AN INITIAL estimate of damage from possible closure of five key Thai-Cambodian border checkpoints is that this would be as high as 174.53 billion baht based on Customs Department’s total trade value last year, TV Channel 7 and Daily News newspaper said.
The Commerce Ministry’s Foreign Trade Department said the checkpoint that registered the highest amount of trade with Cambodia last year was Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaeo province, totalling over 110 billion baht.
This was followed by Khlong Yai checkpoint, Trat province, totalling over 29 billion baht; Ban Laem checkpoint, Chanthabur province, more than 26 billion baht; Chong Chom checkpoint, Surin province, 6.084 billion baht; and Chong Sangam checkpoint, Si Sa Ket province, 1.818 billion baht.
If only the Aranyaprathet checkpoint is closed, the impact will be over 60% of the total trade value. There will also be a wider impact, such as having to change the route of goods transported, industries lacking raw material and decreased investor confidence.
Meanwhile, the Phnom Penh Post said that Cambodia’s official letter on three disputed temples and the Mombei area along the Thai-Cambodian border reached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague this afternoon, after being sent from Cambodia yesterday.
The letter was submitted a day earlier by Prak Sokhonn, minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, who heads the team tasked with preparing documents for the case, which aims to resolve the issues surrounding the Mombei area, Prasat Ta Muen Thom, Prasat Ta Moan Tauch and Prasat Ta Khwai (called Prasat Ta Krabey in Khmer language).
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet today reaffirmed in a social media post: “Cambodia will not back down from using legal mechanisms through the ICJ to seek a resolution to the Cambodia-Thailand border issue concerning Ta Muen Thom temple, Ta Moan Tauch temple, Ta Krabey temple and the Mombei area.”
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Top and Front Page: Aryanyaprathet border checkpoint after Thailand imposed restricted opening hours earlier this month, Photos: Thai Rath
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