Burma Drums up Border Tension Against Thailand

by Ma Nguyen Tong

27-7-2002

A row between Burma and Thailand had been on the verge of erupting for several months. There had been heavy fighting along the border since May 2002, with hundreds of casualties and thousands of civilians fleeing into Thailand for safety. On the surface, the Burmese capital Rangoon was awash with nationalist sentiment. Cars, taxis and bicycles all have the Burmese flag prominently displayed. Newspapers were full of anti-Thai rhetoric. But the reality is that most people in fact do not share the military government's renewed nationalist fervour.

"We only fly the flag because the military tell us we must," says an elderly man in one of Rangoon's satellite towns. This is the view of many of Burma's citizens. They do not trust the government's motives.

This latest border tension started as a result of heavy clashes between two ethnic rebel armies, the Wa and the Shan, in the country's notorious Golden Triangle, where most of the world's illicit heroin comes from. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) had a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government and was allowed virtual autonomy in the areas of Shan State they control. Their opponents, the Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA), are a break-away group from the former drug baron Khun Sa and his Shan State Army who surrendered to Rangoon in 1995. Both groups have been heavily involved in the illegal narcotics trade.

Relations between the two countries have been fragile for years, but border tensions erupted into fierce fighting in February 2001 and developed into a border war little heard of in the Western media. Since then the Thai Government of Thaksin Shinawatra had been keen to improve relations with its neighbour.

Since June 2001 there had been frequent senior level meetings. Prime Minister Thaksin visited Rangoon in the middle of 2001 and relations seemed to be on the mend.

Drug disputes

Since then there had been frequent bilateral meetings between the Thai Foreign Minister Dr Surakiart Sathirathai and his Burmese counterpart, U Win Aung. And in April 2002, Burma's second most powerful leader, General Maung Aye, visited Bangkok. These bilateral meetings seemed to have improved relations between the two countries.

Despite the improved rapport between the two governments, there had been a growing tension between the two armies along their common border. The Burmese Government felt it was not to blame for the problems along the border. It was angered by what it saw as Thai duplicity, as the Thai army continuously blamed the Wa for the flow of amphetamines into Thailand. The Burmese army believed the Shan separatists were just as heavily involved in the trade and received active support and sanctuary from the Thai military.

"We know the SURA are involved in drugs," says Brigadier General Kyaw Thein, the chief military intelligence officer behind Burma's battle against drugs. And indeed, corrupt Thai military officers, businessmen, government officials and politicans profit trmendously from the drugs trade and much of the fighting is more of a narcotics turf war than the true hsitorical enmity between the two countries.

Towards the end of June the fighting subsided, partly because the Burmese army and their Wa allies had been able to recapture most of the bases they lost in the initial fighting in May. But the generals' nationalist pride was stung.

The number of casualties shocked the army's leaders. More than 700 Burmese troops, Wa soldiers and civilians died since the fighting erupted in mid-May, according to military experts in Rangoon, with twice as many injured. Officially, the Burmese military says only 50 Burmese soldiers and militia had been killed and another 30 wounded, but the number of corpses that lay scattered in the battlefield quickly belied the official accounts.

Parents' fears

Burma's authorities press gang many young men into service, particularly among the poor in the satellite townships of Rangoon. There is an informal curfew in place throughout the city. Most parents prevent their sons from going out after 22.00 hrs. at night for fear they would be abducted and taken to the front as porters.

While the actual fighting might have subsided, the war of words seems to have intensified, with the official Burmese press making allegations about the Thai monarchy. In particular, the Burmese media suggested that the Thai king who liberated Thailand from Burma's colonial rule more than 230 years before was not the hero that Thai history had made him.

So important is the King's position in Thailand that any government is duty bound to defend it and any criticism is regarded as unacceptable. Burma's generals are self-styled republicans and recognised that this type of propaganda would sting the Thais more than anything else.

Despite these problems, there were hints at the beginning of July 2002 that the Burmese Government might be prepared to accept Thailand's offer to discuss the border problems. Burma's Foreign Minister U Win Aung said that the two sides understood each other well and would talk soon.