The Thai government was urged on Saturday to reopen northern border checkpoints to allow cross-border trading between Thailand and Myanmar to resume from next month.
Pakaimas Vierra, vice president of the Chiang Rai Provincial Chamber of Commerce, called on the authorities to promptly consider reopening the border checkpoints in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province as soon as next month.
Cross-border trading between Mae Sai district and Tachileik township in Shan state of Myanmar has virtually grounded to a halt since the border checkpoints were temporarily closed in March under Thailand's anti-pandemic and lockdown measures, according to the vice president of the provincial chamber of commerce.
The economy of the northern province has been largely affected by the temporary closure of the Mae Sai border checkpoints through which some 800 million baht (about 25.29 million U.S. dollars) in combined value of goods has been traded monthly, the official said.