Despite Thailand closing its international borders back in April, in reality, a few of the country’s land borders are almost inconceivable to seal and stop the ‘leaks’ of locals crossing over. Thailand has land and river borders with Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia – all with official checkpoints but additionally hundreds of well-worn tracks as villages casually traverse the official borders.
Thai officials have downplayed the menace from Covid-19 via the leaky borders, whilst the neighbouring countries have had a low variety of new infections. But now Myanmar has had a spike over the past week… 40-90 new instances per day. At this stage many of the instances have been in the Rhakine state, on the western side of Myanmar, not the Thai border side.
It ought to be said that the danger of virus transmission is extremely low as these conventional villages have traded with one another for tons of of years and are unlikely to travel beyond their neighbouring villages. In many instances there simply isn’t any access to larger population centres.
But Mere -o-cha is ordering the closure of all entry routes to Myanmar from Thailand’s western Kanchanaburi province after the wave of infections throughout the Burmese border.
Officially, businesses have been able to continue trade between the two countries, and import and export products as usual by specifying a delivery point at the border crossing without allowing Burmese operators to deliver goods into Thailand or visa versa.
The routes which would possibly be being officially closed embrace the Phu Nam Ron checkpoint in the southern part of Kanchanburi, Ban Khao, Bongdi checkpoint, Thayok district, Ban E Tong ‘natural channel’, Thong Pha Phum and the largest, the Three Pagodas border checkpoint in Sangkhlaburi. A lot of the western Thai border with Myanmar is impassable mountainous tropical jungle and virtually inconceivable to successfully control the passage of villagers.
But yesterday Thai military officers met with the officials from the primary city district, Sai Yok and Sangkhlaburi districts, to discuss Covid-19 prevention measures in the neighborhood of the Three Pagodas checkpoint. After a fresh outbreak within the Sittwe space, in Rakhine state, Myanmar has now found sufferers and
Suspected new instances have been found within the Burmese metropolis of Mawlamyine, simply 270 kilometres from the Three Pagodas cross. Officials from the army, police, immigration office, along with village chiefs are tightening the monitoring of natural channels from the Ban Nam Koek checkpoint to the Three Pagodas area, together with nightly patrols. There are more than 20 natural channels utilized by villagers in both Thailand and Myanmar to cross borders around the space.
Thai military officials say a Covid-19 outbreak within the space would cause “enormous harm to the native economy” as Kanchanaburi province is a significant vacationer destination for Thais and foreign vacationers..