Pakse scores 80 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 1847 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Pakse safe?

Laos · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

80.0Very high · rank 1847 / 6,168
safer than 70% of ranked cities

Pakse is a city in Laos, home to about 104k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,847 of 6,168, with a safety score of 80.0 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.

US 2/4 Exercise increased caution UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country

Emergency Fire 1190 · Police 1191 · Tourist police in Vientiane 021 251 128 · Ambulance 1195 or 030 525 7239

UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Xaisomboun Province

Named in the official UK travel advice for Laos (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Pakse.

How safe is Pakse really?

Neither Pakse nor Laos has a published homicide rate in the sources this site uses (UNODC and the Igarapé Homicide Monitor), so the strongest single indicator of city safety is simply missing here. Laos's income inequality is middling (Gini 34.7) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Laos at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-07-27). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 1 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.

What to watch out for in Laos

Terrorism in Laos · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Sexual assault · Motorcycle scams · Reporting a crime · Drink and food spiking · Methanol poisoning · Legal system · Illegal drugs and the death penalty · Using cameras and binoculars in secure areas · Getting permission for special travel projects · Relationships with Lao nationals · Smoking and e-cigarette bans · +11 more

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Laos — country-level, not specific to Pakse. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: no data
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 34.7country, 2024
Human development: HDI 0.617country, 2023
Income: $9,800/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 104kurban centre · 2,591/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 17.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 75/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 44/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 34/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.70Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 26.0 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 35%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 0.3 doctors /1k1.7 hospital beds per 1,000
Malaria: 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only

Natural hazards in Laos

Flood: 8.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Earthquake: 2.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Cyclone: 1.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 1.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Laos as a whole, not Pakse specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Laos (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in Laos; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%no data

Peace25%100

Equality25%67

Development10%62

One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Pakse that gives 80.0/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Pakse compared with Đà Nẵng

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Pakse, red favours Đà Nẵng.
Measure	Pakse	Đà Nẵng	Difference
Safety score	80.0	74.4	+5.6 — better for Pakse
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	no data	1.5 /100k	—
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0
Income inequality (Gini)	34.7	36.1	−1.4 — better for Pakse
Human development (HDI)	0.617	0.766	−0.149 — better for Đà Nẵng
Road deaths	17.9 /100k	30.6 /100k	−12.7 /100k — better for Pakse
Rule of law	44/100	52/100	−8/100 — better for Đà Nẵng
Corruption perceptions	34/100	41/100	−7/100 — better for Đà Nẵng
Air quality (PM2.5)	26.0 µg/m³	24.8 µg/m³	+1.2 µg/m³ — better for Đà Nẵng
Natural-hazard risk	3.7/10	3.9/10	−0.2/10 — better for Pakse

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Đà Nẵng →

Nearby cities

See Pakse on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →