Future of Laotian Railways

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LoongLee
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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by LoongLee » March 12, 2009, 8:45 pm

Jackspratt------ yeah,,,, that will help tremendously,,,, that way it won't hurt so much when the Chinese shove it in and yell "BOHICA" !!! :shock:



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LoongLee
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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by LoongLee » March 12, 2009, 10:09 pm

For those of you unaware of the infamous BOHICA, it's obvious you've never been ******* by the system or "higher ups".

BOHICA is "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again." Cheers :D

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by jackspratt » March 12, 2009, 10:22 pm

Maybe it will be a nice change to have a different world bully :-"

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by LoongLee » March 12, 2009, 10:32 pm

Well Jackspratt,,,,, I guess we're guilty of wandering off topic again, eh? Hope the wet noodles don't hurt this time :D

In an attempt to regain the subject,,,, I would love to be able to tour Laos on a decent rail system. However, given the time projects take in this part of the world,, I think I'm going to have to leave that trip to the younger guys,, what say you?

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by bumper » March 13, 2009, 5:52 am

I still want to ride it on a bike and that is already going on. You can do it by car just have to get the right permits, to take your car over. If they things don't loosen up on the bike side I may do that instead. yo can rent bikes there, but my back is not going to survive a dirt bike.

The Choo Choo would be cool. But, yuo don't have to wait on it. Imagine a trip through Lao, Vietnam and into China. hat would be somethign excitiong to do. Right now he real hangup is Vietnam. Haven't thought much about China cant get through Vietnam won't work. I think you would need an english speaking guide for each country. Yor Thai sweety isnl going to help you much in those countries.

Far as I know the highway already exists. it's the border crossing tha would stop everything. But, Lao can be done

The Map I got for the GPS actually includes all those countries

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by FrazeeDK » March 13, 2009, 7:18 am

trains, bikes, cars or...

take the fast boat or slow boat Luang Prabang from the river port about 12km up river from vientiane.. Fast boat requires ear plugs and some butt cushions.. Slow boat stops all over and takes a couple of days..

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by bumper » March 13, 2009, 7:43 am

Frazee how do you get past paying $30.00 for every visit?

I woudl like to spend some time ther but not all a once for example the boa ride sounds like a fun experience. But when you add $30.00 to it becomes a bit expensive

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by LoongLee » March 13, 2009, 5:50 pm

FrazeeDK,,,, that boat trip sounds like a lot of fun,, I've read reports from people doing quite long trips up the Mekong but the majority seem to be young types. I would definitely need some Butt cushions. :D

Git,,, the travelogues I've read about bike trips thru Laos and VietNam all seem to use dirt bikes. Are there "crossover" bikes that would have the best attributes of both types for you to use?

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by bumper » March 13, 2009, 6:24 pm

Rte 2 is supposed to be a good paved road all the way to Vietnam, that might be it on my bike. Or the occasional paved road I have a gtriders map of Lao, but haven't really done any trip planning yet. So there might be more. But, you right most of the guys use dirt bikes, rented in Lao. 250 CC normally, they have rental shops in Vientene

Image

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by LoongLee » March 13, 2009, 10:42 pm

It would be a great adventure... but I think one would have to be absolutely comfortable eating local food of all types. :-k

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Re: Future of Laotian Railways

Post by bumper » March 14, 2009, 7:00 am

Possibly once you got past the big cities, But the Loa food isn't much different then what we eat here.

Malayasia is easy to cross into with a bike, probably will try that first. Cambo is easy but only one paved road that I know of, I need t follow uo on GTridres and see what he current status is getting into Lao and the hoops you need to jump through whatever it currently is probably would be the same for a car.

I know form NKP yuo see a very different Lao from what you see in Nong Kia and it is really beautiful.

I won't even consider it now until after the rainey season is over. After Lao language would be a huge problem as well, Worth hiring a guide to do,. Wifw woudl eb qwith me o sh xccould get by with Issan I think in Lao.

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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by FrazeeDK » February 2, 2014, 10:11 pm

dug up this old thread after doing some Google Research on the Kunming Vientiane rail plan.. I had no idea that several weeks ago ground was broken on the Savannakhet to Vietnam rail link. http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/ra ... 53336.html

This will give Issan easy access to Danang's deep water port.. Unfortunately the article doesn't give detailed info on track gauge or if it will be double tracked..
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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by rreddin » February 2, 2014, 10:53 pm

FrazeeDK wrote:dug up this old thread after doing some Google Research on the Kunming Vientiane rail plan.. I had no idea that several weeks ago ground was broken on the Savannakhet to Vietnam rail link. http://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/ra ... 53336.html

This will give Issan easy access to Danang's deep water port.. Unfortunately the article doesn't give detailed info on track gauge or if it will be double tracked..
Extending the line west to khon Kaen and linking up with the existing railway there would be a logical move. Doing that would literally make Khon Kaen the crossroads of Asean, not Udon, as Asian Highway 16 runs from Vietnam, through Laos, passes through Thailand at Khon Kaen and Phitsanaluk before joining AH 1 to the deep water port at Yangon.

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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by parrot » February 2, 2014, 11:00 pm

I'm guessing that the 'government' in Laos is able to do things -- handshakes with Chinese over loan deals and land leasing along the tracks, environmental studies, and land acquisition -- that the Thai government will debate for years to come.

It'll take another CEO-like PM to cut through the bs and make mega projects happen again...and that doesn't appear to be likely any time soon given the current state of affairs here. Anyone care for some overpriced stale rice?

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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by FrazeeDK » February 3, 2014, 10:44 am

well Parrot, the Lao government reputedly is run by around 15 families who dominate the Politburo. Fewer folks to pay off and get agreement on projects. The word from Lao acquaintances is that these folks have been totally bought off by the Chinese to the tune of millions of dollars.. So, getting agreement from the Lao political class allowing the Chinese to move forward infrastructure projects is easy..

As for eastern expansion of the SRT, that was in the news a couple of years ago. The plan was to spur off the main Nong Khai-Khorat rail line south of Khon Khean and go northeast to Sakon Nakhon... Supposedly the project was approved and funded.. Heading dead east to Mukdahan and Savannakhet would be easy..

Anyone know if the Mukdahan-Savannakhet bridge has rails laid in the middle like the one in Nong Khai??
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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by rreddin » February 3, 2014, 11:30 am

FrazeeDK wrote:well Parrot, the Lao government reputedly is run by around 15 families who dominate the Politburo. Fewer folks to pay off and get agreement on projects. The word from Lao acquaintances is that these folks have been totally bought off by the Chinese to the tune of millions of dollars.. So, getting agreement from the Lao political class allowing the Chinese to move forward infrastructure projects is easy..

As for eastern expansion of the SRT, that was in the news a couple of years ago. The plan was to spur off the main Nong Khai-Khorat rail line south of Khon Khean and go northeast to Sakon Nakhon... Supposedly the project was approved and funded.. Heading dead east to Mukdahan and Savannakhet would be easy..

Anyone know if the Mukdahan-Savannakhet bridge has rails laid in the middle like the one in Nong Khai??
There is not yet a rail track over Friendship Bridge 2, because there is no railway on either side of it to connect to. The bridge is a different design to the one at Nong Khai - it has central support towers. That means a rail tracks would have to be laid in one or both of the roadways. I am not an engineer, so I do not know if the bridge is strong enough to take freight trains.

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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » February 3, 2014, 8:10 pm

I did not realise that Savannakhet is the second largest city in Laos. It seems so small. Luang Prabang would have been my choice for the runner-up position.
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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by rreddin » February 3, 2014, 8:35 pm

Laan Yaa Mo wrote:I did not realise that Savannakhet is the second largest city in Laos. It seems so small. Luang Prabang would have been my choice for the runner-up position.
According to Wikipedia, the population of Savannakhet in 2012 was 120,000. I was there a few weeks ago. The population seemed like 120 and a few soi dogs.

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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » February 3, 2014, 11:20 pm

Savannakhet does have some long, wide well-planned streets, courtesy of the French I suppose, but like you say there does seem to be much of a population.

It seems larger than Mahasarakham and, maybe, the size of Kalasin and Sukhothai.
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Future of Laotian Railways

Post by FrazeeDK » July 15, 2014, 2:23 pm

Just got back from a trip up to Vientiane where I met up with an old Lao friend. He's been working numerous road building projects down in the panhandle of Laos and tells me the planned and contracted Savannakhet to Danang railway is at dead stop. Evidently, the companies behind the project didn't do the appropriate planning with either the Thai or Vietnamese governments.. That said, he told me a new rail route is being surveyed to cross Salavan Province west to east and connect into Vietnam and on to Danang Port. Note that this will cross the Bolovens Plateau where Laos has huge assayed deposits of Bauxite (to make aluminum).. My friend believes the railway will support the mining of the Bauxite.
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