100.000 Kip

The 100,000 Kip is the highest denomination the Bank of the Lao PDR has issued, introduced partly in response to years of accumulated inflation that left smaller notes practically useless for everyday transactions — by the late 2010s, a basic meal in Vientiane could easily cost 30,000 to 50,000 Kip. Laos has never formally dollarized, but Thai baht and US dollars have circulated alongside the kip for decades, a persistent pressure the central bank has consistently declined to address through redenomination.

Cotton substrate on a note of this denomination is notable given that neighboring economies have largely migrated high-value issues to polymer.