Thai-Burma border update

The Burma government has closed its Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge crossing to foreigners in an attempt to prevent the spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19). The Burma government has said the border is closed to all foreigners with the exemption of Thai and Myanmar citizens. U Than Shwe, an immigration officer and the deputy in-charge of the Myawaddy-Mae Sot No.1 Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge…

Thailand has asked Myanmar to upgrade a high traffic border checkpoint in Karen State that was closed in July due to flooding. They also requested the border be officially upgraded as a permanent trade crossing. The request was lodged on August 30 during the first meeting of the Thailand-Myanmar Township Border Committee, according to U Myo Naing, an administrator in…

The largest refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border experienced a rash of suicide cases last year, mainly among the youth population, according to a doctor and camp resident. In 2016, there were 57 suicide attempts at Mae La refugee camp, 23 of which resulted in death, according to figures provided by a camp member recording the cases. “When we were…

Burma and Thai officials have agreed to extend the permit of stay from one day to seven days for people traveling with their temporary border pass between the neighboring countries. The Myawaddy-Mae Sot border gateway is a major crossing for trade routes between Thailand and Burma. Under the new agreement between the two countries, travelers who cross the border from…

Naw Tender runs a small clinic in a converted room in her house in Htaw Ywae village in Karen State and said 2015 was a hard year for dengue fever. “We have had 15 cases in December alone, it is still a big a problem, altogether we treated 653 cases this year. We had a eight-year-old girl die – she…

Health professionals on the Thai Burma border have warned that people are still at risk from dengue fever because of the unusually warm weather and late rains that have allowed the aedes mosquito to continue to breed. Ms. Aya Tabata, coordinator of the Stop Dengue, Protect Your Family campaign urged people to continue to take precautions. “People need to get…

Refugee camp officials on the Thai Burma are hugely concerned that suicides among camp residents are climbing. Saw Pha Htaw, social affair coordinator for Mae La refugee camp said that the rise in the suicide rate in Mae La camp this year is now causing a lot of concern. Speaking to Karen News, Saw Pha Htaw said. “We have seen…

Parents on the Thai Burma border have good reason to be worried that their children will become infected with the dengue virus. Statistics from the Thai Ministry of Health’s Department of Disease Control reveal that they as of July 27, 2015 – 39,597 people had been diagnosed by a Thai hospital with dengue fever. The MoH statistics found that almost…

A Thai construction company began their works on a second Maesot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge project on the Thai side of the border in early June. Local residents on the Thai side of the River Moei that separates Burma from Thailand said large earth moving machinery began leveling the ground, surveyors measured land while concrete workers started on the bridge supports. A…

An official delegation team from the Thai Ministry of Education paid a visit to a Mae Sot migrant school located on the Thai border to learn about the situation of migrant education. The six member-delegation-team led by Mr. Keeransat Sithisan from an office under the Minister of Education came to Mae Sot on November 27 and visited Children Development Center…