According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, border and transit trade in the first half of this year amounted to 912 billion baht, an increase of 3.6 percent.

Ronnarong Phoolpipat, director-general of the department, said border and transit trade was valued at 162 billion baht in June, up 7.05%. Exports totaled 96 billion baht, down 0.89% year-on-year, and imports totaled 65 billion, up 21.3%, resulting in a trade surplus of 31 billion baht.

For the first six months of 2024, the total value of 912 billion baht was attributed to increased demand for Thai goods.

Exports totaled 534 billion baht, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, and imports totaled 378 billion, up 4.3 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of 156 billion baht.

Border trade with four neighboring countries totaled 493 billion baht, up 2.6 percent. Exports totaled 305 billion baht, up 1.5 percent year-on-year, while imports fell 4.6 percent to 188 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of 117 billion baht.

In terms of value, Laos recorded the highest border trade value at 150 billion baht, followed by Malaysia at 149 billion, Myanmar at 107 billion and Cambodia at 88 billion.

The main border trade products included diesel (23 billion baht), refined oil (10 billion) and concentrated latex (8 billion).

Transit trade, i.e. trade via border checkpoints with third countries, amounted to 419 billion baht in the first half of the year, an increase of 4.8 percent. Exports amounted to 229 billion baht, an increase of 5.4 percent, while imports rose by 4.0 percent to 190 billion.

China recorded the highest value of transit trade at 244 billion baht, up 14.3%, followed by Singapore at 53 billion (-10.3%) and Vietnam at 36 billion (-6.6%).

Major transit trade products include fresh durian (68 billion baht), hard disk drives (41 billion) and technically specified rubber, commonly known as block rubber (20 billion).

In a related development, Mr Ronnarong said Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai had instructed the ministry to investigate the decline in border trade.

The Ministry is in discussions with relevant authorities about using other border checkpoints for the transport of goods in the event of an escalation of the conflict in Myanmar, such as the Ranong port checkpoints and the Singkhon checkpoints in Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Laos has adopted a measure banning the import of agricultural products at local checkpoints if they can be produced locally, with the exception of international border checkpoints that have quarantine facilities for plants and animals to prevent the smuggling of such goods.

Mr Ronnarong said the measure would not affect Thailand’s business sector.

He said the ministry was committed to accelerating cross-border trade and transit trade under the government’s investment promotion strategy for 2024-2027.

This strategy involves working with relevant government agencies to facilitate and stimulate cross-border trade and transit trade through measures such as organizing trade fairs, seminars and online business matching. These agencies include the Ministry of Domestic Trade, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

This year, trade fairs were held in Mukdahan province from February 29 to March 3 and in Kanchanaburi province from June 27 to 30. Another is planned in collaboration with the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation and Malaysia’s GISB Holdings in Songkhla province from August 15 to 18.