"border"

TORONTO - Canada on Monday said it will begin to ease pandemic restrictions at the U.S.-Canada border next month, allowing U.S. citizens and permanent residents living in the United States who are fully vaccinated with Canadian-authorized vaccines to enter for nonessential travel without quarantining.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 188,829 people attempting to come to the United States through its southern border in June, a 5 percent increase from May. The June total is the highest monthly number of encounters by CBP in at least two decades.

Closure of construction camps on Monday reportedly sparked an exodus of workers to their home provinces, fuelling fears that Covid-19 could spread more quickly.

The Thai cavalry has tightened security along the Moei River (Thaungyin River) as a measure to prevent border crossing during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to local sources.

The Canadian government will loosen Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people amid warnings that a return to a completely open border will take awhile longer.

A haul of about 1.2 tonnes of heroin and methamphetamine inside 39 plastic baskets was found in the Tam Malang Canal in Satun province on Thursday.

Business groups are calling on the Canadian and U.S. governments to relax border restrictions for vaccinated travelers this month, increasing pressure on Justin Trudeau to act swiftly.

Thai military officers on Saturday sent 380 refugees back to their homeland across the Moei River in Mae Sot district of Tak province following three days of a ceasefire between the Karen and Myanmar military in the Ban Pha Lu Noi area.

Security has been tightened on the natural border with Malaysia, where a 14-day lockdown has sparked fears that more Thai migrant workers will try to sneak back into Thailand.

Myanmar troops shelled a Thai border village in Mae Hong Son province on Thursday, prompting Thai forces to beef up security.

Kanchanaburi border patrol soldiers on Sunday arrested 33 undocumented Myanmar nationals while allegedly trying to enter Thailand via a natural channel, unit commander Colonel Chaloemphol Sangtong said.

The Pha Muang Task Force is strictly patrolling the Thai-Myanmar border after Tachileik entertainment venues located across the border from Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province reopened.