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BKK Post (12-10-99) Troops on alert

Subject: BKK Post (12-10-99) Troops on alert along border

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<font size=5><b>Troops on alert along border<br>
</font><font size=4><i>Rebel groups brace for crackdown as artillery
moves in<br>
<br>
</font></i><font size=3>Supamart Kasem<br>
</font><font size=5>T</font></b><font size=3>roops have been placed on
full alert along the Thai-Burmese border following reports of a planned
Burmese military crackdown on anti-Rangoon movements, a senior army
officer said yesterday.<br>
Maj-Gen Tomorn Kittisopon, commander of the Naresuan task force, said
troops and heavy weaponry have been deployed in five border districts as
tension mounted.<br>
He insisted the preparations were to ensure security for Thai citizens
and to retaliate in case of encroachment by foreign troops.<br>
&quot;We've learned that the Burmese military plans to launch attacks on
anti-Rangoon movements along the border. So we have to be prepared for
any possible action,&quot; the officer said.<br>
Maj-Gen Tomorn yesterday inspected readiness of troops in the border
districts of Mae Sot, Mae Ramat, Tha Song Yang, Phop Phra and
Umphang.<br>
The task force commander also inspected security preparations in Mawkier
and Umpiom refugee camps in Phop Phra and Mae La in Tha Song Yang
district, after intelligence reports of possible attacks by foreign
troops on the refugee camps.<br>
Meanwhile, a security source yesterday said the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees plans to discuss with the Interior Ministry the
relocation of 1,800 Burmese students under its care to refugee camps in
Tak.<br>
However, authorities there said a relocation would only encourage Burmese
military attacks on the camps.<br>
Meanwhile, a Burmese man drowned on Saturday as he and four others tried
to swim across the Moei river back to Myawaddy following Rangoon's
closure of the border.<br>
The body of Koh, 27, of Kawkareik, was recovered 5km downstream from
where he was believed to have drowned. His funeral was held yesterday at
Wat Ban Tha Art, as the Burmese authorities denied entry.<br>
In Kanchanaburi, Burmese troops were reported to have sent reinforcements
to areas opposite Thong Pha Phum and Sangkhla Buri districts.<br>
Across from Thong Pha Phum district, the Burmese 32nd Battalion, a new
reinforcement, laid a barbed wire fence along the border in the vicinity
of Ban Itong, while other troops have done likewise opposite Sangkhla
Buri district.</font>
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