Thai authorities at Ban Laem checkpoint in Chanthaburi province opened the closed border with Cambodia early Tuesday morning to allow a 78-year-old Cambodian to enter Thailand for emergency medical treatment.
At 5am, the 2nd Ranger Control Unit of the Chanthaburi Marine Task Force received a request from the Thai-Cambodian Border Coordination Office to facilitate the patient’s entry.
The male patient and four companions were travelling in a private car. They were allowed through Ban Laem checkpoint in Pong Nam Ron district and travelled on to Bangkok Hospital Chanthaburi.
The elderly patient's passage was allowed in accordance with humanitarian principles.
Meanwhile, all five border checkpoints in Chanthaburi and Trat provinces remained closed to normal traffic.
The border closure order from the Chanthaburi-Trat Border Defence Force remains in effect, but exceptions are being made for emergency medical cases and students commuting across the border to attend school.
At the Ban Phak Kad border bridge, Cambodian border police used steel barricades to block vehicle access, leaving only a narrow passage for students. Twelve Thai trucks were stranded on the Cambodian side, while one Cambodian truck was stuck in Thailand.
The Thai immigration office at the checkpoint also remains shut, with no visa services available.
Foreign tourists who typically use this route have diverted to other border crossings in Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom and Nong Khai provinces - which give entry to Laos.