The Burma army has blocked the road from Kalay to Thaing Ngin and Tedim and isn’t allowing buses or trucks to pass the checkpoint at 9-mile at certain times, delaying travel from Kalay to the Indian border.
“Soldiers often close the 9-mile checkpoint during the day. Sometimes they open the road again in the afternoon. When the checkpoint is closed, the buses have to take a different route,” said a bus driver travelling from Kalay in Sagaing Region to Rikhawdar on condition of anonymity.
With the fastest route now closed some of the time, travellers wanting to get to Rikhawdar from Kale in a timely manner have to travel another route and pay almost three times the fare. The ride used to cost 30,000 kyat ($14), now it’s 80,000 kyat.
Another driver said that the army let his bus pass through the checkpoint after he paid them a 100,000 kyat bribe. Soldiers in Thaing Ngin also demand money from the drivers, the man said.
Fighting between the junta and Chin resistance groups happens frequently along the road and the latter closed it from Kalay – Thaing Ngin – Tedim – Rikhawdar from 18 to 25 April.
But since 26 April, the army hasn’t allowed large vehicles to pass its 9-mile checkpoint until after 4pm.
“I don’t know why they’re doing this. They allow vehicles to pass through the 9-mile checkpoint in the evening. But if we continue towards Tedim, we’ll arrive there in the night where there is still a curfew. So we have to sleep on the road,” a local travelling from Kalay to Tedim told Khonumthung News, wishing to remain anonymous.