Infrastructure
Transport and shipping
Will China turn off the Mekong tap?
Countries in the lower Mekong basin are watching anxiously to see whether their “big brother” to the north will tackle the growing Mekong River crisis. China controls the upper section of the river, which rises on the Tibetan Plateau and runs through Laos, the North and ...
Work on Mekong railway bridge running ahead of schedule
Construction of a bridge across the Mekong River in Luang Prabang which will carry the Laos-China railway is running ahead of schedule, according to Chinese construction companies. The companies in charge of the bridge and railway construction project on Sunday invited local and foreign media to ...
Main section of China-Laos Railway bridge over Mekong River completed
With the concrete beam of the last span over Mekong River put in place, the main section of Luang Prabang cross-Mekong River railway bridge has been completed on Sunday, seven months ahead of schedule. The closure of the Luang Prabang Mekong River Super Major Bridge, one ...
Wu Qin
Vietnam should forget about high speed railway until 2030
An expensive high-speed railway is a nice dream, but let’s get real and build better roads between provinces first. On a visit to California, I discovered that the western U.S. state had kept pending a high speed rail proposal since 1996 due to funding cuts made ...
Huynh The Du
Vietnam may spend 26 bln USD building North-South high-speed railway
Construction of Vietnam’s North-South high-speed railway, which allows passengers to travel between capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in about eight hours, will cost about 26 billion U.S. dollars, local media reported on Wednesday. Citing analysis by experts from Germany and the Netherlands, the Ministry ...
Cambodia, Thailand reconnect a Cold War-cut link
Tourists, gamblers, traders and others can now travel by train between Bangkok and the Thai-Cambodian border for the first time since tracks were cut 45 years ago at the end of the US-Vietnam War. The new rail link ends one of the last infrastructural disruptions caused ...
Richard S. Ehrlich
Unsafe new Mekong riverside cycling path closed
A new cycling path along the Mekong riverbank has been closed after part of it collapsed only two days after an inaugural cycling event to promote tourism. The cycling path, in Muang district, is about 1.1 kilometres long and only recently built, and was still awaiting ...
Pattanapong Siripiachai
High-speed rail project mired in land issues
The high-speed train project to link up three major airports is still mired in land expropriation and eviction problems concerning 20% of the land required for construction despite it being expected to begin operation in five years. If the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) fails to ...
Thailand, Laos sign agreement on 5th friendship bridge across Mekong River
Thailand and Laos on Friday signed an agreement on building the fifth friendship bridge between Thailand’s Bueng Kan province and Laos’ Bolikhamsai province. Thailand’s Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith and Lao Public Works and Transport Minister Bounchan Sinthavong presided over the signing ceremony on Friday. Arkhom said Thailand’s ...
Minister to push for two more Mekong bridges
The Transport Ministry will push for a 4-billion-baht investment in two new bridges over the Mekong River linking Thailand with Laos. Transport Ministry Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Tuesday the 5th Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge linking Thailand’s Bung Kan with Laos’ Borikhamsay with an investment cost of 2.5 billion ...