Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, right, and his then-Lao counterpart Phankham Viphavanh preside over a groundbreaking ceremony for the fifth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Bung Kan province in October, 2022 (Photo: bangkokpost) Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai governmenton January 28 announced that the fifth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge is set toopen early next year which should help boost border exchanges not only betweenlocalities between Thailand and Laos but also trade in the Greater MekongSubregion (GMS), as it will speed up imports between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos,Cambodia, Vietnam, and China (Yunnan).
The bridge, which connects the Thai northeast province of Bueng Kan and Laos' Bolikhamsay province, costs 3.6 billion THB (nearly 110 million USD), of which 2.5 billion THB comes fromThailand and the rest from Laos.
According to deputy government spokeswoman Tipanan Sirichana,theconstruction is 60% complete and proceeding faster than planned. The project isexpected to open to traffic early next year.
Tipanan said the bridge will help facilitate transport over adistance of 150km from Thailand to Vietnam via Laos. It is the shortesttransport route from Thailand to Vietnam.
The first four bridges over the Mekong River serve the NongKhai–Vientiane, Mukdahan–Savannakhet, Nakhon Phanom–Khammouane, and ChiangKhong–Huay Xai routes./.
