Abstract

The research paper was aim to determine the satisfaction levels of the local people on the Second Thai-LaoFriendship Bridge in three main aspects including economic aspect, social and environment aspect andtransportation aspect. A questionnaire survey was created to carry out this study. Findings indicated in economicaspect that the bridge plays as a key role in determining the economic situation of the local people. Laorespondents satisfied on this aspect at 3.914 and Thai respondents satisfied at 3.276. In social and environmentaspect, the opening of the bridge brought about the change of fundamental structures in the border areas alongthe Mekong River. Lao respondents satisfied on this aspect at 3.538 and Thai respondents satisfied at 3.466. Intransportation aspect, the sufficient infrastructure of Mukdahan province and the international bus makes itconvenient to access Laos through Savannakhet province. However, Lao respondents satisfied on this aspect at4.194 and Thai respondents satisfied at 3.652. The research findings suggest that the governments of bothcountries should be able to assist the local people, particularly the ones who need government’s assistants andlive close to the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, to become more involved in cross-border activities and togain benefits from the opening of the bridge as much as possible.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.