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BKK Post,April 25, 1998. BORDER



April 25, 1998. BORDER

Thai soldiers captured by DKBA 'dead'
Deputy defence chief confirms report
Tak

Deputy Defence Minister Wattanachai Wuthisiri has confirmed earlier 
reports that two Thai soldiers captured by pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen 
Buddhist Army guerrillas had been killed.

Gen Wattanachai said many intelligence sources reported the two were 
already dead although it remained unclear whether the DKBA killed them.

He added the army would further check with all available sources to 
verify the reports.

Sergeant Aree Hoonyon and Private Mana Sumaporn, both of the Fourth 
Infantry Regiment Task Force, went missing after a border clash with 
DKBA guerrillas in Pob Phra district on March 22.

A search failed to find them. Burmese authorities denied knowledge of 
their whereabouts.

Col Catchapat Yamngarmriab, the task force chief who had earlier said 
the two were held captive by the DKBA, said after their deaths were 
officially confirmed that the army would consider giving assistance to 
their families since they were killed while on duty.

Gen Wattanachai said the government had decided to allow the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to supervise Karen refugee camps 
in Tak and Mae Hong Son.

The Foreign Ministry would determine what role the UNHCR should play, he 
said.

Financial aid from the agency is needed since instability in Burma is 
likely to keep displaced Karens in Thai camps for a long time.

Tak, however, was having problems relocating some 60,000 refugees since 
there was no place large enough to accommodate them.

Some public land earmarked for a new camp was found to have been 
encroached on by local villagers.

The encroachers would have to be moved out and permission sought from 
state agencies concerned before the land could be developed into a camp 
site.

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