Myanmar military’s border bridge shutdown cuts off supplies to civilians, anti-junta groups

The Myanmar military regime closed an important bridge for border trade between Thailand and Myanmar on Monday as part of a blockade possibly intended to deprive armed anti-regime forces of revenue and essential supplies. According to residents of Myawaddy Township on the Myanmar side of the border, the military personnel manning the checkpoint have blocked all traffic over the bridge since Monday morning, making certain construction materials, foods, and other goods imported from Thailand scarce or unavailable. “The Myanmar side announced a temporary closure this morning,” a Myawaddy resident said on Monday. While the announcement said the shutdown would be temporary, it offered no expected reopening date, he said, adding that a long-term closure would drive up prices and create economic hardship. “If the closure lasts a long time, goods become scarce, and prices rise, we’ll face difficulties,” he said. “Even if we move goods through the lower crossings, the transport connections are poor and prices will definitely rise.” The border crossing between Myawaddy in Karen (Kayin) State and Mae Sot in Thailand’s Tak Province is one of five border trade crossings for which the junta-controlled Ministry of Commerce collects data on the Thailand-Myanmar border. The others are Tachileik in eastern Shan State and Kawthaung, Htee Khee, and Mawdaung in Tanintharyi Region. The junta-controlled commerce ministry also includes goods shipped through Myeik, a port on the Andaman Sea, in Thailand-Myanmar border trade totals, along with some additional checkpoints on the border including those at Three Pagodas Pass, Karen State and Mese, Karenni (Kayah) State. Due to tightened restrictions for entry into Myanmar and the closure of the border bridge since Monday, around 500 freight trucks have been stranded on the Thailand side, according to another source in Myawaddy. “Since the bridge is temporarily closed, will the trucks turn back? The trucks are simply stuck and haven’t been able to reach the Myanmar side yet,” he said. Most goods shipped between Myawaddy Township and Mae Sot cross via Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2, while most travellers without a commercial purpose generally use Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 1, several miles downstream on the Thaungyin (Moei) River. The Myanmar military deliberately blocks the movement of food, information, funding, and manpower to areas dominated by anti-regime groups, an approach it calls the “four cuts” strategy. At a meeting of top junta generals on August 12, Myanmar junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said it would be necessary to crack down on and detain people engaged in black market trade to prevent revenue from going to resistance forces and other anti-junta armed groups. However, the junta’s minister for economic affairs in Karen State Saw Khin Maung Myint told a regime-run media outlet that the reason for the bridges’ closure was a delay in the freight drivers’ applications for import licences. The bridge would reopen after they received approval from Naypyitaw, he said. The provincial transport association of Tak Province said they have requested intergovernmental negotiations with Myanmar to resolve the bridge closure issue, and told the Thai Enquirer that 1,500 freight trucks had been delayed at the border as of Tuesday. The military has been battling Karen ethnic armed forces west of Myawaddy, recapturing control of the Asia Highway between Kyondoe and Kawkareik, Karen State at the end of July. However, clashes are ongoing nearer the border in Myawaddy Township, where an alliance including members of the People’s Defence Forces and led by the Karen National Union and its armed wings have seized several junta outposts. One of the targets of the Karen-led alliance was the Ukayit Hta military base, an outpost the junta has referred to as its “lifeline.” Anti-junta fighters captured the base on July 12. Resistance troops seen with weapons seized from Ukayit Hta base (Photo - Cobra Column 2 -Venom) Thai authorities have prohibited the export of fuel to Myawaddy since February of this year to pressure Myanmar into escalating its enforcement against cyberscam compounds that have emerged near the border. The Myanmar junta has also restricted shipments of fuel from other major cities starting this month. Fuel prices have tripled in Myawaddy amid the blockades, the local media outlet Karen Information Center (KIC) reported on Monday, citing accounts from residents.

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