Tourists To Laos Find Link Blocked

[george]

TOURISTS TO LAOS FIND LINK BLOCKED

Friendship Bridge still closed to travellers months after it was inaugurated

LOEI: -- Thai tourists hoping to travel across the new Thai-Lao Nam Hueng Friendship Bridge will have to wait.

When the bridge opens, travellers can cross the bridge in Tha Li district in this northeastern province and proceed to Luang Prabang from there.

But they will have to wait as Laos is not yet ready to let people use it _ months after it opened.

The bridge linking Ban Na Kraseng of tambon Ahi in Tha Li district and Muang Mo Tai village of Kaen Thao district in Sayaboury, Laos, opened on Oct 28 last year.

The immigration checkpoint at Tha Li has been upgraded to an international passage. Usually quiet and used only by local Thais and Lao people to trade, the checkpoint subsequently became a centre of interest for tourists.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand started promoting tourism in that part of the country immediately after the bridge opened. It said that with just a passport and permit for international use of vehicles from the transport office of Loei province, tourists could travel in their cars to Laos and stay in the country for up to 15 days.

But in February the prospect of travelling on a new and faster route to Luang Prabang suddenly vanished when authorities of Kaen Thao sent an informal message to their counterparts in Tha Li district to stop the flow of tourists to Luang Prabang via the bridge.

Anupong Khamphukaew, an assistant district chief of Tha Li, said the message said Lao officials were not yet organised for the visitors.

However, it did not say when they would be ready.

According to Mr Anupong, the 363km road from Kaen Thao to Luang Prabang is made of laterite and gets muddy in the rainy season.

Laos did not yet have officials manning the Kaen Thao immigration checkpoint although construction work is under way there on the checkpoint and a duty-free shop.

Local Thai and Lao people can still cross the border for trade or other business, Mr Anupong said.

However, as word has yet to get out widely, many tourists continue heading for Tha Li only to be disappointed.

An official at Loei's TAT office said: ``Tourists chartered buses from Bangkok, wanting to proceed to Luang Prabang. They were disappointed and complained about the poor public relations.

``We could not say a word because we have never received an official message from Lao authorities about their problems.''

An immigration official at Tha Li said despite the snag Thai tourists who really wished to travel to Luang Prabang could do so on the condition that they leave their cars on the Thai side and buy the tour services of Lao entrepreneurs for 3,000 baht a head.

The new bridge has still provided increased convenience for local people, who no longer have to take a boat across the Hueng river or walk across it in the dry season to get to the other side. The bridge has also improved transport of goods.

According to figures provided by Loei's commerce office, in 2004 Thailand's exports to Laos via the bridge amounted to 460 million baht and Laos' exports to Thailand were worth about 445 million baht. Thai exports included vehicles and parts, machines, electrical appliances, construction materials and fuel.

Lao exports were mainly timber, farm products and minerals such as barite.

On the negative side, the bridge has boosted smuggling of contraband including fuel and methamphetamines.

``It's a matter of grave concern. Our intelligence says there are many points for drug storage along the border with Laos. Up to 700,000 speed pills have been stored at spots across the border,'' said Mr Anupong.

Another negative impact of the bridge is the flow of investors from other provinces to buy land to build guesthouses, commercial buildings and restaurants to cater to the future flow of tourists.

The price of land at Ban Na Kraseng has increased tenfold to 300,000-400,000 baht per rai.

The land price is expected to rise to one million baht per rai once a new immigration office, duty-free shops, a police station and a hospital are completed in the next one to two years.

--Bangkok Post 2005-04-18

[astral]

Did they say FRIENDSHIP?

What a joke!!