Where to Buy a SIM Card in Vientiane (2026): Airport, Shops, Prices

By Herbert Kanale, 15 years in Lao telecoms. Updated 19 October 2026.

Short answer: in Vientiane you can buy a physical SIM card at the operator counters in the Wattay airport arrivals hall, after baggage claim, or at the official Unitel, Lao Telecom (LTC) and ETL shops in town. You need your original passport. A basic SIM costs around 20,000 kip; Lao Telecom’s official tourist SIMs cost 85,000 to 250,000 kip. If you’d rather skip the queue, a Unitel eSIM installed before you fly works as soon as you land.

At Wattay airport

• Where: the operator counters are in the arrivals hall, after baggage claim. Unitel has the largest counter.
• Hours: roughly 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM, following the flights rather than staying open around the clock. On a late-night arrival, expect them to be closed.
• What you need: your original passport (photocopies are generally not accepted). Some sellers also take a quick photo of your face for registration.
• Lao Telecom’s airport point is listed officially as the Wat Tai Airport customer service, Arkart village, Sikhottabong district, tel. 021-513067.
• eSIM: the airport counters sell physical SIM cards, not eSIMs. If you ask for an eSIM, you’ll usually be sent to a service centre in town (more on operator eSIMs).

Airport details observed in August 2026. A dated photo of the current price boards is coming with our field study.

Official shops in Vientiane

Operator	Shop	Contact
Unitel	Headquarters, Nongbone Road, Phonxay village, Saysettha district	109 or 021 999 666
Lao Telecom (LTC)	Saylom customer service, Saylom village, Chanthabury district	021-240925
Lao Telecom (LTC)	Nam Phou customer service, Sisaket village, Chanthabury district	021-212209
ETL	Head office, Saylom Road, Saylom village, Chanthabuly district	021-260012 / 13

Addresses and phone numbers from each operator’s own website (unitel.com.la, laotel.com, etllao.com), checked on 19 October 2026. Opening hours aren’t published; call before you go.

How much does a SIM card cost?

A basic SIM card costs around 20,000 kip (about $1), and you add a data package on top: see our Unitel data package prices, Lao Telecom package prices and ETL package prices.

Lao Telecom also sells ready-made tourist SIMs (“Jai Dee SIM”):

Tourist SIM	Validity	Price
10GB	7 days	85,000 kip
15GB + 10 min domestic calls	10 days	100,000 kip
35GB	15 days	200,000 kip
45GB + 15 min domestic calls	30 days	220,000 kip
60GB + 30 min domestic calls	30 days	250,000 kip

Prices as listed on laotel.com, checked on 19 October 2026. Counter prices can differ.

Registration: what to expect

Lao law requires every line to be registered to its user, so bring your original passport. The operators now use electronic identity checks: Unitel’s eKYC system reads the document and uses facial recognition with a liveness check, and ETL’s ETL-KYC app takes a photo of the SIM card and a photo of you holding your passport, then confirms by SMS. In practice, staff usually register and activate the SIM for you on the spot. More in our guide: do you need a passport to buy a SIM card in Laos?

Street sellers and Talat Sao

Phone shops around Talat Sao (the Morning Market) and elsewhere also sell SIM cards. Travellers on r/laos have reported being quoted several times the advertised price there (a February 2024 thread), and a SIM that isn’t registered in your name can be cut off. If you buy from a street seller, check that they register the SIM with your passport, and compare with an official shop.

The railway station

We have found no confirmed SIM counter at the Laos–China railway station in Vientiane. Buy your SIM in town, or install an eSIM, before you head to the station. On the train itself, expect data to drop in the many tunnels: see our mobile coverage guide for the Laos–China railway.

The alternative: skip the shop with an eSIM

If you’d rather not queue after a long flight, a Laos eSIM on Unitel gets you online as soon as you land: install it before your flight, and data activates automatically when your phone connects to Unitel in Laos, with nothing to dial. Plans start at $6.90 for 10GB over 10 days. It is data-only: Lao regulation requires in-person ID registration at a customer service centre for a line with a number, calls and SMS, so no eSIM sold online includes them.

Which should you choose?

• You need a Lao number, or you’re staying long: a physical SIM from the airport or an official shop, with your passport.
• You want to land already connected: an eSIM installed before you fly.

If Luang Prabang is also on your route, see our guide to buying a SIM card in Luang Prabang.

Photos: Unitel headquarters, Lao Telecom Nam Phou customer service and ETL SIM cards in a Vientiane shop, Herbert Kanale, August 2022.