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[BurmaWatch@xxxxxxx]

Myanmar Reopens Thailand Border

 .c The Associated Press

  
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar reopened its border with Thailand on 
Wednesday, two months after closing it amid deteriorating ties. 

The key checkpoint at the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge opened Wednesday 
morning, said Lt. Col. Sorapol Payungveeranoi, a Thai military official 
stationed at the frontier town of Mae Sot, 230 miles from Bangkok. 

The three other official checkpoints on the more than 1,240 mile frontier 
were also reopened, said Um Maolanont, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman. 

``The situation on the border is back to normal,'' he said. 

Relations soured after the Oct. 1-2 takeover of the Myanmar Embassy in 
Bangkok. Senior Thai officials provided safe passage for five Myanmar former 
students who seized the embassy and called them ``pro-democracy activists.'' 

This angered the military regime in Myanmar, also know as Burma, which closed 
the border and expelled Thai fishing fleets from its waters, causing big 
losses in trade and leaving thousands jobless. 

The border reopened a day after Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan paid a 
visit to Myanmar 

After his visit, Surin said Thai-Myanmar relations were on a course towards 
normalcy. 

But Thailand is still sending home large numbers of Myanmar citizens who have 
flooded into the country in search of jobs. And Myanmar has yet to allow Thai 
fishermen back into its waters. 

Surin said Myanmar authorities wished to renegotiate fishing concessions 
before reopening the waters to foreigners. 

AP-NY-11-24-99 1056EST