MAE SOT: A stream of people, some fearing air strikes, queued at a border crossing to flee Myanmar early today, a day after the strategically vital town of Myawaddy near Thailand fell to anti-junta resistance that is gaining strength.
The loss of the town robs the junta, already grappling with an economy in free fall, of vital earnings from border trade while strengthening rebel groups such as the Karen National Union that led the assault on Myawaddy, analysts say.“I am afraid of air strikes,” said Moe Moe Thet San, a Myawaddy resident who crossed to Thailand with her son, who is about five years old.
Thai foreign minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara is set to visit Mae Sot, just across the Moei River from Myawaddy, today to assess matters after Myanmar’s embattled junta lost yet more territory in the latest round of fighting.Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told Myanmar media some of its troops had surrendered because they were accompanied by their families and talks with Thailand for their return were in progress.
But the Myanmar military may still seek to mount a counter-attack, supported by its air force, to regain the town, said Dulyapak Preecharush, an associate professor of Southeast Asian Studies at Bangkok’s Thammasat University. In an interview with Reuters last week, Srettha said the Myanmar junta was “losing strength”, as he pushes to open talks with the regime.
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