Thailand has temporarily called off construction of a drain near the Three Pagodas Pass (TPP) border cross with Myanmar after digging on the site exacerbated monsoon flooding.
The Sangkhla Buri district project diverted mud water from the Union Highway into wards of Three Pagodas Pass ( Payathonzu), Kayin (Karen) State.
After initial objections to the construction went ignored, Myanmar closed down the border checkpoint and deployed extra border security officials. Both sides then met for negotiations, with delegations led by Colonel Myo Htut Win from the Myanmar Border Committee, and Lieutenant Colonel Direk Phonpakdi from the Thai Border Committee.
“[Thailand] has agreed to stop digging the drain during the monsoon and to inform us before they restart the work. We have requested they do not expand their road on our land or take down a three-stall restroom, which was built on our side,” said U Myo Naing, an administrator of Payathonzu.
The small border crossing is mostly used by daily commuters and some migrant workers, according to locals residents.
“Mud water flowed into our city when Thailand started digging the drain. There were tensions after we closed down [the border checkpoint], but the meeting between the two governments went well. Migrant workers are now crossing the border to work in Thailand,” said Maung Min Kaung Aung, a resident of Payathonzu.
Thailand proposed upgrading the temporary border crossing to a permanent one in 1999 and again in 2002, but Myanmar did not accept the proposal due to territorial disputes.
