Burmese army raids Thai village on Ranong border

[buksida]

Hundreds of Thai villagers encroaching on Myanmar territory opposite Ranong's Kra Buri district have been detained by Myanmar forces, the Fourth Army confirmed yesterday.

Lt Suchart Buapradap, head of the Fourth Army's civilian coordination affairs unit based near the Thai-Myanmar border in Ranong, said yesterday that Myanmar troops rounded up the Thai villagers from the so-called Ban Inthaninkwan on Wednesday evening.

Three villagers escaped the raid and set off on foot to a Thai military outpost to appeal for help.

Lt Suchart said the exact number of Thais being detained by the Myanmar troops was unclear although local Thai authorities estimate 500-800 are being held.

The three male villagers who escaped were identified as Dum Lekpaen, a resident of Kra Buri district; Thawatchai Phromkaew, a resident of Khao Phanom district in Krabi; and Ekkachai Kraisri, also from Khao Phanom district.

The three men said Myanmar soldiers surrounded Ban Inthaninkwang and began threatening the villagers. They also fired warning shots in the air for almost an hour.

Hundreds of villagers were then herded into the middle of the village and arrested, the three witnesses said.

Mr Thawatchai said he was hired by the villagers to bulldoze and flatten land in the village.

He said he was told the location of the village had not been properly demarcated, meaning it could be in Myanmar territory.

About 1,000 people belonging to around 300 families had settled in the area to establish the Ban Inthaninkwan community, said Ruangrit Paemuangpak, the headman of neighbouring Moo 9 village in tambon Jorporror.

Mr Ruangrit said it was difficult to say how many people were rounded up as some of the villagers routinely travel back and forth across the border.

He estimated that up to 800 people were in the village when the raid took place.

Some villagers may have escaped or gone into hiding in the nearby forests, he said.

Kra Buri assistant district chief Jarin Udomchaijaroen said his office was urgently trying to get more information about the villagers' current situation.

Prior to their arrest, he said, several state agencies had warned the villagers on several occasions against settling in Ban Inthaninkwan because of the uncertainty over where the actual border is located.

But the villagers ignored their repeated warnings, Mr Jarin said.

He said he had received a report that six backhoes, two tractors, and between 25 and 30 pick-up trucks were also seized in the raid.

Most of the villagers had encroached on the Myanmar side and established rubber plantations, said Sophon Phisetsin, 50, a resident of Moo 9 village.

He said several Myanmar villagers who crossed the border earlier on Wednesday to shop for food supplies in Thailand had told him that troops were preparing to raid the community.

Mr Sophon said he immediately passed on the warning to the Ban Inthaninkwan villagers but they did not believe him.

Anusorn Srisuksai, a resident of Ban Rangtaen in the same tambon, said both his parents, Boonyuen and Kaenpech Srisuksai, were probably among the detained villagers.

After the raid, he said his mother called him on his mobile phone to say she was hiding alone in the forest in Myanmar. There was no word as to the fate of his father, Mr Anusorn said.

He said he has asked the local authorities to help locate his parents who are very old.

Recently, Maj Gen Manas Khongpaen, of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) Region 4, had revealed that a number of Thais had encroached on more than 6,000 rai of land in Myanmar just opposite Ranong's Kra Buri district and Chumphon's Tha Sae district.

Source: BKK Post

Thoughts: I'd always considered the southern part of Burma a conflict free zone, though this action is hardly surprising considering Thailand's human rights history with neighbouring countries.

[usual suspect]

I thought the 'Border' in this area was the river/delta than ran inland..so it's not really a border that you 'stray'
across by accident & set up home un-wittingly..unless these village-folk are 'boat-people' and thus are more than used to being on the land on the opposite side of this stretch of water..??

[buksida]

Yes, according to Google Earth also the border is a river and only breaks from this into Chumphon province so there should be no dispute really over what is in Burma or Thailand.

[usual suspect]

Sounds (as ever) like there's a statement being made here, and alas the villagers may be the pawns in a possible politically-motivated action designed to make the news..??

[buksida]

Dozens of Thai nationals will face charges in neighbouring Myanmar after they were held for illegally crossing the border to run rubber plantations, state media said Tuesday.

Nine women and 52 men detained during a Myanmar army sweep in a southern border region were "safe, but to face charges", according to a report in the state mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar.

The newspaper detailed weapons seized -- including nine assault rifles, 11 "homemade" guns and a landmine -- but said no shots were fired during the raids in the country's southeastern Tanintharyi region.

"The Thai detainees have encroached upon Myanmar's territory and worked rubber farming on a commercial scale and held arms and ammunitions for their security," the English language newspaper said, adding that Thailand had been informed through "diplomatic means".

One of Thailand's deputy prime ministers, Yutthasak Sasiprapa, put the number of detained at 49 and said officials from the Thai border province of Ranong would negotiate for their release.

But he said the task would be complicated because the Myanmar army had found both illicit drugs and arms.

"They trespassed onto Myanmar soil to work and planted marijuana, while Myanmar has also seized weapons. But I am convinced they will be freed before President Thein Sein's official visit," he said, referring to the Myanmar leader's previously delayed visit to Bangkok, now set for July 22.

Many poor Myanmar nationals stream across the porous 2,400 kilometre (1,500 mile) border between the two countries in search of employment in affluent Thailand. Movement by Thais into impoverished Myanmar is rarely reported.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 70/1/.html

[Big Boy]

Here's an interesting turn of events quoted in the Bangkok Post:

Thailand is looking into the possibility of renting the encroached border land from Myanmar to allow the Thai people who had planted rubber trees and oil palm on the land to legally continue to farm it, Deputy Prime Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa said. on Tuesday

Speaking to reporters before attending the cabinet meeting, Gen Yutthasak said that when he visits Myanmar on July 13 for a meeting on the Sea Games to be hosted by that country he may seek to negotiate with the Myanmar authorities on renting the land.

He believed the talks would be successful, considering the good relations between the two countries, he said.

Asked about the 49 Thais being detained in Myanmar's Kawthaung province, Gen Yutthasak said the 4th Army commander insisted in holding talks for their release through the local border committee. This approach is more likely to be successful than holding talks at a higher level, he added.

A task force unit of the 25th Infantry Regiment is responsible for this job.

Gen Yutthasak said that from reports reaching him, the number of Thai peope who have returned may be higher than the reported 43 because some of them went right back to their homes without reporting to the authorities.

The people who allegedly encroached on the border land were from many different provinces including Ranong, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Krabi.

Gen Yutthasak said the talks for the release of the 48 Thais, still in detention in Kawthaung, are going on slowly because drugs and war weapons were also involved.

The encroachment began in 2005 and involved more than 200 people who were employed to work in the area by three groups of financiers. Therefore, a long investigation is required, he added.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... anmar-land