Laos: Huge development project underway in Siphandone

Khong district, an island situated in the Mekong River in Champassak Province in the south of Laos is part of the area known as Siphandone, meaning Four Thousand Islands, and has long been popular with visitors for its laid-back bucolic feel.

Siphandone is an archipelago of islands in the Mekong River, near the Laos-Cambodia border. It lies about 140 kilometers from Pakxe city, the capital of Champassak Province.

It is an expansive area of the mighty Mekong River, which is very broad at this point and forms many channels, creating numerous islets and rapids. It is also an area with an abundance of aquatic animals, especially fish.

A visit to Siphandone at present is an exciting experience because things there are changing fast. A short while ago it was a quiet, sleepy, rural area where life moved at an unhurried pace, in tune with the languidly flowing river.

Now it is undergoing rapid modernization under a massive development project being carried out by Sithandone Joint Development Co., Ltd. (STD). The development is known as the Sithandone Special Economic Zone or new Siphandone area.

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