The proposed route traverses Laos and links Thailand’s eastern town of Nakhon Phanom and Ha Tinh Province in Vietnam. The understanding comes as part of the forthcoming ASEAN integration and the expansion of the Asian Highway Network. The two ministers told reporters they would need to seek the cooperation of the Lao government before any firm decisions were made.
In 2009, the East-West Economic Highway opened and provided a throughway from Mukdahan in eastern Thailand, across Laos and on to the Lao Bao border post in Vietnam’s Quang Tri Province. Last week’s meeting was a follow on from a Vietnam-Thailand Commission convention on Bilateral Cooperation held two months ago.
At the convention, the two nations agreed to launch international bus routes linking Southeast Asian countries. The two transport-ministers have already said their next project will be a route linking Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City via Phnom Penh.
Thailand and Vietnam agree on linking highway
News in Asia
Thailand and Vietnam have agreed to establish an international highway link to promote tourism and trade. Thai transport-minister Prajin Juntong and his opposite number, Dinh La Thang, reached an understanding on the route’s establishment in Hanoi last Thursday.