0n 7 February 2025 the junta banned the transport of fuel from the rest of Myanmar to Myawaddy Township on the Thai border, two days after Thailand banned all fuel exports to Myawaddy on 5 February.
In an effort to crack down on scam operations on the Myanmar side of the border, the Thai Government cut electricity and fuel deliveries to five border areas in Myanmar where scam centres are operating, on 5 February. These included the towns of Myawaddy and Payathonzu (Three Pagoda Pass) in Karen State, and Tachileik in eastern Shan State.
Though this move was primarily aimed at crippling the scam centres it has also negatively affected residents of those areas.
Following Thailand’s fuel export ban, residents of Myawaddy Township had been relying on fuel imported from Hpa-An and Mawlamyine. But their misery was compounded when the junta cut off these supply routes and banned any fuel going from inside Myanmar to Myawaddy Township, on 7 February.
Junta soldiers are inspecting all vehicles travelling to Myawaddy Township to make sure they are not transporting fuel. They are mainly doing this at the junta checkpoint on the route out of Hpa-An, the capital of Karen State, and at the Gyaing River Bridge checkpoint in Kawkareik Township, according to drivers who regularly travel the route.
They are confiscating fuel from vehicles transporting it and fining the drivers.
A traveler who witnessed such inspections said to Than Lwin Times: “The junta has blocked the delivery of fuel from the cities of Hpa-An and Mawlamyine [the Mon State capital] to Myawaddy. At the Taungkalay 202 checkpoint near Hpa-An, soldiers are confiscating any jerry cans of fuel they find on vehicles. Similarly, fuel deliveries to Myawaddy are also being restricted at the Gyaing River Bridge.”
In Myawaddy Township’s Shwekokko Town, a notorious scam centre hub and stronghold of the junta-aligned Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), locals are now only able to buy fuel that is smuggled from Hpa-An and Mawlamyine in limited quantities.
Junta soldiers and police officers are confiscating any fuel deliveries that might be used by the residents of Myawaddy Township. But, all fuel deliveries destined for junta-aligned Karen armed groups based in Myawaddy Township, such as the Karen BGF, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), and the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army - Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC) are still being allowed to pass, according to sources in Karen State.
These bans on fuel from Thailand and Myanmar have led to acute fuel shortages and skyrocketing fuel prices in Myawaddy Township. Vehicle owners in the township have been forced to travel to Mae Sot Town in Thailand to buy fuel. As a result there have been long queues of vehicles and severe congestion on and around the Friendship 1 Bridge connecting the towns of Myawaddy and Mae Sot.
Some people who managed to buy fuel in Mae Sot then resold it in Myawaddy Town at exorbitant prices.
To reduce traffic congestion at the Friendship 1 Bridge the junta checkpoint at the bridge announced that as from 11 February vehicles will only be able to cross to Mae Sot once a day.
