A Thai opposition MP has pressed the government to investigate reports that around 100 armed Myanmar soldiers crossed the border into Umphang district of Tak province earlier this month, according to the Bangkok Post.
Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsang said the entry of between 80 and 100 soldiers through two border villages was not a local border matter, but a violation of Thailand’s sovereignty and a national issue.
He said that if reports of the incursion are confirmed, the government must inform the public about what happened, the Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday.
Myanmar local media reported that junta troops crossed the border into Umphang district after fleeing an Aug. 31 attack by Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) forces on their Htee Kalae Pae camp in Kyainseikgyi Township, Karen State.
The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.
Kannavee said that between 80 and 100 armed Myanmar soldiers entered Thailand through the border villages of Ban Le Tong Khu and Ban Mo Ta Lua on Sept. 3, citing information from activists working in the area.
The soldiers camped in a rice field one kilometer away from a Thai village, while Karen rebels blocked their path back over the border, the MP said. Thai villagers alerted their village head to the presence of Myanmar troops, but Thai soldiers stationed nearby refused to do anything until a netizen posted on social media about the presence of soldiers on September 5, he added.
The Bangkok Post reported that the Thai army sent a team to negotiate with the Myanmar troops and the KNLA, after which the Karen rebels agreed to stop blocking the soldiers’ way. The Myanmar soldiers, however, refused to budge, prompting a second round of negotiations by the Thai army that eventually proved successful.
But the following weekend, Thai villagers spotted 10 to 20 Myanmar soldiers returning to a Tak village to buy food, prompting the Thai army to send another negotiation team to esure the soldiers retreated to Myanmar.
Kannavee said the incident aroused KLNA suspicions that Thailand is siding with the Myanmar military.
The MP called on the Thai ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs to investigate and treat the incursion as a matter of international relations.
Last year, a Myanmar military fighter jet intruded into Thai airspace over Tak province’s Phop Phra district while conducting airstrikes against resistance forces based near the border.
Thailand’s military-backed government downplayed the incursion, saying the Myanmar jet was merely making a turn and had not intended to intrude into Thai airspace.
However, opposition MPs asked the government to clarify why the warplane was allowed to enter Thai airspace while attacking resistance forces and civilians on the border. In response, the Thai foreign minister said his Myanmar counterpart had guaranteed there would be no repeat of the incident.
