Rangoon shot down helicopter: claim

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South China Morning Post
Wednesday  September 10  1997

The Mekong Region 
Rangoon shot down helicopter: claim 

BURMA by Robert Horn of Associated Press in Bangkok 
A Thai army helicopter which disappeared near the Burmese border last month 
was shot down by the Burmese Army, dissident students said in Bangkok 
yesterday.
They said the four-man crew was killed in the crash.
Naing Aung, chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front, said rebel 
units at the border had intercepted the information via Burmese army radio 
transmissions.
Spread along the mountainous border, the Front's armed units share bases with 
the Karen National Union, an ethnic group fighting the military Government in 
Rangoon.
Despite nearly two weeks of searches by hundreds of soldiers and civilians on 
the Thai side of the border, no trace has been found of the surveillance 
helicopter and crew, which disappeared on August 28.
A Thai army officer said the last radio contact with the helicopter was 
shortly after 1 pm as it flew near Umphang inside Thai territory, 350 
kilometres northwest of Bangkok.
The officer said he did not believe the helicopter had been shot down because 
it was flying at an altitude of 2,130 metres, which is beyond the range of 
ground fire.
Weather was bad and the crew reported poor visibility, so an accident was most 
likely, he said.
But Mr Naing Aung said the intercepted radio messages indicated the helicopter 
had strayed over a portion of Burmese territory jutting into Thailand, near 
the mouth of the Salween River.
Burmese battalion commanders radioed Rangoon for permission to shoot down the 
helicopter, he said.
And because of the rapid response needed, they did not bother to encode the 
transmission.
"It will be okay, we will honour you," the Rangoon command reportedly replied.
Burmese and some Thai military officials had speculated Karen rebels might 
have shot down the helicopter.
But Mr Naing Aung said that was impossible: "The insurgents don't control that 
area any more. It is controlled by the Burmese Army.
"If we're lying, then why haven't the Thais been able to find any wreckage?"
Burmese military authorities did not respond to the students' allegations.
In the past, Rangoon has accused the Karen and the Front of trying to sour 
relations between Burma and Thailand.
Burmese army units have crossed the border several times to sack refugee 
camps.