In April 1994 then Prime Minister Paul Keating visited Laos
for the official opening of the Mekong Bridge, the first ever bridge across the
Mekong, which crosses the river from the Thai provincial capital Nong Khai to
the village of Thanaleng, just south of the Lao capital, Vientiane. It was constructed as an Australian aid
project, and I had the privilege to serve as the Chairman of the
Australian-Lao-Thai Steering Committee which negotiated the arrangements and oversighted
the construction.
The day before the official opening of the bridge Paul
Keating attended the official opening of the border facilities, on the Lao side
of the border, which were also constructed as an Australia aid project.
The border facilities of necessity include a traffic
interchange; Thailand drives on the left hand side of the road and Laos on the
right.
The opening of the border post was also attended by the
Prime Minister (Chairman of the Council of Ministers) of the Lao PDR, Mr Khamtai
Siphandon, seen here meeting with Keating at the opening.
And just for the record, here is the official plaque.
