Expressway Operator Clarifies Toll Charges

Source: Vientiane Times

All vehicles using the newly-opened Vientiane-Vangvieng expressway must pay the set toll rates,  except in the case of an emergency or accident, when specially designated ambulances can enter free or charge.

The expressway management committee told Vientiane Times that authorised ambulances, police vehicles and fire trucks are on standby to attend to an emergency on the expressway. Other ambulances must pay to use the expressway, with charges ranging from 114,000 to 224,000 kip.

The Health Office in Vangvieng district said a patient or patient’s relatives would be charged 114,000 kip for a journey from the Vangvieng district hospital to the Vientiane provincial hospital and 224,000 kip for a journey from Vangvieng district hospital to a hospital in Vientiane.

Other rates for general use of the expressway set by the Laos-China Joint Expressway Development Co., Ltd. are as follows:

600 kip per kilometre for vehicles not exceeding two tonnes in weight, totalling 66,000 kip for a one-way journey.

Vehicles weighing 2-5 tonnes will be charged 1,000 kip per kilometre, totalling 110,000 kip; vehicles weighing 5-10 tonnes will be charged 1,400 kip per kilometre, totalling 154,000 kip; and vehicles weighing 10-15 tonnes will be charged 2,000 kip per kilometre, totalling 220,000 kip.

For passenger vehicles, the rate is set at 600 to 2,000 kip per kilometre depending on the number of seats.

Vehicles with not more than seven seats will be charged 600 kip per kilometre; the rate is 1,000 kip per kilometre for vehicles with 8-9 seats; 1,400 kip per kilometre for vehicles with 20-39 seats; and vehicles with 40 or more seats will be charged 2,000 kip per kilometre.

All vehicles will be weighed before entering the expressway.

The 110-km Vientiane- Vangvieng expressway officially opened on December 20 to link the capital to the tourist hotspot of Vangvieng.