In many rural areas of Lao PDR, wildlife continues to be a crucial source of food and income. Specifically, various species of wildlife or individual animals are frequently traded and can be found for sale along roadsides or in local markets. However, the local community’s comprehensive understanding of the threats posed by biodiversity loss remains insufficient. In this study, we aimed to address this gap by conducting a survey of the illegal hunting of wild animals in three provinces of Lao PDR, focusing on areas where the local population heavily relies on natural resources for their livelihoods. These natural resources serve as a vital source of income to meet the daily household expenditures, potentially shifting hunting from subsistence to commercial purposes. We conducted interviews 40 hunters, and documented wildlife species that were sold at roadside. Moreover, each species was categorized according to its conservation status based on the IUCN Red List conservation status. We documented a total of 3,295 hunted individuals, including 2,146 birds (36 species), 1,081 mammals (15 species), and 68 reptiles (6 species). Even though most of the species hunted are classified with low conservation concern presently, some of them may potentially become at risk in the future. We showed that a large number of individuals, belonging to several species, are hunted in the wild by local communities of Lao PDR. These preliminary findings are valuable for assessing the potential threat posed by hunting and trade to the conservation of these species. While the majority of species identified in this study currently face low conservation concerns, they could become vulnerable or designated as at-risk species if hunting intensifies with an increasing number of hunters in the future.