Thai DPM visits Laos

VIENTIANE, May 18 (TNA) - Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn is paying a visit to Laos to ceremonially start the construction of a drug rehabilitation center in the neighboring country. Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and his visiting Thai counterpart jointly laid a foundation stone for the construction of the rehabilitation center at Phon Hong Hospital in Vientiane, Laos' capital, on Monday. The Thai government supports the construction of the drug rehabilitation center and the production of its personnel and also supplies its equipment. The visiting Thai deputy prime minister and foreign minister also inspected the renovation of an old outpatient building of the same hospital, which the Thai government has supported since 2003 and it is being upgraded to an emergency response facility. Besides, the Thai deputy premier and foreign minister visited the Technical College of Vientiane, the development of which the Thai government has also sponsored since 2010. These projects are part of Thailand’s support, worth about 100 million baht annually, for the economic and social development in Laos to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the sake of its national prosperity and regional stability and wealth as a whole, while also relieving health and anti-narcotic burdens in border areas adjacent to the neighboring country. (TNA)