The Nation - Tensions remain high as border face-off continues
TIN KYI
Tensions remain high as border face-off continues
BY DON PATHAN
(This is the first part of a two-part series.)
MAE SAI - For a brief moment there was peace. The 200 Thai and Burmese
people living around this border crossing, which over the past week has
become heavily militarised, huddled around the iron gate that separates the
two countries. Their hearts and minds were on one thing, peace, as they
knelt to receive a blessing from the revered monk Phra Khroo Ba Boonchum
Yannsangwaro, an abbot from Tachilek on the Burmese side.
Moments later the two groups, which included several cross-border
friendships, parted ways, and the Mae Sai-Tachilek border crossing returned
to what it has been for the past week, a heavily militarised zone.
Since last Sunday, battalions of troops from both sides have been deployed
to the area, turning what was an economically vibrant trading centre into a
virtual war zone.
It seems neither side is willing to pull back its troops. Instead, both have
their weapons locked and loaded. So far no one has stepped out of line.
Nevertheless tension remains high, with both Thai and Burmese generals
showing no sign of giving in.
"We have been too accommodating in the past," said Maj-General Chamlong
Phothong, deputy commander of the Third Army region, "but this is a matter
of security."
Thai-Burmese diplomatic and military relations have been on a roller-coaster
ride for five years. The Thai army lost one of its most important buffers,
the heavily armed Mong Tai Army, after its leader, notorious opium warlord
Khun Sa, surrendered to Rangoon in return for a generous amnesty.
Previous governments under Banharn Silapa-archa and General Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh employed friendly tactics to improve ties, while the Chuan
Leekpai administration took a firm position in dealing with its uneasy
neighbour. Nothing seems to work. Border and diplomatic relations remain
tense.
And last Sunday it all went up in smoke. The sides exchanged fire, shelling
one another's positions along with residential areas. The fighting lasted
just a day, but with both sides playing hardball it will be years before the
moral damage is repaired.
The incident started when a battalion of Burmese soldiers forcibly took a
strategic hill near Ban Pang Noon in Chiang Rai province from a group of 19
Thai Rangers.
They wanted it to mount an artillery attack on the rebel Shan State Army,
which Rangoon accuses of working with the Thai army against the Burmese
army.
A whole day went by, and the negotiations for Burmese withdrawal went
nowhere. Soon afterwards Thai soldiers began to shell the area, forcing a
Burmese retreat. But it did not stop there. Fighting broke out in other
places along Thailand's northern border, with both sides trading rockets,
mortars and gunfire in and around Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district. In nearby
Mae Ai district a Thai helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing
after it was hit by a sniper's bullet from nearby Doi Lang, 32 square
kilometres of disputed hills once occupied by Khun Sa's troops.
To prevent the situation from getting out of hand, both sides rushed to sign
a ceasefire late on Sunday night. But when the agreement's contents were
made public, a war of words erupted between Bangkok and Rangoon over
interpretation, as the three copies were in three different languages.
For the time being, the northern border remains sealed. Even in other
sectors of the border where trade continues, the army has prohibited food
and fuel from being taken across for fear that supplies will reach Burmese
troops.
Burma's state-run press has accused the Thai army of interference, saying
that it is supporting the Shan army by allowing the rebels, whom they accuse
of being major drug traffickers, to operate freely along the border.