Thailand-Burma Conflict Grows With Hilltop Bombardment by Phairath Khampha 31 May 2001 Thai troops on May 10, 2001 pushed Burmese and Wa soldiers out of Thailand, bombarding a hilltop position they had held for three days. Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, the Third Army commander, said Hua Lone hill was retaken by Thai troops about noon. The intruders had entered Thailand on May 7 and were forced back after taking more than 200 artillery shells. The move followed weeks of intermittent skirmishes involving both regular troops and ethnic militias backed by each side. Burma continued to try hard to bring about an open state of war between the two countries. Tense situation Intrinsic to the problem was that this section of the border was never clearly defined or marked. Each country uses a different map to support its claim to sovereignty. But the dispute threatens to further sour an already tense situation: with Burmese and Thai troops in some places only 100 metres or more apart, the potential for renewed clashes was very real. In the weeks before the latest clashes, the conflict had been less military than propaganda. Thailand has accused Burma and its allies from the ethnic Wa minority of trafficking millions of cheap amphetamine pills across the border in a move to destroy Thailand's youth, thus making the country easy to subjugate. Thailand and Burma hold a historic enmity towards each other. A fantastic proportion of the country's youth have become addicted to the drugs. The Burmese emphatically deny the claim and last week, took foreign journalists on a closely-escorted visit to Wa territory in an effort to support their claim that the true architects of the lucrative drugs trade operate in Thailand. Soldiers and sniffer dogs inspected the hilltop the day after the occupation by the Thai forces, looking for landmines they may have left behind. A unit of the Pha Muang force set up a position on the hilltop to prevent further intrusions and block drug trafficking routes, he said. In what was seen as a show of strength, an air force F-16 jet flew overhead along the border before the Thai troops reached the hill. However, AVM Prapas Jiamchawee, the air force secretary, denied there was any intention to provoke the Burmese and Red Wa intruders. He said the jet was on a routine reconnaissance mission. It left Nakhon Ratchasima air base about 9.30am and flew along the border over the provinces of Kanchanaburi, Tak and Chiang Mai. While flying over Chiang Mai about 10.20am, the jet increased speed and dropped altitude to avoid thick clouds. The dive caused a loud sonic boom, which sounded as if the aircraft had dropped a bomb. The jet was flying over Thai air space and was not carrying weapons, he said, insisting it would only be used in a large-scale battle. "We had no intention of provoking the Burmese soldiers. It was just a scheduled training flight," AVM Prapas said. However, Thailand had launched two airstrikes inside Burma close to the two countries' mountainous border, injuring six people, including two children, Burma's military regime said on May 11. The airstrikes by F-16 fighter jets were "unnecessarily escalating and aggravating the prevailing unhappy situation on (a) certain area of the common border," a Burma government statement received in Bangkok said. Prapass Jiemchawee, the Thai air force spokesman, said the F-16 had flown two routine reconnaissance sorties over the Thai-Burma border -- the scene of recent armed skirmishes involving Thailand and ethnic armies allied to Yangon -- but had not launched any missiles or bombs. Relations between Thailand and Burma are at their lowest level in years, principally because of a dispute over illegal drugs that Thailand says are smuggled in huge quantities from Burma's border regions for the specific purpose of destroying Thailand'ssociety in order that an occupation of Thailand by Burma can take place. The two countries have fought wars for centuries and for a period some 350 years ago, Thailand was partly occupied by Burma. The Burma statement said that in one of the airstrikes, an F-16 had fired two rockets near the town of Mong Yawn in eastern Shan State about two miles from the border, injuring six people, including two children, and killing three cattle. Thailand claimed Mong Yawn was a major center for production of methamphetamines by the United Wa State Army allied to the Burma regime. This ethnic army is reputed to be the largest drug producer in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle. In the other airstrike, two rockets landed in Kyauket and Gawli, two villages in eastern Karen State and about 500 yards from the Thai border. The statement mentioned no injuries. Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the defence minister, visited military units along the northern border and discuss the situation with Lt-Gen Wattanachai. He denied ordering a halt to military action to dislodge the intruders and said he just wanted to see the border dispute solved militarily and politically. Gen Chavalit said attempts by some people to drive a wedge between him and Lt-Gen Wattanachai were unsuccessful. Gen Surayud Chulanont, the army chief, accompanied him on his inspection trip. Gen Surayud admitted on May 10 budget constraints were a big problem. Since border problems shifted from the east to the west, more troops had been sent to defend the border with Burma and this was costing money. "Although soldiers are ready for combat action, we also have to think about our pockets," he said. Burma demands Thai pullback The authorities in Burma demanded the withdrawal of Thai troops from 35 outposts along the common border as tension between the two countries escalated. Rangoon's move followsedweeks of intermittent skirmishes involving both regular troops and ethnic militias backed by each side. In a letter, Burma declared that the area in question, Doi Lang, was Burmese territory, and threatened to use force unless Thai troops are pulled back. For their part, Thai officials insisted the military positions in question are clearly on Thai territory. Burmese shelling a 'deliberate act' Shells were fired to incite and distract the Thai Army after five artillery shells were intentionally fired across the border from Burma on May 22, landing in the compound of the Royal Project at Doi Angkang in Chiang Mai's Fang district, according to Third Army Commander Lt Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong. This prompted return fire and a strong protest from the Thai military, he said. Wattanachai said the shells landed in the peach orchards of the Royal Project, which is situated near Hua Lone Hill, the scene of recent fighting between the Army and troops from the United Wa State Army (UWSA). There were no reports of casualties or serious damage. "It was a deliberate act," said Wattanachai, adding that it was the first time that shells had fallen into the Royal Project, which is less than a kilometre from the border. The commander said that the Army had returned fire with eight rounds of artillery in the direction from which it suspected the shells were launched. It also issued a strong protest about the violation of Thai sovereignty to the Burmese members of the Township Border Committee. Wattanachai said that at that time there was no fighting on the opposite side that could have spilled over into Thailand. He said the area was now under Burmese control after the retreat of Shan rebels who had moved to other positions. He said he suspected that Burmese troops had intended to incite the Thai military in order to distract their attention from other border spots. However, he said the overall border situation remained calm due to the rainy season. Border talks with Thailand cancelled Burma refused to attend a scheduled round of border talks with Thailand on May 28, leaving relations between the two countries at high tension following weeks of skirmishes between their armies. Major Udomsak Kamsaisaeng, the chief Thai coordinator for the border talks, said he called the Burmese officials that day morning to remind them of the talks, scheduled to be held later in the day in the northern Thai border town of Mae Sai. "But they said they wanted to cancel the meeting. They gave no reason," Major Udomsak said. "They also said they will send a formal letter informing that they want the meeting to be cancelled and that they will schedule the next meeting soon," he said from Mae Sai, about 740 kilometres north of Bangkok. Burmese officials did not immediately confirm the report. The Thai-Burma Regional Border Committee, meant to convene every six months to iron out border problems, held its first meeting in three years only on April 2. That meeting, in the Burmese border town of Keng Tung, failed to make much headway. Since then relations plunged even further because of intensifying border fights. The two sides have been firing at each other since February. The strain in ties is principally over Thai allegations that Burma's military regime allows an ethnic Wa army, which has reached a cease-fire with the junta, to produce the illegal drug methamphetamine at the border and smuggle it for sale in Thailand. Burma denies the charge. The relations hit the lowest point in years in mid-May after Burma shelled a border area in Chiang Rai province, narrowly missing a royal villa. On May 24, Thailand's Foreign Ministry summoned Burma's ambassador, Myo Myint, to formally protest articles that appeared in a state-run Burma newspaper that Thai officials said insulted their monarchy, a revered institution.