Truck drivers on the old Myawaddy-Kawkareik Donataung Kyaw road are grappling with substantial road gate fees, hindering their operations.

Following clashes in Kawkareik, access to vehicles from the Donataung Kyaw and new Asia roads was cut off. Newly constructed roads like the Htoekawkoe, Kyatutaung, and 1018 routes were the only viable alternatives. However, incessant rainfall has made these routes treacherous, prompting drivers to revert to the old road since early June.

Despite this shift, the steep gate fees, reaching tens of thousands, remain a major hurdle. Even small vehicles like Probox cars traveling from Myawaddy to Mawlamyine face charges of Ks300,000 per round trip. While permitted to transport passengers from Myawaddy, they are prohibited from carrying both passengers and goods back to Myawaddy.

"Some other Myawaddy-Yangon passenger transportation bus lines are still closed, with some utilizing 4-wheeled cars from the Myawaddy-Htoekawkoe, Kyatutaung, and 1018 routes. Passengers are charged between 120,000 to over 200,000 kyats for the Myawaddy-Yangon trip," shared a driver.

A traveler from Yangon to Myawaddy lamented, "It cost me Ks220,000 to travel from Yangon to Myawaddy. The journey took several hours, involving multiple treacherous mountain walks. One should only venture there in urgent situations."It is reported that trucks from Myawaddy are allowed to come and go on the old mountain road after paying the specified road gate fee and for transporting goods to local market, they have to pay official taxes.