More costs, damage incurred while trading at Thai border

Instructions requiring goods for trade at the border to be offloaded and reloaded onto separate vehicles at the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2 has led to damage and higher costs for local traders.

“There is no shelter on the bridge so some goods get damaged while being moved from truck to truck. Some goods cannot be overexposed to sunlight or rain. For example, rice flour gets damaged if it gets wet. But the process of reloading the goods onto Thai trucks requires the food to be held temporarily at terminals exposed to the weather.  Moving the cargo also requires additional labour costs,” said U Aung Myint Oo, director of trading firm Klohtoo Wah Co. Ltd.

After further five people tested positive for COVID-19 in Mae Sot, Thailand, last month, the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2 at the border was closed for a week.

Traffic resumed on October 25, but new rules requiring goods transported to the border in Myanmar vehicles to be transferred to Thai vehicles applied. The moving process is done at an open air terminal beside the bridge.

 “Normally, it takes only three hours and six workers per truck to cross the border into Thailand. Now, we need about 20 workers and charges are extremely high. Both imported goods from Thailand and exported goods from Myanmar need to be transferred into separate vehicles at the bridge. We have to wait for the trucks from Thailand to export the goods and we are given only seven hours to unload the goods at the bridge,” U Aung Myint Oo said.

Merchant associations, government departments and the Myanmar business chambers are now in negotiations with the Thai officials to find a solution that eases this burden.

Currently, more than 300 vehicles pass the bridge daily. Construction materials are being imported from Thailand while Myanmar exports crops such as corn, chilli and peanuts.