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Thai-Myanmar standoff eases.
Thai-Myanmar standoff eases
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[By Edward Tang, Thailand Correspondent]
BANGKOK -- Tension at the Thai-Myanmar border eased slightly
yesterday, as
negotiators from both sides prepared to meet after a boundary
dispute last week led to
the deployment of troops within metres of each other.
"Tension has subsided although soldiers from both sides have yet to
be withdrawn from
the area," a Thai Foreign Ministry official told The Straits Times
yesterday. He
confirmed press reports that at some disputed sections of the Moei
River, a kilometre
north of the Friendship Bridge near Mae Sot in Tak province,
opposing troops were
only 5 m apart from each other in the tense standoff.
Thai Army Chief Chetta Thanajaro was reported yesterday to have
ordered his troops
to exercise restraint, while Lieutenant-General Thanom Watcharaputr,
Commander of
the Third Army, told reporters that Thai troops would stay until the
dispute was settled.
Meanwhile, negotiators led by a senior Thai Foreign Ministry
official were expected to
meet their counterparts yesterday to calm the situation, which was
sparked off by
Myanmar's sudden deployment of workers and heavy machinery last
Friday to dredge
an area where the river once flowed.
Because of a flood two years ago, the Moei River diverted from its
original course to
flow along a new one which cuts inwards into portions of Myanmar.
The change in
course created an islet which could be claimed by Thailand,
according to the 1868
Siam-British treaty.
According to the Thai official, the treaty, signed when Myanmar
belonged to the
British, used the respective river banks to demarcate the boundary
for the two sides.
But the treaty was vague as to how the river itself was to be
divided. Myanmar's action
last week, designed to restore the tributary to its former course,
drew angry protests
from its neighbour, which claimed that the dredging breached an
understanding to allow
the river to take its natural course.
The situation was further aggravated by Myanmar sending 60 troops to
the area on
Saturday to protect the workers. Thailand reacted by sending Thai
troops backed by
helicopters and armoured personnel carriers.
A picture on the front page of the Bangkok Post newspaper yesterday
showed Thai
soldiers planting their national flag on the islet while a Myanmar
soldier, just metres
away, looked on.
It was learnt that Myanmar had agreed yesterday to stop work
temporarily while
officials from both sides inspected the area.
The latest dispute came just two weeks after Thai Prime Minister
Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh visited Myanmar. The trip was touted as a success as
both sides were
reported to have agreed to settle the problems along their
2,400-km-long shared
border.
[The Straits Times, 28 May 1997].
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