Briefs

Briefs

Clash in Doilang, Shan army suspected

According to several reports, a Burmese outpost in Doilang area, opposite Mae Ai District, Chiangmai province, was attacked by an armed group of unknown origin at 10:55 yesterday.
Some Thai officers thought the SSA of Col Yawdserk was behind the mysterious attacks. "After all, if Thais and Burmese fight each other, who will benefit?"

The SSA was quick to deny it. Shan troops could not attack the Burmese position without coming from the Thai side, one commander explained.

"We might, if we were careful, be able to travel inside Thailand before the attack without letting the Thais know," he said. "But how and where could we escape afterwards?"

Rangoon playing it cool

Unlike previous occasions, when Shans attacked and seized drugs, this time the Burmese were conspicuously giving no response, said a Thai border-watcher. "This is worrisome," he said. "In the past, they would deny flatly and accuse the Shans of contriving it to make Rangoon look bad in the eyes of the rest of the world. But this time they are not reacting at all."
The raid by the SSA on Mae Jok near Nayao, or Yawngkha in Wa, on 8 February, according to TV Channel 7, had netted 50,000 pills of Yaba (methamphetamine).

Shans's Union Day party runs into a snag

A source form northern Shan State told S.H.A.N. yesterday that Khun Htoon Oo, the Shan leader whose party won the most seats at the state level in 1990, had already engaged the Panda Hotel, near the Thakhin Mya Park in Rangoon, to host a party for the Union Day that falls tomorrow. He was later notified that the hotel would not be able to accommodate his wish because of warnings from the authorities.

Khun Htoon Oo's party last year was attended by politicians from others parties and diplomats.
It is not known whether he will cancel his plan or go on with it in a new venue, according to the source.

The military intelligence, in the meanwhile, denied knowledge of the hotel's strange behavior.