PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN — Residents and businesspeople from Thailand and Myanmar converged on Singkhorn Pass on Saturday to celebrate its upgrade to a border crossing that will be open seven days a week.
The Thai government officially promoted the pass linking Muang district in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Tanintharyi Region (formerly Tenasserim) of Myanmar from a temporary checkpoint to a special crossing on May 6. Formal ceremonies were held on Saturday and attracted a large crowd.
Previously, the two countries allowed crossings only on Saturdays. With the upgrade, the crossing located just 22 kilometres by road from the centre of Prachuap Khiri Khan town is open every day for 12 hours starting from 6.30am.
About 1,000 officials, traders and local residents gathered on Saturday as the first groups of Thai tourists set out for Myeik, formally Mergui, and Myanmar citizens headed in the opposite direction to Prachuap Khiri Khan.
The upgraded status means that citizens of Thailand and Myanmar are allowed to enter their respective neighbouring countries for up to two days. Visitors from Myanmar can go no farther than Muang district.
Prachuap Khiri Khan governor Veera Sriwattanatrakul, who chaired the ceremony with Thein Lwin, the commerce minister of the Tanintharyi regional government, said the decision would spur more two-way trade between the two countries.
Border trade through Singkhorn Pass is estimated to be worth 4 billion baht a year, he said.
The provincial office of the Commerce Ministry said in a report that trade could expand to 12 billion baht a year if the checkpoint was allowed to open every day.
Singkhorn Pass is a main trade link between Thailand and the southern region of Myanmar with Myeik town on the Andaman coast the main destination.
The main exports through the crossing from Thailand are consumer products, construction materials and oil, while Myanmar exports mainly seafood and agricultural products to its neighbour.
Local authorities and traders were pushing for Singkhorn to be a fully fledged permanent checkpoint but the government decided to make it only a special crossing because border demarcation in the area is still unclear.
Plans to upgrade the pass had been discussed for years before an agreement was reached in April 2013 between former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Myanmar President Thein Sein on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Brunei.