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Laos: High petrol prices fuel public transport changes

Vientiane State Bus Enterprise will raise the price of bus tickets across Vientiane due to constant price hikes in petrol, an official said on Friday.
The Director of the Vientiane State Bus Enterprise, Mr Khamphoune Temerath told Vientiane Times on Friday that the some bus tickets that service Vientiane will be raised, with the new price implemented on May 01. 
The changes to the ticket pricing structure have come about due to the steady increases of price for petrol and diesel, with examples being April where the price of petrol jumped on at least two occasions.  
He added, pricing structures of bus tickets in Vientiane were set since 2011, and the Vientiane State Bus Enterprise have not raised ticket prices in that time.
The prices of bus tickets will be increased across the metropolitan areas, including the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge routes, which link Vientiane and NongKhai. The increase will be from 6,000 kip to 8,000 kip per person, and the route to Thangon village, Xaythany district will increase from 5000 kip to 7,000 kip per person.
Meanwhile, single tickets to Sangthong district will increase from 15,000 kip to 20,000 kip and Phontong village, Chanthabouly district will up from 3,000 to 4,000 kip per person. 
Mr Khamphounealso explained that moving forward, were petrol prices to return to previous levels, authorities will certainly revisit the pricing structure of public bus tickets.

Source: http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/FreeContent/FreeConten_High_98.php