Government & Economy

Nong Khai is administratively divided into 17 districts including:

The building of the Friendship Bridge between Nong Khai province and Vientiane province in Laos, which was financed by the Australian government and completed in 1994, was expected to bring a new era of trade and increased tourism to the province. So far the results have been somewhat disappointing, because overland tourism to Laos has not grown significantly and because the government of the Lao PDR has not encouraged trade as much as expected. Still, the market in Nong Khai for inexpensive goods from Laos, China and even Eastern Europe, attracts bus loads of Thais from Bangkok and other provinces to shop for items that are expensive or simply unavailable elsewhere in the Kingdom.

Most of the people of the province are engaged in farming, with the principal crops being tobacco, chilies and potatoes. In many areas tapioca has replaced rice as an important cash crop. It is anticipated that pineapple will soon become the most important agricultural commodity because the construction of a number of processing and packing plants is expected to swell demand.

Emblem of the Province: Bamboo in a Pond

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