Thailand shuts 6 checkpoints in Banteay Meanchey

Six border checkpoints in Banteay Meanchey province were on Saturday closed unilaterally and without warning by Thailand, local officials and border police said. Lieutenant Colonel So Channry, chief of the 911 border battalion in O’Chrov district, said that Thai authorities had closed the checkpoints, one of which has since been reopened, in retaliation against Cambodian plans to open a new checkpoint near border marker number 43—an area Cambodia claims as its own territory, despite Thailand’s insistence it is neutral ground. … The Samphan Rith Company was granted permission to build a new road and checkpoint near border marker 43, which Thailand claims is a breach of the neutral zone.

Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/thailand-shuts-6-checkpoints-in-banteay-meanchey-53537/