TAK, 21 November 2014 – Army officers have stepped up security measures at the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge border checkpoint area to prevent drug and labor trafficking between the two countries.
The Directorate of Joint Civil Affairs’s deputy chief, Major General Attha Rat-on, has visited military officers on duty in Mae Sod District of Tak province today after there has been a conflict between the Burmese military and ethnic minority groups within the area. However, both sides have reached a ceasefire agreement after months of prolonged conflict.
In spite of the positive development, it has also opened the way for drug and human trafficking rings to become active in their operations again. Therefore, the Thai authorities are encouraged to increase surveillance and monitoring measures to prevent them from entering Thai soil.
Currently, there are more than 40,000 migrant workers from Myanmar registered in Mae Sot district. Authorities have launched a daily operation to crackdown on undocumented immigrants and send them back across the border as a part of the government’s effort to suppress human trafficking activities.
