The highway to Mae Sot across the Tenasserim hills
- Part 2 -

Puyam Rakesh Singh *

A map of the Golden Triangle and the spot where Laos, Thailand and Burma meet :: Pix - TSE

Presently, opening the borders for trade, tourism, educational exchanges and other trans-national cooperation is a necessity. Manipur can no longer live in isolation behind the veil of the Indo-Myanmar border as many domestic and global forces are acting upon the region. Myanmar shares a long border with Thailand and the most important border trading point is the Myawaddy-Mae Sot crossing. Economically, it is the second most important next to the Muse-Ruili on the Myanmar-China border.

Instead of the Moreh-Mandalay-Mae Sai route, the Trilateral Highway project will pass through Kayin State via Yangon to connect Moreh (India) and Mae Sot (Thailand).

There are some good reasons. But these reasons will not reduce the importance of the Moreh-Mandalay-Mae Sai route as Tachileik will provide access points to Mae Sai in Thailand and Xieng Kok in Laos.

The trilateral highway will facilitate the people of Manipur to visit Mandalay, Yangon, Bago (Pegu), Mon and Kayin and Tanintharyi Regions/States of Myanmar. This region is not new to the people of Manipur especially for those who have interests in wars fought during the Konbaung Dynasty.

Myawaddy border trade centre is in the Kayin State. On the east, the state borders Mae Hong Son, Tak and Kanchanaburi provinces of Thailand. Many of these western provinces of Thailand including Chiang Mai have sizeable population of Karen people.

The Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) was the first ethnic group to launch armed movement soon after independence. Its successor organisations such as the Karen National Union/ Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA), Democratic Karen Benevolent/Buddhist Army (DKBA) and KNLA-Peace Council are still active. Hence, the Myanmar government is concerned about the border areas security. Refugees, business people and labourers from Myanmar are in great number in Mae Sot and surrounding areas of Thailand. Sometimes, the Karen insurgency affects the border trade and transportation.

The porous section of the Myanmar-Thailand border provides transit routes to smugglers, drug peddlers and human traffickers. Sex tourism in Thailand is closely linked to Myanmar’s impoverished people across the border. The two countries are cooperating to strengthen governance along the border, enhance mutual trust and security cooperation to control the cross-border crimes. Regarding these issues, Northeast India also needs good attention to improve the economic conditions of the people and check cross-border crimes.

Further to the south of the Myawaddy, the Three Pagodas Pass links Sangkhla Buri town in Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand to Payathonsu town in the south of Kayin State. Despite some security problems along the border, the Myanmar-Thailand border areas are becoming centres of economic development with many economic corridors cutting across the long border.

The Myawaddy-Mae Sot and Payathonsu-Sangkhla Buri border checkpoints in Kayin State are providing opportunities to millions of people. There is good prospect of Manipur taking part in the trade and economic activities after successful completion of the Trilateral Highway project. Also, the historical ties that Manipur have with these neighbouring countries may provide a good ground work.

In Tanintharyi Region, there are many border crossing points on the Myanmar-Thai border such as Myeik, Kawthaung, Mawtaung and Htee Kee. The Htee Kee-Pu Nam Ron border crossing is to the south of the Three Pagodas Pass. The Dawei-Kanchanaburi road passes through this border check point that connects Dawei Special Economic Zone Project with Bangkok. Such connectivity projects will also allow countries like China, Thailand and Laos to have access to the Indian Ocean through Myanmar.

Unlike the landlocked Northeast India, the Krishnapatnam Port, located in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, on the east coast of India, flagged off a direct container shipping service between India and Myanmar. The service was opened on 3 October 2014 to connect the ports of Chennai, Krishnapatnam, Yangon and Colombo. In January 2015, China also launched a direct container service linking Shanghai and Yangon to reduce transit time by removing the need for trans-shipment of cargo in Southeast Asia.

These developments point to the fact that the Yangon Port is playing a significant role in the expansion of trade and economic ties in the Asia-Pacific region. The coastal cities of India and regions with better transport infrastructures have greater advantage to reap the benefits of the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border trade. The port access through Chittagong in Bangladesh and Sittwe in Myanmar for the Northeast India will take time and the road constructions for overland transportation are very slow. But the connectivity projects will be completed

In the 18th century, the Konbaung Dynasty took many Manipuris to the Mon State, Kayin State and Tanintharyi Region. They were taken because of war and for war to these places. Under the present circumstances, the people of Manipur will visit these places for tourism and economic activities. It will also provide an opportunity to interact with the people of Manipur origin living in Myanmar. Unfortunately, large settlements of Manipuri people including those in Yangon (Rangoon) have lost their identity. There are still some who have not forgotten the land of their origin till date.

Most importantly, the connectivity projects linking India and Myanmar could provide the road connectivity to those who still identify themselves as people originating from Manipur to see the land of their forefathers. Seen from this perspective, the Trilateral Highway project is a promise made by India, Myanmar and Thailand to take the people of Manipur across the Tenasserim Hills.

If our existence is a reality and the highway is being built for some purposes, there must be something that Manipur should not neglect. The Ayutthaya period is over and the Manipuris should think of constructive interactions with Thailand in the Bangkok era.

Concluded..