Mae Sai scrambles to recover border trade

CHIANG RAI: -- Customs officers in Thailand's border district of Mae Sai in the northern province of Chiang Rai have expanded the number of trade checkpoints in a bid to reverse a 40 percent decline in border trade with Myanmar.

According to Mae Sai chief customs officer, Mr. Choochai Udomphot, the first half of 2005 has seen the volume of border trade plummet as a result of Myanmar officials placing stricter controls on the import and export of nearly all commodities.

To help counter this, Thai customs officials have set up five border checkpoints, and are rolling out legislation to stimulate exports.

Mr. Choochai said that failure to use the legislation in question would deal a blow to the tourism industry and the province’s export target of Bt75 billion.

However, he pointed out that while Thai traders had borne the brunt of the stricter Myanmar controls, Thailand retains its trade surplus over Myanmar in the first half of 2005, recording a surplus of over Bt600 million.

--TNA 2005-04-23

How can a poor, undeveloped country such as Myanmar, controlled by a junta of greedy generals, sustain a huge trade imbalance with a prosperous, semi-democratic, semi-developed country such as Thailand? The junta seemed so hungry for cash US dollars that it refuses (still?) to accept baht for the border crossing fee.

How desparate are the Burmese generals? Does Aung Saan Su Kyi have a chance, eventually, to triumph non-violently?