Open the Laos time converter page: Visit https://www.xconvert.com/time-converter/laos to load Laos with Vientiane preloaded on the comparison grid. This is useful if you are planning a call with a supplier in Vientiane, coordinating NGO work in Southeast Asia, or checking whether business hours in Laos overlap with teams in Europe, the Gulf, or North America.
Add comparison cities with the + Add City button: Click + Add City and add cities such as Bangkok, Singapore, and London depending on your use case. Bangkok matters because Thailand shares the same UTC+7 offset and has strong transport and trade links with Laos, Singapore is relevant for regional finance and logistics, and London is commonly used for international development agencies, import-export coordination, and European partner calls.
Drag across the grid to select a meeting window: Click Select if needed, then drag across the Laos row to highlight a time range in purple, such as 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Vientiane. That selection shows the same window in other cities immediately: for example, 9:00 AM in Laos is 2:00 AM in London during standard time and 3:00 AM in London during British Summer Time, which quickly confirms that a Laos morning meeting is unsuitable for most UK-based teams but works well for Bangkok and Singapore.
Export the selected time for scheduling: After selecting a range, use the export options for ICS download, Google Calendar, Gmail, Copy to clipboard, or Share link. This is practical when sending a project handoff time to a distributed team, creating a calendar invite for a Vientiane hotel check-in coordination, or sharing a booking slot with partners so everyone sees the meeting converted into their own local time automatically.

Time Zones in Laos

Laos has one official time zone for the entire country: Indochina Time (ICT), which is UTC+7. There are no secondary domestic time zones, no half-hour or quarter-hour offsets, and no regional exceptions, so Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse, Savannakhet, and Phonsavan all use the same clock year-round.

A key practical point is that Laos shares its UTC+7 offset with Thailand, Cambodia, and parts of Indonesia, which simplifies regional business and travel planning. If it is 9:00 AM in Vientiane, it is also 9:00 AM in Bangkok and Phnom Penh, while it is 10:00 AM in Singapore, 11:00 AM in Tokyo, and 2:00 AM UTC.

Unlike countries such as the United States or Russia, Laos does not divide its territory into multiple time zones despite spanning 236,800 km². That makes scheduling easier for domestic operations, bus and flight timetables, hydropower coordination, and cross-country government administration because there is no need to account for internal clock changes between provinces.

Laos Country Details

Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Asia with its capital at Vientiane, the political and economic center located along the Mekong River near the Thai border. The country has a population of 7,061,507 and a total area of 236,800 km², making it one of mainland Southeast Asia’s less densely populated countries compared with neighbors such as Vietnam and Thailand.

The official currency is the Lao kip (LAK), which is used for everyday transactions across the country, although Thai baht and US dollars may also appear in some tourism or border contexts. Laos uses the international dialing code +856, which is needed when calling numbers in Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse, or other Lao cities from abroad.

The listed languages for Laos on this page are Lao (lo), French (fr), and English (en). Lao is the dominant national language for government, education, and daily life, while French remains part of the country’s historical administrative legacy and English is commonly encountered in tourism, international business, development work, and cross-border logistics.

Daylight Saving Time in Laos

Laos does not observe daylight saving time (DST). Clocks stay on UTC+7 throughout the entire year, so there is no spring-forward or fall-back date to track, and no annual clock changes for businesses, travelers, or remote teams.

Because there is no DST, all regions of Laos follow the same time continuously, including Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse. This makes recurring scheduling more predictable inside the country, although the time difference between Laos and countries that do use DST—such as the United Kingdom, Germany, or the United States—will change seasonally when those countries move their clocks.

For example, Laos is 7 hours ahead of UTC all year, but its difference from London changes depending on the UK season: Laos is 7 hours ahead of London in winter when the UK is on GMT, and 6 hours ahead in summer when the UK is on BST. There have been no recent national policy changes introducing DST in Laos, and the country continues to follow the same year-round standard time used by much of mainland Southeast Asia.

Frequently Asked Questions

how many time zones does Laos have?

Laos has one time zone for the entire country. All cities and provinces, including Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse, and Savannakhet, use Indochina Time (ICT), UTC+7, so there are no internal time differences to manage when traveling or scheduling domestic meetings.

does Laos use daylight saving time?

No, Laos does not use daylight saving time. The country remains on UTC+7 all year, which means clocks do not change in March, April, October, or November the way they do in Europe or North America.

what is the time difference between Laos and UTC?

Laos is UTC+7, meaning it is 7 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. When it is 12:00 noon UTC, it is 7:00 PM in Laos; when it is 9:00 AM in Vientiane, it is 2:00 AM UTC on the same day.

what currency does Laos use?

Laos uses the Lao kip, abbreviated LAK. The kip is the official national currency for retail purchases, transport, food, accommodation, and local services, although travelers may also encounter foreign currency in limited tourism or border-trade situations.

what is the dialing code for Laos?

The international dialing code for Laos is +856. If you are calling a number in Vientiane or another Lao city from outside the country, you begin with +856 followed by the local number, usually omitting any domestic trunk prefix if one is used locally.

what time zone abbreviation is used in Laos?

The standard abbreviation used in Laos is ICT, which stands for Indochina Time. ICT corresponds to UTC+7 and is also used by nearby countries in the same regional time band, which helps simplify cross-border scheduling in mainland Southeast Asia.

is Laos on the same time as Thailand?

Yes, Laos and Thailand are on the same time year-round because both use UTC+7 and neither country currently applies daylight saving time. That means 9:00 AM in Vientiane is also 9:00 AM in Bangkok, which is helpful for trade, tourism, overland transport, and regional business coordination.

is Laos ahead of or behind Singapore?

Laos is 1 hour behind Singapore. Laos uses UTC+7 while Singapore uses UTC+8, so when it is 3:00 PM in Vientiane, it is 4:00 PM in Singapore, a useful difference to remember for airline schedules, logistics cutoffs, and regional office meetings.