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Myanmar Hopes to Solve Border Issues with Thailand Peacefully
A high-ranking Myanmar military official said Saturday that the country hopes to solve the current border issues with Thailand.html target=_blank>Thailand peacefully by holding a border meeting at regional level as soon as possible.
Major-General Kyaw Win, Deputy Chief of the Office of Strategic Studies and Deputy Director of the Myanmar Defense Services Intelligence, told a press conference here that there were gun- fire exchange since February 5 up to March 2 between Myanmar government forces and the Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA), an anti-government Shan ethnic armed group led by former drug warlord Khun Sa's close aide Lieutenant-Colonel Ywet Sit, around Tachileik, a Myanmar border town opposite to Mae Sai of Thailand.
He accused Thailand of supporting the SURA's series of attack on the Myanmar side across the border with artillery cover and disclosed that during the battles period, 23 Myanmar soldiers were killed and 62 others injured, without mentioning any casualties on the SURA's side.
Meanwhile, Thursday's Myanmar official Information Sheet said that in view of the fact that Myanmar and Thailand are both members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), it is about time to initiate a proper assessment on this buffer policy so that the visions and wisdom of the ASEAN leaders in safeguarding the political, security and economic interest of the region embracing all 10 countries of South East Asia can be realized.
According to Thai official sources, Myanmar soldiers seized one of its border outposts on February 10 and hit Mae Sai with stray shells during a battle against the SURA.
The tension between the two countries has prompted Thailand to shut down the Mae Sai border check point, the sources said, adding that the Thai side would only reopen the border point if there is assurance that Myanmar soldiers would not cross the frontier in their battles against SURA.
Thailand also urged Myanmar to show goodwill by not deploying excessive troops near the Thai border, warning Yangon not to divert attention from the real cause of the problem that Myanmar troops had encroached on Thai soil, while Thailand has taken the leading role in drug suppression.
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