Casinos in Laos

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Introduction

Gambling activities present in Southeast Asia have a story of their own, very interesting in terms of regulations and legal bodies keeping an eye on it, as well as the turbulent history, especially when it comes to Mainland countries such as Laos.

Laos, also going by the name of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (LPDR), this generally economically impoverished country has found its way to become one of the renowned gambling tourism locations.

It is not something that the country has done single-handedly, as nearby countries such as Cambodia, and Macau, paved the way for the casino industry, both for the punters in the neighboring areas and the far-traveled tourists from all across the globe.

However, before we continue talking about the gambling industry in Laos, let us take a quick stroll through the country itself, its geographical position, politics, and cultural history in the last several decades to get a better view of the important segments.

Standing as the only Southeast Asian country that has no access to the coast, Lao People’s Democratic Republic is already somewhat limited in terms of trade and tourist attractions compared to the neighboring countries.

Speaking of the other countries encircling it, Laos is bordered by Myanmar and China in the northwest, Vietnam in the east, Cambodia in the southeast, and Thailand in the west and southwest, which are the very center of the Southeast Asian region.

With 236,800 square kilometers of land it is much smaller than bordering countries of Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, but somewhat bigger than Cambodia this country borders on the southeast, populating something under 8,000,000 people.

Not unlike the general Southeast region of Asia, there are plenty of beautiful and interesting natural destinations to visit, with a plethora of various native plants to the beautiful wild forests, steppes, and crystal-clear lakes, making it attractive to travelers.

The country’s capital city alone, Vientiane, has many destinations that bring tourists from all over the world like the old Buddhist temples of Pha That Luang, and Wat Si Saket, Ho Phra Keo museum of religious arts, the Buddha Park and the city’s night market.

Culturally the country is rather diverse with many ethnicities living together such as the people of Mon and Khmer ancestry, predominantly occupying “upper Lao”, as well as Hmong, Yao, Lahu, and Akva known as “hill tribes in the regions called “mountain Lao”.

Now on the subject of gambling, like most of the other countries occupying Southeast Asia, gambling is illegal for the citizens, however, it is open for all of those that come from the other side of the border.

Although Laos is not necessarily as much of a gambling center as other countries, such as Cambodia and Macau, with only three legal and properly registered land-based casinos, gambling activities are not to be taken lightly as a part of the country's income.

As gambling is against the law for the country’s population, the government has established so-called Special Economic Zones, where the casinos operate out of the reach of the gambling laws and regulations officially conducted by the country.

The aforementioned three casinos are strategically located in places that are the most accessible to clients.

The Savan Vegas Hotel & Casino, as its name already tells is situated near the border of the city of Savannakhet, a provincial city that is very near to the Thailand border.

Dansavanh Nam Ngum Resort Casino is located much closer to the capital city of Vientiane, making it much more approachable to the tourists from all across the globe.

Lastly, there is the most popular and well-regarded casino named Kings Romans Casino which is close to several borders, Thailand, Myanmar, and China, making it a perfect resort for the neighboring gamblers that just have to cross the border.

None of these three casinos are particularly luxurious and the amount of slot and poker machines is much more limited when compared to some of the other countries in the region, although all kinds of table games are still present in all of them.

History of Gambling

Gambling in Laos has had a very rocky road through the years, but it all started with the neighboring country of Macao which opened and expanded its gambling industry in the early 2000's, followed by other countries like Cambodia and the Philippines.

Nevertheless, while some of these countries in the same region counted to expand and earn significant income, others had a troublesome situation regarding the gambling industry, some of which are Vietnam, Malaysia, and of course Laos.

First of all, they are not very welcome by the citizens of the country, secondly, there have been some troubles legalizing these activities and making sure that the casinos work properly.

It is worth mentioning that all of these three casinos in Laos are actually operated by owners from different countries. The most known one, the Kings Roman Casino is funded by several other countries like Hong Kong and Macau.

Due to the fact that to today, these land-based casinos can’t compete with the ones in Thailand or Cambodia, these regions where the casinos are located have also become a part of some unfortunate illegal activities like prostitution and drug trafficking.

Legislation and Jurisdiction

As all of the casinos that can be found in the country of Laos are owned by foreign owners, each one of those is regulated by the laws of that country, meaning that there are no uniform regulations executed by the Laos government per se.

In terms of iGaming and online gambling, just recently the country has made some steps to impose a similar regulation to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), meaning that the proper license is gained, but players from Laos are excluded.

As the casinos are exclusively present in the Special Economic Zones, these land-based gambling locales remain pretty much outside of the official reach of any kind of regulatory body.

As such, there is room left for misdemeanors of all kinds and the casinos have seen some tensions with their clients especially when it comes to the gamblers that come from China.

Popular Sports & Games

Although offering much less in terms of the gambling activities available compared to most of the other countries in the region, Laos’ land-based casinos do provide a plethora of various gambling activities.

While there’s not much to look forward to in terms of the machines, table games present include some of the most popular card games like baccarat and poker, as well as roulette and craps.

Sports betting is also very popular in this country, although it is not allowed for the country's citizens, and one of the more popular sports there is Muay Lao, a type of kickbox that invites an audience, among many of which are gamblers from all over the world.

Banking

In more recent years proper banking regulations have been appearing in this country with the local Financial Action Task Force focusing on bettering the anti-money laundering authority.

Also, recognizing that most of the local banks are leaving much to be wanted, especially when it comes to cooperation with foreign clients, the country has accepted all sorts of international banking methods and e-wallets like Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal.

Of course, most of the resorts, hotels, and casinos in Lao People’s Democratic Republic will accept the use of credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard.

To Conclude

While the country of Laos has a long way to go to expand the selection of casinos, and there is a slim chance that it will ever catch up to the neighboring countries like Macao and Cambodia in this regard, it does provide a few very exciting gambling destinations.

With that being said, due to the legal matter of these casinos working pretty much outside of any regulatory body by the country's government, keep in mind that gambling at these locales carries a particular set of risks, so do so carefully and responsibly.