1st Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge (Nong Khai-Vientiane)

The First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge crosses the Mekong River between Thailand's Nong Khai province and the Vientiane Prefecture of Laos. Opened in 1994, it was the first permanent road crossing ever built over the Mekong — funded by Australia and deliberately conceived as a physical symbol of diplomatic normalization between the two neighboring countries. Stretching roughly 1.2 kilometers, the bridge now carries both road and rail traffic and remains the principal official border crossing between Thailand and Laos. From the Nong Khai riverbank, visitors get an unobstructed view of the structure framed by the broad Mekong floodplain.