#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Laos Forum >  >  What is the best way to take money to Laos from the UK?

## supernovadw

Hi there all!

I am off to Laos next week! The intention being to live there so of course I am going to need to take some funds with me!

Right then what is the best way to take my money with me?

I'm not overly keen on taking loads of cash with me to be honest so I'm thinking of different options....

My idea is to take say £2000 Cash with me, open myself a Lao bank account and then do an international bank transfer from my UK account to the Lao account.

My bank (Santander) In the UK have said that it is a £25 transfer charge however a Google search found this:

Exchange Rates, Best Foreign Currency Exchange Rate | TorFX

Who seem to do it for no charge. Now the thing is the transfer rate is according to the Lao bank so is doing a international bank transfer a good idea or would I be better to risk it and carry my money with me in cash? Or Perhaps I should even change my £ in the UK to $ USD And take that with me?

I've never done this before so please excuse my Naivety but of course I want to get the best deal I can!

Thanks for the advice in advance!

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## Chico the Fox

Last time I went to Laos (3 years ago!) no one liked Kip, they all wanted dollars. Dunno if that will be an issue or not. If you do take it over there in cash I recommend soppository style might be best.

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## supernovadw

The last time I was in Laos I had no problem with kip at all, the only time that people don't like it from what I have seen is when it involves larger amounts as of course the figures get crazy.

To be honest I don't really fancy putting money in my ass  :mid:  Ha ha however you are right in a way because I'm sure there is a maximum amount that you are allowed to carry, £10,000 isn't it?

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## Chico the Fox

Dunno the limit mate. I do remember getting confused as hell using kip, though, and I remember a preference from locals for either baht of dollars. I was pretty drunk the whole time so safe to disregard.

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## Breny

take $9.999 and then get someone to western union the rest of it to you . or just use your card. Have a great time the big V, nice french sticks/sandwiches. Alas it is ilegal to have "relations " with Lao national if not married! Buggers

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## Dillinger

Theres a few on here who will take it over suppositry style for you

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## Breny

Fxck i do that just going to the 7-11 , And its in coins  :Smile:

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## slackula

Send it to me and I'll drop it off to you. Promise!

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## Albert Shagnastier

leave it in a your bank back home and take your cash card  :Confused:

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## adzt1

^expensive

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## adzt1

> take $9.999 and then get someone to western union the rest of it to you . or just use your card. Have a great time the big V, nice french sticks/sandwiches. Alas it is ilegal to have "relations " with Lao national if not married! Buggers


lol.what's wrong with just declaring it?

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## Breny

You can be taxed on it if you declare it a customs man told me and if you do They look into all of your credit history, they contact the tax people, you have to sit in the naughty chair and alot of the time people miss their flights.  They believe that they are tackling money launderers and drug dealers by doing this. 
I speak from experience. Gatwick to Bahrain 2010

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## draco888

> Hi there all!
> 
> I am off to Laos next week! The intention being to live there so of course I am going to need to take some funds with me!
> 
> Right then what is the best way to take my money with me?
> 
> I'm not overly keen on taking loads of cash with me to be honest so I'm thinking of different options....
> 
> My idea is to take say £2000 Cash with me, open myself a Lao bank account and then do an international bank transfer from my UK account to the Lao account.
> ...


You have the right idea.

Nobody will do a transfer for no charge, it will be built into the rate you are being quoted.

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## supernovadw

Right sorry if I've not been too specific here.

I am moving to Laos, not going on holiday so using my UK bank card all the time would not be a great option.

I am married to a Lao woman and am going over there to work/try and start my own business.

Anyhow keeping on topic other than taking cash or doing a bank transfer are there any other options? Western Union is not an option to be honest as it's pretty expensive commission.

Thanks.

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## adzt1

nope . 
although I did get some sort of big check  from Santander and pay it into another foreign  bank once  . 
took ages (20+ days)

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## sunsetter

do the transfer of a fair sum to get you started, and only have one way to access it,
ie:  one atm card and keep that very safe.

 just incase it goes tits up in laos like  ::chitown::

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## draco888

https://www.caxtonfx.com/online-payments/




> Right sorry if I've not been too specific here.
> 
> I am moving to Laos, not going on holiday so using my UK bank card all the time would not be a great option.
> 
> I am married to a Lao woman and am going over there to work/try and start my own business.
> 
> Anyhow keeping on topic other than taking cash or doing a bank transfer are there any other options? Western Union is not an option to be honest as it's pretty expensive commission.
> 
> Thanks.

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## Neo

Pretty sure Nationwide don't charge for overseas transactions via an ATM, they never used to,
just the bank exchange rate which is lower than your local money exchange.
Is it too late to open an account? What about Santander, what do they charge?
Is the transaction rate+exchange rate less than the local Lao exchange+commision?
If you can get a good rate you'll be better off leaving it in UK. 
If you can get a joint account with one of you relatives, they can handle any hicups while your abroad.
You'll spend less that's for sure.

One thing I will add, it's good advice I was given and I'm sure many of the old hands will agree, don't let anyone know how much you have or how much your worth, a large amount of cash can give even the most righteous people very bad ideas, and the real scumbags need no encouragement at all. 
If you can avoid it, don't take it all with you.

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## supernovadw

Thanks for the replies all!

I'm going to take £2000/3000 In cash with me, change the money from £ to Kip when I arrive in Lao and open a bank account and then do a transfer from my UK account to the Lao account.

I'll probably just stick with my own bank to do the transfer after looking in to all the available options as it's only £25 plus of course it's all sound and guaranteed and no middle man involved.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

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## supernovadw

> Pretty sure Nationwide don't charge for overseas transactions, just the bank exchange rate of course which is lower than your local money exchange.
> Is it too late to open an account? What about Santander, what do they charge?
> Is the transaction rate+exchange rate less than the local exchange+commision?
> If you can get a good rate you'll be better of leaving it in UK. 
> You'll spend less that's for sure. If you can get a joint account with one of you relatives, they can handle any hicups while your abroad.
> 
> One thing I will add, it's good advice I was given and I'm sure many of the old hands will agree, don't let anyone know how much you have or how much your worth and a large amount of cash gives some people very bad ideas. 
> If you can avoid it, don't take it all with you.


Thanks for the advice!

Nationwide do charge now, they didn't used to (Hence why I opened an account lol) But this changed a couple of years back. Santander also charge, I believe it's 2.75%.

The last time I changed money in Lao I got a really good exchange rate! (Better than using my own card) 

I'm certainly not going to be taking loads and loads of money with me but I will of course need to take a decent ish amount to get myself going as I need to buy a motorbike etc.. I shall certainly also be leaving some of my money in the UK just in case, after all you never know what will happen hey.

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## daveboy

Travellers cheques.

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## Breny

I Feeking love the amount of members who will help people on this site. we all fall out at some piont, however its great to see folk helpling people. Dirty Dog ( RIP)  would be proud, god reat his soul.   I for one will never forget the Man

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## Breny

traverrs check. do you smoke glue

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## beerlaodrinker

> I believe it's 2.75%.


 3% seems to be the norm so thats not bad, just bring a couple of grand set up an account Locally and transfer the rest, Set the wheels in motion straight away though because you never know how long it will take to land in your account first time i transferred money out of australia to Laos it was in my account within 3 days the next time i waited over 2 weeks , Also they (The Govt) have been trying hard to get people using the kip more than accepting baht and dollars and i notice that the banks here will give you anything up to 8% for a fixed term $ USD or Baht account and upwards for a Kip account, Ive set up Kip accounts for my kids and i give them 1 million kip a month each for a saving plan, Been doing it for years now (they are Millionaires) the idea is when they are older and want to buy a car or something then they wont have to hit up there old dad who will likely be old and fucked by then, Also with a locally opened account you pay zero per withdrawel at the ATM as opposed to 40 000 kip using your card from another country, hope all that helps, oh and there is now a 100 000 kip note in circulation which is handy

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## draco888

> Travellers cheques.


I saw one in a museum once, looked fragile.

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## beerlaodrinker

Strangely you get a better rate for them in Thailand than cash, why is that? havent used them for years myself ,

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## supernovadw

What a great response on the whole! 

Thanks for everyone's help!

I've now decided that I will definetley go with the travelers cheques  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 














 :smiley laughing:  I really hope that the travelers cheques suggestion was a joke  :Confused:  

Nope in all seriousness I shall do as originally intended and take £2000/£3000 Cash to keep me going and then do a bank transfer. My bank told me that the transfer will take three to five days however with taking the cash it doesn't matter if it over runs a little as I'm not going to be out on a spending spree (Apart from buying a motorbike)

As you said Beerlao drinker the idea of getting a local account going is to be able to simply have the convenience of being take money out with no charge and hopefully put some money back in  :mid:

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## Neo

> Travellers cheques.


You starting with that Cockerny rhyming slang again Dave!?  :Very Happy:

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## Wizard of Oz

Take as much cash as you can carry (or hide) the banks fuck you over with the exchange rate and will process at a time they get the best deal out of it. If you take the cash, you can decide the best day to exchange to a different currency. Worked for me!

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## draco888

> Take as much cash as you can carry (or hide) the banks fuck you over with the exchange rate and will process at a time they get the best deal out of it. If you take the cash, you can decide the best day to exchange to a different currency. Worked for me!


The banks will do it the day you tell them to do it. If you take cash you can decide the best day to exchange to a different currency, and the FX Market will decide on the exchange rate applicable that day.

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## Malicious

Just a thought, do you need a work permit to open a bank account in Laos?

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## supernovadw

No you don't however I shall have one anyhow so no problems either way.

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## frazerHX

Hi Bud, I just got back from Laos/Thailand today. I set up an account at the BCEL in Vientiane a couple of weeks ago. You have the choice of Kip, Dollar or Baht accounts. The Kip accounts are paying the most interest like beerlaoddrinker has said. If you want to spread the risk a bit then it might be worth opening a US dollar account and a Kip account. So I would take the cash with you and set up an account when you arrive. You can transfer more cash later - I have swift codes for the BCEL accounts and £25 to transfer a decent sum isn't too bad I reckon.

Cheers,

FrazerHX

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## Vientianeboy

You need a work permit to open a bank account. Travellers' cheques are a waste of time. Take cash. After you have your work permit do a bank transfer.

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## supernovadw

> You need a work permit to open a bank account. Travellers' cheques are a waste of time. Take cash. After you have your work permit do a bank transfer.


Got myself a bank account opened last week with BCEL, I haven't got a work permit yet and had no problem what so ever!

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## Butterfly

> My idea is to take say £2000 Cash with me, open myself a Lao bank account and then do an international bank transfer from my UK account to the Lao account.


this is what normal people do,




> or would I be better to risk it and carry my money with me in cash? Or Perhaps I should even change my £ in the UK to $ USD And take that with me?


this is what idiots do,

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## supernovadw

> Originally Posted by supernovadw
> 
> My idea is to take say £2000 Cash with me, open myself a Lao bank account and then do an international bank transfer from my UK account to the Lao account.
> 
> 
> this is what normal people do,
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's all done now, took £1500 cash and changed it to kip to open a bank account here. I will transfer some more money over if needed.

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## Gravesend Dave

Not piss taking but did you bring your Mother with you?

On your first posts here you did mention that you did not want to leave her.

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## supernovadw

> Not piss taking but did you bring your Mother with you?
> 
> On your first posts here you did mention that you did not want to leave her.


Not at the moment mate no, came on my own first just to be able to get everything sorted here hopefully. I.e. find a job/get a business going and find a house etc... She will come in around four to six months.

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## Gravesend Dave

> Originally Posted by Gravesend Dave
> 
> 
> Not piss taking but did you bring your Mother with you?
> 
> On your first posts here you did mention that you did not want to leave her.
> 
> 
> Not at the moment mate no, came on my own first just to be able to get everything sorted here hopefully. I.e. find a job/get a business going and find a house etc... She will come in around four to six months.


Good luck with it all mate hope every fulls into place.

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## supernovadw

> Originally Posted by supernovadw
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Gravesend Dave
> ...


Cheers mate!

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## Fluke

I did hear about using Paypal .
Something about sending money from an account back home to yourself wherever you are . 
   Although I think that you would need to be able to have internet banking to be able to do this .
  Nationwide has internet banking, but you need to set that up back home.

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