Thai Army Declares End of Border Tension with Myanmar

Thai army declared Friday that the recent tension along the Thai-Myanmar border has ended, according to local TV reports.

Wathanachai Chaimuanwong, a high-ranking officer from the Third Army Area which oversees the border regions with Myanmar, said on Channel 8 that situations in those areas have been back to normal as Myanmar troops began to retreat from "some strategic points there."

He announced that a new round of bilateral border talks would be held shortly.

Thai media reported that the recent border woes had began early last month, when a group of Myanmar soldiers, in their hunt for the ethnic Thai Yai rebels, intruded into Thailand's north most Chiang Rai province, 785 kilometers north of Bangkok, and seized a Thai military base.

The incident led to clashes between Thai and Myanmar forces, leaving dozens of civilian and military casualties from both sides.

Both sides deployed heavy forces along the over 2,000-kilometer Thai-Myanmar frontier since then, which was followed by the closure of border checkpoints, affecting border trade between the two neighboring countries.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/