Myanmar closes Thai border pass

Myanmar authorities on Sunday closed the Phaya Tong Su border checkpoint opposite the Three Pagodas pass in Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, a regional army commander said.

Commander Thammanoon Withee said Myanmar authorities did not allow Thai people and tourists to cross the border to the Phaya Tong Su side while Thai authorities opened their Three Pagodas pass as usual, the Bangkok Post reported.

He said he had received reports that Myanmar people in Phaya Tong Su planned to stage three days of protests from December 28 over the death sentences handed down to two Myanmar migrant workers in the Koh Tao murder case.

He said soldiers would meet Myanmar workers on the Thai side on Monday to explain the judicial process concerning the murder case -- the death sentences to two Myanmar migrant workers found guilty of murdering two British tourists on Koh Tao island in southern Thailand in September last year.

The death penalty was the sentence of the Court of First Instance only and the concerned people should be calm because the case could undergo trial at the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court in the future, Thammanoon added.