Tipping In Laos - A Complete Guide
Quick Guide
🍽️ Local Restaurant - Optional ₭20,000
🍽️ Western Restaurant - 5-10% If No Service Ch.
🍹 Bar - ₭20,000 If Exceptional Service
🚕 Taxi - Not Expected - Negotiated Fare
🛺 Tuk Tuk - Not Expected - Negotiated Fare
🚕 LOCA - 5-10% Via App If Satisfied
🛎️ Porter/Bellhop - ₭10,000/Bag
🛏️ Housekeeping - Optional ₭10,000-20,000/Day
📸 Tour Guide - Optional ₭100,000-200,000PP/Day
🚍 Tour Driver - Optional ₭40,000-100,000PP/Day
🧖♀️ Spa - Optional 10% If Satisfied
In Laos, tipping isn’t all that common. Some Laotians may not expect or accept tips.
In any case, always tip based on satisfaction and be discreet when doing so.
Calculate a culturally appropriate tip for Laos using the calculator below and read on for more detail on tipping in Restaurants, Bars, Taxis, Hotels etc.
Laos Tip Calculator
Good Tip For Laos
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Total With Tip
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Tipping in Restaurants
Servers in most local restaurants would be surprised if you left a tip.
If you had great service, you could discreetly reward them with a small tip of around ₭20,000.
Tips aren’t frowned upon, they’re always appreciated, they’re just not expected.
It’s a different story in high-end western restaurants. Here, it’s customary to tip 5-10% for good service but only if a service charge (typically 10%) hasn’t already been added to your bill.
Tipping in Bars & Pubs
You don’t usually tip in bars and pubs but if a staff member has really gone out of their way for you, they’d probably expect a tip of around ₭20,000.
Hand them their tip discreetly.
Tipping Taxi, Tuk Tuk & LOCA Drivers
Traditional Taxi and Tuk Tuk drivers don’t expect tips since you’ll usually negotiate the fare before you set off.
If they’ve gone out of their way to your drop off location or if they’ve helped load/unload heavy luggage, you could always tip them a small amount to cover a drink or snack.
Since you don’t haggle with LOCA (similar to Uber or Lyft) drivers, it would be considerate to tip them around 5-10% for good service via the app.
Tipping The Porter/Bellhop
It’s customary to tip porters around ₭10,000 per bag.
Tipping Housekeeping
Tipping housekeeping isn’t all that common but feel free to leave around ₭10,000-20,000 per day with a thank you note if they’ve done a good job.
Tipping Tour Guides
Tipping your tour guide and tour driver is optional.
If they’ve done a good job and you’d like to reward them for it, you could tip the guide around ₭100,000-200,000pp/day and give the driver ₭40,000-100,000pp/day.
Always be discreet.
Feel free to give them the US dollar equivalent, just make sure the notes and clean, crisp and somewhat new or they’ll have trouble exchanging them.
Which Currency To Use
The Lao Kip (₭, ₭N, LAK) is the official currency of Laos and you should stick to that if you can.
US Dollars ($, USD) and Thai Baht (฿, THB) are accepted in the larger towns and cities but if you use USD, you should stick to new, crisp, clean and undamaged notes with no graffiti.
In any case, you’ll usually receive Kip as change.
A growing number of establishments in the larger cities like Vientiane and Luang Prabang accept cards but it’s always good to have some Kip on hand for tipping.
Some cities have ATMs that dispense Kip but they tend to have low maximum withdrawals and charge fees.
“ໂຊກດີ” (Sok Dee!) - Good luck! 🇱🇦🌺🐘🍲🌄
