ATMs
Despite what you may have read, there are ATMs in Vientiane. In fact, there are a lot of them. The best ones are the JDB ATMs with blue signs. You can withdraw 1M kip at a time with a maximum of 3M per day. The fee is 20k kip per transaction on top of any fees charged by your bank. Some cards won't work at these ATMs so your next choice would be the BCEL machines with a max of 700k kip per transaction and fee of 20k.
UPDATE February 2009:
There is an ANZ Bank ATM on the corner near Bor Pen Nyang restaurant that will let you withdraw 2M kip (~$235USD) for a fee of 20k kip. This will cut your fees in half. I don't know if there are other ATM locations, if you see one let me know.
Credit Cards
Very few places other than hotels (not guesthouses) take credit cards.
Drugs
Pot is not legal, not decriminalized, not tolerated, and you can't smoke it publicly. A lot of people smoke and no one will care if they smell it, but try not to get caught with any. Prices range from insanely cheap to whatever idiot foreigners will pay. I don't smoke and don't have any advice on getting any.
Other drugs are available but far less common. The exception would be speed pills (yaa-baa) which cost around $2-5 per pill from what I understand. Be warned, this is much more serious than being caught with a joint. Opium is also available but way more expensive than you would think.
Your options for prescription drugs are limited. You would have a very difficult time getting a pharmacist to sell you painkillers or diet pills. Every pharmacy will gladly and openly sell you generic valium (Velium) which costs 15k for a blister pack of 10 10mg tablets. I either have some weird resistance to valium or these pills are really watered down. Your best option is Lexomil (Bromazapam) a drug very similar to xanax and manufactured by Roche. Many pharmacies don't have this but those that do will have no problem selling it to you. The price is about 10k for three 6mg bars, equivalent to 2mg xanax.
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