Laos - New Road Connects Thai Border to Luang Prabang, Reduces Travel Time

A new sealed road from the Thai border to the Lao province of Luang Prabang has opened to traffic, reducing travel time from Nan province to Luang Prabang from nine to five hours.

Perames Vudthitornetiraks, president of the Neighbouring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency, said on Thursday that the new 114-kilometre road runs from Hongsa district in northwestern Laos to Luang Prabang, extending the road network from the Huai Kon border checkpoint in Nan province to Luang Prabang.

The two-lane road shortens the trip from Nan to Luang Prabang from nine to five hours. It is expected to draw 10-20% more visitors to the two Thai and Lao provinces, especially from China, Vietnam and Europe, he said.

Construction cost 1.98 billion baht. Thailand contributed 395.4 million baht towards it and provided a soft loan of 1.58 billion baht, accounting for 80% of the cost.

Pheng Douangngeun, director-general of the Lao Department of Roads, said local communities had long wanted the new road, which made for more convenient transport and gave access to natural tourist attractions along the route.

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Source - Laotian Times

#Laos - Luang Prabang focuses on Boosting cultural Tourism

The Luang Prabang tourism sector has been focusing on boosting cultural tourism and sustainable development to ensure socio-economic development in the province, according to a Luang Prabang tourism official.

Luang Prabang is one of the ancient cities of the Lao PDR that was established more than 1,200 years ago. It is endowed with rich, beautiful, natural scenery, historical culture, ancient temples, architecture and unique arts and crafts. Because of these unique qualities and attributes, UNESCO declared Luang Prabang a World Heritage Site in 1995.

“The tourism sector has provided a huge contribution to socio-economic development such as job creation and the improvement of livelihoods of local people, as well as to the reduction of poverty of people in rural areas,” said last week Luang Prabang Governor Khamkhan Chanthavisouk.

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“Over the past 20 years of preservation and development of the World Heritage Site, the Provincial Administration, together with Lao multi-ethnic people, businesses and entrepreneurs both domestic and foreign, as well as international organizations, have been working together to preserve and maintain the cultural values of this World Heritage Site in a sustainable manner,” said Mr Khamkhan.

As a result, lovely Luang Prabang has been a favorite tourist destination for many consecutive years, and was nominated as “Best City” in the Wanderlust Travel Awards.

Moreover, Luang Prabang has received the ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable City Award and has also become a non-smoking city to promote a healthy and smoke-free environment.

“Over the past years, Luang Prabang has been selected to host meetings at various levels including provincial, national, sub-regional, and ASEAN regional meetings with great success,” Mr Khamkhan said.

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We are honoured that at this time, Luang Prabang has once again been given the honour of hosting such important ASEAN related meetings and we do hope that we will have another opportunity to host important meetings like this in the near future, he said.

Luang Prabang is very proud of its peacefulness and safety, and its many cultural and natural tourist attractions.

The National Tourism Committee has approved a plan to develop routes along the Mekong River to link to Loei and Nong Khai in the northeast with Luang Prabang and Vientiane in Laos.

At the same time, the infrastructure of the province has been developed in order to ensure that it benefits from the ASEAN Economic Community integration which took place in 2015.

Source - Laotian Times