Opening of four new bus routes to Laos delayed
The Transport Co Ltd’s plan to start four new bus routes to Laos has been delayed, mainly because of rising oil prices on the Lao side, an official said.
Siriporn Supaso, an official of the Khon Kaen office of the state firm, said the four routes — Khon Kaen-Vientiane; Udon Thani-Vang Vieng; Chiang Mai-Luang Prabang and Nan-Luang Prabang — would be indefinitely delayed mainly because of the rising aคงnd fluctuating oil prices in Laos.
The Transport Co had earlier agreed with its Lao counterpart to start operating the cross-border buses on the four routes from Wednesday.
Siriporn said the Lao counterpart of the Transport Co wanted to increase the bus fare by THB20 more per trip for the Khon Kaen-Vientiane route because the Lao kip has devalued from 260 kip to the baht to 460 kip per baht.
Sirikorn said the Transport Co is now seeking approval from the Land Transport Department for an increase in fare as demanded by the Lao side. This had led to an indefinite delay in the opening of the Khon Kaen-Vientiane route.
Regarding the Udon Thani-Vang Vieng route, Sirikorn said the Lao side had asked the two sides to jointly survey a new route so that the travel time could be cut from seven hours per trip to four hours.
Sirikorn added that the rainy season could lead to lower demand from passengers so the Thai and Lao transport companies agreed to postpone the start of the new routes.
The Transport Co said six other cross-border routes between the two countries would start as scheduled on Wednesday. They are Ubon Ratchathani-Pakse; Nakhon Phanom-Thakhek; Bangkok-Vientiane; Bangkok-Pakse, Mukdahan-Savannakhet; and Chiang Rai-Bokeo.