Yes, you can smoke at Vientiane Wattay International Airport (VTE) in the open air on the landside, at the designated areas just outside the terminal doors, before you pass through security.
Wattay is the main international gateway for Vientiane and for Laos as a whole, sitting about 3 km from the city centre. It runs two adjacent passenger buildings — an international terminal for flights to hubs such as Bangkok, Hanoi and Kunming, and a separate domestic terminal (opened during the 2018 expansion) for services to Luang Prabang, Pakse and other Lao cities. Both are smoke-free indoors, so wherever you fly from, the place to smoke is outside the doors on the curb. A further JICA-funded terminal renovation, agreed in October 2024 and due for completion by December 2027, will enlarge the passenger building; it keeps the same smoke-free-indoors policy.
International Terminal
The international terminal once had an indoor smoking lounge airside; it closed in May 2019 when the airport was declared smoke-free indoors. Traveller reports from that time describe a “Smoke free Wattay International Airport” notice taped over the old lounge door, and there has been no indoor or airside smoking room since.
The place to smoke is the open-air forecourt outside the departures and arrivals doors, on the landside before you clear security and immigration. Lao tobacco law requires any designated smoking area to be outdoors and set back at least 10 metres from the building, so look a short distance out from the entrance rather than right against the glass. Plan your last cigarette here before check-in: once you are through security there is nowhere airside to light up, and connecting passengers who need a break must exit, smoke outside, and re-clear security before their onward flight.
Domestic Terminal
The domestic terminal follows exactly the same rule. Smoking is in the open air on the landside, outside the terminal doors before the security checkpoint; there is no smoking room inside the building and none in the departure hall past screening. If you are connecting from a domestic arrival onto an international departure, step outside between the two before you re-enter and re-screen.
Vaping in Laos
E-cigarettes and vaping devices are banned in Laos under a zero-tolerance policy that prohibits import, possession and use. Devices are routinely confiscated at the airport and at land borders, and bringing one in is treated as an offence rather than a formality, so leave every vape and e-cigarette at home.
Summary
| Area | Smoking Allowed |
|---|---|
| Outdoor forecourt, before security (both terminals) | Yes |
| Indoor terminal | No |
| After security / airside | No |
| Vaping (anywhere) | No — banned nationwide |
For Laos’s airport smoking rules and the full vape-ban detail, see our Laos airport smoking guide.