Welcome to Savannakhet!
Savannakhet (ສະຫວັນນະເຂດ, commonly abbreviated to "Savan") and officially known as "Kaysone Phomvihane" (ໄກສອນ ພົມວິຫານ, name of the district), is the capital of Savannakhet Province in Southern Laos. It is on the Mekong River. With an estimated population of 120,000, it is the second largest city in Laos. The city is the hub between the west (Mukdahan, Thailand) and east (Vietnam), and between the north (Vientiane) and south (Pakse).
Savannakhet (ສະຫວັນນະເຂດ), officially named Kaysone Phomvihane (Lao: ໄກສອນ ພົມວິຫານ, Thai: ไกสอน พมวิหาน) since 2005 and previously known as Khanthaboury (ຄັນທະບູລີ), is a city in western Laos. It is the capital of Savannakhet Province. With a population of 125,760 (2018), it is the second-largest city in Laos, after Vientiane. Although the old French colonial quarter of the town, along the Mekong River front, is depressed and crumbling, the town's proximity to Thailand's booming economy has brought about new commercial development in the northern part of the town, near both the river crossing and the bus terminal.
Like all Lao cities, Savannakhet has a mixed population of Lao, Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese, as well as minority peoples from the Lao interior. It has a large 15th-century Buddhist temple, Wat Sainyaphum, a Chinese temple, the Catholic Co-Cathedral of St. Therese, and a mosque. The Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong connects to Mukdahan Province in Thailand. The two-lane, 12-metre-wide (39 ft), 1,600-metre-long (5,250 ft) bridge opened to the general public on 9 January 2007.
The annual per capita income of Kaysone Phomvihane City is US$2,041 (2018).