SCMP-Traders hit hard with closure

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Subject: SCMP-Traders hit hard with closure of Thailand border

South China Morning Post
Tuesday, October 12, 1999
BURMA

Traders hit hard with closure of Thailand border
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Bangkok
Burma's closure of its border with Thailand has shut down the area's
bustling trade and is estimated to be costing Thai fishermen who operate in
Burmese waters more than US$1 million a day.
More than 400 Thai fishing vessels have returned to port, leaving thousands
jobless, and an uncertain number of other vessels stranded in Burmese
waters, said Sutha Theareephat, the head of the provincial fishery
department at the southern port of Ranong.

Fishing operators and related businesses in Ranong have been losing about 43
million baht (about HK$8.25 million) a day, he said.

Burma unilaterally closed its land and sea borders with Thailand last week
after five armed dissidents stormed Burma's embassy in Bangkok. Thailand
gave the rebels safe passage to the Thai-Burma border in return for the safe
release of all 38 hostages.

The closure of the 2,100-kilometre land frontier, which began straight after
the embassy siege, has brought a halt to normally bustling border trade.

At the northern Thai border town of Mae Sot, only a few Thai military
officials can now cross the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge - opened two years
ago amid high hopes of a new dawn in bilateral relations and a boom in
cross-border business.

The closure is costing Thai businessmen 25 million baht a day in lost trade
in consumer goods, construction materials and petrol, said Suchart
Srirattana, the head of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

He said local businessmen were urging the Thai foreign ministry to push for
the re-opening of the border, saying that they have payments outstanding for
goods sent to Burma before the blockade.

Hundreds of stranded Burmese migrant workers have built shacks on the Thai
side, while Burma forces strictly prohibiting any Burmese nationals from
crossing to Thailand are visible on the Burma side of the border.