Some truck operators suspended operations in August after checkpoints in Karen State halted trucks transporting goods from Myawaddy Town, near the Thailand-Myanmar border, and imposed extortionate levies.
Trucks transporting goods from Myawaddy were repeatedly stopped and extorted by both junta checkpoints and various armed groups along the route, forcing operators to halt operations as the business became economically unviable.
“These days, it costs about 10 million MMK to go from Myawaddy to Hpa-An City, whereas it used to be around 5 million MMK,” a truck driver told KIC.
Previously, trucks were only inspected in Hpa-An City, the capital of Karen State. But recently, the junta has begun inspections and arrests in Kyondoe Town, Kawkareik Township. If the junta confiscates a truck, there’s no longer any way to negotiate its release.
On August 9, junta troops and authorities under the junta’s command confiscated 53 trucks bound for Hpa-An City between Durein and Tharmanya villages in Hpa-An Township, according to a source close to the matter.
In addition to seizing trucks and extorting money from them, the junta is also monitoring, raiding, and searching warehouses and retail stores in Hpa-An City that store Thai goods. The junta has classified the import of Thai goods as smuggling, prompting an ongoing crackdown.
“Lately, the junta has been raiding and searching houses and yards in Hpa-An City. It has even announced a reward for information on smuggling Thai goods, so there are plenty of informers giving the regime tips. Nobody’s transporting Thai-made goods anymore, even soft drinks can get seized, and passenger vehicles have stopped carrying them too,” said a highway bus driver.
In Myawaddy Town, trade in Thai goods has dropped sharply, with only food-related items still being traded, while construction materials, electronics, industrial raw materials, and pharmaceuticals have all been suspended.
Between June and August, the junta confiscated more than 200 trucks in Hpa-An Township, all of which remain in its possession.
