before you leave.
More on Laos
The little money things nobody warns you about.
- Tipping in LaosLaos is not a tipping culture, so there is no percentage to remember and nobody is waiting for one. In tourist areas a small tip has become normal and is genuinely appreciated, which is a different thing from expected.
- Taxis, tuk-tuks and ride apps in LaosMetered taxis barely exist here. Getting around means tuk-tuks, shared songthaews and, in the bigger towns, a local ride app that takes the negotiation out of it. One habit covers the rest: settle the fare first.
- Booking the Laos-China Railway, and why that is the hard partThe Laos-China Railway is fast, comfortable and the obvious way to move between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Getting a seat is what catches visitors out, because the booking and payment side was not built for anyone without a local phone number. Here is how it actually works.
- Do US citizens need a visa for Laos?Yes, and the online route is the expensive one. Laos charges roughly ten dollars a person more to apply in advance than to buy the visa at the airport counter, which is the reverse of the usual advice. Here is what each costs, and what the cheaper one wants from you.
- Staying connected in Laos.Laos sells data for almost nothing and has less of a network to sell it on than its neighbors. The right move is a cheap local SIM plus the habit of downloading things before you leave a town.
- What does getting sick in Laos cost?Laos has the starkest medical geography of anywhere we cover. Serious care is not in the country, it is across the river in Thailand, and the honest planning question is not what a doctor charges but how you get across and how fast.
Sources, and how this was checked
Last checkedJul 2026
- Bank of the Lao PDRthe central bank's official kip exchange rates
- US State DepartmentLaos country information, noting that most care providers there accept cash only
Our own readThe ATM caps, the per-withdrawal fees and the card surcharges are our own read from recent traveler and bank reports rather than one official table, and they vary by bank and machine. The kip has seen high inflation, so treat any dollar equivalent as a snapshot. Checked July 2026.
How we checkHow every guide is researched, checked and dated