The Nation (29-11-99)

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MAE HONG SON -- The Army yesterday warned its Burmese counterpart not to
encroach on Thai territory during a dry-season suppression of dissidents, a
senior border official said yesterday. 
The Army will counter by all means any violation of its territory by
Burmese soldiers, who routinely resort to hot pursuit of the dissidents,
said Col Charnchai Nakprapa, commander of the Seventh Infantry Division
which oversees Mae Hong Son province. 
''Cracking down on Burmese dissidents is their internal affair. But we will
not tolerate it if the Burmese soldiers cross the border on to Thai soil
during the operation. It is nonsense to claim that the boundary is not
clear,'' Charnchai said. 
The Army has already installed anti-aircraft artillery as a preventive
measure in case the fighting between Burmese government troops and the
dissidents spills over the border, he said. ''We are ready to protect the
sovereignty of Thailand and provide protection to our people.'' 
The colonel was responding to a report that Gen Maung Aye, Burma's deputy
secretary-general of the State Peace and Development Council, had ordered a
meeting of regional commanders, instructing them to shoot down any Thai
aircraft found in Burmese airspace. 
A border intelligence source said that Rangoon, too, had installed
anti-aircraft artillery along the border. 
''Gen Maung Aye has given orders that Burmese soldiers can shoot at Thai
aircraft without any warning,'' the source said. 
The Burmese general has also ordered his soldiers not to have any contact
with Thai border officials. 
Meanwhile, the chief of a holding centre for Burmese students in Ratchaburi
is expected to be replaced as he could not control the residents. 
The Interior Ministry is selecting a new chief for the centre to replace
Chaitawat Niemsiri, although he took office just three months back. 
''Chaitawat's replacement is likely because he could not keep the camp in
order and he failed to control the Burmese students in the camp,'' the
source said. 
Since Chaitawat took the office in October, Burmese students in the holding
centre have conducted a series of protests and acts of violence against
Thai and UN High Commissioner for Refugees officials. A Burmese student was
recently convicted of assaulting two Thai security guards. 
Relations between Thai authorities and the Burmese students living there
became tense after five students laid siege to the Burmese Embassy in
Bangkok in early October. 
After that incident, Thai agencies called for the students to go on to a
third country to further their studies, instead of living here. 
Chaitawat said that 21 students from the centre left yesterday for the
United States. 
About 2,000 students have moved on to third countries since the centre was
set up in 1992. There are currently about 1,200 Burmese granted student
status living in the centre. 
The Nation
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