Deputy FM to inspect disputed area

[ausgeo@xxxxxxx]

Subject: Deputy FM to inspect disputed area in Tak

June 18, 1997

BANGKOK POST

BORDER

Deputy FM to inspect disputed area in Tak

Part of preparation for talks with Burma



Deputy Foreign Minister Pitak Intrawithyanuant will today inspect a disputed 
Thai-Burmese border area in preparation for talks with his Burmese counterpart 
at the end of this month.

Mr Pitak is scheduled to visit Ban Rim Moei and cross the friendship bridge 
into Burma's border town of Myawaddy for talks with local officials as part of 
the day trip. 

Burmese ambassador to Thailand U Hla Maung, nine Thai Foreign Ministry 
officials and 10 journalists will join the trip that includes a meeting with 
the Tak Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Pitak and his Burmese counterpart, U Nyunt Swe, will also co-chair a Joint 
Boundary Committee meeting set for June 30-July 2 to discuss the border 
dispute that technical officials failed to solve last week.

The problem came to a head late in May when Burmese troops started dredging 
part of the Moei river near Ban Rim Moei in a bid to reclaim land Burma said 
it has lost as a result of heavy flooding two years ago. The dredging stopped 
after protests by Thai villagers in the area and a brief show of force by both 
Thai and Burmese border troops.