Business as usual at border with Thailand

Monday, 07 February 2011
Soeun Say
The Phnom Penh Post

CROSSINGS made by tourists and traders across the Cambodia-Thailand border are still going strong, officials said yesterday, despite political turmoil and a deadly border clash.

“Everything is normal,” said Sao Bunrith, chief of the Poipet border checkpoint in Banteay Meanchey province, the main crossing to Thailand.

“They [international tourists] are still crossing everyday – it is not a problem. Cambodian and Thai people are still doing business normally,” he added.

Officials said that many Thais – benefiting from a visa exemption programme introduced late last year – flooded across the border to enjoy Cambodia’s casinos during Chinese New Year, as violence broke out at Preah Vihear.

New border crossing [between Cambodia and Thailand] hits snag

13/01/2011
Bangkok Post

The opening of a new permanent border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia may be further delayed by the current tension along the border, Burapa Task Force commander Maj-Gen Walit Rojanapakdi said on Thursday.

Maj-Gen Walit, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, was referring to the new border checkpoint between Ban Nong Ian in tambon Tha Kham of Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo province and Stung Bo in Bantey Meanchey province of Cambodia.

Cambodia proposed the opening of this checkpoint two years ago. The proposal had been considered by a joint Thai-Cambodian committee, the Sa Kaeo governor, and the National Security Council (NSC). It is about to be forwarded to the cabinet for final approval.

[Thai] Govt pushes new border checkpoints [with Cambodia]

Kasit: ‘Understanding vital to bilateral ties’

28/09/2010
Thanida Tansubhapol
Bangkok Post

They also agreed to allow border problems - particularly the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple - to be settled by legal processes.

NEW YORK : The Foreign Ministry is preparing to review a proposal to open new temporary checkpoints along the Cambodian border as part of a plan to restore relations.

The proposal to open new checkpoints was put on hold while relations cooled between the two countries, only thawing recently when the two agreed to return their ambassadors to each other's capital.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya did not specify yesterday where the border checkpoints would be located but said the spots had been picked and would be in areas safe from landmines.

The checkpoints would facilitate the flow of travel and tourism between the two countries, Mr Kasit said, adding the two countries must adhere to the principle of mutual understanding.

The plan would be forwarded for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's consideration soon and the minister expected cooperative efforts between the two countries to begin next month.

The development came after Mr Abhisit met with Cambodian leader Hun Sen late last week in New York for the first time following a series of diplomatic spats that began with Phnom Penh's appointment of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser last November. The two leaders agreed to exchange information at all levels and to check all facts before reacting publicly to developments.

They also agreed to allow border problems - particularly the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple - to be settled by legal processes.

Mr Kasit said he would propose to Phnom Penh that the two countries register the names of Thais and Cambodians who cross the border regularly to forage in forests so that they do not fall victim to human trafficking or end up in illegal trades such as timber logging.

He said the measure would help the two sides react more diplomatically in cases where border encroachment is suspected.

Mr Kasit said his ministry would work with the navy and the Defence Ministry to promote cultural exchange activities in border provinces such as Chanthaburi and Trat.

The minister also said he planned to invite Cambodia's information minister and media representatives from the country to Thailand to prevent further misunderstandings from arising due to inaccurate media reports. The trip would follow up on a recent visit made by Prime Minister's Office Minister Ong-art Klampaibul to Phnom Penh.

Security boosted at Aranyaprathet checkpoints

November 14, 2009
The Nation

Stricter security measures are being imposed at the main border town in Sa Kaew following intelligence reports that Cambodian soldiers disguised as vendors had infiltrated into Thai soil on intelligencegathering operations. Ads by Google

Three companies of Thai paramilitary rangers were stationed at the Rong Klua market near the Baan Khlong Luek border checkpoint in Aranyaprathet district to maintain surveillance after reports that 80 Cambodian soldiers dressed as civilians had entered Thailand along with 8,000 Cambodian vendors yesterday.

Very few Thai people visited the market yesterday following growing tensions between the two countries while the regular number of Cambodian vendors entered Thailand, making the market full of vendors while short of Thai shoppers and visitors.

Longer queues of Cambodian vendors were seen because Thai security forces searched their luggage and bodies more thoroughly than usual. Thai immigration officials told the Cambodians that the searches had nothing to do with the growing tensions, but resulted directly from a routine but stricter antinarcotics policy by the Thai government.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Phaitoon Kaeothong said the government was not planning to limit the number of legal Cambodian immigrant workers entering Thailand, despite growing calls from the public and certain media outlets. He said Thai employers and their productions or services relying on Cambodian workers, and subsequently Thai consumers, would otherwise be affected.

Labour and employment offices in Chanthaburi, Prachin Buri, Trat, Sa Kaew, Buri Ram and Si Sa Ket provinces bordering Cambodia have been instructed to closely look out for possible gatherings of Cambodian workers for whatever purposes. There are now 148,120 Cambodian workers registered for employment in Thailand.

In Bangkok, local police are stepping up their patrols and other operations, watching out for smalltime alien criminals and pickpockets who usually prey on victims in crowded events in Thailand during the festive months of November and December.

Caretaker police chief Patheep Tanprasert said police patrols would be intensive at three coming events: Father's Day fair, Phuen Phueng Pha fair and Sillapacheep fair.

Police arrested 206 illegal immigrants in October, including 96 Cambodians and 66 Burmese.

Health officials tighten disease controls at Thai border

BANGKOK, March 11 (TNA) -- Thailand's Public Health Ministry has tightened health precautions on people entering the kingdom from countries sharing common borders with this country in an attempt to protect the public from contagious deadly diseases, a senior ministry official said Sunday.

Dr. Thawat Suntrajarn, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said his department had in the past received cooperation from several international organisations as well as from countries sharing borders with Thailand on exchanging information, laying out measures to prevent outbreaks of disease and screening suspected patients travelling between the countries.

Countries sharing common borders with Thailand are Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia.

While inspecting a disease control office at Aranyaprathet district bordering Cambodia, Dr. Thawat said that many traders, both Thais and Cambodians, as well as numerous tourists traveled through this border checkpoint every month.

In February alone some 400,000 people crossed into Thailand via this checkpoint.

Several deadly diseases such as avian influenza (bird flu), HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are still spreading in Cambodia, he said, adding that special medical screening attention is being given to people leaving Cambodia for Thailand.

For example, 158 foreigners contracting malaria in Cambodia had crossed into Sa Kaeo province bordering Cambodia for medical treatment in 2005 while the number rose to 223 last year. So far, he added, 47 malaria patients had received treatment since the beginning of 2007.

Koh Kong Police Lament Breach of Free-Border- Pass Agreement by Thai Counterpart

24 Feb 07 - 25 Feb 07
By Khun Chhang
Koh Santepheap Newspaper
Translated from Khmer and posted online

Koh Kong: The Cambodian police at the Cham Yeam international gate in Koh Kong province expressed regret and pity for Cambodians who visited Koh Kong and asked permission to go shopping at the Thai market in Hat Lek across the border, for them the Thai police demanded that they pay 10 baht (1,000 riel) each, which is a breach of the provision of an agreement reached at a recent Cambodian-Thai meeting stipulating that citizens of both sides do not have to pay for cross-border trips.

An immigration police officer at the Cham Yeam border gate said that during the recent Chinese-Vietnamese New Year celebrations thousands of Cambodians from Phnom Penh spent the holiday in Koh Kong and many asked permission to cross the border into Thailand to shop at the Hat Lek market in Thai territory close to the border. However, the Thai police demanded that they pay 10 baht each if they wanted to go to the Thai side or else they would not be allowed to cross. Conversely, when Thai citizens crossed into Cambodian territory, the Cambodian police did not demand any money from them.

The above source further said that because the Thai police took advantage of their Cambodian counterpart, the latter decided to close the border several times, refusing to let Thai citizens bring in and sell their goods, such as vegetables and fruits, on the Cambodian side of the border. However, each time this took place, the Koh Kong provincial authorities would intervene in favor of the Thai side.

The same source said that the authorities of the two provinces (Koh Kong and Trat) should meet and hold discussion once again because the Thai police are making gains at the expense of the Cambodian police. Otherwise, Cambodia should require that the people from both sides must pay for border passes equally.