Aranyaprathet Border Back To Normal

[george]

Aranya Prathet border trade back to normal

SA KAEW: -- It was business as usual among traders in Thailand's border town of Aranya Prathet in the eastern Sa Kaew Province today after the country made an official denial of rumours that it was about to close the border checkpoint.

The province's Rong Klue Market, which yesterday was largely devoid of traders as a result of the rumours, was this morning once again bustling with Cambodian traders.

Mrs. Lo Mia, one of the traders, told TNA reporter that the traders were relieved over the official denial of the border closure, which they had heard on Thai television news, and no longer believed the rumours.

Denying that there had been any changes in border relations, Mr. Phkrathorn Thienchai, the chief of Aranya Prathet district, said that the trading situation had now returned to normal.

He pointed to a meeting between local Thai and Cambodian officials tomorrow when the two sides will discuss Thai concerns over the release of wastewater by Cambodian casinos, as evidence that the relationship between the two countries on the rise.

--TNA 2005-05-24