Travel Risk Atlas

Laos

South-Eastern Asia · Capital Vientiane

Each opens that government's own advisory for Laos — the authoritative version, updated far faster than this page.

40.7 Moderate risk
Atlas Risk Score · 139th safest of 220
Luang Prabang — Laos
Photo: 松岡明芳 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Where the risk actually is

Each region is coloured by the advice that applies to most of it, drawn by hand from the wording of all five government advisories. Numbered markers flag localised warnings — usually a border strip or remote interior — that cover only a small part of an otherwise lower-risk region.

Attapu — Travel with cautionBokeo — Travel with cautionBolikhamxai — Travel with cautionChampasak — Travel with cautionHouaphan — Travel with cautionKhammouan — Travel with cautionLouang Namtha — Travel with cautionLouangphrabang — Travel with cautionOudômxai — Travel with cautionPhôngsali — Travel with cautionSaravan — Travel with cautionSavannakhét — Travel with cautionVientiane [prefecture] — Travel with cautionVientiane — Travel with cautionXaignabouri — Travel with cautionXiangkhoang — Travel with cautionXékong — Travel with cautionUbolratna ReservoirNam Ngum ReservoirSiri Kit Dam1. Xaisomboun Province — Essential travel only1
What governments advise Travel with caution Localised warning — see the notes below

What the warnings actually cover

  • 1
    Xaisomboun ProvinceEssential travel only. Essential travel only — intermittent attacks on infrastructure and clashes with anti-government groups. Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng are elsewhere.

A numbered marker warns about the small area described in its note — the rest of that region carries the base advice. Mapped by hand from the official wording in July 2026; always check the current advisory before you book.

What drives the score

Each pillar is scored 0–100 against every other country. Longer bar = more risk.

Crime
15% of score
64/100
201st of 220
Health & medical
15% of score
57/100
169th of 220
Road & transport
10% of score
45/100
144th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
42/100
124th of 220
Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly flooding
36/100
95th of 220
Official advisories
25% of score
30/100
148th of 220
Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
18/100
102nd of 220
Women's safety
not in the score
56/100

Biggest factor here: crime. Violent crime levels and how reliably the law is enforced.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
191
Police 191 · Ambulance 195
Currency
LAK
Languages
Lao
Visa (EU passport)
Visa on arrival
US: Visa on arrival · UK: Visa on arrival
Population
7.9m
World Bank 2025
Capital
Vientiane
Driving
On the right
17.9 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type A, B, C
220-240V
Safely managed water
35%
Most households lack it · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+856
GDP per capita
$2k
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
4.8m
International arrivals, 2019
Malaria risk
6.8/10
INFORM exposure score — see a travel clinic

When to go

Average daytime high and nightly low for Vientiane, over 2010-2019. Bars are rainfall; the colour band is how hot the days get.

Mildest and driest around October to February.

Daytime high hot extreme heat
Top figure is the average daytime high, below it the average nightly low, and millimetres of rain under each bar. Figures are the average daytime high; bar heights are the month's rainfall. Shaded months are the mild, drier ones. Source: NASA POWER daily observations, 2010-2019, public domain.

Sources for this page

Vaccinations, malaria and outbreaks. This atlas does not give medical advice — it is personal, it changes, and it is the one thing worth getting from a doctor. Both national services publish current advice for Laos:

Check the official advisory before you book. This page reflects data as of August 2026. Advisories change without warning, and only your own government's advice affects your travel insurance.