Boats but few passengers

LUANG PRABANG  Luang Prabang Public Works and Transport Department says the number of tourist boats in the province has significantly increased to over 600.
Lao News Agency reported there are now 600 boats offering transfers on the Mekong River from Houay Xay in Bokeo province to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Luang Prabang. The downsteam trip takes a day, while the upstream trip takes two full days with an overnight stop in Pak Beng.
The report indicated that there has been a sharp increase in the number of boats because a “large number of tourists want to see the beautiful scenery along the Mekong River from Luang Prabang to Bokeo and Bokeo to Luang Prabang”.
But the figure is misleading. There are very likely 600 boats registered, but they are not all offering tourist services and they are not departing Houay Xay daily. Most of the boats transport cargo between the two towns. A few are registered to carry tourists, but only depart if the boats are chartered outright.
inside no 2The more expensive scheduled trips, by luxury boats, stay overnight on the downstream trip at resorts in Pak Beng. Cocktails are served on board just before the boat arrives at the resort at Pak Beng. Some of the economy boat trips do the downstream trip in 12 hours flat. The upstream trip takes two days with a stop in Pak Beng. Seating is extremely uncomfortable.
Luang Prabang authorities plan to construct a new ferry pier at Khokchong-Pakxieng village and install boat direction signs along the Mekong River.
Currently, there are 667 boats including 12 ferries, 116 boats for goods transport, 527 boats for passenger service and 12 speed boats registered by authorities in Luang Prabang.
More Thai travellers living in Chiang Rai province are booking group tours that take them to Chiang Khong where they cross the bridge to Houay Xay and join a charter boat to Luang Prabang. The trip takes 12 hours by charter boat to Luang Prabang arriving at sunset.
Boats chartered by travel agents are more comfortable than the ones that individual travellers book. (Mostly backpackers).
The downstream boat transfer to Luang Prabang takes the same time as a bus from Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang. The alternative is to fly to Bangkok, overnight and take the flight from Bangkok to Luang Prabang. There are no direct flights between Chiang Rai and Luang Prabang, although the two towns are often in the same tour itineraries covering Mekong region countries.

sourced:ttrweekly.com