Since 15 July 2025, junta forces have stopped large trucks carrying goods from Thailand, even legally imported ones, from entering Mon State, raising the price of Thai goods there.
On 15 July, the junta started thoroughly checking vehicles for goods imported from Thailand at its highway checkpoints just outside Mon State cities and towns such as Mawlamyine, Thaton, Bilin, Kyaikto, and Paung.
The junta claims that it is carrying out these crackdowns because of allegations that goods are being illegally imported from Thailand and are avoiding import taxes.
As of 19 July, the junta authorities had seized at least 200 trucks’ contents that had been imported from Thailand, irrespective of whether those goods had been imported legally or illegally, despite their claims that they were only looking for illegally imported goods.
When imported goods are seized the losses felt will be compounded because traders and truck operators will already have had to pay bribes at many checkpoints on the route from the Thai border. Their trucks will have also sustained more damage than normal because the roads from the border have suffered bad water damage this rainy season.
The risk of such high losses means that many trucks no longer dare to transport goods imported from Thailand, irrespective of whether they have been imported legally or not.
Mon State is heavily dependent on imports from Thailand for basic food, consumer goods, medicines, cosmetics, construction materials, and other essential supplies.
But, these junta confiscations have halted the flow of Thai imports into Mon State. This has caused a shortage of goods from Thailand, which has caused their prices to rise by 15 to 20 per cent in Mon State, according to a trader who warned that prices could rise even further if no new shipments arrive.
He said to Than Lwin Times: “There have been arrests before, but now the confiscations have got a lot worse. The authorities say it’s because of orders from their superiors. In the market, prices of Thai goods have already gone up by about 15 to 20 percent. Even a 20 percent increase wouldn’t be a big problem if the imports kept coming. But since the goods aren’t coming in anymore, things could get a lot worse.”
