Quick Facts About Laos
General Information
- • Capital: Vientiane
- • Currency: Lao kip (LAK)
- • Official language: Lao
- • Population: 7,545,800 (mid-2023 estimate)
- • Independence from France: 22 October 1953
- • Time zone: Indochina Time, UTC+7
Travel Information
- • Best time to go: November to February, the cool dry season
- • Power: 230 V, sockets type A, B, C, E and F
- • Emergency: 191 police, 190 fire, 195 ambulance
- • Calling code: +856
- • Visa: 30 days, e-visa or visa on arrival, extendable twice
- • Network you get from us: Lao Telecom (LTC)
One correction worth making up front. Laos does not have a single all-services emergency number. Police is 191, fire is 190 and ambulance is 195, and English is not guaranteed on any of them. For anything involving a foreign visitor, the Tourist Police number in Vientiane listed further down this page is usually the faster route.
Which Network You Actually Get
This is the part most Laos eSIM pages get wrong, including this one until we rechecked it. Laos has several mobile operators, but an eSIM only roams on the ones its own plan has an agreement with, and different plan families in our catalogue land on different networks. Here is exactly what our coverage data says, checked on 13 September 2026.
| Plan family | Lao network it uses | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Laos country plans (“Laos Unlimited”, 3 to 30 days) | Lao Telecom (LTC), 457-01, and nothing else | Laos-only trips where you want one bill and no country juggling |
| Asia regional plan (18 countries) | Lao Telecom (LTC) in Laos | Almost everyone: Laos is nearly always one stop on a longer route |
| Global plans | Lao Telecom and ETL | Multi-continent trips where Laos is a short leg |
| Unitel, or TPLUS (the old Beeline) | Not available on any plan we currently sell | Buy a physical Lao SIM if you specifically need these |
Do not manually select a different network. If your handset offers you Unitel, Best or TPLUS in the network list, picking one will give you signal bars and no working data, because your plan has no roaming agreement with it. On a Laos country plan or an Asia regional plan, the network to select is Lao Telecom, which some phones display as LTC or 457 01. Leave selection on automatic unless something has gone wrong.
Why an eSIM for Laos
Connected before you clear immigration
The profile is installed at home on Wi-Fi and switches on when you land at Wattay, Luang Prabang or Pakse. No shop, no queue, no paperwork.
No language barrier at the counter
Buying a local SIM in Laos means explaining what you want, in Lao, to someone who may not sell tourist plans every day. The eSIM removes that conversation entirely.
You keep your own number
Your home SIM stays in the phone for calls and bank codes; the eSIM carries the data. Both lines live side by side.
One profile for the whole Southeast Asia loop
The Asia regional plan covers Laos alongside Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, China and eleven more, which suits how people actually travel here.
A known price instead of a roaming bill
We are not going to invent a percentage saving. Look up your own operator’s out-of-bundle rate for Laos, which is almost never in an included zone, and compare it with the live prices below.
Nothing to lose in a guesthouse
There is no plastic card to misplace between Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, and no tray tool to borrow on a night bus.
Laos eSIM Pricing & Plans
Loading current Laos eSIM prices…
Installation Guide
Before You Travel
- 1
Check device compatibility
iPhone XS or XR and later, Samsung Galaxy S20 and later, Pixel 3 and later. Look for an EID under Settings, About phone. A carrier-locked handset can still refuse a second profile.
- 2
Choose the country plan or the Asia regional plan
Both run on Lao Telecom inside Laos. If any part of your trip crosses a border, the regional plan is the one to price first.
- 3
Install the profile on home Wi-Fi
Scan the QR code you receive by email. Installing needs internet, which is exactly what you will not have on arrival.
Upon Arrival in Laos
- 4
Turn the eSIM line on
Enable the Laos line in your mobile data settings.
- 5
Set it as your data line
And switch off data for your home line so it cannot quietly roam.
- 6
Enable data roaming on the eSIM line
This is required. A travel eSIM is technically roaming, so with roaming off you will register on Lao Telecom and still get no data.
Network Coverage Details
Where the network is, and where it is not
Reliable
- • Vientiane and the Thai border crossings
- • Luang Prabang old town and the airport
- • Vang Vieng town and the main valley road
- • Pakse and Savannakhet
- • Route 13 and the towns along it
- • The railway stations themselves
Patchy or absent
- • Inside railway tunnels, which is a lot of the line
- • The Mekong between Huay Xai and Pakbeng
- • Mountain villages off the paved roads
- • The Nakai plateau and the Kong Lor approach
- • Parts of the Bolaven waterfall loop
- • Hiking trails in the northern provinces
What speed to plan for
We do not publish megabit figures for Laos. Nobody we can cite measures real throughput across the country, and a number invented for a guide page is worse than no number at all.
The Laos-China Railway Changed This Trip
Older Laos guides still describe the Vientiane to Luang Prabang journey as a long day on Route 13 by minibus. That is no longer how most people do it. The Boten to Vientiane railway opened on 3 December 2021 and put Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang on the same line, which is why the northern loop now gets done in a few days rather than a week.
The passenger stations, north to south
Boten (Moding), Na Teuy, Na Moh, Muang Xay, Muang Nga, Luang Prabang, Kasi, Vang Vieng, Phon Hong and Vientiane. Several of them, Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng included, sit some distance outside the town itself, so you will want a working data connection for the last leg.
Why your signal keeps dropping on board
47% of the route runs through 75 tunnels and another 15% sits on 167 bridges. That is the engineering answer to the most common complaint about the line: you are underground for a large part of the journey, and no eSIM or local SIM changes that.
What to do about it
- • Download offline maps for both your departure and arrival towns before you board.
- • Save your ticket, booking confirmations and accommodation address offline. Do not rely on pulling up an email in a tunnel.
- • Treat the ride as offline time. Load podcasts, downloads and reading in advance.
- • Send anyone meeting you a message from the platform before departure, not from the train.
- • We do not publish timetables or fares here, because they change and we cannot verify today’s. Check an official source close to your travel date.
Data Plans by Travel Type
Southeast Asia loop (most readers)
- • Laos is rarely the whole trip: price the Asia regional plan first
- • One profile covers Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and 14 more
- • 5-10GB covers maps, messaging and booking across a multi-week route
- • No reinstalling a new profile at every border
Northern loop by rail
- • Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang in a few days
- • 3-5GB is plenty if you download before boarding
- • Expect long offline stretches inside the tunnels
- • Keep tickets and addresses saved offline
Slow boat and river routes
- • Signal near Huay Xai, Pakbeng and Luang Prabang, little in between
- • Offline maps and downloaded entertainment before you board
- • Share your itinerary with someone before leaving Huay Xai
- • A power bank matters more than extra gigabytes here
Working remotely from Vientiane or Luang Prabang
- • 20GB or an unlimited tier if you tether a laptop daily
- • Unlimited plans carry a fair-usage policy: high speed up to a daily allowance
- • Cafe and guesthouse Wi-Fi is common but not dependable for calls
- • Lao Telecom in town is the steadier of the two for video
Must-Visit Places
Cultural Sites
Luang Prabang Old Town
UNESCO World Heritage town of temples and shophouses. Good coverage throughout.
Wat Phou, Champasak
Khmer temple complex in the south, reached from Pakse.
Plain of Jars, Xiengkhouang
Megalithic jar sites. Stay on cleared paths: unexploded ordnance is a real hazard here.
Pha That Luang, Vientiane
The gilded stupa that appears on the national emblem.
Natural Wonders
Kuang Si Falls
Turquoise terraced pools half an hour from Luang Prabang.
Kong Lor Cave
A river cave you pass through by boat. Assume no signal underground or on the approach.
Si Phan Don, the Four Thousand Islands
Mekong archipelago at the Cambodian border. Coverage varies island to island.
Nam Et-Phou Louey
Northern national protected area. Go with a guide and expect to be offline.
Network Providers in Laos
Four networks are licensed in Laos. Only the first two are reachable from a plan we sell, and it is worth knowing which is which before you start changing settings on a bus.
Lao Telecom (LTC)
• MCC-MNC 457-01. State-linked incumbent.
• This is the network our Laos country plans and the Asia regional plan use.
• GSM, 3G and LTE, and it holds 5G spectrum.
• If you ever select a network manually, select this one.
ETL
• MCC-MNC 457-02. Enterprise of Telecommunications Lao.
• Reachable on our global plans, alongside Lao Telecom.
• Not on the Laos country plan or the Asia regional plan.
• Mainly a town-and-city network in practice.
Unitel
• MCC-MNC 457-03, run by Star Telecom, majority owned by Viettel.
• A large network with a strong provincial footprint.
• Not available on any eSIM plan we currently sell.
• If you need Unitel, buy a physical Lao SIM and keep the eSIM as a second line.
TPLUS, and Best
• TPLUS is 457-08, the network that used to trade as Tigo and then Beeline.
• If a guide tells you to look for “Beeline” in Laos, that guide is out of date.
• Best Telecom holds 457-07.
• Neither is available on any plan we sell.
Troubleshooting Guide
Bars, but no data
- • Check data roaming is on for the eSIM line. This is the single most common cause.
- • Check the eSIM, not your home SIM, is set as the mobile data line.
- • If network selection is manual, set it back to automatic, or select Lao Telecom / LTC / 457 01.
- • Toggle airplane mode, then restart the phone.
Registered on the wrong network
- • Unitel, Best and TPLUS will appear in the network list. Your plan cannot use them.
- • Selecting one gives full signal bars and zero data, which looks like a broken eSIM but is not.
- • Set network selection back to automatic and let the profile find Lao Telecom.
Nothing at all on the railway or the river
- • Almost half the railway is in tunnel. This is geography, not a fault.
- • On the Mekong, expect signal near towns and none in the gorges.
- • Download offline maps, tickets and reading before you set off.
- • Signal normally returns within a minute or two of emerging. Do not start reinstalling the profile.
It slowed right down partway through the plan
- • On an unlimited tier, that is the fair-usage policy: full speed up to a daily allowance, reduced after.
- • On a fixed bundle, check your remaining allowance in your account.
- • Evening congestion in the tourist towns is real. Large downloads go better in the morning.
Emergency Contacts
Laos has no single national emergency number. There are three separate three-digit lines, and English is not guaranteed on any of them.
Police
191
Fire
190
Ambulance
195
Tourist Police, Vientiane
021 251 128
The number UK government travel advice gives for reporting crimes as a visitor.
Road accidents
+856 20 5666 9090
Dedicated road-accident line, also from UK government travel advice.
Your embassy and your insurer
Save both numbers before you fly. Serious cases in Laos are frequently evacuated to Thailand, so check your policy actually covers medical evacuation.
Save these before you travel. Emergency calls work with no data and no credit, on any network your phone can see, which is one reason to leave network selection on automatic.
Cultural Guide & Etiquette
Do
- Take your shoes off before entering a temple building or someone’s home.
- Cover shoulders and knees at religious sites. This applies to everyone.
- Greet people with the nop: palms together, a slight bow, no handshake needed.
- If you watch the dawn alms round in Luang Prabang, stand well back, stay silent, and do not use a flash. It is a religious observance, not a photo opportunity.
Do not
- Touch a monk, or hand something directly to one, if you are a woman.
- Point your feet at people, at Buddha images, or at an altar.
- Touch anyone on the head, including children.
- Raise your voice or lose your temper in public. It will not help, and it costs you standing.
- Wander off marked paths in Xiengkhouang or the eastern provinces. Unexploded ordnance from the war is still being cleared.
Useful Lao phrases
Frequently Asked Questions
Which network does a Laos eSIM actually connect to?
It depends on which plan you buy, and the difference matters. Our Laos country plans (the "Laos Unlimited" tiers, 3 to 30 days) declare exactly one Lao network: Lao Telecom, also written LTC, MCC-MNC 457-01. The Asia regional plan also declares Lao Telecom in Laos. Our global plans declare Lao Telecom and ETL. So if your phone ever asks you to pick a network by hand in Laos, the answer on a country plan or an Asia regional plan is Lao Telecom. Choosing Unitel there will show you bars and give you no data, because the plan has no agreement with it.
Can I use Unitel with an eSIM from you?
Not today. Unitel, run by Star Telecom and majority owned by Vietnam’s Viettel, is one of the largest networks in Laos and is genuinely good in the provinces, but every Unitel row in our catalogue sits on an inactive package. We would rather tell you that plainly than let you buy expecting a network we cannot deliver. If Unitel specifically is what you need, a physical Unitel SIM bought in Laos is the honest answer, and you can keep the eSIM installed as a second line.
Does an Asia regional eSIM really cover Laos?
Yes, and we can list its exact countries: Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Cambodia, South Korea, Laos, Sri Lanka, Macao, Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. Eighteen countries on one profile, with unlimited tiers from 3 to 30 days. Because almost nobody flies to Laos on its own, this is usually the plan to compare first on a Bangkok - Luang Prabang - Hanoi style route. Check the live prices on this page: at the time of writing the Asia regional tiers are substantially cheaper than the Laos-only plans.
Will my Laos-only eSIM work in Thailand or Vietnam?
No. A Laos country plan works inside Laos only. The moment you cross into Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia or China it stops working, and it will not fall back to a foreign network. If your trip crosses a border, buy the Asia regional plan instead of stacking country plans, or buy a second country plan for each leg and compare the totals before you decide.
Will I have signal on the Laos-China Railway?
Expect it to come and go. The Boten - Vientiane line opened on 3 December 2021 and 47% of its length runs through 75 tunnels, with another 15% on 167 bridges, so you lose the network repeatedly even on the stretches that are well covered outside. Coverage is good around the stations themselves, which sit at or near Vientiane, Phon Hong, Vang Vieng, Kasi, Luang Prabang, Muang Nga, Muang Xay, Na Moh, Na Teuy and Boten. Download your maps, tickets and anything you want to read before you board, and treat the ride as offline time rather than working time.
Can I use my eSIM on the Mekong slow boat?
Partly. You will have a signal near Huay Xai, Pakbeng and Luang Prabang and in the villages along the way, and long stretches with nothing in between, because the network follows the roads and towns rather than the river. Download offline maps and entertainment before boarding, tell someone your itinerary, and do not plan on making calls mid-river.
How much data do I need for two weeks in Laos?
For a normal trip, 5 to 10 GB is comfortable for maps, messaging, email, a bit of social media and a handful of photo uploads. Guesthouses, cafes and hotels in Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Vientiane almost all have Wi-Fi, so the heavy downloads can wait. Go to 20 GB or an unlimited tier only if you are working remotely, uploading video, or tethering a laptop daily. Note that our unlimited plans carry a fair-usage policy: high speed up to a daily allowance, reduced speed for the rest of that day.
Do I need a visa for Laos?
Most nationalities do. Since 1 January 2025 the tourist visa is valid for 30 days from arrival and can be extended twice, for up to 60 further days. You can apply for a single-entry e-visa online at least five days before you travel, or get a visa on arrival at the main entry points including Vientiane Wattay, Luang Prabang and Pakse airports. Check your own nationality against official guidance before you book, because the rules are not the same for everyone.
How do I know my phone supports eSIM?
Broadly: iPhone XS and XR and later, Samsung Galaxy S20 and later, Google Pixel 3 and later, and most flagships from 2020 onwards. The reliable check is to look for an EID number under Settings, About phone. One catch worth knowing: a handset bought on contract and never unlocked can refuse a second profile even when the hardware supports it. Test this at home, not at Wattay airport.
Ready for Laos?
Land on Lao Telecom with the profile already installed, and spend the trip looking at the Mekong instead of a SIM counter.
Get Your Laos eSIM