Roads less travelled

Imagine the road journeys that would be possible across ASEAN and Mekong countries if the region relaxed rules at their border crossings, and the millions of travellers that would result from this opening up.

That was the picture painted by Luzi Matzig, CEO of Asian Trails, and Lim Neo Chian, former CEO of the Singapore Tourism Board, during a panel on "The Road Less Travelled" at the Mekong Tourism Forum held in Siem Reap recently.

Matzig, who shared stories of his four-wheel drive adventures in the region, talked about the complicated procedures required to undertake cross-border road journeys with rules differing from one country to another.

Thailand, for instance, he said, requires lots of paperwork and bureaucracy "but it works in general". In Cambodia, it’s very difficult to bring in a car legally while in Vietnam, “problems remain, officially due to the fact that Thai cars are right-hand-driven, he said.

Neo Chian (seated back) on one of his stops

Lim, who recently completed his "ASEAN On Wheels" adventure, covering several ASEAN countries in 160 days of travel, said planning the trip took a lot of time with different paperwork required by each government.

"It's possible but it takes time and a lot of planning," he said.

Matzig said the region should agree on one common paper –an ASEAN International Transport Permit – and standardise mandatory insurance coverage.

"Do away with different border post services and have the same procedure at all border crossings – presently some are 'international' and some for 'local community traffic' only," he said.

Lim noted that the ease of crossing the Singapore-Malaysia border by road for instance had benefitted both countries' tourism industry.

Matzig said, "If only 2% of Thailand's 65 million people took an overland trip cross border, this would bring 1.3 million new tourists to its neighbours in the Mekong countries."

Crossing a river

Cross-border road travel was clearly a hot topic at the forum with all the participants, when asked if they would like to see restrictions eased, giving an enthusiastic round of applause.

Lim, who sits on the board of the Singapore Cruise Centre, also said there was tremendous potential in the Mekong region for cruising. With investments being made in cruising by places such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, the Mekong region with its coastline could ride on the growing wave of the cruise market.

"The Asian cruise market is still small compared with the rest of the world but it is growing fast and you should take advantage of the opportunities," he said.

Both Lim and Matzig said there was no better way to experience the diversity of the Mekong region than by car and they hoped that one day, adventures such as what they have undertaken would become accessible to more travellers.