New Highway Emerges in Southern
Laos
by
Reinhard Holder
According to the latest developments in Southern Laos, part of the emerging “Emerald
Triangle” in the border region of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, Highway 16B
that links Attapeu Province to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is under construction.
The 111km long road is expected to be finished around the Lao New Year in
April 2006.
The road project has been funded with a Vietnamese loan of 45 Million USD.
The Lao Government has to pay back the loan with a 5% interest rate within
10 years after the road construction is finished. The road condition will
be one of the best in Laos with a width of 10m and super-elevation at every
bending point. Thus, it will be possible to spend about 2 hours or less for
driving between Attapeu and Ho Chi Minh City.
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| Attapeu Sunset |
For travelers coming from Thailand it means that in the
future traveling from Ubon Ratchathani (Airport) going to Champasak-Salavan-Sekong-Attapeu
in Laos to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam can be finished by less than 8 hours
or just 2 hours from Ubon Airport to Champasak, 4 hours from Champasak to
Attapeu and 2 hours from Attapeu to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The new
highway will raise the awareness for travel to the Boloven Plateau in Southern
Laos, one of the less developed tribal areas in Southeast Asia.
Another project in the planning stage is that with the funding by the Japanese
Government, there will be a new road construction to link Sekong Province
with Hue in Central Vietnam.
Profile of tour director Reinhard Hohler:
Reinhard Hohler is an experienced tour director and media
travel consultant in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. He was born in Karlsruhe,
a port on Europe's Rhine River. After first studying geology in his hometown
and later ethnology, geography and political science at Heidelberg University,
Reinhard moved to Thailand in 1987. He has led more than 100 study tours,
mainly in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Yunnan, Hainan, Hong
Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. He co-authored a book about Yunnan and a TV
documentary about the “Emerald Buddha” in Bangkok. Being a life member of
The Siam Society in Bangkok and currently working on a project about German
explorer Dr. Adolf Bastian's travelogue of Southeast Asia in the early 1860s,
Reinhard lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand with his wife and daughter.