Buying tickets in Laos for train, bus and boat transport is fairly straightforward. However, there are a number of things you need to keep in mind. The Thailand-popular 12GO does not really work in Laos, but that does not mean it is difficult to travel overland in Laos and find tickets for it. You can buy a ticket for your train or bus journey at almost every third shop in Laos, but whether you want to do that is another question. I explain the ticket system in Laos and give you tips for the cheapest tickets.

Tour agencies are middlemen, not official points of sale

So in Laos you can genuinely buy train and bus tickets almost everywhere. Even in towns far away from the railway you still see signs saying “train and bus tickets for sale here”. That is really where alarm bells should start ringing. Because why would a little shop in Nong Kiau sell a train ticket from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng? These are all so-called “third-party sellers”. They essentially buy up tickets and resell them. So these are not official points of sale, but people looking to earn a bit extra. Often these sales points are at accommodations or travel agencies that also offer day trips and the like. But sometimes they are just random shops or restaurants.

Is that a problem?

Well, yes, actually it is. The concept itself is not really a problem, and it is fine that people earn a bit extra from it. For us travellers it is of course super convenient to be able to book tickets at our accommodation, with transport including pick-up services. If that costs an extra euro or two, fine. But in Laos there are so many of these sellers that it has become a problem. It is no longer about one euro; it is about prices being doubled or even tripled.

Example: I took a train from Luang Prabang to Luang Namtha (or well, to Nateuy and from there a minivan). The train ticket from Luang Prabang to Nateuy cost me 216,000 kip (about €9), and the morning train was a bit cheaper still. The minivan to Luang Namtha then cost another 100,000 kip (€4). At my accommodation I overheard a conversation with other tourists who wanted to go from Luang Namtha to Luang Prabang and who paid 850,000 kip for that! (€33) That is about 2.5 times as much money, with the only advantage being that you are picked up from your accommodation by tuk-tuk, which in this case was a ride of 800 metres to the bus station. You pay €20 for that….. Sometimes they do ask normal prices, by the way. My accommodation here was expensive. Even for my route they asked 350,000 kip: 20 minutes to the bus station and a 150,000-kip, 4.5-hour bus ride. So those 20 minutes cost 1.5 times as much as the 4.5-hour bus journey. At a travel agency around the corner I found the same trip for 250,000 kip, which is a significant difference. There I indeed paid about €2 extra for the service, fine!

Traintickets “sold out”

In addition to drastically inflating their prices, these travel agencies and providers also all hold back tickets. They “buy” a certain number of tickets (the number they expect to sell that day) and then sell those. Because they are not official sellers, they do not work within the official system, and those tickets are therefore shown as “sold”. Are there still five tickets left at the end of the day? Then those are released again. But this means that tickets are only available in limited numbers everywhere, including via official channels.

In Laos, you buy train tickets yourself via the LCR (Laos–China Railway) app (download for Android or Apple) or at the station. But because those travel agencies hold tickets back, trains in the app often show as sold out. If you ask a local what to do, they tell you to try via a travel agency for three times the price. And people do exactly that. But if you wait until 7 p.m., those five unsold tickets suddenly become available again in the app. Conclusion: these travel agencies ensure that people often cannot buy tickets directly and are therefore forced to pay the high prices. I do think that falls under the category of a scam, but apparently it is one that is widely accepted.

And it gets even worse: locals also tell you that tickets really do sell out and that it is best to buy your ticket three or four days in advance, “just in case”. But that is simply not true. There is always some sales point somewhere where you can still buy the overpriced tickets. Maybe not in the city where you actually need them, but somewhere in Laos you can almost certainly still buy a train ticket…

And as long as we as tourists believe that panic and keep buying the overpriced tickets, the system will continue to exist. I had read about it in other blogs and Facebook groups, but then experienced for myself that at 7 p.m. all trains for the next day suddenly became available again, and the train was not even full.

Buy bus and boat tickets on the spot

The same basically applies to bus and boat transport in Laos. My boat from Nong Kiau to Muang Ngoy cost 70,000 kip (€3) at the ferry terminal. Via my accommodation? 190,000 kip. With tuk-tuk pick-up, because in a village where you have to walk a maximum of 10 minutes to the ferry, that is absolutely essential. When I arrived in Muang Ngoy, I immediately booked a boat and minivan combination back to Luang Prabang. What stood out was that if you walk up to the boat, you first pass a travel agency offering this route, and only further along the street is the official sales point. I did not pay close attention to prices there anymore, but at the official ticket office the boat and minivan from Muang Ngoy to Luang Prabang cost 260,000 kip, with 70,000 for the boat. Upon arrival in Nong Kiau, a tuk-tuk to the bus station (which normally costs 40,000 kip) is waiting, as this is a 20-minute walk. From the bus station the minivan to Luang Prabang departs, which costs 120,000 kip on its own. So for the entire service combined, you pay 30,000 kip extra (€3 on a €10 ticket). In Nong Kiau I saw the route from Nong Kiau to Luang Prabang being offered via accommodations for 350,000 kip, while that bus only costs 120,000 kip.

The only downside here is that bus stations and ferry platforms in Laos are often far outside the centre. So it costs you money to go back and forth by tuk-tuk to buy a ticket in advance. Booking online is not possible, and going there last minute in the hope that something is available is not a stress-free travel experience for many travellers. For buses and boats in Laos, I personally often did use travel agencies or my accommodation, and I did appreciate the pick-up service, precisely because the bus stations are so far away. With buses it is often less expensive anyway. For example, the bus route with tuk-tuk to the bus station from Pakse to the 4,000 Islands would come to about €4–5, while the minivan that picked me up at my hostel cost only €7. That convenience on a travel day is worth it to me.

Conclusion: where do you buy tickets in Laos?

So always try to buy your tickets directly for the best price. For example, when you arrive at a bus station you can already book your bus ticket for the next departure. For popular routes, where there are multiple options per day, you can take the gamble of going to the bus station or ferry and buying your ticket there. Train tickets in Laos are always easiest to book via the LCR app. And you can pay with your credit card, which also saves you a walk to the cash machine.

Also read my blog about transport in Laos, full of tips and information about different means of transport and what best to choose for your trip.