Ranong border checkpoints re-open
PHUKET CITY: The two marine border checkpoints between Ranong and Burma reopened yesterday afternoon after closing due to the coup. Officials report that it is business as usual for visa runners seeking to avoid the 500-baht-a-day fine imposed on those who overstay their time in Thailand.
Pol Lt Chaiwat Ouikhum, Chief of Ranong Immigration, confirmed to the Gazette this morning that the two Thai Immigration checkpoints, located at the main fishing pier and at the dock for ferries leaving for the Andaman Club resort, re-opened at about 3 pm yesterday.
Suthathip Srikaew, an operator at Andaman Club on the Burmese island of Thahtay Kyun, confirmed that the small border checkpoint on that island had re-opened, and that everything was returning to normal.
The reopening came less than a week after the checkpoints were closed following the military coup in Bangkok. About 100 Thais and a small number of foreigners were left stranded on the Burmese side awaiting re-entry into Thailand at Ranong.
A source in the Burmese port town of Kaw Thaung told the Gazette that a Division Commander representing the military junta that controls Burma had arrived in Kaw Thaung and met with local officials there before agreeing to re-open the frontier on the Burmese side.
The source asked the Gazette to remind visa runners that the fee for temporary entry into Burma at Kaw Thaung doubled last month, from US$5.00 to US$10.00.
