April 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Thai authorities have warned this Friday that they will not allow any “violation of their territory” by the Burmese military as clashes between the junta that has ruled Burma since the February 2021 coup and insurgent groups intensify. .
After the loss of the important town of Myawaddy near the border with Thailand, the Burmese Army has confirmed the withdrawal of its troops from the area while the Thai Government prepares for the arrival of thousands of refugees. Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha Nukara has indicated that the Thai military is “standing guard along the border to demonstrate its willingness to protect the territory and prevent violations of its sovereignty.”
The minister himself traveled this Friday to Mae Sot, a city located on the border with Burma. “Thailand has made it clear that it will not allow anyone to violate its territory, that it will not accept it,” he said now that hundreds of Burmese have flocked to the border in recent days to flee the fighting.
The Government of Thailand, which shares a border of about 2,400 kilometers with Burma, is analyzing the situation in light of the loss of territory by the junta, to which it has insisted on previous occasions about the need to reduce violence.
Parnpree explained that Thailand is also working with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in an attempt to advance the peace plan for Burma, which has been stalled for years. The Burmese junta, for its part, refuses to participate in talks that include rebels and political rivals, whom it considers “terrorists.”
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun has confirmed that some troops have surrendered as the withdrawal from the Myawaddy area progresses. On Monday, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin confirmed that he had authorized the landing of a Burmese plane at Mae Sot Airport to repatriate an undetermined number of Burmese who crossed the border into Thailand after the fall of the aforementioned town.
Burma has been plunged into a serious crisis since the coup d'état in February 2021. The Government of National Unity declared in September 2021 from exile “a popular defensive war” against the military junta and called on citizens “of all corners of the country” who rebelled against the coup plotters who took power, which has led to a civil war.
