More troops on the border

No.11 - 11/2006

29 November 2006

War

More troops on the border

The Burma Army has dispatched fresh units to the border opposite Chiangrai province, prompting both Thai and Shan forces to keep a close watch of further moves, reports S.H.A.N. correspondent Zerng Tai:

Around Loi Kawwan, Shan State Army's easternmost base on the Thai-Burma border, the Burma Army had previously stationed 3 battalions on rotations. The current three are Infantry Battalion (IB) 244 from Kengtung and Light Infantry Battalions (LIB) 331 and 360 from Mongphyak and Mongpiang respectively. But 3 more battalions have arrived on the scene since Monday, 27 November: IB 221 (Monghpyak) and LIBs 570 (Monghpyak) and 571 (Tarlerh).

The latest move from the Burma Army took place a week after a whirlwind visit by Lt-Gen Kyaw Win, who oversees military operations in Shan and Kayah States.

This was in addition to previous reports on the movements of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) that currently enjoys a ceasefire status with Burma's ruling junta and has participated in the Burma Army's operations against the SSA on several occasions:

• On 5 November 2006, a radio message intercepted by the Burma watchers said the UWSA's 171^st Military Region commanded Wei Hsuehkang, had trained 1,350 men at Mongjawd, opposite Chiangmai's Chiangdao district
• Another UWSA unit 214^th Brigade, recently renamed 414^th, has taken over the security of the strategic Loi Htwe mountain, also opposite Chiangdao, thereby freeing the 171^st to move further westward and reinforce its forces around the SSA's main base Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson
• Signboards bearing the name Hongpang, the UWSA's business firm, that had disappeared since the 496kg heroin seizure in Mongpiang last year, have returned this month further deepening suspicions that the UWSA and the Burma Army have reached some sort of agreement

One UWSA official in Panghsang, the Wa capital on the Sino-Burma border, has however dismissed the likelihood of a joint Burma Army-UWSA operation against the SSA "at least in the foreseeable future". He nevertheless acknowledges the presence of more Wa troops on the Thai border.

"Many Wa families (who have been there since the 1999-2001 relocations) want to return to the north," he explained. "We are just trying to head it off by an expanded rubber plantation project along the Thai-Burma border."

The UWSA, with assistance from China, has been launching a regionwide rubber plantation project, he added. The Chinese had also recently donated 10,000 tons of rice to make up for the losses suffered by the Wa farmers when they were forced to quit their centuries-old poppy cultivation last year.