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Welcome to the Solo Female Travel Safety Tips and Advice page for Laos!
This page is brought to you by Solo Female Travelers Tours, our curated small group trips for women, by women.
On this page you will find first-hand, unbiased, and real safety tips, advice and reviews from women traveling solo, submitted directly from their personal experiences in the country.
Their opinions are unfiltered and submitted independently as part of the Solo Female Travel Safety Index, a ranking of 210 countries and regions based on how safe they are for women traveling solo.
The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers.
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Laos Country data
We have compiled a few data points below that can help you better understand Laos and have more context when thinking about travel safety.
Official country name: Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Etymology: Name means "Land of the Lao people".
Country map
Locator map
Flag
Capital: Vientiane (Viangchan).
Independence / foundation: After centuries of gradual decline, Laos came under the domination of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century, when it became part of French Indochina.
The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. Laos got its independence in 1949 from France by the Franco-Lao General Convention.
Population: 8 million.
Currency: Lao Kip (LAK)
1 USD = 20,858 - 21,174 LAK
1 EUR = 22,700 - 23,000 LAK
Time zone: UTC+7
Languages spoken: Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages.
Religions: Buddhist 65%, Christian 2%, none 31%, other/not stated 2%.
Climate: Tropical monsoon weather. A rainy season from May to November and a dry season from December to April.
Real GDP (ppp – purchasing power parity): $59.8 billion.
Real GDP per capita (ppp): $7,900.
Main airports: Wattay International Airport.
World heritage sites in Laos
There are over 1,100 world heritage sites spread across more than 165 countries. New ones are added every year, and some may be removed from the list for various reasons.
Number of UNESCO listed sites: 2.
Top world heritage sites:
- Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang – Plain of Jars.- Town of Luang Prabang.
Interesting facts about Laos
- Laos is one of the world’s few communist states. Others include China, Cuba, and Vietnam.
- President Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Laos in 2016.
- A great part of the country's population is Buddhist. Every Buddhist male in Laos is expected to become a monk for at least a short period in his life.
- The traditional greeting among locals is putting both hands together in a prayer-like manner known as the nop.
Further reading: N/A.
Laos Travel tips
Socket type: A / B / C / E / F. Guide to socket types.
Weekend days: Saturday and Sunday.
Driving: Cars drive on the Right.
Local taxi apps: KiwiGo, LOCA.
Travel Guides: Lonely Planet.
Languages spoken: Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages.
Basic words and phrases in the main language:
Hello: SaibaideePlease: Galunaa
Thank you: Khop Jai
Help: Suay khoi dai bor
Learn more with our favorite learning app Mondly.
Find a hotel in Laos
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More about Laos on Solo Female Travelers
Coming soon.Did you spot any errors? We do our best to keep this information updated and accurate, but things change. If you saw anything that is not right, let us know so we can fix it: [email protected].
About the Solo Female Travel Safety Index
Safety matters to solo female travelers, you told us so in our annual Solo Female Travel Survey, where year after year, women prove that this is their most important concern when traveling solo.
We wanted to do something about it, so we built these country-specific pages where you can find reviews and scores for 7 key variables affecting the safety of women traveling solo.
Variables
- Risk of scam
- Risk of theft
- Risk of harassment
- Attitudes towards women
- UK Travel Advisory
- US Travel advisory
- Global Peace Index (GPI)
Informing OSAC
The Solo Female Travel Safety Score is used by the Overseas Security Advisory Council for including safety concerns for women travelers in their country security reports; OSAC is a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and private-sector security community.
How to use the Safety Index
On this page, you will find the country score and the personal opinions on safety of other women traveling solo.
You can sort the comments by:
- The level of experience traveling solo of the reviewer (beginner = <5 trips solo, Intermediate = 5 to 10 trips solo, Experienced = >10 trips solo).
- The age of the traveler.
- Whether they are a visitor or local.
- The date they were posted.
The safety scores range from 1 to 4 with 1 being the safest and 4 being the most dangerous for solo female travelers.
Thus, the lower the score, the safer the country.
Looking for more safety resources?
This entire website is devoted to helping women travel solo. Check out the links below to learn more:
Solo Female Travel Stats: Results from the the largest, most comprehensive and only global research study on solo female travel trends, preferences and behaviors published.
Thanks to Jacobo Vilella for creating the Solo Female Travelers Safety Index ❤️