TN - Burma opens border after Surin

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Subject: TN - Burma opens border after Surin's visit: trade, traffic resume 

THE NATION - November 25, 1999

Headlines

Burma opens border after Surin's visit: trade, traffic resume

ENTHUSIASTIC Thai and Burmese nationals flocked to Thai-Burmese border
checkpoints yesterday to buy or trade goods or visit their relatives as the
crossings were officially reopened after being sealed for almost eight
weeks.

Thai immigration officials said the checkpoint between Mae Sai in the north
and the Burmese market town of Tachilek was the first to reopen at 8am
followed by Myawaddi-Mae Sot and Three Pagoda Pass at 8:30 am, then Ranong
at 9 am.

The reopening of the 2,400 km border came a day after Foreign Minister Surin
Pitsuwan went to Rangoon for talks with top officials of Burma's ruling
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

Right after the Thai-Burmese border committee met separately to declare the
border officially reopened and resume their regular consultations, hundreds
of Burmese dashed to immigration offices at border towns to apply for
passes, and then crossed into Thailand.

In Mae Sai, as soon as the gate in the middle of the bridge over the Mai Sai
River was flung open, starved-looking Burmese streamed across to buy
much-needed goods.

Anxious Thai traders rushed across in the opposite direction to peddle their
merchandise, causing the once-sleepy traffic in the area to be jammed for a
kilometre.

A line of trucks, along with foreign tourists, could be seen heading towards
Tachilek. Police were reportedly clearing street vendors from the middle
island to facilitate the flow of cross-border business.

In Tak, the rush of Burmese into Mae Sot caused pandemonium at the Thai
immigration office. Some of them tried to jump the queue waiting to be
processed. Thai officials had to ask them to calm down.

After getting border passes, some rushed to the market on the Thai side to
buy consumer goods that had been unavailable on their side for more than a
month.

''I don't want to see the border shut again because we suffered from a
shortage of food and a high cost of living during the months of closure.
When it was closed the price of goods tripled,'' said Ma Zaw, 43, a Burmese
woman who had crossed to Mae Sot.

Prices of goods dropped on the Burmese side yesterday since the cost of
transportation became cheaper with the reopening of the checkpoints.

Traffic on the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge also resumed.

The Tak Chamber of Commerce estimated that Burmese demand for Thai goods
from November to December would be worth no less than Bt400 million.

President of the chamber, Panithi Tangphati, said after joining a joint
border committee meeting with Burma, that the Burmese side has asked Thai
authorities to strictly enforce the rules and regulations for import and
export to prevent tax evasion.

Panithi said they also requested Thailand to waive import duties on Burmese
agricultural products to promote their import.

Burma sealed the land border and cancelled fishing licences for Thai boats
more than seven weeks ago after five gunmen seized Rangoon's embassy in
Bangkok and plunged bilateral relations into crisis.

Rangoon was outraged when Bangkok supplied the gunmen with an escape
helicopter in exchange for the release of their 38 hostages, but said the
visit by Surin had put relations back on track.

Surin's one-day trip came amid fears the dispute could mar the summit of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Manila this weekend.

''The talks were marked by mutual goodwill, respect and understanding and
both sides expressed great satisfaction at the results.''

The renewal of licences for Thai fishermen will be handled by the
responsible authorities. Representatives from both sides will have to
discuss details of overall contracts and sharing of interests before fishing
can resume,'' a member of the border commitee said.

Commander of the Army's Third Region Lt Gen Wattanachai Chaymueanwong said
his force has not heightened security as a result of the reopening of the
border, except to keep vigilance against possible intrusion of armed forces
or drug traffickers.

The Nation, agencies