The Nation - Detained Thais may get

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The Nation - Oct 24, 1999.
Headlines
Detained Thais may get jail terms

DOZENS of Thai gamblers arrested by Burmese troops on Friday in Koh Song,
opposite Thailand's Ranong province, may face up to nine years in prison and
a fine of US$1,000 each, Ranong provincial governor Thawat Hantra said
yesterday.

While there has still been no official explanation from Rangoon about the
arrests, several Thai government officials yesterday assumed the gamblers
had been arrested because they had illegally crossed into Burma despite the
closure of the checkpoint following the Bangkok hostage crisis earlier this
month.

The officials said they were in contact with the Burmese authorities through
all available channels to learn more about the incident and to secure the
release of the Thais but needed to tread carefully to prevent the matter
from further complicating the already strained relations between the two
countries.

While the exact number of Thais arrested has yet to be verified, Thawat put
it at 32. At around 6.15 pm yesterday the group was escorted from Taling
Chant port, opposite Ban Tap Li in Kraburi district of Ranong province, to
Koh Song town to face legal proceedings, according to an informed border
source.

''There are still 32 Thais detained by local Burmese authorities, and so far
we have not been able to get any information about them,'' Thawat said.

''We would like to know what charges they are facing and why they were
arrested,'' he said, adding that the group was likely to have been detained
for crossing the border illegally.

Other border sources, as well as accounts from local traders who had been
freed from Koh Song over the last two days, confirmed the gamblers would
face trial in court.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday admitted that those who had illegally
entered Burma must naturally face legal action, despite the fact that
previous illegal crossings had not always resulted in arrests.

Chuan warned local villagers against taking such matters as casually as they
had done before, as uncertainty currently prevailed over when the Burmese
authorities would enforce their laws.

Burma closed its border with Thailand on Oct 2, when the Thai government
provided an escape helicopter for five anti-junta gunmen who had been
holding 38 people hostage at Rangoon's embassy in Bangkok.

The ruling Burmese military regime was angered by Thailand's handling of the
hostage crisis and comments from a senior Thai government minister who
described the gunmen as ''not terrorists but student activists fighting for
democracy''.

The closure of the border is costing Thai fishermen and traders millions of
dollars a day, but Rangoon has indicated it will only reopen entry points
when Bangkok arrests the gunmen of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors
organisation.

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan warned that while the reason for the arrest
of the gamblers could be linked to their illegal border crossing, one should
not jump to the conclusion that the latest incident was a spin-off from the
strained Thai-Burmese relations over the hostage crisis.

''We must try to separate the fresh incident from the previous ones. We are
trying to solve the problems one by one, and the indications we har getting
from Rangoon so far are increasing positive,'' Surin said.

He said his ministry's initial contact with the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok
to ask for an explanation of the latest incident had not yet borne fruit as
it had fallen over the weekend.

Surin downplayed the incident, saying there had been illegal crossings in
the past that had eluded public attention whereas the current incident was
in the public spotlight because it involved a large number of people, and
moreover any incident related to Burma was currently under close scrutiny
from many sides.

Reports of the number of Thais originally detained vary greatly, with some
stating that the Burmese authorities initially detained 80 Thais believed to
have crossed illegally into southern Burma to gamble at a casino just 100
metres from the border.

Some 50 of those detained have been gradually released since Friday,
including the wives and children of the gamblers.

Accounts given by those released said that troops from the Burmese 288th
Battalion had stormed the casino on Friday afternoon and rounded up about
200 Thai gamblers, including the owner, Prawat Ongsomwang.

However, they added that the Burmese authorities only wanted to take legal
action against 35 gamblers and the rest would soon be released. According to
them, the 35 gamblers were tied with rope to prevent their escape.

Prawat was reportedly freed after agreeing to pay concession fees requested
by the local authorities.

Meanwhile former prime minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and former
commander of Army Fourth Region Gen Kitti Ratanachaya, who have close
personal ties with Rangoon, yesterday suggested the government should reach
out and negotiate with Rangoon.

New Aspiration Party leader Chavalit proposed that the government nominate a
third party capable of talking in a friendly way with Rangoon as a means of
ending the strained ties between the two countries.

Kitti, Chavalit's deputy, said the government had to compromise on some of
its interests through negotiation, which had previously been a common but
effective practice in solving border conflicts.

He blamed the present government for turning a deaf ear to some good
suggestions to improve bilateral relations. ''The present government keeps
on talking, which is tantamount to doing nothing,'' he said.

He said the government should not seek to maintain its own stability at the
expense of ordinary people's troubles.

The Nation, Agence France-Presse