BANGKOK, Oct 8 — Border trade between Malaysia and Thailand in the first eight months of the year fell 21 per cent to 152 billion baht (RM20.22 billion) as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thailand’s Foreign Trade Department director-general Keerati Rushchano said in a statement today that Thailand’s cross-border trade with neighbouring countries — Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia — stood at 497 billion baht, declining by 11.5 per cent year-on-year in the first eight months of this year.
He said exports to the four countries amounted to 293 billion baht, dropping 9.63 per cent.
Imports, meanwhile, amounted to 204 billion baht, sliding by 14 per cent, resulting in an 89 billion baht trade surplus from January to August this year.
“Exports to Malaysia fell 15.43 per cent to 73.76 billion baht, while imports declined 25.53 per cent to 78.22 billion baht. This resulted in a 4.46 billion baht trade surplus,” he said.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand only reopened 36 out of 97 border checkpoints for trade and transportation of goods, including six border checkpoints with Malaysia.
Keerati said Thailand’s cross-border trade including transit trade stood at 853 billion baht, falling 7.42 per cent year-on-year in the first eight months of this year.
He said Thailand’s exports value stood at 494 billion baht, down 7.37 per cent year-on-year from January to August this year, while imports value fell 7.49 per cent to 358 billion baht, resulting in a 136 billion baht trade surplus.
He said border trade with Laos dropped 6.33 per cent to 123 billion baht, while border trade with Myanmar fell 13 per cent to 114 billion baht.
Meanwhile, border trade with Cambodia increased by 1.09 per cent to 108 billion baht.
“Border trade fell in the first eight months of this year following the closure of entry points to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
“In mid-August, three checkpoints in Mae Hong Son in northern Thailand, bordering Myanmar, was temporarily closed after a spike in Covid-19 cases in Myanmar. The checkpoint at Three Pagodas Pass in Kanchanaburi province was also closed,” he said.
Keerati said Thailand’s overall transit trade with Singapore, Vietnam, and Southern China stood at 354.5 billion baht, down by 1.05 per cent, from January to August this year.
Transit trade value with Vietnam fell 20.6 per cent to 39.7 billion baht.
However, transit trade with Southern China and Singapore during the same period rose 13.6 per cent and 12 per cent to 153 billion baht and 56.8 billion baht, respectively. — Bernama
