Vietnam and Thailand have agreed to open a road route for travelers between from Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom and Vietnam’s central Ha Tinh Province.

Lao Bao International Border Gate connects Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and central Vietnam.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Transport Minister Dinh La Thang and his Thai counterpart Prajin Juntong on May 14 in Hanoi.

If the passenger route is effective, another connecting Bangkok, Phnom Penh and HCM City will be opened.

Thang said officials from the two countries needed to step up negotiations with related governments to establish a legal framework for road passenger travel.

The agreement is under the cooperation framework of ASEAN and Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries, and the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Asian Highway Network (IGA).

Thailand and Vietnam have had commercial road traffic since 2009 via the East-West  Economic Corridor.

After the second session of the Vietnam–Thailand Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in March, the two countries began work on a memorandum of understanding on opening bus routes connecting Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Thailand wants cooperation with Vietnam in opening coastal transport routes connecting seaports of the two countries.

Dtinews