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BKK POST: January 23, 1998: BORDER
- Subject: BKK POST: January 23, 1998: BORDER
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 22:58:00
January 23, 1998: BORDER / DEMARCATION ISSUE
Burma set to pull
forces off islet
Troops to stay away from disputed land
Supamart Kasem
Tak
Burma yesterday agreed to withdraw its troops from an islet in
Mae Sot district following talks between Thai and Burmese
officials over a border dispute caused by Thailand's construction
of an embankment on the Moei River.
Members of the local Thai-Burmese Border Committee led by
TBC chairman Col Chatchapat Yamngarmriab and his Burmese
counterpart Lt-Col Saing Phone agreed at yesterday's meeting in
Myawaddy that Thailand and Burma should not allow their
armed troops to enter the disputed islet in Ban Mae Konekane
until an agreement on border demarcation is reached.
Col Chatchapat said Thai officials submitted an aide-memoire to
Burmese representatives at the meeting to urge Rangoon to
withdraw soldiers from the islet while Burmese officials
requested Thailand not to send troops to the islet.
Burmese representatives accepted that the islet belongs to
Thailand and agreed with the Thai officials' proposal to withdraw
Burmese forces from the islet to prevent a standoff, he added.
The meeting participants also agreed to push the Thai-Burmese
Border Technical Committee to survey a disputed area in Ban
Mae Konekane and another one near Wat Prathat Khok Chang
Phuek and seek border demarcation speedily.
Earlier, over 200 Thai soldiers armed with 106mm recoilless
guns and 81mm and 60mm mortars, as well as V150 armoured
tanks and vessels, were sent to an area near the disputed islet
under the order of Fourth Infantry Division commander Maj-Gen
Chalor Thongsla.
According to a border official, the military forces reached the
Moei River bank in Ban Mae Konekane in Tambon Mahawan
early yesterday morning and planned to enter the islet unless the
TBC could find a resolution to the problem.
Maj-Gen Chalor reportedly issued the order after Lt-Col Sein
Tun of Burma's 33rd Infantry Division, who led Burmese soldiers
from the 12th Infantry Regiment to seize the islet on Sunday,
refused to allow Thai troops to enter the islet on Wednesday.
All workers and construction equipment under Thailand's
embankment construction project were moved from the site
yesterday afternoon to facilitate the operation of the Thai troops.
Maj-Gen Chalor, commander of the Naresuan Task Force, said
Thai soldiers intended to safeguard Thailand's sovereignty over
the land which has been cut off from the mainland. He said it was
not an intention to fight the Burmese forces.
Deputy Third Army chief-of-staff Col Charnchai Sunthornkes
said the construction of an embankment in Ban Mae Konekane
has been suspended pending talks between Thailand and Burma
regarding the border dispute.
A 340-rai plot in Ban Mae Konekane was cut off from the
mainland in 1993 following severe flooding. Thailand had a
two-million-baht embankment built in the area in May 1994 to
prevent further soil erosion but the embankment was later
destroyed by another flood.
Last year, the Public Works Department hired Jenjira Architect
for 14.9 million baht to build a 1.5km concrete embankment in
the area.
The project began on December 12 last year and is scheduled
for completion on January 22 this year.
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Last Modified: Fri, Jan 23, 1998