CHIANG RAI – Thai customs reports cross-border motorcycle smuggling continues as traffickers use steel cables across the Sai River to send bikes from Mae Sai to Tachileik. The operation often starts after dark.

On 25 August, a team made up of local officials, police, military, and customs raided a riverside building in the Koh Sai neighbourhood, Village 7, Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai. They moved in late at night following reports of illegal exports to Myanmar.

Authorities were tipped off that motorcycles were being prepared for transport to Tachileik from around 7 pm.

Thai Customs Mae Sai Chiang Rai

When the team arrived at the concrete warehouse near the river, everyone inside had already escaped in the dark. Ten motorcycles of different makes remained, lined up inside. Thai Customs officers also found cables and large tubes, which they believe helped move motorbikes from the building to the water’s edge and across the river.

Thai Customs officers, along with local police, seized the motorcycles and the related equipment. They suspect these bikes were being smuggled across the border without proper customs clearance to avoid taxes and break other import-export laws under the 2007 Thai Customs Act.

The evidence and vehicles were taken to Mae Sai Police Station for further investigation. Authorities are now working to track down those responsible and bring them to justice.

Thai Customs Mae Sai Chiang Rai

The Mae Sai Customs House, located in Wiang Phang Kham, Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province, serves as a critical hub for cross-border trade between Thailand and Myanmar, situated near the Mae Sai Border Checkpoint and the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge.

The customs office plays a vital role in managing import and export activities, though it has faced challenges, such as bottlenecks during Myanmar’s tightened border restrictions due to scam gang activity, limiting truck passages to as few as six per day.

Its proximity to the Mae Sai Immigration Office and local landmarks like the An-Nur Mae Sai Mosque underscores its strategic importance in this bustling northernmost district of Thailand.