New tour linking Vietnam, Thailand, Laos

Vietnam’s Kon Tum province and Thailand’s Ubonratchathani province are cooperating in developing a road tour linking localities in the two countries and Laos via Bo Y border gate, the Saigon Times Daily reported.

Leaders of the two provinces have agreed that the new route going through eight provinces of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand will be launched next year. Their agreement also covers favourable conditions for easy transportation of passengers and goods in the three nations.
The Daily quoted Nguyen Xuan Truyen, Deputy Director of the Kon Tum Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as saying that the province’s tourism sector wanted the road tour to become a regularly scheduled itinerary of travel agencies rather than a product only offered by them.
Truyen said Kon Tum province and relevant agencies of Laos will discuss further tourism cooperation after reaching an agreement with Thailand.
Currently, tourism cars run smoothly between Laos and Thailand, but they must be escorted when entering Vietnam via Bo Y border gate as regulated for right-hand drive vehicles. “If travel conditions are made simpler, tourism may grow strongly,” Truyen said.
Truyen said after the authorities of Kon Tum province and Ubonratchathani province clinched a cooperation agreement, companies of both countries will partner to develop the route connecting the three countries.
However, some travel firms suggested the National Highway 14 be upgraded if Kon Tum province wanted to develop land routes connecting Bo Y border gate. Previously, many travel agencies arranged tours for their guests to travel from Ho Chi Minh City on National Highway 14 to Bo Y border gate and Champasack province in Laos and go further. But, they had to cancel these tours due to the highway deteriorating.