BKK Post, March 17, 1998. BORDER

[burma@xxxxxxxxxx]

March 17, 1998. BORDER

Renegades exchanged for villagers 
Locals say officials gave in too easily 
Supamart Kasem, AP
Mae Hong Son, Tak

Five armed intruders were returned to the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army 
in exchange for three Thai villagers yesterday.

The villagers, abducted from Ban Ta Fang, Mae Sariang district, on Feb 
28, were traded for five DKBA soldiers captured in tambon Mae Sam Laeb, 
Sop Moi district, on March 2.

Local people criticised Col Tawatchai Wattana, commander of the 7th 
Infantry Regiment Task Force, and Pol Lt-Col Nitinai Sukawiriya, 
commander of Border Patrol Police's Company 337, over the exchange.

Authorities had given in too readily to the renegades' demand and were 
not doing enough to protect civilians, they said amid preparations to 
move 2,000 villagers from four border villages in Tha Song Yang district 
of Tak. 

Karen renegades have frequently slipped though Mae La Thai, Mae La Yang, 
Mae Ok Phalu and Mae Ok Hu, in tambon Mae La on the Moei river, to 
attack Karen refugee camps.

The latest such attack was last Wednesday when they raided Huay Kalok 
camp in Mae Sot, killing three refugees, torching 1,000 dwellings and 
leaving 9,000 refugees homeless.

Amid rising tension on the border, fighting between Burmese troops and 
Karen National Union rebels has erupted opposite the four villages.

Phongpayom Wassapooti, governor of Tak, said the military wanted the 
villagers moved for their safety, but Veera Phothisuk, head of Tha Song 
Yang district, suggested that only children, women and the elderly 
people be transferred. The men should be left in the villages to protect 
their properties and to watch and report on unusual activities.

Plans to move the destitute 9,000 refugees to Mae La camp in Tha Song 
Yang were dropped after the renegades fired 10 mortar rounds into the 
camp on Sunday.

Refugees at Mae La, home to 30,000 displaced Burmese, have started 
digging bunkers for fear of further action from the renegades even 
though army officers say the camp is secure.

After the attack, 400 troop reinforcements were sent to the area, said 
Maj-Gen Chamlong Photong, deputy chief of staff of the 3rd Army, which 
has deployed armoured personnel carriers on patrols around the camp.

Maj-Gen Chamlong said four or five refugees and a Thai soldier had been 
wounded on Sunday. Relief agencies brought food to the refugees 
yesterday and the Thai Red Cross was helping with medical care.

Fighting has been raging inside Burma between an estimated 1,000 
government troops and some 300 Karens near the KNU's 7th Brigade 
headquarters at Tha Ko Sutha, north of Mae Sot.

KNU officials said on Sunday the pro-Burmese forces were believed to 
have infiltrated Thailand to open a new front against the 7th Brigade. 
The KNU has suffered several defeats in recent years and controls 
relatively little territory inside Burma.

The headquarters was taking artillery and mortar fire from two sides, 
KNU officials said, but would be difficult to capture because it is 
ringed by mines.

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