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BKK Post, March 30, 1998. BORDER



March 30, 1998. BORDER

Australian and Thai reported abducted
DKBA troops said to have seized the pair
Supamart Kasem and Wassana Nanuam

An Australian man and a Thai woman have been allegedly seized by 
pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army soldiers.

However, a DKBA officer denied this, saying they had in fact been 
invited to view the plight of the Karens inside Burma and would be 
returned in four or five days.

A military source said the alleged capture of the pair on Friday 
prompted army chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro to call Burmese leader Lt-Gen 
Khin Nyunt, first secretary of Burma's State Peace and Development 
Council, yesterday. He called for their release, fearing their capture 
would damage Thailand's reputation. The Burmese leader agreed to have 
the pair returned in one or two days, said the source.

A Border Patrol Police source said Nick Cheeseman, 28, and Ms Ngamsuk 
Rattanasathien, 30, were forced to wade across the Moei River from the 
Thai side near Ban Wang Takhian in Mae Sot district to take photographs 
of the DKBA's Yoar Kyi camp which was devastated by a Karen National 
Union attack on Thursday night. DKBA soldiers pointed rifles at the pair 
and then took them away.

BPP Company 346 commander Pol Lt-Col Noppol Chatiwong yesterday tried to 
get information from the DKBA about the two by shouting questions across 
the river. Yoar Kyi camp deputy Nu Nu said they were fine and had not 
been captured. He said that Mr Cheeseman and Ms Ngamsuk had been invited 
to see how Karens in Burma had suffered because they had an interest in 
the conflict.

Nu Nu said DKBA headquarters at Mya Yi Ngu camp in Hlaingbwe had ordered 
that the pair be taken to the camp on Friday afternoon.

"Don't worry. They will be returned in four to five days," Nu Nu was 
quoted as saying.

Nu Nu accused Thai authorities of conspiring with the KNU to carry out 
recent attacks on DKBA camps that had left many soldiers dead and 
wounded and property destroyed.

He also accused Thai authorities of not allowing the wounded to receive 
medical treatment in Thai hospitals and barring DKBA soldiers from 
buying consumer goods in Thailand.

Nu Nu agreed to let Pol Lt-Gen Noppol talk to Saw Tun Hla, the camp 
commander, this morning.

Mr Cheeseman is a member of international organisation, Burma Issues. He 
has been teaching English to Karen refugees at Huay Kalok camp in Mae 
Sot for some years.

Chris Cusano, 28, an American member of Burma Issues, said after 
learning of the pair's capture he asked Karen refugees at Huay Kalok 
camp to help contact Karens at Yoar Kyi camp to seek their release, 
without informing the Thai authorities. However, this had proved 
fruitless. Other group members decided to report the matter to the 
Australian Embassy. 

Police at a BPP checkpoint on Wang Takhian-Wang Kaew road by the Moei 
River said Mr Cheeseman and Ms Ngamsuk had left their bicycles at the 
checkpoint at about 2 p.m. on Friday, saying they would go to Doi Hin 
Kiu temple, which is frequently visited by tourists.

The BPP warned them about the fighting between the rival Karens but they 
did not listen.

The military source said Gen Chettha had also sent a letter to Lt-Gen 
Khin Nyunt through the military attache at the Burmese Embassy denying 
Thailand supported KNU attacks on the DKBA.

In a previous incident in April 1996, Burmese soldiers crossed the 
border and plundered Sho Klo refugee camp in Tha Song Yang district. A 
Dutch couple conducting research on malaria in the camp were robbed and 
the wife raped.

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