Border police keep an eagle eye out for smuggled fireworks after fatal Narathiwat explosion

Border police at Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok checkpoint have seized more than a tonne of smuggled fireworks over the past seven months, the Customs Department said.

Phantong Loykulnanta, the department’s deputy director-general and acting spokesman, said on Saturday that between January 1 and July 31, some 1,143 kilos of fireworks worth approximately 161,744 baht, were seized from carriers trying to smuggle them across the border.

He said fireworks were seized in seven cases during the period and now customs officials are keeping an eagle eye out after a fireworks warehouse exploded on July 29.

The explosion in Narathiwat killed 12 and injured 121 others.
Some 300 houses near the warehouse were also damaged or destroyed. The husband and wife who own the warehouse are on the run.

The spokesman said the Customs Department has offered food and financial aid to those affected by the explosion. He also said the Narathiwat border checkpoint also covers the Sungai Kolok River, which acts as a natural border between Thailand and its southern neighbour Malaysia.

Phantong said smuggling contraband via the river is rife despite the Customs Department’s efforts to suppress it. He said apart from the seven cases of fireworks smuggling, the first seven months of this year have also seen 600 cases involving the smuggling of fuel, palm oil, electric cigarettes and food supplements.