CHIANG MAI, Aug 7 – The Lao PDR and Thailand plan to add two bus routes connecting the two countries this year, up from the existing nine routes.
Department of Land Transport Director-General Somchai Siriwattanachoke and his Lao counterpart Wiang Sawat Si Than Don told a news conference in this northern Thai city about bilateral cooperation in the past year.
Both sides cooperated in operating nine routes and planned to add two new routes – Bangkok-Vientiane and Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani-Pakse this year.
In 2013, a new route — Bor Kaew-Chiang Khong-Chiang Rai — will be ready to be operational after the fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, this one connecting Thailand’s Chiang Khong and Lao’s Bor Kaew is completed.
The cooperation is part of land transportation development among the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
