Chinese schools ordered closed

Three schools teaching Chinese in Eastern Shan State have been closed since 7 July on the order issued by the Triangle Region Command based in Kengtung, said sources.

Two of them are in Kengtung’s Kenglarn and Kengzan Quarters and one is in Tachilek’s Palieng Quarters, opposite Maesai.

An unconfirmed report says the action was taken after a riot broke out between the traffic police and a group of ethnic Chinese students in Kengtung.

The authorities in Tachilek have also ordered Tachilek residents who have children attending Thai schools in Maesai. Sources were unable to explain what prompted the directive.

There are some 200 students, from kindergarten up to senior high school level, coming across the border each day to attend schools in Maesai.