A junta checkpoint on the highway between Thazi Town in Mandalay Region’s Thazi Township and Kalaw in southern Shan State’s Kalaw Township is confiscating foreign goods being transported from Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, to Shan State’s capital Taunggyi.
The junta checkpoint at Kywetatson Village in Thazi Township has been seizing various foreign goods transported from Yangon to Taunggyi since August 23, according to a truck driver on that route.
“Kywetatson checkpoint has always been known for harsh inspections. But now, almost no foreign goods, including food items, are allowed to pass through. Everything is being confiscated there,” he told Shan Herald.
A female highway bus operator also said delivery services have been temporarily halted, as all foreign goods including food, clothing, machinery, cosmetics, and baby products are being confiscated at the Kywetatson checkpoint.
“At the Kywetatson checkpoint, soldiers often inspect packages. They don’t allow Chinese or Thai products through and confiscate them, including food and household items. For now, delivery services have been suspended for a week, and we’re keeping a close eye on the situation,” she said.
As foreign goods sent from Yangon to Taunggyi are being confiscated, prices in Taunggyi have soared. Other towns that rely on Taunggyi for supplies are also facing shortages.
“Now, Thai-made goods are arriving much less than before, so people are stockpiling food and other essentials. If the shortages get worse, prices will go up even more. I think the flow of Thai goods to other cities will drop a lot too. It really feels like we’re going backward in time, and it’s quite depressing,” a woman from Taunggyi lamented.
An announcement by the junta’s Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee, temporarily banning the import of 35 goods via land and sea routes, has been circulating on social media since August 13.
Since the third week of August, the junta has banned the shipment of goods from Tachileik, in eastern Shan State near the Thai border, to other parts of Myanmar. Because of this blockade and a drop in travelers, some highway bus services in Tachileik have been forced to suspend operations.
