The Fourth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge is a highway bridge over the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth-longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third-longest in Asia with an estimated l ...

that links the

Chiang Khong District Chiang Khong (, ; Lanna script: , ) is a district (''amphoe'') located in the northeastern part of Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, with its seat being Wiang. The district borders six other districts in Chiang Rai province, with its nort ...

Chiang Rai Province Chiang Rai (, ; , ) is one of Thailand's seventy-six Provinces of Thailand, provinces that lies in Northern Thailand#Regional classification of northern Thailand, upper northern Thailand and is Thailand's northernmost province. It is bordered ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Houayxay Houayxay (, ; , ) (also ''Huoeisay'', ''Huai Sai'', ''Houei Sai'', ''Huay Xay'' or ''Huay Xai'') is a district in Bokeo Province, Laos, on the border with Thailand. The town lies on the Mekong River opposite Chiang Khong in Thailand. The Four ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. The bridge opened to the public on 11 December 2013. The bridge was the last section of

Asian Highway 3 Asian Highway 3 (AH3) is a route of the Asian Highway Network which runs from Ulan-Ude, Russia (on AH6) to Tanggu, China; and Shanghai, China (on AH5) to Chiang Rai, Thailand and Kengtung, Myanmar (both on AH2). Southeast Asian issues By mid- ...

to be built. Traffic on the bridge drives on the right, as in Laos, while traffic in Thailand drives on the left; the lane-change is on the Thai side.

Size and location

The

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

is 630 meters long (with a main span of 480 meters) and is 14.7 meters wide.Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit, "4th Friendship bridge opens" ''TTR Weekly''
2013-12-12 It is about 10 kilometers from

in northeastern

, in northern Thailand, and about 12 kilometers from

, the capital of Bokeo Province, northwestern

. North of the bridge, a six kilometer service road connects the bridge to Laotian highway R3A. In the south, a three kilometer service road connects the bridge to the Chiang Khong-Thoen Highway and Route 1129 in Thailand.

History

The bridge was jointly financed by the governments of Thailand, Laos, and China – with Chinese and Thai construction firms responsible for the construction and the costs shared between Thailand and China. The project was hoped to boost trade and development of the

Greater Mekong Subregion The Greater Mekong Subregion, (GMS) or just Greater Mekong, is a trans-national region of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia. The region is home to more than 300 million people. It came into being with the launch of a development program i ...

. About 1,900 million

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

was budgeted for the project. On 12 December 2012, a ceremony marking the joining of the two sides of the bridge was held in Houayxay, Laos. A year later, on 12 December 2013, the bridge was officially opened at a ceremony presided over by

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Princess Royal () (born 2 April 1955) is a member of the Thai royal family. She is the second daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, and the younger sister of King Vajiralongkorn. Early life Birth Si ...

. Chiang Khong was designated as a

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

in 2015.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge 04 International bridges in Thailand Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge 04 Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge 04 Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge 04 Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge 04 Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge 04 Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge 04 Articles containing video clips

Size and location

History

See also

Notes

References