Seven-day opening returns for first time since before pandemic at Sai Taku crossing with Cambodia
BURI RAM: The Sai Taku temporary checkpoint at the border with Cambodia is now open seven days a week for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The return to everyday opening was marked by a visit from Cambodian officials from adjacent Odda Meancheay province to Buri Ram on Tuesday.
Sai Taku is opposite Chup Koki, which Cambodia has unilaterally upgraded to permanent status.
It was reported that the Cambodian delegates wanted to discuss a similar upgrade for Sai Taku to accelerate border trade, investment and tourism.
Boontem Kalayapanich, chief of Ban Kruat district where the border pass is located, said the crossing used to be open seven days a week before the pandemic. But border trade suffered during the virus outbreaks which forced the crossing to close in 2020.
The crossing reopened on Oct 14 last year, but for five days a week.
Mr Boontem said a legal obstacle remains to changing the status of Sai Taku as it is partly located on a protected, World Heritage-listed forest reserve within Ta Phraya national park.
All sides are working on the issue in hopes that an upgrade might be considered in the near future by the new government, he said.
Meanwhile, crossings from the opposite direction in Chup Koki village have revived, with many Cambodians coming to Ban Kruat district to seek medical treatment.
Cambodian authorities have also proposed that access to Sai Taku crossing, currently restricted to residents of Ban Kruat district, be widened to allow people from other districts of Buri Ram to use it to further stimulate trade.
Cambodian delegates from Odda Meancheay visit the Sai Taku border pass in Ban Kruat district of Buri Ram on Tuesday. (Photo: Surachai Piragsa)