Laos will this month start building a key link on a railway to connect Vientiane to Bangkok via the first Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge. The 3.5 km link will connect the existing Thai track in the center of the Bridge to Tha Na Laeng on the Vientiane side, and will take 18 months to build.
The 197 million Baht($5.25 million) funding for this link is being provided by the Thai government., 30% of which is a grant while the rest is a 30-year, low interest loan.
Meanwhile, a French official says he expects the survey and design for the rail link from Tha Na Laeng to the capital city of Vientiane will be completed by the end of 2006, and that construction of the 14 km railway will be finished by the year 2010, at a cost of about 20 million Euro.
Listen to our Laos Today for more details.