On the face of it, nothing much has changed on the border since the firing that almost downed a Thai military helicopter on Saturday, July 9.
On the face of it, nothing much has changed on the border since the firing that almost downed a Thai military helicopter on Saturday, July 9.
In Loi Kawwan, across Chiangrai province, the meeting point of four armies: the Shan State Army South, United Wa State Army, Burma Army and Thai Army, the Shan commander Lt-Col Gawnzuen has not seen any unusual activity in bases facing him.
In Tachilek, troops and their vehicles are said to be ready to move out when the order comes. “Even 10 of the amphibians, idle since the 2001 confrontation, are once more going through maintenance,” said a local.
Otherwise, everything appears to be as usual. The directive issued by the government on June 17 to crack down on the “army of ants,” people coming into Thailand to shop and then resell their small purchases back in Tachilek, is all but ignored by both officials and residents alike.
“The question ‘Will there be a war or not ?’ depends on what the Burmese army representative is going to say today,” said a source close to the Thai Army, as its chief representative Col Suthas Jarumanee prepares to meet his counterpart Col Myint Han in Tachilek at 16:00 today. “If Burma says a mistake has been made, we all go home happy. On the contrary, if he denies knowledge of the Saturday shootings, you can bet the Thai army is ready to overrun the outpost in question.”
Similar firings in 2002 on the Chiangmai border had led to a month long confrontation between the two countries.
In Loi Kawwan, across Chiangrai province, the meeting point of four armies: the Shan State Army South, United Wa State Army, Burma Army and Thai Army, the Shan commander Lt-Col Gawnzuen has not seen any unusual activity in bases facing him.
In Tachilek, troops and their vehicles are said to be ready to move out when the order comes. “Even 10 of the amphibians, idle since the 2001 confrontation, are once more going through maintenance,” said a local.
Otherwise, everything appears to be as usual. The directive issued by the government on June 17 to crack down on the “army of ants,” people coming into Thailand to shop and then resell their small purchases back in Tachilek, is all but ignored by both officials and residents alike.
“The question ‘Will there be a war or not ?’ depends on what the Burmese army representative is going to say today,” said a source close to the Thai Army, as its chief representative Col Suthas Jarumanee prepares to meet his counterpart Col Myint Han in Tachilek at 16:00 today. “If Burma says a mistake has been made, we all go home happy. On the contrary, if he denies knowledge of the Saturday shootings, you can bet the Thai army is ready to overrun the outpost in question.”
Similar firings in 2002 on the Chiangmai border had led to a month long confrontation between the two countries.
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