Photo: A privately-owned Tongli bus carries passengers on this Vientiane route. --Photo Khamphanh
More choices offered in city buses The Tongli Bus Co Ltd has begun operation in Vientiane , challenging the state-owned Vientiane Public Transport Co Ltd, saying the existing service has never run efficiently.
A ceremony to launch the new service took place on October 1 in Vientiane , when 36 new Chinese-made buses took to the streets. They will run non-stop on four major routes in the capital, according to company staff.
But a check on the new service finds that only a few people are using these buses.
The Deputy Director of the Tongli Bus Company, Mr Sithsamay, said he expected to make a loss for the first six months of operation because not many people knew about the new service. But he feels confident the company will make a large profit further down the road, as there is such a high demand for public transport in the capital.
He said the advantage of these buses was their small size, with seating for about 20 passengers. They had been designed in China specifically to run on Vientiane roads.
Fares range from 2000 to 3000 kip depending on distance, he said, and had been approved by the Vientiane Communication, Transport, Post and Construction Department.
The Tongli Bus Company opened for business in 2002 and has developed into one of the most successful long-distance bus services in the country. Earlier this year it announced the seven billion kip deal to buy the 36 buses from China .
This new venture was decided on after the Vientiane Public Transport Company confirmed it had earned zero profit in Vientiane over the past decade, while another company, the Laody Bus Company, which was established in 2000, went out of business.
there was a private company named LaoDy providing bus service 3-4 years ago. they used korean made buses. But due to whatever reasons they had to close their business. What's wrong w/ our ppl, we always say that we need civilization, econ. social. delopment, prospertiy, better lives and complain govt. of poor admin. da country. Many say that they would like to hv super market, shopping malls like development countries or our neighboring country, Thailand. Yet, when new morning market established, not many ppl go there n often complain about high price (n they prefer to shop in thailand as they think price is cheaper n more variety of products. But these ppl never realise that they pay higher price because they need to add addtional costs of transportation,payments at checking points, ect). Oh god, there're many things that I want to complain about Lao ppl.
there was a private company named LaoDy providing bus service 3-4 years ago. they used korean made buses. But due to whatever reasons they had to close their business. What's wrong w/ our ppl, we always say that we need civilization, econ. social. delopment, prospertiy, better lives and complain govt. of poor admin. da country. Many say that they would like to hv super market, shopping malls like development countries or our neighboring country, Thailand. Yet, when new morning market established, not many ppl go there n often complain about high price (n they prefer to shop in thailand as they think price is cheaper n more variety of products. But these ppl never realise that they pay higher price because they need to add addtional costs of transportation,payments at checking points, ect). Oh god, there're many things that I want to complain about Lao ppl.
Because when things like that are made, higher prices are introduced to pay for new buildings, new services, stuff like that, etc.
People need a variety of jobs in this country.
Maybe not now, but in a few years, they'll be people with more money.
