Customs officials display some of the nearly 1,900 boxes containing untaxed face masks, thermometers and other protective gear seized on Friday from a transport firm in Mukdahan. (Photo by Churoj Triprapakorn)

MUKDAHAN: Customs officials have seized millions of baht worth of smuggled face masks, thermometers and other protective gear from a transport firm in Muang district of this northeastern province.

Officials were dispatched to the company premises on the Mukdahan-Nakhon Phanom bypass road in Muang district on Friday following a tip-off that many untaxed face masks and other products were there, said Sirichai Khunabut, director of the Customs Office Region 2.

The officials found a total of 1,893 cardboard boxes had been placed in front of the firm for sorting. The boxes contained 2,500 infrared thermometers and 800 mercury thermometers made in China, 12,500 face masks made in Vietnam and other protective gear. All were untaxed, Mr Sirichai said at a briefing on Saturday.

An investigation found that the products had been smuggled from China and Vietnam via Laos, across the Mekong River into Thailand. None of the shipments went through customs procedures. All of the products were seized and handed over to the Mukdahan customs office.

Demand has been huge for face masks, alcohol and related products in the country amid the outbreak of Covid-19, with an increase in hoarding, profiteering and smuggling as a result.