Thailand and Laos have proposed a joint tourism initiative aimed at boosting cross border tourist traffic.

The ‘two countries-one destination’ campaign will market Laos as an add-on to holidays in Thailand by promoting it as a joint package.

Thai government spokesman Weerachon Sukondhpatipak said the joint tourism plan will hopefully be ready to roll out by the end of the year in time for the next Thai-Laos Joint Commission meeting,

The idea is part of Thailand’s tourism policy to position itself as a tourist hub for visits to Thailand itself and onward to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The Thai and Lao governments agreed to open more border checkpoints to facilitate growing overland traffic between the countries.

Laos welcomed about 4.3 million tourists last year, the vast majority of which come to visit old capital Luang Prabang.