As many as 500 articulated and ten-wheel trucks, laden with goods bought in Thailand and bound for the hinterland of Myanmar, are currently stuck in front of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy 2 border checkpoint in Mae Sot district of Tak province, because the Burmese military has imposed tighter controls on goods transport.
Myanmar traders claim that the tighter controls on the cargo trucks have been ordered by the deputy commander-in-chief of the Burmese armed forces and are aimed at trucks without valid border trading licenses.
They claim that Myanmar’s government officials manning the checkpoint are demanding that traders pay the road tax in US dollars, if they want their trucks to travel deeper into the country.
The Burmese traders claim that the real motive behind this stringent measure is, however, to hit the revenue sources of the various anti-government rebel groups, such as the KNU and the PDF, which have been earning from the cargo truck operators.
