Cross border trade relation between Thailand and Cambodia
...el of Distribution The distribution of goods along the border of Thailand and Cambodia was mostly basic goods for daily life. The importers from Cambodia distributed Thai goods to many provinces by 30% and bring into Phanom Penh to distribute to wholesalers and retailers for 35%. The remaining 30% was imported to resale to Vietnam. The term of payment for border trade was usually in cash, both Thai Baht and U.S. Dollar. If the transaction was high in value, the payment would be transfer by using Telegraphic Transfer or T/T. The exporters from Thailand would ship the goods to the importers in Cambodia first by giving credit for a certain period. When the payment was due, the importers from Cambodia would transfer the money by T/T to the exporters in Thailand. Another type of payment was that exporters in Thailand would ship the goods to Cambodia first, then when the payment was due, the representative from importer side would pay to the exporter. This method is called Poi-Kuan. Export to Cambodia During 2000-2003, Thailand had exported to Cambodia for 111,287.9 million Baht. The trend of the export from Thailand to Cambodia was increasing since 1998. Thailand had exported to Cambodia for the value of 12,402.6 million Baht which eventually had increased to 20,000 million Baht in the year 2001 and 20,771 million Baht in the year 2003. Import from Cambodia Thailand had imported from Cambodia for the value of 3,418.6 million Baht. In the year 1998, the value of import was 1,010.7 million Baht, then decreased to 316.7 in the year 2000 and increased to 545.2 in the year 2001. In 2002, Thailand imported from Cambodia for 507.6 million Baht and 383.2 million Baht in 2003. Problems and Barriers of Trade During 2000-2003, the process of import from Thailand to Cambodia had many problems and barriers to Thai exporters. These problems occurred mainly due to interned issue in Thailand and some problems from the limitation in Cambodia. Cambodia did not have a stable politic. There were internal wars and fights for power in the country. This made the law and regulation of trade unstable and dynamic which caused high risk of trade. The trading route from Thailand to Phnom Penh was also one of the problems of trade as there were many powerful and illegal groups in charge. They controlled the route by making the traders pay the toll to them if wishing to pass the area. There were approximately 100 stops which affected the cost of delivery to be higher than usual. Up until now, there is still no organization to research and survey about the market of Cambodia seriously. Because of this, most of...