Loei - Lao Bridge Link Fails To Draw Tourists

[george]

Loei-Lao bridge link fails to draw tourists

BANGKOK: -- A tuk-tuk sporting a Lao flag splutters its way across the concrete bridge at Tha Li in Loei province. Its twin heads in the opposite direction, Thai flag fluttering in the breeze as it kicks up a cloud of dust. If you need confirmation that you are standing at the border with Laos, watch the tuk-tuks manoeuvre as they approach the bridge's apex.

They swerve like dancers criss-crossing the centre line narrowly missing each other as they switch lanes. Fortunately, the drivers are seated dead centre of their 10-passenger vehicles so left or right hand drive rules are irrelevant and very few private vehicles pass this way. Understandably so, just a few kilometres beyond the border the tarmac gives way to a red dusty and rock-strewn road. It is not an encouraging prospect when the first sign appears _ 378 km to Luang Prabang.

Even the sturdy tuk-tuks limit their journeys to short 500-metre roundtrips across the bridge and back to ferry Thai tourists to the duty-free Mecca on the Lao side.

Is it really a Mecca, a golden gateway to the Mekong region countries? There are 20 tour buses parked on the Thai side. I estimate there must be 600 Thai tourists milling around the converted cargo container that serves as the immigration and customs office. tuk-tuks are doing a roaring trade ferrying the tourists across the bridge at Bt10 a passenger.

``If it was like this everyday, I wouldn't be wearing this uniform,'' a customs officer told me. ``I'd be driving a tuk-tuk.''

He waves the next group of 10 passengers to the waiting tuk-tuk.

``It's a long weekend so we have a crowd, but usually you could count the passengers on one hand.''

Tha Li is about 55 km from Loei on a sealed country road (2115). At a junction in the small village the road splits, one route turning northeast for 52 km following the Huang River to where it joins the Mekong River at Chiang Khan, and the other heading north to the Tha Li bridge.

Easy to miss it as there are no signs, and not until you see the Thai flag aloft of the converted container would you guess you are approaching an international border checkpoint. It does quite fit the hype and publicity that surrounds Mekong River tourism. There's a tacky, dishevelled appearance that suggests this is little more than paying lip service to a concept without delivering a travel experience.

Most visitors look at the bridge and stand under a signpost that shows the general direction of Luang Prabang, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Sydney and New York. A few potted plants and a plaque indicate the last few metres of Thai soil. Beyond the plaque the muddy brown Huang struggles to deliver enough water to keep the channel open.

It's not the cost that deters tourists from visiting this particular checkpoint. Using a Thai ID card the tourists pay Bt7 at the Thai side and another Bt7 at the Lao checkpoint. Chalking up an overseas trip for just Bt24 is a bargain even if most of the passengers are back on Thai soil 45 minutes later. Occasionally a couple of backpackers turn up hoping they can hitchhike their way to Luang Prabang.

``How's the road,'' I asked the friendly customs officer. He points at the tarmac: ``You see it here, you won't see tarmac again for 300 km.'' He shakes his foot to dislodge some of the red dust that threatens to dull his immaculate polished black shoes.

I almost asked what had gone wrong with his career? What could have he possibly done to deserve this dreary outpost? I bit my lip remembering I had chosen to travel almost 600 km to visit this place and dared to call it a holiday.

By now the tourists are returning across the bridge, through the dust and afternoon haze, the sun rays catching the chrome fittings on the tuk-tuks and the tops of Beer Lao cans crammed into plastic bags.

Some had splurged on bottles of wine and foreign cigarettes, but the predominant duty-free acquisition was Beer Lao, 24 in a pack at Bt15 a can. As quickly as the buses arrived they set off again hooting their way along the windy country lane through Tha Li and then on to the next stop; the Mekong rapids at Chiang Khan.

That's it for today. It was time to roll up the pavement, pack the goodies and appreciate regional tourism by counting up the fares, soft drinks and fees earned for travel to a foreign land.

I suspected if I sat under the shade of the bamboo lean-to long enough, I would spy the duty-free operators making their way back across the bridge lugging a day's takings in Beer Lao sales. Here is one of the quirks of regional tourism acted out on every public holiday.

Domestic tourists pay a few baht to go international for 45 minutes. They take their baht across a bridge, buy a hamper of booze paying in baht and return after putting a few baht in the pockets of the tuk-tuk drivers.

If as I suspect the duty-free shop is actually a Thai venture, then the baht returns the way it travelled across border back to a bank on the Thai side.

If there is a saving grace, it is probably the smartly appointed OTOP shop a kilometre down the road from the border. Here handicrafts from Loei province, mainly hand-woven cloth and rattan furniture, are on sale at bargain prices, as long as you don't figure in the cost travelling there in the first place.

Would I go back to Tha Li to stock up on Beer Lao? No, but if the trail to Luang Prabang had some decent inns to stay at, the road north through rugged mountains promises spectacular scenery and a touch of soft adventure. You would have to own a sturdy pick-up, a four-wheel-drive vehicle or better still a mountain bike.

Loei tourism's prospects are linked to where travellers can go after they have taken their fill of cool weather (October to February), views of forested hills and the spectacular drive that follows the Mekong River bank from Chiang Khan to Pak Chom.

Long term Loei needs a destination beyond its steep valleys, a route that takes travellers across the border to Laos, Luang Prabang and eventually Yunnan, China.

Tha Li checkpoint also needs a clean-up, better facilities and a duty-free shop that actually delivers revenue to the Lao economy. Currently like most checkpoints to neighbouring Mekong countries, car travel is not a serious factor. Rules are too cumbersome and discourage most car owners. Caravans usually organised by government organisations indicate that car trips to neighbour countries are technically feasible. Travelling in an official group reduces the paperwork, but despite all the publicity caravans generate, the exercise has never translated into family car travel to neighbouring destinations.

--Bangkok Post 2005-11-10

[astral]

Yet another example of a poorly researched business project?

"MBA's with all the business acumen of a gassed badger".

Never mind, I am sure some people got a nice big kickback.

Does anyone know if farangs can do the Duty Free run, without a visa for Laos?

Edited November 10, 2005 by astral

[Maejo Man]

Loei-Lao bridge link fails to draw tourists

Understandably so, just a few kilometres beyond the border the tarmac gives way to a red dusty and rock-strewn road. It is not an encouraging prospect when the first sign appears _ 378 km to Luang Prabang.

--Bangkok Post 2005-11-10

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Another bridge to the middle of nowhere. When are they going to start to build them where they are needed and will do some good?

[TokyoT]

I guess this has turned out to not be a case of “build it and they will come”?