Laos on GuideMeet

Is Laos safe to travel?

Updated October 2026

Our summary of the country advice published by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Viaggiare Sicuri) on 20 September 2026.

🌐 Italiano · Français · Español

Safety

• Unmarked minefields — Mined areas that carry no warning signs still exist in the country.
• Permits and closed areas — Excursions in Laos are tightly controlled and subject to specific permit regimes. Travel to areas not authorised by the local authorities is strongly discouraged.
• Armed groups, Golden Triangle — The risk of attack by armed gangs exists even in parts of the country open to tourism, and guerrilla incidents have been reported in the past in the north-eastern provinces. Take particular care in the border area known as the Golden Triangle, between Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, where illicit cross-border trafficking is reported; these areas normally lie off the usual tourist routes and need express permission to enter.
• Daylight and company — The ministry advises against travelling alone in remote areas, especially after sunset, advises not straying from the main roads that lead towards rural areas, and recommends travelling only in daylight and avoiding individual trips. No particular problems are normally reported for organised trips, which usually stay within the capital and Luang Prabang.
• Rains and typhoons — From May to October the rainy season overlaps with the south-east Asian typhoon season. Mountain areas are especially prone to landslides, and flooding can occur along the Mekong basin and elsewhere; the Mekong River Commission publishes official updates on the river. Travel in some provinces can be seriously disrupted, so check the weather before you set off and while you are there, following local news and weather bulletins.
• Crime and spiked drinks — Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Pakse are broadly safe, but crime against tourists, including robbery, rape and scams, cannot be ruled out. Watch your drink in bars: there have been cases of tourists having drugs slipped into their drinks so they could be robbed or defrauded.

Before you rely on this

This is our summary of advice written by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Italian travellers, published on 20 September 2026. We summarise in good faith, but we cannot guarantee it is accurate, current or complete, and we take no responsibility for decisions made on the basis of it. Rules change without notice and are applied by officials at the border, not by websites. Always read the original source and the travel advice your own government publishes for Laos before you travel. Where a guide's profile shows “Licence verified”, we found that licence in the official public register; otherwise GuideMeet has no way of checking whether an individual guide meets any standard mentioned here — ask them directly.

Source: Viaggiare Sicuri — Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, updated 20 September 2026. Last checked by GuideMeet on 7 October 2026.