Recently, the State Railway of Thailand has received good news. The much-anticipated cross-border train from Bangkok to Vientiane, Laos, is scheduled to be piloted from July 13 to 14 and officially put into operation in July. This move will greatly promote cooperation in passenger and freight transportation between the two countries, help improve the logistics efficiency of the entire region, and is in line with the Thai government's vision of "igniting Thailand".
On June 8, Aviru, deputy director of the State Railway of Thailand, said that from the 5th to the 8th, he led a delegation to hold in-depth talks with Dao Qinda, managing director of the Lao National Railway State-owned Enterprise. The talks aimed to ensure that the cross-border train from Bangkok Apiva Central Station to Laos Vientiane Station can be smoothly opened and fully prepared for its official operation. Ekra, director of the National Railway Office, said that the two sides had a detailed discussion on the operation of the cross-border train from Bangkok to Vientiane, Laos, mainly involving operation plans, tourism market development, advertising and public relations, and strengthening the freight transportation capacity between Thailand, Laos and China. In particular, during the pilot operation from July 13 to 14, a real operating environment will be simulated to ensure the smooth operation of various systems and services.
In addition, the two sides also conducted in-depth discussions on issues such as cargo transportation, cross-border/transit cargo transportation, and employee training, and planned to set up a joint working group to jointly resolve these issues. Previously, the two sides had successfully completed the train operation test between Udon Thani Station-Nong Khai Station-Thanaleng Station-Vientiane Station on May 21, and the test results were smooth and without any obstacles. The opening of the cross-border train from Bangkok to Vientiane, Laos will not only greatly promote tourism and economic cooperation between the two countries, but will also greatly improve the logistics efficiency of the entire region. The Thai government hopes to promote Thailand to become a tourism and logistics center through this move and realize its vision of "igniting Thailand".
