Junta authorities reopened the Myawaddy-Mae Sot Friendship Bridge 2 on Thursday after nearly 10 months of closure, restoring a key border crossing for trade with Thailand, local traders and residents said.
The bridge, a critical route for billions of dollars in annual border trade, was shut down by the regime in mid-August last year. The junta said the closure was aimed at preventing the transport of unlicensed goods, but traders and residents said it was also intended to block resistance groups from collecting tax revenues along the Myawaddy trade corridor.
The reopening was carried out without formal public notice or prior coordination with Thai authorities, according to traders in Myawaddy. Residents said they learned of the reopening after a Buddhist blessing ceremony for the bridge was held early Thursday morning.
“Bridge 2 has indeed opened,” a Myawaddy merchant told Myanmar Now on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity. . .
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