Visas & Renting in Vientiane, Laos 🇱🇦 Walk & Talk

I walk from the neighborhood to the two supermarkets where you can find most things you'll need. JMart is the bigger store with more western products and Xokthavy is the smaller more commonly found shop. I also talk about the current visa options and renting in Vientiane.
#laos #laolegends #laosvlog #travellaos #learnlao

[@VonOunoutha]

Great video! Informative and useful. My husband and I plan on visiting Laos in the near future. We love your videos. Keep up the good work.

[@LaoSoftware]

I take a vacation in Laos every year. I have many cousins living there. They are my family. I don't forget them like the Lao people in America. They forgot their own relatives in Laos.

[@samyuellmongkhounsavath2348]

😂 the music always gets me too

[@mcstylelex3990]

I will be moving there soon in April,,,Renting Apartments??/talk about stuff like that too bro...awesome vid

[@LaoLegends]

Thank you, glad to have you out here. Agree, high time I made some quality vids on renting.

[@azizhakim6044]

Keep going bro ❤

[@LaoLegends]

Thank you so much brother

[@mythai05]

Thanks for the info. That's a good tip about avoiding the go-between on the rent. I'd check the Facebook pages you mentioned if I still used it, but I got sick of the toxicity on there so had to take a break. Plus, FB is basically a giant market survey. After pressing the like button a few hundred times, you start to feel like a lab rat. 🤣 It does help out the KZbinrs, though. Posting vids there helps increase the views.

[@LaoLegends]

Why I haven't used it only till now as all social media is just a marketing platform isn't it. Only suggesting it as I know there's more knowledgeable people out there than me and always welcome being corrected if I didn't give the correct info but I try my best.

[@mythai05]

@@LaoLegends There is some good info to be found there, for sure. It's easy to find people with similar interests too. Is there much of an ex-pat community there?

[@LaoLegends]

@@mythai05 Looks like I've got a new topic to discuss in a video. Appreciate it. But in short, yes, to both of your questions. :)

[@tonylinh3791]

Just saw ur video and subscribed.. I’m American in California and my Laos wife says your Laos is waay better than mine..

[@Wach_Pizzaman]

its in May now,,I will contact you when i get there,,thanks

[@palphimsurgtech]

That music be crazy tho. I could never 😅

[@LaoLegends]

Right🤣

[@nyrangers3150]

For a poor country there are some nice cars there.

[@LaoLegends]

Very true. Loads of nice trucks. I still can't figure out the math on how people survive let alone afford one of these trucks.

[@sweetoldbuzzard6087]

It's a very informative video. When you purchase items at the cash register, which phone payment do you use?

[@LaoLegends]

Thanks so much! I use BCEL bank's OnePay. Unfortunately, you do have to have the right visa in order to open a bank account here unless you have family here with the same last name that's willing to help you open an account. Each bank has a qr code cashless payment option and most vendors have their own qr code you can scan, but some street food vendors still only use cash.

[@lemongrass568]

unfortunately its the mind set. Lao consumers would rather choose foreign products and have not built up the domestic brand loyalty yet. I hope that changes in the future. There was an article I think last year about how domestic egg farms were wiped out due to Lao consumer choosing thai eggs due to better packaging. its the mentality...

[@LaoLegends]

I'm super curious about this topic..why I didn't go into the topic in the video. Seems like an opportune time for Lao investors to start producing their own products rather than import with the level of infrastructure and technology readily available now. Was leaning towards "whoever" is getting rich off the importing being in an influential person here...if you know what I mean...haha but not out to upset those people. Little weird to imagine Lao people refusing to buy something based on packaging but what do I know. Would love to do a podcast to have interesting long form conversations on topics like this, but I dunno...I love living here.

[@LaoLegends]

Well, I talked to my landlord and he said exactly what you said. It's just not popular to buy local goods compared to the imported goods. Crazy. Had no idea.

[@lemongrass568]

@@LaoLegends I would be curious what products Laos has. I honestly don't know my self. Lao product reviews would be interesting.

[@rickmccarroll9993]

Do they have a agency in Laos that help you get your visa to live there

[@skinnyblu3]

Hi. Do the stores take Visa, Mastercard?

[@tikhang1808]

Most stores don't have card swiping machines, but they do have ATM all over that takes Visa, Mastercard etc...

[@palphimsurgtech]

What you recommend for eSIM card for traveling there

[@LaoLegends]

I've never tried an eSim actually. Always just want into the first when I arrived in a country and bought the local sim to throw in there. Super easy, crazy cheap and great service.

[@palphimsurgtech]

@@LaoLegends darn. My dumb iPhone 14 Pro Max doesn’t have a slot for sim anymore 😭

[@LaoLegends]

@@palphimsurgtech dang man, that's wild. Was bummed when they got rid of the headphone jack too. Am I the only who doesn't like to worry about the wear and tear or losing a pair of expensive headphones or sunglasses.

[@sweetoldbuzzard6087]

The Galaxy Z Fold5 is one of the only phones with an E-SIM and a SIM slot. It works great. The one con is you can’t magnify any images on the screen, as you can do on most other phones

[@MrRJS27]

Laos will never have enough people for domestic manufacturing of consumer products, even if everyone bought them which is not currently the case. They're next to a much more populous and wealthy country, so they import. The very idea of a Lao supermarket, of course, would been science-fiction as recently as 20 years ago.

[@LaoLegends]

Very interested to learn more about this topic. 7 million seems like enough people to produce every day products like shampoo and cooking ingredients that everyone uses. Plus all the extra importing and transportation costs. Seems like a racket, but I honestly haven't properly researched anything so I could be wayyy off.

[@sweetoldbuzzard6087]

It all depends on that particular store's supplier. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, and it's how commerce works. Yes, the store supplier doesn’t get a kickback. He doesn’t get the product.

[@vernonmiller8852]

How do you go about buying a scooter or a motor vehicle? What's the good prices for those? And how do you go about doing it?

[@LaoLegends]

You'll have to pay in cash, unless you have a Lao person to be a co-signer, then you can make payments. I've not bought a car, but the high import tax makes them quite a bit more expensive than the U.S. You can get Chinese cars for pretty cheap. A new scooter will run you around $1250-1500 at at any of the motorcycles shops you'll see all around, but you can find people selling used bikes for as cheap as a few hundred dollars for an old one.

[@vernonmiller8852]

@@LaoLegends when you say a cheap Chinese car how much are you talking about and where do you look for those at?

[@LaoLegends]

Under 10k if I remember correctly and there's Chinese brand lots selling vehicles all around the city.

[@vernonmiller8852]

@@LaoLegends is that for a new vehicle or a used vehicle it seems vehicles are very expensive in Southeast Asia

[@LaoLegends]

Actually I swear it was much cheap and is a new electric car that my friend bought, but I'm not positive. And, yes the import taxes here are around %100, but in Thailand they're 300% so vehicles are crazy expensive.

[@holyhandgrenadeofantioch2019]

10:07 is this the scenic route?

[@LaoLegends]

I live in the middle of a big loop that the locals will tell you they always see me out walking or on my bike so once you go past that traffic circle right here you've left the loop heading South towards the city.

[@viexay]

Too loud & noisy in the background. ! Cannot hear anything but vehicle passing by. I can't watch this anymore. Can't even hear you !

[@LaoLegends]

There's a brand new video out about visas with no background noise and there will be another part to that with more about renting while you're here if that's what you're looking for. I understand walk and talk videos can be a bit challenging for some to hear with various background noises so there will be more videos on these topics. Hopefully soon I'll be able to invest in a mic so everyone can really enjoy these walk and talk videos as it's quite nice to see everything going on while covering a topic rather just watching a person sat there. Definitely always try my best to make quality videos for you to enjoy.:)

[@rickmccarroll9993]

I am looking to move to Laos. Could you tell me how to get a visa to live in Laos 🇱🇦 I am retired and looking to move abroad and I am looking to move and live in Laos

[@LaoLegends]

Contact Chris Barth ( Visa Professional & Expat Legal services) here: facebook.com/laosvis Whatsapp [phone]

[@rickmccarroll9993]

@@LaoLegends hello Chris I was just message you about your expat service about a visa to live in Laos. What are the requirements? I am retired from the US Army with 20 years. I get a pension from that I get a VA pension and get social Security. I just check. On different countries to live abroad. And Laos is a beautiful country. So if I was to different to live Laos your services I could use right

[@EamonnHogan-eu3qc]

I understand the 1st entry visa is $40, but I still can't figure out what the 30 day extension will cost I'm hearing, $40, $30, $59 etc What is the actual cost fo a 30 day extension (tourist visa) in laos??

[@LaoLegends]

It's just $30.

[@VonOunoutha]

Great video! Informative and useful. My husband and I plan on visiting Laos in the near future. We love your videos. Keep up the good work.

[@LaoLegends]

Thanks, so much to come from the beautiful place! So glad to hear you're planning on coming to visit Laos soon.