BANGKOK: -- The second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge will be officially opened next Wednesday by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand and Lao Vice President Bounnhang Vorachith, a senior Thai official said on Thursday.
Songsak Paecharoen, director general of the Highways Department, said the opening of the 2nd Friendship Bridge, linking the Lao province of Savannakhet and northeastern Thailand's Mukdahan povince, would facilitate transportation, trade, investment and tourism activities for countries in the Mekong Sub-region.
Bridge construction began on March 21, 2004. The two governments raised a loan of Bt2.588 billion from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to finance the construction. Funds spent on building the bridge alone amounted to Bt1.585 billion.
The bridge has two traffic lanes 12 metres in width and 1,600 metres long. It is part of the land transport development plan of the East-West economic corridor running through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
--TNA 2006-12-14
