Pandaw has announce the addition of a third ship to join their Laos Flotilla on the Mekong River in September 2019. This will be the 17th vessel in the Pandaw Fleet that currently ply the waterways of six Southeast Asian countries.

The double decked vessel to be named RV Sabei Pandaw will be 45 meters long and designed to meet the navigational challenges of shooting the rapids in the Laos gorges. At the same time it will have the shallow draft to enable year round passage across Yunnan into China.

Travellers on this four-country expedition will visit Laos, Thailand, Burma and China. Highlights include the ancient Laos capital of Luang Prabang, visits to tribal villages, national parks and the river itself which is intensely dramatic and wild.

The Sabei will have just twelve classic Pandaw staterooms and an open plan saloon with flexible indoor or outdoor dining, providing mixed Laos-Thai cuisine — with international dishes available on request.

Pandaw Founder, Paul Strachan believes that of all the Pandaw river cruises, the Upper Mekong is the most exciting, “There can be no waterborne experience to match sailing through Laos. The fast river with its continual spate of white water, the jungle clad peaks, the gorges; then there is the friendly welcome in every village, the ethnic diversity and the cultural riches. Traversing the remotest parts of four very different countries you see all of South-East Asia, lost and timeless”.

Pandaw were the first to open luxury river expeditions in Laos in 2015 and added a second ship last year extending the programme from Laos to Thailand to continue to China.

According to VP Sales and Marketing, Marco Rosa, “We have seen considerable demand for Laos and this current year both our ships are more-or-less full. This new vessel will really help satisfy that demand”.