MAE HONG SON, June 14 – Mae Hong Son officials are pushing forward a plan to upgrade its Ban Huai Ton Nun checkpoint with Myanmar to become a permanent border crossing in order to boost trade and transport.
Provincial deputy governor Sutha Saiwanit said currently the situation along the Thailand-Myanmar border in this northern province remains mostly calm and normal, adding that he recently met with a group of senior police officers, soldiers and community leaders in Myanmar’s eastern Kayah State.
Mr Sutha said he was assured that neither armed fighting nor illegal drug problems still exist.
As a result, Mae Hong Son is proposing to turn the Ban Huai Ton Nun checkpoint in Khun Yuam district into a permanent crossing, the deputy governor told reporters, explaining that the upgrade will benefit Thailand and the province as the crossing will be part of a route transporting mineral resources from Myanmar to China.
As of April this year, border trade at Mae Hong Son was valued at Bt110 million, up 50 per cent from the same period last year.
Currently, there are five checkpoints on the Myanmar and Mae Hong Son border: Ban Huai Phueng and Ban Nam Phiang Din checkpoints in the provincial seat, Ban Sao Hin checkpoint in Mae Sariang district, Ban Huai Ton Nun in Khun Yuam district and Ban Mae Sam Lab in Sop Moei.
