Managing Director of the Thanaleng Dry Port, Mr Sakhone Philangam (second right) explains the dry port’s operation to DPM Sihasak Phuangketkeow.

Thai DPM visit highlights Thanaleng Dry Port’s potential as regional trade gateway, investment hub

The Thanaleng Dry Port and Vientiane Logistics Park are emerging as a strategic gateway linking Laos and Thailand with wider ASEAN markets and China, offering growing opportunities to boost cross-border trade, attract investment and add value to goods moving across the region, the facilities’ developer has said.
Welcoming Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow on October 1, the President of Thanaleng Dry Port Sole Co., Ltd. and Vientiane Logistics Park Co., Ltd., Dr Chanthone Sitthixay, said the dry port forms part of Laos’ strategy to transform the landlocked country into a “land-linked” one.

Mr Sihasak was in Laos to attend the 23rd meeting of the Laos-Thailand Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, as the two neighbours seek to deepen economic ties and strengthen connectivity.
Two-way trade between Laos and Thailand reached US$4.39 billion in the first eight months of this year, excluding electricity, according to the Lao Foreign Trade Department. Meanwhile, figures presented during the dry port visit showed bilateral trade reached 324 billion baht (more than US$9.6 billion) in 2025, up 12 percent year-on-year, with the two countries targeting US$11 billion by 2027.
During talks with Dr Chanthone and his team, Mr Sihasak expressed Thailand’s support for Laos’ land-link efforts.
“Thailand fully supports Laos’ transformation from landlocked to land-linked,” he said, describing connectivity as a shared interest of the two neighbouring countries.

At the heart of this growing connectivity is the Thanaleng Dry Port, where Thailand’s metre-gauge railway meets the standard-gauge Laos-China Railway, enabling freight to move between Thailand, Laos and China and increasingly across the wider ASEAN region.
The importance of the facility is reflected in its rapidly growing operations. Container throughput more than tripled from 40,368 TEUs during January-July 2023 to 144,424 TEUs in the same period of 2026, an increase of 258 percent.
Opened in late 2021, the dry port has become a key component of Laos’ strategy to capitalise on its geographical location at the heart of mainland Southeast Asia. It provides customs clearance, container handling, warehousing, tax payment and other one-stop logistics services, while serving as a consolidation and transshipment centre for cargo moving by road and rail.

By Advertorial Desk
 (Latest Update October 5, 2026)