Is Thakhek the next Vang Vieng?

How two railways will put this city in south-central Laos on the tourism map.

Thakhek is the capital of Khammouane Province in south-central Laos. The dramatic limestone karst mountains around Thakhek resemble the landscape of the popular tourist destination Vang Vieng, yet Thakhek receives a fraction of Vang Vieng’s visitors.

Even before the Laos China Railway put Vang Vieng on the rail map, Vang Vieng benefited from being a scenic stop between Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Not as many travellers ply the overland southern route from Vientiane to Pakse.

Thakhek has enormous tourism potential according to regional travel site Travelfish, and the government had a misguided attempt to put Thakhek on the tourism map with a new urban area that included a 60-floor financial tower and a theme park.

The government is now implementing more appropriate tourism upgrades, including investing in new cultural landmarks and restoring colonial-era buildings.

What may supercharge Thakhek’s fortunes are two planned railways that will make Thakhek a major crossroads of the Greater Mekong Subregion.

The first railway is the proposed Vientiane – Vung Ang Railway. The railway is planned to provide Laos with a rail link to the closest seaport in Vietnam. The line will follow the Mekong from Vientiane to Thakhek, and then turn east towards Vietnam.

The most recent update has construction beginning at the end of 2026 and being completed by 2030. They have been talking about this since 2010, so feel free to remain sceptical of this timeline.

There is also a proposal for a Vientiane – Champasak Railway, which would extend the line south of Thakhek to Pakse.

Another line that will potentially bring more tourists to Thakhek is the under-construction Ban Phai – Nakhon Phanom Railway in Thailand. This railway branches off the Northeast Line and travels to Maha Sarakham, Roi Et, Mukdahan, and Nakhon Phanom. This line will form a section of the East-West Economic Corridor Railway from Myanmar to Vietnam.

This Google Map shows the route and stations of the Ban Phai – Nakhon Phanom Railway.

Construction for this line was reported to be 36.30% complete in July 2026, and the most recent update moved the completion date to 2029.

Nakhon Phanom is opposite Thakhek, so it would be a matter of building a new railway bridge to extend the line to Thakhek.

Unfortunately, Thailand is continuing to expand its metre-gauge railway using diesel-powered locomotives, while Laos and Vietnam will be using electric trains on a standard-gauge railway. (See my previous article about Thailand’s mediocre master plan for rail development.)

This break of gauge is the same scenario that is happening at the Nong Khai – Thanaleng border crossing, where freight trains from Thailand have to transfer containers to the standard-gauge railway at the Thanaleng container port in Laos.

The railway will terminate near the Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, so there should be buses that are timed to meet passenger trains. There is a boat crossing in Nakhon Phanom, but this is only for Thailand and Laos passport holders.

While the mixed gauge is a problem for freight transport, the Ban Phai-Nakhon Phanom Railway will make travel to Thakhek an appealing option from Thailand.

The Vientiane-Vung Ang Railway will also help entice visitors to travel beyond the current Vientiane-Vang Vieng-Luang Prabang tourist trail, including Southern Laos as part of a Laos itinerary.