A king, a queen, a princess, a communist president and three prime ministers gathered Saturday to open a historic "Friendship Bridge" linking Thailand and Laos.
It is the first major bridge across the 2,600-mile Mekong River, which flows from southern China to the delta of southern Vietnam and into the South China Sea. The span is considered a symbol of the end of Cold War-rooted conflicts that had plagued the region.The 3,840-foot bridge is a cornerstone of plans to create a vibrant economic community along the Mekong. When linked up with a highway connecting northern Laos to China, to be completed by 1996, the bridge will make it possible to travel by road from Singapore to Beijing.
For Australia, which built and paid for the $30-million span, it represents a high-profile gift to a region where Canberra seeks increased diplomatic and commercial involvement.
Three hundred guests on the bridge and tens of thousands of onlookers on both shores watched as Thailand's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and Laotian President Nouhak Phoumsavanh formally accepted the bridge from Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating.
Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, many members of his Cabinet, Queen Sirikit, Princess Sirindhorn and Laotian Prime Minister Khamtay Siphandone also were present.