Decent French and Italian wines are abundantly available in Vientiane at restaurants, shops specialising in imported foods and in some shops which sell nothing but wine. Some restaurants and hotels in Luang Prabang, Savan-nakhet and Pakse also stock wine. New World wines are scarcer, though we saw quite a few Australian wines around. Whatever the origin, wine is much cheaper than it is in Thailand because the import tax is lower, so it's worth stocking up if you're heading across the border.

Luang Prabang is famous for a type of light rice wine called khao kam, a red-tinted, somewhat sweet beverage made from sticky rice. It can be quite tasty when properly prepared and stored, but rather mouldy-tasting if not.

In rural provinces, a rice wine known as lao-hdi (jar liquor) is fermented by households or villages. Lao-hai is usually drunk from a communal jar using long reed straws.