Thai authorities stopped 31 Burmese timber trucks in Three Pagodas Pass on May 22 and seized both the timber and the trucks, according to residents. An eyewitness told IMNA that about 200 tons of logs were seized.

To get back their rented trucks, the Burmese timber traders were told to pay 90,000 Baht to the Thai authorities, according to a source who spoke to one of the traders.

The timber trader alleged that the regime backed “Htay Company complained to Nay Pyi Daw [the Burmese capital] and wanted these timber trucks to be stopped. The Htay Company wants to control all the logging in that area. So they do not want other log traders trading with Thai companies.”

“The Thai companies do not want to buy timber from Htay Company because it is more expensive than that offered by small traders. Right now they [Htay] already have 3000 tons of timber remaining to be sold in the Three Pagodas region,” another trader said.

Since 2005, Thai and Burmese authorities have together effectively banned anyone besides the Hyat Company from bringing timber across the border, said a resident of Three Pagodas Pass.

According to an IMNA source in the Three Pagodas Pass Special Branch Police, Htay Company is owned by Major General Hla Htay Win, the former Rangoon Commander who was recently named Chief of Military Training.