Second Mekong Bridge Links the Region

Stories and photos by KEOXOMPHOU SAKDAVONG*

Connecting Savannakhet in Laos and Mukdahan in neighbouring Thailand, the bridge will be part of the integrated East-West Economic Corridor project, which includes the already completed Danang Harbour in Vietnam and Road No 9 in Savannakhet.

The bridge and the road it serves will eventually shorten transport routes by thousands of kilometres of sealanes from the Andaman coast to the South China Sea. Work on the bridge started in November 2003 and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2006.

"The bridge will shorten the sea distance and cut time. It will bring benefit not only to the Lao people but also to all people in the region," said Bridge Construction Project director Phetsamone Viraphanth.

He said that the bridge would allow for the passage of many times more vehicles than the present limit of about 250 vehicles a day by ferry. "These factors are very important. Time is very valuable for the transport business," said Prachit Sayavong of Lao Mixte Transportation.

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Preliminary research by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), which is funding the project through loans, shows that in 2007 there will be 697 vehicles a day in both directions; by 2012 the traffic will be 1,175 vehicles a day. By 2017 it will have risen to 1,980 vehicles, by 2022 it will be 3,337 vehicles and in 2027 there will be 5,623 vehicles crossing the bridge everyday.

The bridge itself will be 1.6 km long, with another half km of service and access road surface. It will be open 24 hours a day, and shuttle bus and city-to-city bus services are possible. Planners are hoping to operate a one-gate customs service, and other facilities are under discussion.

Governments in the region have had discussions on how to cooperate so that the bridge can brings benefit for the whole region in trade, investment and tourism. They also expect the bridge to attract more and more investors into the region.

At the same time, there are concerns that the bridge will open wider the possibility for Laos to fall prey to diseases and social problems. The biggest concern is about HIV, and projects are already being set up to manage such problems.

The Savannakhet-Mukdahan Bridge is the result of an agreement between leaders of Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Chinese province of Yunnan.

It is budgeted to cost 5.50 billion yen, financed by loans from JBIC of 4.01 billion yen to Laos and 4.08 billion yen to Thailand.
*Keoxomphou Sakdavong of the 'Vientiane Times' wrote these stories under the media fellowship programme 'Imagining Our Mekong: A Vision amid Globalisation', implemented by IPS Asia-Pacific with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation.

The material below formed part of a longer five-part series on the Second Thai-Lao Bridge published in the 'Vientiane Times'.

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