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CHIANG RAI: The Chiang Khong customs office has expanded with the opening of a new building on 25 rai of land to speed up the movement of cargoes between Thailand and neighbouring Laos and China.
The new building was opened on Wednesday morning by Customs Department director-general Somchai Sujjapongse.
He said Chiang Khong customs checkpoint was responsible for border trade via land and water transport in four districts of Chiang Rai and two districts in Phayao. The previous single-building facility was too small to handle the growing volume of exports and imports between the two neighbours.
Chiang Khong is a main point on the 1,800 kilometre R3A highway linking Thailand and Kunming in China.
The new building, built in Lanna style, is on 25 rai of land. The new facilities include X-ray equipment for container inspection and a parking area for up to 50 trucks at a time. It will facilitate the movement of shipments between Thailand and Laos, and cargoes in transit between Thailand and China, Mr Somchai said.
According to the Commerce Ministry, bilateral trade between Thailand and Laos was 175.5 billion baht in 2014, up 13.06% from 2013, with Thai exports worth 129.66 billion baht.
For the first seven months of 2015, total bilateral trade was 107 billion baht, up 6.5% from the same period in 2014, with Thai exports totalling 79.7 billion baht, up 4.36%.
