Four Lao hill tribe models coyly held up banners, welcoming a Thai delegation to their village bordering Thailand's northern province of Nan. They posed next to a shiny pyramid-like marble tablet that bears the flags of both nations and words of gratitude to Thailand for building a rare road in this mountainous region. The only problem with the ceremonial opening was that the road goes nowhere. Thanks to a Lao dispute with China, a key bridge for connecting the road to Lao's national highway has yet to be built.
The new road reduced travel time from a full day to 40 minutes. Landlocked Laos, lobbying to join the World Trade Organization, was only too pleased to gain infrastructure and a trade corridor to Thailand, eventually connecting the country of 6. A group of reporters invited by the Thai government saw a tranquil river and villagers scooping sizeable catfish by the riverside.
No dredging equipment has yet arrived to spoil their catches. The Laotians and the Chinese are said to be haggling over conditions in the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year with China Road and Bridge Corporation.
According to representatives linked to these projects, the Chinese have asked to resettle large numbers of Chinese laborers involved in the Mekong bridgeworks into Laos. The influx of Chinese nationals into Laos is a source of growing tensions for Sino-Lao ties despite 50 years of relations, a milestone crossed this year. The labor issue has now come to a head over the Mekong bridge. He did not discuss the so-called extraordinary Chinese demands of worker resettlement or reports of Chinese plans to build a casino and entertainment complex in the Oudamxay area for resettled Chinese residents and tourists who are increasingly fanning south for budget travel.
Other Laotian officials who asked not to be named gave contradictory information as to why the bridge plans stalled. The bridge project is not the only snag. But the bridge over the Mekong River was never built. Enlarge Image. The high-speed rail construction, just begun, is expected to be ready by when bullet trains will carry passengers from Yunnan to the Laotian resort cit ies of Luang Prabang and Vangvieng, also popular with western tourists, and then to the capital, Vientiane, in the first phase of the contract.
