Second Army Region Commander Lt-Gen Weerayuth Raksilp issued an order on Sunday night, effective from midnight, forbidding the delivery of fuel and strategic goods into Laos through the Chong Mek border checkpoint in Sirindhorn district of the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, as part of the military’s efforts to erode Cambodia’s military capabilities.
The action followed an order from the Chanthaburi-Trat Task Force imposing a sea blockade in the Gulf of Thailand to prevent Thai-owned vessels, whether locally or foreign-registered, from delivering fuel and strategic goods to Cambodia.
The belated move came about a week after Thailand and Cambodia engaged in their fiercest clashes to date, during which Thailand deployed ground, sea and air forces against the Cambodian military.
Yesterday, the Thai Burma Railway website published a photograph showing about 80 oil tankers queued bumper-to-bumper to pass through the Chong Mek border checkpoint into Laos.
The writer noted that if each semi-trailer truck carried 50,000 litres of fuel, about four million litres would enter Laos in a single day — considerably more than normal.
He suspects that the surplus fuel may be diverted into Cambodia’s northeastern province of Stung Treng.
