Satellite Exploration of Thailand > Projects

Shifting Border - Mae Sot

1973 vs. 1985

1985 vs. 1989

1989 vs. 1992

1992 vs. 2000

1994 Aug 20 Burmese Issue Warning on Islet Sep 12 Thailand, Burma dispute islet formed by overflowing river 1995 Jan 20 Vijit Warns Against Trespassing Nov 14 Thailand to Dismantle Moei River Causeway 1996 Jan 16 Residents Deplore 'Hasty' Removal of Causeway Mar 31 Burma Agrees to Demolish Illegal Bridge Apr 4 Moei channels and new stalls to be examined Apr 5 Rangoon to join talks to mark border along the Moei River May 3 Thailand hopes to get Moei bridge project on right track May 25 Aerial surveys cloud bid to agree on boundaries Jun 2 Serious river erosion blamed on Burma Jun 16 Officials inspect Moei River bank in Mae Sot Jun 27 Burmese vendors shifted from islet in Moei Jul 16 Govt plans Moei embankment Nov 8 Burma restates demand Dec 1 Border river embankment construction yet to resume Dec 20 Delay in building embankment Dec 29 B50m Moei River project suspended 1997 Feb 2 Chettha set to thrash out problems Feb 26 Agreement reached to end row first Mar 4 Army chief optimistic about talks Mar 5 Committee holds talks on Moei River encroachment Mar 9 Chettha: River demarcation row has yet to be resolved Mar 30 Aerial map urged to end border row Apr 10 Burmese advocate river posts for clarity May 11 New dispute over Moei River border May 24 Burmese troops in bid to change water course May 25 Protest note sent over Burma's act May 26 Burma calls off dredging of river May 27 Chettha orders troops to exercise restraint May 28 'Permission obtained' to dredge river May 30 Border confusion settled Jun 1 Chettha urges talks to avoid border row Jun 3 Burma refuses to back down in border dispute Jun 3 Claiming major flood changed river course Jun 4 PM wants mid-river border with Burma Jun 6 Row over Moei River remains unsettled Jun 7 Army chief denies giving in to Burma Jun 11 Thai-Burma talks deadlocked Jun 13 Panel to look into Burma's allegations Jun 18 Deputy FM to inspect disputed area in Tak Jun 30 Boundary talks test Rangoon's regional resolve Jul 8 Panel agrees to Burmese sector plan Jul 15 Burmese building observation tower Jul 17 100m baht set aside for river barrier Aug 8 Thailand, Burma mark border line Oct 1 Burma troops stake claim to disputed island in Tak Oct 4 Premier urged to clarify position Oct 6 Villagers to seek official demarcation Nov 2 Construction work by Burmese causes erosion Dec 14 Minister in push to settle river dispute 1998 Jan 11 River wrangle rages on Jan 11 Moei: The ever shifting river Jan 20 Burmese troops seize disputed river islet Jan 20 Where they plan to build embankment Jan 23 Burma set to pull forces off islet Jan 24 Burmese troops say sorry to Thais for seizing islet Feb 1 Thai troops set to fight if Burmese invade island Feb 2 Troops to leave disputed islands Feb 8 Burma still continuing dam work Mar 20 Rangoon resumes dyke building Apr 9 Efforts to map out Burmese border begin to take shape Jun 5 Senate panel studies disputes Jun 21 Burma says 'no' to joint committee meeting 1999 Mar 7 Burma dyke encroaches on Thai soil Mar 14 Burma continues violation of demarcation agreement Mar 7 Burma dyke encroaches on Thai soil Apr 8 Pressure to reinforce river wall Apr 11 Tak calls for protest on river wall 2001 Jan 20 River island dispute settled Feb 14 Protest over Mae Sot dyke

January 11, 1998 BORDER DISPUTE River wrangle rages on Thai-Burmese border problems in Tak were in the news again last month when Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra inspected a disputed area in the Moei River in Mae Sot district. Here, we look at the root causes of the problems. SUPAMART KASEM Mae Sot, Tak Man's interference with nature started the Thai-Burmese border conflict in the Moei River, but failure to strike a sound solution has contributed to a worsening of relations. The dispute has escalated to a confrontation since a deluge in July 1994 changed the course of the Moei River and cut off Burmese land opposite Mae Sot district. Siltation has since created a 150-rai area connected to Thai territory. Burma still claims the land near Wat Phrathat Khok Chang Pheuak in Baan Mae Tao, Tambon Tha Sai Luad, while Thailand contends the new course calls for readjustment of the demarcation. The Moei River was defined as a border line between Siam and Burma under a convention signed on February 8, 1868 between the King of Siam and the Governor-General of India under British colonialism. The conflict could have been averted had both sides not interfered with nature, according to a former ambassador, who said the river's natural course that changes every year made both sides stand to gain and lose. Traditionally, when islets created by the current connected to Burmese soil, the locals exploited the area and vice versa. He said that the crux of the problem is that both sides concentrated too much on protecting their interests. In order to keep their territories intact, Burmese and Thai authorities built embankments and barriers to prevent soil erosion. Burma's driving of stakes and building of concrete walls along certain stretches of the river to divert the current caused massive land erosion on the Thai side. In response, Thai authorities built embankments. The Thai-Burmese Technical Committee has engaged in several rounds of talks over the definition of the border line between Mae Sot and Myawaddy in the Karen State of Burma, but a settlement has yet to be reached. The 1868 agreement stated that "the eastern side of the river belongs to Thailand, and the western side belongs to Britain. Both sides have joint sovereignty over river islets." In the case of the Khok Chang Phueak dispute, Thai people understand that the silted-up area should become part of Thai territory under the 1868 agreement. But Rangoon has insisted on claiming the land. The dispute escalated in May last year when Burma sent troops to dredge a section of the silted-up area to change the water course back to its original position to reclaim land they say was lost after the floods. Thai authorities, however, claimed that Burmese troops did not dredge the original course but tried to enlarge the disputed area by intruding 200 metres into Thai territory. Somboon Sa-ngiambutr, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Treaties and Legal Affairs Department and head of the Thai team in the joint technical committee, said international law allows Burma to reclaim the lost land at Khok Chang Phueak. According to the law, if there is a sudden change in the river course, the original owner retains the right over the territory. The silted-up area protruding from the Thai side should belong to Thailand, he said. This has always been a basic principle for bilateral talks over border rows, he added. Start of confrontation: Myawaddy authorities first hired a Thai company to dredge the disputed area on May 13 last year. Thailand protested, saying the dredgers had intruded 200 metres into Thai territory. The Myawaddy authorities then ordered a temporary suspension of the work, only to resume it later that month. Col Chachatpat Yamngarmriab, chairman of the Thai joint border committee, sent a memo to his Burmese counterpart, Lt Col Saing Phone in Myawaddy asking Burma to suspend the operation until a settlement was reached. But Burma ignored the request and sent an extra 200 troops to the disputed area. On the following day, Maj-Gen Chalor Thongsala, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, led Thai troops to the area and ordered the operation to be halted and heavy equipment withdrawn. The confrontation led to an emergency meeting between 3rd Army Commander Lt-Gen Thanom Watcharaput and Burma's Southern Force Commander Maj-Gen Khet Sein in Mae Sot. Lt-Gen Thanom said afterwards that the Burmese commander apologised for sending troops and heavy machinery to work on the area without informing Thai authorities. But Maj-Gen Khet Sein insisted that Burma had the consent of Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the then Thai prime minister, when he held talks with Burmese leader Gen Than Shwe earlier in Rangoon. The Thai-Burmese Technical Committee met in Mae Sot on May 28 last year. The Thai side was led by director-general Somboon and the Burmese side by U Aye Lwin. The committee agreed that Thai and Burmese troops would be withdrawn from the disputed area. But subsequent discussions over Burma's attempts to change the course of the Moei River back to the original position have failed to break the stalemate. At a high-level meeting of the Joint Thai-Burmese Boundary Committee in Rangoon on June 30-July 2, 1997, it was agreed in principle that the entire 2,400-km border would be demarcated, beginning with trouble-free areas to expedite the progress. The problem is Thailand and Burma use different maps. Thai authorities want to use the map before the floods in 1994 while Burma insists on the 1989 map. Thailand's stand is that since the siltation is a natural cause, it should retain the right over the land. If Burma wants to continue to dredge the area, it must talk with Thailand. But Burma refused to give an answer saying it needed time to study a Thai aerial map of the disputed area, which it asked for an enlarged copy. But soon after, Burma sent in workers to build two concrete towers in the disputed area and dig trenches around the towers. The work was completed in July and August respectively. Despite Thailand's protest through two memos, Burma paid no attention. And while the construction continued in full swing, Burma sent a group of people to the area to stake the claim. The former ambassador said if the dredging operation succeeded and the disputed area returned to its original position before the big floods, and the current channel existed, the area will become an islet. Under the 1868 agreement, Burma and Thailand will equally share sovereignty over the islet. "If both sides agree that Burma alone should retain the right over the land, (by not closing the current channel created by the floods), the question is which channels should be considered international territory? If we use the current channel, the newly-dredged one will have become Thai territory. On the contrary, if we use the newly-dredged channel, the current channel will be considered Burma's," the former ambassador said. A similar problem occurred on the Thai side of the Moei River in Mae Kon Kane village of Tambon Mahawan, 40 kilometres south of Mae Sot, where 380 rai of agricultural land was cut off in July 1993. Thailand tried to force the river course to return to the original position by building a two-million-baht concrete dam. But it collapsed a month after it was completed in May 1994. Determined to protect the national interest, Thailand is to embark on building another dam to close the new river channel to force the pocket of lost land to return to the Thai side. According to a senior officer in Tak, the design of the 20-million-baht dam is now awaiting approval from the Royal Thai Survey Department. Burma's consent is also needed since the site is in a border area.

	Path	Row	WRS	Sensor	RGB	Date
Image-1	140	48	1	MSS	432	Jan 26, 1973
Image-2	131	48	2	MSS	432	Feb 8, 1985
Image-3	131	48	2	TM	742	Feb 3, 1989
Image-4	131	48	2	TM	742	Dec 4, 1992
Image-5	131	48	2	ETM+	742	Feb 2, 2000

Among these images, only Image-5 is correctly tilted. As a standard scale, I chose Image-3. Thus I conducted following image processing to match them with each other:

Image-1	width: 700 --> 1402, height: 700 --> 1411, shear 10 pix, rotate 8.9o (clockwise)
Image-2	width: 700 --> 1391, height 800 --> 1628, rotate 8.9o (clockwise)
Image-3	rotate 8.9o (clockwise)
Image-4	multiply width and height by 640/609, rotate 8.9o (clockwise)
Image-5	multiply width and height by 640/609

Image-2 is troublesome. Apparently, a flood caused the formation of a very complicated river network but, unfortunately, this image has poor contrast probably due to the atmospheric influence.

I drew out the road overlay around Mae Sot from the ESDI image of Feb 3, 1989 - the only image available from the ESDI for this area. This image is of the same frame and same date as Image-3 from the GeoZoom, but has more details. For image matching, however, I chose the GeoZoom version.