Thai government put more money for Third Mekong River Bridge

Thai government put more money for Third Mekong River Bridge

(KPL) The Thai government had allocated two billion baht to fund the construction of the Third Lao-Thai Friendship Mekong River Bridge and it would establish a road connection between Khammouane province of Laos and Nakhonphanom province of Thailand.
Both the Lao and Thai officials believe this decision has generated greater trust between the two governments as the recent decision was made against the backdrop of the Thai government’s temporary suspension of the commencement of the construction of the bridge due to the high price of construction materials.
Initially, the Thai government wanted to start the construction in early 2008, immediately after the completion of the survey and design of the bridge.Mr Nongsavanh Thammavong, Deputy Head of the Third Lao-Thai Friendship Mekong River Bridge Construction Project in Khammouane province told KPL news yesterday that the new budget, which is an increase over the original allocation of 1,400 baht should be sufficient to pay for all the construction expenses.
He also said that four months ago it was not feasible to carry out any construction work because none of the construction companies had the courage to open the bid envelopes as they feared the prospect of monetary loss.
However, he is confident that the bid envelopes will be opened in December 2008 and that the official groundbreaking ceremony could be held in January 2009.This bridge can act as a link for the three neighbouring countries, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam and besides playing such a role it would naturally boost trade, investment and tourism for all of them.