Exorbitant tolls at highway tollgates in Yatsauk (Lawksawk) Township, southern Shan State, have reduced the region’s goods flow to around half its usual volume.
In Yatsauk Township and nearby areas, both the coup junta and various ethnic armed groups have set up checkpoints and tollgates to collect tolls, locals reported.
Truck drivers said they have to pass through about 25 tollgates in total, facing tolls of up to 2 million MMK in total per trip.
“We have to pay tolls to the junta, and we also have to pay tolls to the RCSS/SSA. The Pa-O National Organisation (PNO) charges tolls too. They don’t ask much from passenger vehicles—they mostly focus on trucks because they know truck drivers usually carry a lot of cash. If you don’t pay what they demand, they won’t let you pass,” said a truck driver.
There are around 25 tollgates and checkpoints along the highway to Yatsauk Town, with total tolls ranging from 30,000 to 2 million MMK, depending on the vehicle type and size. The junta, RCSS, and PNO have all set up checkpoints along these routes.
Trucks traveling from Thazi Town in Mandalay Region to Yatsauk must pay 200,000 MMK at the Myo Oo tollgate, while those using the Kyaukgu Village route in Yatsauk Township have to pay an annual wheel tax of 100,000 MMK at the Bangkan Village checkpoint.
The Bangkan checkpoint is notorious for excessive tolls, charging between 1.5 million and 2 million MMK depending on whether the truck is a 6-wheeler, 10-wheeler, or 12-wheeler.
“It’s hard to tell if these places are really checkpoints or just robber camps. When they see a truck, they stop it and ask what goods it’s carrying, but they don’t actually check anything. Then they charge tolls based on the type of goods. The tollgates even make deals among themselves about how much to collect, the second gate usually charges the same as the first,” a traveler said.
Truck operations have also declined, becoming economically unviable because the roughly 25 tollgates along the Thazi-Yatsauk Highway charge exorbitant fees. The route, which previously saw about 60 trucks per day, now handles just over 20.
Traders are concerned that the drop in commodity flows could cause shortages and sharply rising prices in southern Shan State townships in the coming months.
