Border trade being held hostage

No.14 - 1/2007
31 January 2007
Thai-Burma Relations
 
Border trade being held hostage
 
Following unclaimed bomb blast in Tachilek which had caused some damage to the biggest drug store in the city 6 days earlier, Burmese authorities have warned their Thai counterparts the two Friendship Bridges between Tachilek and Maesai are in danger of being closed again in the event of another blowup.
 
"This is a familiar ploy used against us, whenever they run into trouble with their own people," remarked a high-ranking Thai security official.
 
Burmese authorities had last shut down the border for 5 months following clashes with the Shan State Army (SSA) South in May 2002, dealing a blow to the booming border trade.
 
According to Burmese officials, the blast took place after the storekeeper Ah Jong and his wife Nang Hseng Tip had refused to pay "tax" to the SSA South. The two however had declined to grant an interview.
 
The SSA commander Lt-Col Gawnzuen, whose forces are active in eastern Shan State including Tachilek, had flatly rejected the accusation. "Why should we do bad things to our own people?" he asked rhetorically. "We are fighting only against their enemy the SPDC (ruling State Peace and Development Council)."
 
Some junta officials are also reported to be speculating whether it could be another handiwork of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors ( VBSW) that had claimed responsibility for the letter bomb on 15 January in Rangoon that had injured one postal worker. The group that had declared an all-out war against the ruling military junta has so far not asserted any claims to the Tachilek blast.