Thailand’s prime minister promised to work with Laos to build a new railway bridge across the Mekong River and to boost trade between the two countries during a meeting with Lao leaders in Vientiane.
The bridge in northeastern Thailand’s Nong Khai province would carry cargo and would be a step closer to linking Bangkok and China by rail through the US$6 billion Laos-China high speed railway.
Thailand will loan Laos the money for its side of the bridge project, which could be completed by 2026, a Thai government spokesman said on Monday after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisine met with Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.
The two leaders also appeared at an opening ceremony for the Khamsavath train station in central Vientiane.
Thailand helped build the station through its Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency. Passenger service between Vientiane and Nong Khai is scheduled to begin next year.
Srettha and Siphandone agreed to boost the value of trade between Laos and Thailand’s bordering region to US$11 billion by 2025.
Inflation still high
Monday’s official visit comes as Laos’ inflation rate in October rose to 25.8 percent, the highest of any month this year. Food prices, in particular, rose by about 34 percent last month, a Lao official told Radio Free Asia.
“All goods in the markets are imported and sold at a high price,” a Vientiane resident told RFA this week. “High food costs are making poor people poorer.”
Siphandone spoke about the country’s sluggish economy at a conference in Vientiane last month, noting that Laos continues to deal with high debt levels, a depreciating currency and high gasoline prices.
Laos could strengthen its economy through tourism, exports and investments from neighboring Thailand, China and Vietnam, an Asian Development Bank official recently told Radio Free Asia.
The China-Lao railway, which opened in 2021, is the first railroad to penetrate any distance into Laos, a country whose transport infrastructure was long constrained by its poverty, mountainous terrain and sparse population. Laos had to borrow nearly half a billion dollars from China for the project.
The Lao and Thai prime ministers also signed an agreement on cooperation between Thailand’s Ministry of Culture and Laos’ Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. Another agreement focused on training for Lao railroad employees.
Several Lao people told RFA that they welcome the Thai government’s assistance.
“We need more cooperation on training because Thailand has more experience than Laos,” the Vientiane resident said. “We are not competitors. We are partners.”
Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.