BKK POST: January 23, 1998: BORDER

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

January 23, 1998: BORDER / DEMARCATION ISSUE

              Burma set to pull
              forces off islet

              Troops to stay away from disputed land

              Supamart Kasem 
              Tak

              Burma yesterday agreed to withdraw its troops from an islet in
              Mae Sot district following talks between Thai and Burmese
              officials over a border dispute caused by Thailand's construction
              of an embankment on the Moei River.

              Members of the local Thai-Burmese Border Committee led by
              TBC chairman Col Chatchapat Yamngarmriab and his Burmese
              counterpart Lt-Col Saing Phone agreed at yesterday's meeting in
              Myawaddy that Thailand and Burma should not allow their
              armed troops to enter the disputed islet in Ban Mae Konekane
              until an agreement on border demarcation is reached.

              Col Chatchapat said Thai officials submitted an aide-memoire to
              Burmese representatives at the meeting to urge Rangoon to
              withdraw soldiers from the islet while Burmese officials
              requested Thailand not to send troops to the islet.

              Burmese representatives accepted that the islet belongs to
              Thailand and agreed with the Thai officials' proposal to withdraw
              Burmese forces from the islet to prevent a standoff, he added.

              The meeting participants also agreed to push the Thai-Burmese
              Border Technical Committee to survey a disputed area in Ban
              Mae Konekane and another one near Wat Prathat Khok Chang
              Phuek and seek border demarcation speedily.

              Earlier, over 200 Thai soldiers armed with 106mm recoilless
              guns and 81mm and 60mm mortars, as well as V150 armoured
              tanks and vessels, were sent to an area near the disputed islet
              under the order of Fourth Infantry Division commander Maj-Gen
              Chalor Thongsla.

              According to a border official, the military forces reached the
              Moei River bank in Ban Mae Konekane in Tambon Mahawan
              early yesterday morning and planned to enter the islet unless the
              TBC could find a resolution to the problem.

              Maj-Gen Chalor reportedly issued the order after Lt-Col Sein
              Tun of Burma's 33rd Infantry Division, who led Burmese soldiers
              from the 12th Infantry Regiment to seize the islet on Sunday,
              refused to allow Thai troops to enter the islet on Wednesday.

              All workers and construction equipment under Thailand's
              embankment construction project were moved from the site
              yesterday afternoon to facilitate the operation of the Thai troops.

              Maj-Gen Chalor, commander of the Naresuan Task Force, said
              Thai soldiers intended to safeguard Thailand's sovereignty over
              the land which has been cut off from the mainland. He said it was
              not an intention to fight the Burmese forces.

              Deputy Third Army chief-of-staff Col Charnchai Sunthornkes
              said the construction of an embankment in Ban Mae Konekane
              has been suspended pending talks between Thailand and Burma
              regarding the border dispute.

              A 340-rai plot in Ban Mae Konekane was cut off from the
              mainland in 1993 following severe flooding. Thailand had a
              two-million-baht embankment built in the area in May 1994 to
              prevent further soil erosion but the embankment was later
              destroyed by another flood.

              Last year, the Public Works Department hired Jenjira Architect
              for 14.9 million baht to build a 1.5km concrete embankment in
              the area.

              The project began on December 12 last year and is scheduled
              for completion on January 22 this year.




                                     




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Last Modified: Fri, Jan 23, 1998