Effective from today (Sunday), new travel restrictions have been imposed in the Mae Sot district of Thailand’s northwestern province of Tak and Myanmar’s Myawaddi Township, after two truckers from Myanmar, who crossed into Mae Sot, tested positive for COVID-19 on their return to Myanmar.

Today, Tak’s official issued an order restricting the arrival of individuals and vehicles from Myanmar through the permanent border checkpoint.

Under the new restrictions, six-wheel trucks or larger can enter Mae Sot with only the driver and one assistant on board. For four-wheel vehicles, only the driver is allowed to enter.  All drivers and assistants may stay on Thai soil for only 7 hours.

Overstaying risks detention for up to 14 days, with their employers bearing all the associated expenses.

Meanwhile, Myawaddi Governor Tay Zar Aung also issued an order restricting vehicles arriving in Myawaddi from Thailand to within a 4km radius of the market place.

In Mae Sai district of Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai, Thai troops on routine patrol arrested four Chinese, three men and a woman, after they slipped across the border from Myanmar. Two others, believed to be human traffickers, evaded capture.

The four Chinese were temperature screened, which showed normal results, and they were later detained at Kho Chang police station.

In Myanmar’s Shan State, opposite Thailand’s Mae Sai district, lockdown restrictions have been imposed in all towns, with checkpoints set up on all main roads to screen travelers and to enforce the curfew, in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.