Myanmar: Orchid sellers run into trouble at Thai border
Five hours’ drive from Tanintharyi Region’s Myeik, the Mawdaung gate was intended to spur trade and tourism between Myanmar and Thailand.
But the commerce in rare orchids, which Myanmar florists sell to a Saturday market on the Thai side of the border, is grinding to a halt, putting the future of more than 60 specialist florists at risk.
Ma Win, 43, who opened the Win orchid shop five years ago in Thailand’s Prachuap Khiri Khan province beside Mawdaung, said the Thai authorities were arresting orchid traders for smuggling. As a result, trade volume has fallen every year since 2013, when the gate was opened.
“Our sales have been declining for nearly two years, with a fall in income of nearly 80 percent since the gate was opened,” she said.
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