Thailand eyes reopening checkpoints safely now that Covid is easing
Border provinces are calling on the government to speed up the restoration of cross-border travel and trade to boost local economies.
Provincial governors along with representatives of local administration and trade agencies met the House committee for national security and border affairs on Friday to discuss the reopening of borders now that the pandemic has eased.
Attending the meeting were governors from Trat, Chiang Rai, Loei, Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom, Sa Kaew, Nong Khai, Ubon Ratchathani and Narathiwat, while other border provinces sent representatives.
The House committee has accepted the request to reopen the borders and revive cross-border trade, House committee member Mallika Boonmeetrakool-Mahasook told the press later.
Mallika, a party-list Democrat MP, said the committee will check each border province’s situation first to ensure the reopening of borders poses no threats to residents or to national security.
“As the Covid situation improves, the government has been working with the private sector to reopen the borders as soon as possible to restore the economy,” said Mallika. “Meanwhile, the Export-Import Bank is also granting loans worth more than 6 billion baht to help small and medium businesses get back on their feet.”
