Currently each group runs their own gates, which causes difficulties for travelers and traders who need to use the road on a regular basis.

The meeting took place on 28 to 29 May and was held at Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 7 Headquarters. A senior Karen National Union (KNU) spokesperson told Karen News that to make life easier for road users the armed groups decided that they would merge forces and would stop having separate Karen armed groups running tollgates.

Padoh Roger Khin, a member of the KNU Defense Department who was part of the discussions at the meeting told Karen News that, “because of the many tollgates on this road, it is difficult for civilians and travelers.”

The urgent meeting on the Asia Highway tollgates was organized in response to number of recent problems between the Karen armed groups. A total of 60 people including the KNU vice-chairman, the KNLA commander general, other top leaders, representative from other Karen armed groups and observers, attended the meeting.

Following the meeting, three groups – the KNU, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (Peace Council) (KNU/KNLA (PC)) agreed that starting in early June they would have two combined tollgates, one in Kawkareik and the other in Thingan Nyi Naung.

It is understood that, at present, along the new road, there are a total of eight tollgates, including one run by the Burma Army and others run by the KNU, the DKBA, and the KNU/KNLA (PC).

Because so much money is collected along the road it is the stretch of road that receives the most negative criticisms from civilians and which causes the most problems amongst armed groups.

General Saw Kyaw Thet, from the DKBA Klohtoowah Tactical Unit, said: “The main reason for the combination agreement is because of requests and complaints from the public. This decision will be good for both civilians and for us. We now have to explain the process to the station based personnel."

According to an officer from the government’s Karen militia Border Guard Force who attended the meeting the combined tollgates are the result of the discussions and negotiations between Karen armed groups. The officer explained that there has been no word yet on whether the Burma Army gates would join the groups or operate separate tollgates.

A driver, who regularly uses the road and asked to remain anonymous, told Karen News that the outcome of the meeting was a good result for the public and traders.

He said: “If this happens, it will be good for both the travelers and drivers like us. As of now, there are still 8 gates – the KNU, the DKBA, the PC and the Burma army, and we have to pay 1,000kyat at each gate. However, at the DKBA gate, 1,000 kyats is never enough, they demand 2,000 kyats. They said the orders come from HQ. They said if we don’t pay 2,000 kyats then we cannot pass”.

On 4 March the Unity Committee for Karen armed groups closed the new Myawaddy-Kawkareik route that has been under construction since November 2012. Both the Burma Army and the Karen armed groups set up tollgates and collected money from vehicles and travelers using the road. This resulted in many complaints from the public.