Myawaddy-Mae Sot border trade takes a hit

Tuesday, 27 July 2010 13:06 Usa Pichai

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The closing of the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border, initiated by Burmese authorities earlier this month, has drawn the concern of businessmen regarding the impact the action may have on the lucrative border trade.

Banpot Kokiatcharoen, Chairman of the Tak Chamber of Commerce, told Mizzima that the border closing has obviously had a negative effect on trade and worries to what extent trade may be further hampered.

“Thai officials have ordered construction to stop on the controversial wall on the Moei River [separating Burma from Thailand], which is likely the main cause of the closing, but any other reasons are still unknown,” he said.

Border trade and transportation between the two countries was halted on July 12 after Burmese officials shut the border at the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge connecting Myawaddy on the Burmese side with Mae Sot on the Thai side, as well ordering the closure of over 20 other trading posts along the Moei River.

The closing also means Burmese cannot enter Thailand to buy goods as well as a number of students being stranded on the wrong side of the international boundary.

A trader in Mae Sot said last week that the situation had caused a drop in the number of Burmese people and traders buying products in Thailand.

“If the closing continues for much longer my business will be in trouble, especially as the economic situation in Thailand is also not well because of the recent political situation,” the trader explained, referring to the ongoing standoff involving the current government and supporters of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Moreover, the number of tourists to Mae Sot has also dropped as a result of the border closure, with it no longer being possible to extend Thai visas by crossing over to the Burmese side.

Thailand’s Deputy Minister of Commerce, Alongkorn Ponlaboot, visited Mae Sot last week to discuss the issue and hopes to have the issue solved as soon as possible.

Alongkorn said the bilateral relationship between Thailand and Burma is in a good situation, with exports from Thailand to Burma this year so far totaling about 23,000 million baht [710 million USD], a 40 percent increase from the same period last year.

“We’re coordinating with the Tak Chamber of Commerce and Myawaddy authorities to re-open the checkpoint because many products are waiting for export,” he said, according to a report on the National News Bureau of Thailand website last Tuesday.
According to the Mae Sot Customs Office, the closing is costing border trade about 100 million baht [3 million USD] a day.

Thai export products heavily hit include cooking oil, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), instant coffee powder, medicine and electrical equipment. Imported products from Burma include seafood, wooden furniture and agricultural products.

There has been confusion between Thai and Burmese authorities in the past over the controversial Moei River wall, with Burmese officials protesting that it violates a previous border demarcation agreement between the two ASEAN countries.

In December 2009, local officials ordered the temporary cessation of the project after Burmese authorities submitted a letter requesting Thai officials stop construction. However, construction was later restarted before again being brought to a halt one week ago.

The wall is intended to solve a rainy season problem, as strong waters have caused the riverbank to repeatedly collapse, thereby redefining the international boundary between the two countries.

Meanwhile, an official from the Prime Minister’s office confirmed on July 21 that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has postponed his planned visit to Burma. His trip has yet to rescheduled.

However, Panitan Wattanayagorn, acting Thai government spokesman, said the postponement has nothing to do with the continued closure of the Thai-Burma border in Tak Province, insinuating that it is rather a matter of neither Head-of-State being free at the original time.

Abhisit earlier said he would visit Thailand’s westerly neighbor in early August, ahead of Burma’s first general election in two decades, anticipated in either October or November of this year.