Myanmar migrants in Thailand’s Mae Sot District in Tak Province told DVB that the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2, which connects Myanmar’s Myawaddy Township in Karen State to Mae Sot, remained closed as of Wednesday, despite reports that it had reopened on Tuesday.
A migrant in Mae Sot told DVB on the condition of anonymity that they still don’t know the date of the bridge’s reopening. It has been closed since Aug. 18 due to a regime crackdown on “illegal trade.”
Traders and bus drivers in the Myanmar-Thai border town of Myawaddy told DVB on the condition of anonymity that there are at least 10 police checkpoints searching for illegal Thai goods along the Asia Highway, which drives up the price for these goods at markets in Yangon.
But it only allows passenger vehicles to use it and bars cargo trucks from transporting goods along it. The Asia Highway and national roads connect Myawaddy to Yangon via the Karen State capital Hpa-An, which is located 81 miles (130 km) west of Myawaddy.
The Myawaddy-Kawkareik road had been closed due to a military counteroffensive launched against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in December 2023. The KNLA seized control of Myawaddy for 12 days in April 2024.
Cargo truck drivers told DVB that they smuggle goods from Thailand via roads in Karen State that cut through the forests and mountains to reach Hpa-An, then are able to use national roads via Mon State’s Bilin and Kyaikto townships to reach Yangon Region.
Bilin and Kyaikto are located 70-87 miles (112-140 km) north of the Mon State capital Mawlamyine and 106-124 miles (170-199 km) east of Yangon. A driver in Mawlamyine told DVB that the regime’s Road Transportation Administration Department demand bribes of at least one tical (15.16 g) of gold per truck to release seized cargo trucks,
One tical of gold is priced around 10 million MMK ($2,300 USD).
The final police checkpoint before reaching Yangon is in Bago Region’s Nyaungkharshey village-tract, located 38 miles (61 km) east of the region’s capital Bago and 88 miles (141 km) northeast of Yangon.
Cargo truck drivers told DVB that the police at the Nyaungkharshey checkpoint rarely seize their trucks. But when they do, they confiscate all of its cargo.
Note: This report was updated at 8:30 p.m. Thailand time on April 29, 2026.
