In the initial months of 2024, a total of 85,871 people crossed the Third Thai-lao Friendship Bridge, which links Khammouane Province, Laos, and Nakhon Phanom Province, Thailand, according to Soukthong Vongsa, the head of cross-border immigration police in Laos.
These figures show a surge of 3,937 people compared to the same period in 2023.
Soukthong noted the diligence of local authorities in enforcing regulations on individuals’ entry and exit. However, challenges persist, notably the absence of modern inspection tools like X-ray machines, hindering the detection of illegal items concealed in luggage, personal belongings, and vehicles entering and exiting.
Efforts to bolster tourism during Visit Laos Year 2024 include enhancing document notification services, expanding service availability, and ensuring peace and order at checkpoint locations, meticulously mapped out to monitor the orderly flow of tourists and passengers entering Laos.
As the country aims at fortifying tourism initiatives throughout Visit Laos Year 2024, government authorities are stepping up efforts in infrastructure development. The projects include renovation of buildings, workplaces, offices, electrical systems, and street lights. Furthermore, improvements extend to the interior of buildings and the checkpoint courtyard, aiming to enhance convenience, cleanliness, and appeal to attract more visitors to Khammouane Province.
To further promote tourism in Laos, the country is set to launch the fifth bridge in November, connecting Bueng Kan Province, Thailand, with Paksan district, Bolikhamxay Province, Laos. The bridge is currently at 95 percent completion.
https://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Laos-Thai-Friendship-Bridge.jpg6271200Sylivanla Vongphachanhhttps://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lao-Simply-Beautiful-.webpSylivanla Vongphachanh2024-05-31 10:21:232024-05-31 10:21:52Record Surge in Individuals Crossing Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Early 2024
After two years in the work, a new e-commerce platform for Lao agriculture products has finally been launched to promote both domestic trade and across borders.
The platform features two versions, serving two different purposes including the domestic platform and.as the cross-border platform. Both sites are under the support of the Chinese government and implementation of the Trade Promotion and Handicrafts Department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Laos.
The launch ceremony officially kicked off on 13 May at the Don Chan Palace Hotel. According to the Chinese Charge d’ Affaires Wang Chang, building e-commerce in Laos falls into one of the eight major projects of the Chinese government’s support towards their Lao counterpart. While the project would contribute to Laos’s development and generate income for its citizens, it would also enhance the digital trade relationship between Laos and China by promoting the export of Lao agricultural products and industrial handicrafts to China.
Director General of the Trade Promotion and Handicrafts Department, Vithoun Sitthimorada added that the website will prove greatly beneficial to the Lao government employees, producers and representatives of business units in more ways than one. The platform is capable of providing technical support for e-commerce system administration, establishing a development model for e-commerce to reach rural areas to link information to produce results, achieving online buying and selling between producers and consumers, and encouraging the export of products abroad.
Lao state media suggested this achievement as a significant national milestone for Laos.The project promises the promotion of production as a commodity, the stimulation of trade and investment, the creation of job opportunities, the establishment of connections between producers and consumers both domestically and internationally, and the encouragement of a shift from traditional production patterns to new ones.
The past two years of e-commerce in Laos have mostly seen locals ordering online from neighboring countries, including Thailand, China, and Vietnam. This trend is often attributed to the lack of e-commerce platforms in Laos and the customers’ demands for a broader variety of products compared to what’s available within Laos.
As e-commerce slowly but surely grows, it is evident that Laos is moving towards a digital era with aims to meet the growing demand of people from all sorts of different sectors, ultimately revolutionizing the world of trade and sales of the country.
https://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Laos-Launches-New-E-commerce-Platform-for-Agricultural-Products-Supported-by-Chinese-Government.jpg6271200Sylivanla Vongphachanhhttps://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lao-Simply-Beautiful-.webpSylivanla Vongphachanh2024-05-27 08:10:272024-05-20 08:12:01Laos Launches New E-commerce Platform for Agricultural Products, Supported by Chinese Government
Laos and Thailand have commenced a trial run of the new cross-border railway service before its official launch, which is expected to be announced within the upcoming few months.
Operated by the Lao National Railway State Enterprise under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, in collaboration with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), the trials are scheduled to take place between 14 and 17 May from Thanaleng Railway Station to Vientiane Khamsavath Station in Laos.
After this initial trial run, the testing will further extend from Udon Thani Railway Station and Nong Khai Station in Thailand to Laos’ Thanaleng Railway Station and Khamsavath Station from 18-20 May.
The construction of the Lao-Thai Railway Project began in 2013 with an initial completion target set for the end of 2021. However, the Khamsavath Station project encountered delays, resulting in its completion in 2023.
The Lao-Thai Railway and the Laos-China Railway are crucial components of a regional rail network aimed at connecting China to Singapore through Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.
While the rail train was anticipated, the first regional express freight train from China-Laos-Thailand-Malaysia, carrying 30 containers of electronics and vehicles, recently departed from Chengdu, China. Its destination is Port Klang, Malaysia, with stops in Laos and Thailand along the way.
https://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/9-3-1.jpg6271200Sylivanla Vongphachanhhttps://www.tourismlaos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lao-Simply-Beautiful-.webpSylivanla Vongphachanh2024-05-24 08:07:502024-05-20 08:09:42Laos-Thailand Railway Prepares for Official Opening with Trial Runs
Record Surge in Individuals Crossing Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in Early 2024
In the initial months of 2024, a total of 85,871 people crossed the Third Thai-lao Friendship Bridge, which links Khammouane Province, Laos, and Nakhon Phanom Province, Thailand, according to Soukthong Vongsa, the head of cross-border immigration police in Laos.
These figures show a surge of 3,937 people compared to the same period in 2023.
Soukthong noted the diligence of local authorities in enforcing regulations on individuals’ entry and exit. However, challenges persist, notably the absence of modern inspection tools like X-ray machines, hindering the detection of illegal items concealed in luggage, personal belongings, and vehicles entering and exiting.
Efforts to bolster tourism during Visit Laos Year 2024 include enhancing document notification services, expanding service availability, and ensuring peace and order at checkpoint locations, meticulously mapped out to monitor the orderly flow of tourists and passengers entering Laos.
As the country aims at fortifying tourism initiatives throughout Visit Laos Year 2024, government authorities are stepping up efforts in infrastructure development. The projects include renovation of buildings, workplaces, offices, electrical systems, and street lights. Furthermore, improvements extend to the interior of buildings and the checkpoint courtyard, aiming to enhance convenience, cleanliness, and appeal to attract more visitors to Khammouane Province.
To further promote tourism in Laos, the country is set to launch the fifth bridge in November, connecting Bueng Kan Province, Thailand, with Paksan district, Bolikhamxay Province, Laos. The bridge is currently at 95 percent completion.
Source: https://laotiantimes.com/2024/05/16/record-surge-in-individuals-crossing-third-thai-lao-friendship-bridge-in-early-2024/
Laos Launches New E-commerce Platform for Agricultural Products, Supported by Chinese Government
After two years in the work, a new e-commerce platform for Lao agriculture products has finally been launched to promote both domestic trade and across borders.
The platform features two versions, serving two different purposes including the domestic platform and.as the cross-border platform. Both sites are under the support of the Chinese government and implementation of the Trade Promotion and Handicrafts Department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Laos.
The launch ceremony officially kicked off on 13 May at the Don Chan Palace Hotel. According to the Chinese Charge d’ Affaires Wang Chang, building e-commerce in Laos falls into one of the eight major projects of the Chinese government’s support towards their Lao counterpart. While the project would contribute to Laos’s development and generate income for its citizens, it would also enhance the digital trade relationship between Laos and China by promoting the export of Lao agricultural products and industrial handicrafts to China.
Director General of the Trade Promotion and Handicrafts Department, Vithoun Sitthimorada added that the website will prove greatly beneficial to the Lao government employees, producers and representatives of business units in more ways than one. The platform is capable of providing technical support for e-commerce system administration, establishing a development model for e-commerce to reach rural areas to link information to produce results, achieving online buying and selling between producers and consumers, and encouraging the export of products abroad.
Lao state media suggested this achievement as a significant national milestone for Laos.The project promises the promotion of production as a commodity, the stimulation of trade and investment, the creation of job opportunities, the establishment of connections between producers and consumers both domestically and internationally, and the encouragement of a shift from traditional production patterns to new ones.
The past two years of e-commerce in Laos have mostly seen locals ordering online from neighboring countries, including Thailand, China, and Vietnam. This trend is often attributed to the lack of e-commerce platforms in Laos and the customers’ demands for a broader variety of products compared to what’s available within Laos.
As e-commerce slowly but surely grows, it is evident that Laos is moving towards a digital era with aims to meet the growing demand of people from all sorts of different sectors, ultimately revolutionizing the world of trade and sales of the country.
Source: https://laotiantimes.com/2024/05/15/laos-launches-new-e-commerce-platform-for-agricultural-products-supported-by-chinese-government/
Laos-Thailand Railway Prepares for Official Opening with Trial Runs
Laos and Thailand have commenced a trial run of the new cross-border railway service before its official launch, which is expected to be announced within the upcoming few months.
Operated by the Lao National Railway State Enterprise under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, in collaboration with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), the trials are scheduled to take place between 14 and 17 May from Thanaleng Railway Station to Vientiane Khamsavath Station in Laos.
After this initial trial run, the testing will further extend from Udon Thani Railway Station and Nong Khai Station in Thailand to Laos’ Thanaleng Railway Station and Khamsavath Station from 18-20 May.
The construction of the Lao-Thai Railway Project began in 2013 with an initial completion target set for the end of 2021. However, the Khamsavath Station project encountered delays, resulting in its completion in 2023.
The Lao-Thai Railway and the Laos-China Railway are crucial components of a regional rail network aimed at connecting China to Singapore through Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia.
While the rail train was anticipated, the first regional express freight train from China-Laos-Thailand-Malaysia, carrying 30 containers of electronics and vehicles, recently departed from Chengdu, China. Its destination is Port Klang, Malaysia, with stops in Laos and Thailand along the way.
Source: https://laotiantimes.com/2024/05/15/laos-thailand-railway-prepares-for-official-opening-with-trial-runs/