The further opening of borders in the Greater Mekong Sub-region gives more opportunities for development for local companies to develop cross-border products.
CHIANG SAEN- Opening up borders among countries from the Greater Mekong Subregion creates new opportunities. Pakaimas Vierra, head of Thai Indochina Trading and Service, a company which runs in an area comprising the cities of Mae Sai and Chiang Saen Duty Free Shops, a travel agency, a hotel and three boats. The latter is probably the most interesting to know about. “We just launched a brand new boat, the Kasalong Kham, certainly the most modern boat in service on the Mekong and also the fastest one,” explains Mrs. Vierra. The Kasalong Kham has a speed up to 55 km/hour and is dedicated to regular circuits linking Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos as well as Xichuanbanna (Jinghong) in Yunnan. “It takes eight hours to go up to Jinhgong,” indicates Pakaimas Vierra. The investment for the new boat is estimated at THB 15 million (US$ 490,000) excluding the engines. Boat captain are either Laotian or Chinese as “they generally have better knowledge how to navigate on the Mekong River,” adds Mrs. Vierra. The best season to cruise on the Mekong is from July to December/January.
Myanmar’s political changes are seen as rather positive for the company. “We feel that Myanmar’s authorities are more flexible today. We don’t have any problem anymore to let our boats cruising along the banks of the Mekong River in Myanmar as long as we do not stop there”. The biggest hurdle for potential travellers interested to cruise on the Mekong up to Yunnan remains China’s visa issue. “We try to convince authorities to provide visa-on-arrivals only for passengers disembarking in Xichuanbanna. But we did not get any positive feedback so far,” says Pakaimas Vierra.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
