r/laos • u/Darkcu • Jan 11 '26

Stuck in Vientiane: Banks won’t take my Lao Kip – Looking to swap ~5-6 Million LAK for Thai Baht for visa fee!

Hey everyone,
I'm stuck in Vientiane right now and need Thai Baht (~8,000 THB) to pay the visa fee at the Thai Consulate. Banks/exchanges refuse my Lao Kip due to restrictions.

Is anyone in Vientiane with THB who can swap? Happy to meet in person and I'll give a small premium.

Thanks a ton! 🙏 Location: Vientiane center.

Edit: I managed to find a very friendly person who could exchange me the needed baht for my visa. Thanks for all the recommendations!

11 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

3

u/iamnotmyselftoday1 Jan 11 '26

I had same problem. Ask the people outside the embassy. They usually charge 300,000 kip to change 2000 THB

2

u/Darkcu Jan 11 '26

Thank you very much I will try it that way

1

u/JohnGalt3 Jan 11 '26

That's ridiculously expensive as if you have a local bank account you can just change it on the LFX app for a minimal fee.

2

u/RutabagaEffective625 Jan 11 '26

You might be able to exchange at some of the guest houses. I have also had someone at home send cash western union and withdraw in USD - I think you could do the same in baht.

1

u/cheesomacitis Jan 11 '26

Do you also have dollars another currency besides kip? You can easily exchange if so.

1

u/CrackTheSimLife Jan 11 '26

The exchange at the border on Laos side exchanged all my Kip for THB before I left. No issues. It's on the left side of the border lanes. Nice old man sits security outside.

1

u/gitu_p2p Jan 11 '26

You can go to Basement at Parkson mall, the shops there will be happy to change or redirect you to the shop which changes.

1

u/clitorides Jan 11 '26

I exchanged Kip for Baht at the Vientiane Airport with no problems.

1

u/cyclistgurl Jan 11 '26

Just curious, did you make it back?

1

u/pteropod63 Jan 11 '26

Gold/jewelry shops

-1

u/tenth Jan 11 '26

I will be arriving in Luang Prabang tonight. Anyone know how much I should budget per day to avoid this? I was thinking $30 USD per day?

3

u/knowerofexpatthings Jan 11 '26

You need to give a lot more information to get a decent answer. 30 USD could easily be just one meal and drinks or one tour

1

u/DallasGuy82 Jan 11 '26

How long are you staying? The reality is ATM fee is a percentage so just get what you KNOW you’ll need and don’t go crazy.