Hello all in the land of Laos  :)

I am travelling to Vientiane next month and i am trying to locate information on employing a guide / translator.

I have searched the internet with next to no luck, only a Canadian company who has guides worldwide.

I am seeking the services of a guide / translator for 3 days.
My girlfriends family live near Vientiane and i am going to visit. I speak English and my girlfriend has only just started schooling in English so she only knows the basics. My girl is based in Thailand and in the past her friend has translated for us....

Can anyone give me information on a company or local person i may contact and employ in Vientiane ?

Thank you,

Boy from OZ    ;)

Good dye mate! (always wanted to say that)
Your best bet is to just go there and find one. They don't really advertise on the internet or anything. I'm sure you can find someone who speaks some english and would be willing to follow you guys around for 3 days, all expenses paid. There are many university grads with nothing to do, just show them the money. You got to understand in Laos it is not very organized. Us westerners like to plan and prepare everything, not the case in Laos. So your girl doesn't speak much english and you don't speak much lao/thai... hmmm.

By the way, what's with you aussies and your obsession with the wizard of oz? The admin seems to be the same way.

Thanks Buk Hoo Kee,

I shall just get off the plane and go for it then !
I was under the impression from reading different topics at this forum that many Laoations wandering about the city would speak good english. Just wanted to see if there were any specialist locals that i could help out for assisting me...

As for the OZ thing it is slang, short version of Australia, and seeing Laos gals seems has a big thing for Judy Garland i thought it would be a good ice-breaker!

Looking forward to the visit and maybe joining in the yak (slang for conversation)again sometime......

Cheers    8-)

OZ 111 wrote on 13^th Jan, 2013 at 6:07pm:

I have searched the internet with next to no luck, only a Canadian company who has guides worldwide.

Laos is a communist country, we don't advertise anything on the internet. Search for a tour guide in Thailand and you'll find plenty of them, that's the difference between a closed society and an open society.

As Buk Hoo Kee mentioned, you can basically find a tour guide on the streets of Laos quite easily. Jumbo and Tuk Tuk drivers deal with tourists every day. You just have to approach them and pick a guy with good English and negotiate a price. They'll take care of you pretty much immediately if you show them the money, that's what Lao society is like.

You don't really need to book a tour guide, however this can also be done. Exchange phone numbers with the driver, and just make an arrangement for him to pick you up at a certain time or day.

The average cost is between 1000 baht ($33 US) to 2000 baht ($66 US) for a day in and around Vientiane.

Do you really need a tour guide, where do you plan on going? If it's just in Vientiane then any tuk tuk driver can show you around, just get a young dude that will know some english and know where all the hip spots are like the Dow Kum night club, haha. Tell him you want to "lup maow" for $50 all day haha.
When I was in Laos recently walking around the river front, some students came up to me speaking english and asking me to fill out their survey for school homework. So they are eager to speak english to people. I spoke lao back to them just to mess with them haha.
Are there any lao people that still speak french back there, I didn't hear many.

True. Unlike your typical taxi driver in Australia or America who don't really care about you, other than dropping you off from point A to point B, Jumbo and Tuk Tuk drivers in Laos are pretty flexible in their job. Their job has no limits, and they'll do anything for you because they are always in need of money to feed their family.

There are professional tour guides in Laos, but it will cost you a bit of money. Just pick someone off the streets is the way to go.

English is becoming more popular than French these days.

Great work guys and gals !

Thanks for all of the helpful input and words of wisdom.

I look forward to my travel to Laos next month and hope
all of the locals are as helpful as you all.

Maybe i will see you around town... I will buy you a beer!

Take care   :D

There are dozens of small travel agencies in Vientiane (over 100 last time I counted).  Just walk in and ask them to fix you up with a translator/guide.

Lucky Lao Travel is a new company. Very friendly people. Here is number 021 215466 or 021 215536

Good luck and have fun

Laos is nothing like Thailand and the Lao people are honest and caring people again nothing like the Thai’s. I speak passable conversational Thai for an Australian and found excellent English is widely spoken in Vientiane and the only downside was there is basically no taxi’s to be found other than the airport or large hotels. The Jumbo and Tuk Tuk drivers mostly spoke good English and I found them to be decent people.