Laos expands Pi Mai buses
Vientiane has expanded bus services in and out of the city for the Pi Mai Lao New Year holiday, including added cross‑border routes to handle the holiday surge. (travelandtourworld.com)
Vientiane’s Southern Bus Terminal added six extra daily trips on April 13 ahead of Pi Mai Lao, raising its schedule to 70 departures a day. (laotiantimes.com) The terminal said buses are now running from 5:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., up from the usual 64 trips a day. Terminal manager Souksavat Sisouk said passengers had already started arriving on April 8 and urged travelers to book early, especially for evening VIP departures. (laotiantimes.com) Pi Mai Lao begins on April 14, and Vientiane is staging a citywide New Year procession the same day with sacred Buddha images moving through the capital. Organizers said the celebration is expected to draw large numbers of residents and visitors. (kpl.gov.la) That holiday rush is landing on top of a wider transport push in the capital. Since March 23, Vientiane City Bus Service has been running a temporary flat fare of 10,000 kip per trip on special routes as officials try to cut fuel use during Laos’ fuel shortage. (laotiantimes.com) Those city measures include air-conditioned electric buses on routes linking Sikeut, Sikhai, Talat Sao, Thangon, Saphangmeuk, Nonghai, ITEC and Phonkheng. Two more routes were added on March 25, including one connecting the Laos-China Railway Station to Saphangmeuk Bus Rapid Transit station. (laotiantimes.com) The Southern Bus Terminal’s holiday fares show how far the surge reaches beyond the capital. Tickets listed on April 3 ranged from 180,000 to 200,000 kip for Vientiane-Paksan and 590,000 to 600,000 kip for Vientiane-Attapeu, with routes also serving Thakhek, Savannakhet, Pakse, Salavan, Sekong, Don Khong, Venkham and Xiengkhuang. (laotiantimes.com) Vientiane also sits on Laos’ busiest overland gateway to Thailand at the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge near Nong Khai, where border traffic moves by shuttle bus and train between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. daily. That makes cross-border bus demand especially sensitive during holiday weeks. (travelfish.org) For travelers this week, the practical message is simple: more buses are running, but the busiest departures are already filling before Pi Mai officially starts on April 14. (laotiantimes.com)
