Bus links Mekong tourist towns

BANGKOK, 24 January 2012: Thailand’s Ministry of Transport started a new Mekong Region bus route 19 January linking two tourist towns, Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang .

It is the 8th bus route linking Thailand and Laos.

Transport ministry deputy permanent secretary, Silapachai Jarukasemrattana, presided over the opening ceremony at the Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal, declaring the service would “promote tourism and investment between the two countries.” Read more

Fourth Mekong Bridge delays

VIENTIANE, 10 January 2012: The fourth Friendship Bridge that will link Laos and Thailand across the Mekong River will open in 2013 a year behind schedule, officials supervising the project confirmed last week.

“The bridge should open in 2012, but work has been delayed slightly due to project financing that slowed down after the global financial crisis,” the 4th Mekong River Bridge Construction Project deputy head, Thavone Vorabouth told Vientiane Times.

The bridge will span the river between two districts; Chiang Khong in Chiang Rai province, Thailand and Huayxai in Bokeo province, Laos.

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Third Mekong Bridge opens

NAKHON PHANOM, 17 November 2011: The Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, spanning the Mekong River, at a site 8 km north of Nakhon Phanom’s town centre, officially opened  last week.

Thailand’s Princess, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, presided over the opening of the bridge, 11 November, at a ceremony attended by high ranking government officials from both Thailand and Laos.

The Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, connects the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Phanom with Khammouan province in central Lao PDR.

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China to patrol Mekong River

BEIJING,10 November 2011 – China and several neighbouring countries will provide armed escorts to ships navigating the Mekong River, state media said Wednesday, after 13 Chinese sailors were killed on the key waterway last month.

The sailors died in a raid on two Chinese cargo boats on the Mekong on 5 October — an attack thought to have been carried out by a notorious gang in the “Golden Triangle” area known for drug smuggling.

Police in Thailand have since detained nine soldiers suspected of killing the sailors, and also thought to have links to a Myanmar drug kingpin.

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Bridge open to traffic in November

BANGKOK, 14 July 2011 – Thailand’s Highways Department confirmed, Wednesday, that construction of the Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, across the Mekong River, at a site 8 km north of Nakhon Phanom’s town centre, will be completed by 11 November.

The department’s bridge construction bureau confirmed work on the bridge and support roads, both in Thailand and Laos, was now 91.87% complete and 3.10% ahead of schedule.

Once open, heavy goods vehicles and oil tankers will by-pass Nakhon Phanom entirely, which should ease traffic in the centre of this riverside town. Commercial vehicles need to queue along the town’s riverside boulevard road waiting to board ferries, causing traffic congestion. Read more

Call for safeguards on Mekong dams

WASHINGTON, 8 July 2011 – US senators on Thursday urged greater environmental safeguards for dams on the Mekong River, calling on Washington to use its influence through global lenders to encourage a sustainable approach.

A bill introduced in the Senate applauds the delay in Laos of construction of the US$3.8 billion Xayaburi project and called for further delay in Mekong River dams until assurances of adequate planning and regional cooperation.

Senator Jim Webb, a member of President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party who heads a subcommittee on East Asia, called the postponement of the Xayaburi hydropower project “a positive step forward.” Read more

Laos suspends dam project

HANOI, 10 May 2011 – Laos has told Vietnam it will suspend work on a controversial dam planned for the Mekong River, official media reported, after Hanoi sought a 10-year deferment of the scheme.

Lao Prime Minister, Thongsing Thammavong, informed his counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung “of Laos’ decision to temporarily suspend the Xayaburi hydropower project,” Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported at the weekend from Jakarta.

It said the two communist leaders met in the Indonesian capital on the sidelines of the ASEAN regional summit. Read more

Colonial-style hotel opens in LP

BANGKOK, 5 October 2010 – French owned Mekong Cruises will open a five-star colonial-style hotel, The Luang Say Residence near Luang Prabang World heritage town in February 2011, the group reported Monday.

The hotel will soft launch 15 December but will not be fully operational until February 2011.

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River bridge makes progress

The construction of the third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, linking Khammuan province in central Laos to Nakhon Phanom province in Thailand in the upper northeast region is now five months ahead of schedule.

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