VIENTIANE - Thailand and Laos agreed on Wednesday to build another bridge linking the countries across the Mekong River.
A ceremony in December began the final stages of construction of the fourth bridge between the North of Thailand and Laos. China funded half the construction costs. (Picture by Khaosane Pathet Lao News Agency)
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Lao Premier Thongsing Thammavong supported in principle the new international link planned to span the Mekong from Bung Kan province in the Northeast to the Lao province of Borikhamxay. The leaders agreed to assign agencies to conduct a feasibility study.
The study will include the question of whether the new bridge should include railway tracks. Suranand Vejjajiva, the prime minister's secretary, said the two leaders met on the sidelines of the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (Acmecs) summit.
Three bridges currently span the Mekong to link Thailand and Laos. A fourth bridge is being built in Chiang Khong district of Chiang Rai province to link with Bokeo province in northern Laos.
Acmecs comprises Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
The prime ministers told the summit that Thailand supported other infrastructure projects in the Acmecs region to bolster trade, investment and tourism.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra delivers a speech in the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (Acmecs) summit in Vientiane on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Government House)
Ms Yingluck said Thailand will start restoring the six-kilometre railway tracks from Aranyaprathet station of Sa Kaeo province to the Cambodian border at Poipet to directly reconnect train lines of the two countries.
Ms Yingluck witnessed the signing ceremonies of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a contract farming scheme between Thailand and Laos, and another MoU to set up the Thai-Cambodian Business Council.