webfact Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Phayao applauds upgrade of border ‘gateway to Indochina’ By The Nation Residents of a border village in Phayao welcomed the Cabinet's resolution to upgrade their village's border checkpoint. On Tuesday, the Cabinet resolved to upgrade the Ban Huak temporary border checkpoint in Phayao's Phu Sang district into a permanent one. Kowit Chaimuang, chairman of the Chiang Kham Vendors Club, said he was very happy to learn of the upgrade as Phayao people have been calling for such action for 40 years. He said the upgrade would lead to the development of trade, transport, investment and culture across the border. The border checkpoint leads to Kiewhok in Laos with the road continuing on to China’s Yunnan province, and so is viewed as a gateway to Indochina. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30351213 -- © Copyright The Nation 2018-08-01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf61 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 1 hour ago, webfact said: He said the upgrade would lead to the development of trade, transport, investment and culture across the border. The border checkpoint leads to Kiewhok in Laos with the road continuing on to China’s Yunnan province, and so is viewed as a gateway to Indochina. As far as I know, Laos does not allow transit traffic to China, and on my way to Luang Prabang by van I learned why... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesofa Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 From reading the newspaper we can't mention, this seems to be linked to the fact the 'new-improved' 1-metre dual-track railway is soon (this century maybe) to be built, from Den-Chai across to Chiang Rai and finishing at this border post at Ban Huak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldBattles Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 On 8/1/2018 at 6:09 PM, bluesofa said: From reading the newspaper we can't mention, this seems to be linked to the fact the 'new-improved' 1-metre dual-track railway is soon (this century maybe) to be built, from Den-Chai across to Chiang Rai and finishing at this border post at Ban Huak. I noticed tunnel digging at Boten Laos where the train is coming though. As the Chinese are building the railroad it will be OK. They also branch off to Vietnam to haul their freight for export. The number of trucks the currently are using is destroying the highway in Laos. Recently on a long trip in Laos I did notice that their were Chinese manufacturing firms lining the highway rom Boten to Luang Nam Tha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimster Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 On 8/1/2018 at 4:13 PM, Ralf61 said: As far as I know, Laos does not allow transit traffic to China, and on my way to Luang Prabang by van I learned why... Sure it does. It's China that doesn't allow foreign registrations in (except Lao ones driven as far as Jinghong). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimster Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 8 hours ago, DonaldBattles said: I noticed tunnel digging at Boten Laos where the train is coming though. As the Chinese are building the railroad it will be OK. They also branch off to Vietnam to haul their freight for export. The number of trucks the currently are using is destroying the highway in Laos. Recently on a long trip in Laos I did notice that their were Chinese manufacturing firms lining the highway rom Boten to Luang Nam Tha. I went to China recently crossing the border at Boten/Mohan. Didn't notice any Chinese manufacturing firms lining the highway, but plenty of trucks (Thai/Chinese) the latter hauling construction materials, the former mostly participating in Thai-China trade. Lots of Chinese owned businesses, mainly in agricultural related projects, lots of hydropower and otherwise restaurants. Strange that Chinese restaurants with Chinese signs are all over rural areas of northern Laos - imagine if that happened in Thailand! The border crossing at Boten is a mess - you want a high clearance 4x4 otherwise you are going to destroy your undercarriage. Lots of naive Chinese driving sedans and the like into Laos not knowing the terrible road conditions there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimster Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Is this border open to foreigners yet? Looking at the picture, I can see a Lao car with a yellow plate looking to cross, seems that cars (at least those driven by Thai and Lao citizens) can cross here but no idea about foreigners. A big hoopla was made about a new Thai-Cambodian border crossing that was supposedly upgraded to "permanent" status a few months ago but when I went there I was told neither foreigners nor cars can cross, though I can ask immigration to be sure. I wonder if it's the same at this checkpoint. Also, I don't understand the need to point out the road connection to China - hardly anyone crossing there is interested in that. You can't drive a car to China without going on a tour (and since 2016, the Chinese can't drive to Thailand without a tour) besides, unless you are an adventure traveler mentioning or promoting this is pointless - this crossing is useful for trade and for ordinary travelers who want to go to Luang Prabang. I've never heard Vietnam or China find the need to promote accessibility with Thailand when they open a new border checkpoint with Laos. I don't understand what Thailand gets out of this nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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