Trade expected to gain as Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge set to open in November
The 5th Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge being built across the Mekong River will open in November. The new border crossing point will be the gateway to Bolikhamsai district in Laos, and is expected to facilitate the economy, tourism and trade between Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China.
The bridge will connect Thailand’s Bueng Kan province with Paksam in Laos. The Cabinet gave its approval to the Department of Highways under the Transport Ministry to start construction in 2012. On June 14, 2019 both countries signed an agreement on co-construction at Bueng Kan province
Nearly 80 per cent of the construction work has been finished and the Friendship Bridge project is expected to be completed by November, the ministry said.
The opening of the bridge is expected to not only boost cross-border trade, investment and tourism between both countries, but also facilitate the export of Thai goods to southern China.
The bridge is 16.18 kilometres long — 12.13km on the Thai side long and 2.86km on the Lao side. The bridge begins on the intersection of highway No. 222 in Bueng Kan district, Bueng Kan province and terminates at the intersection of road 13 in Paksan, Bolikhamsai district in Laos.
The highway has four lanes, each lane 3.50 metres wide with a 2.50-metre shoulder in a 60-metre road zone. The extradosed prestressed concrete bridge has two traffic lanes and a shoulder and sidewalk with an 810-metre span across the Mekong River. There are border control facilities on both sides and a traffic switch point on the Lao side.
Thailand has invested 3.930 billion baht on the bridge — 2.553 million baht for construction and 77 million baht for construction control.
