New Insider Deals are here, and you’re going to love them!Thai military soldier keeps guard along the Moei river on the Thai side, under the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot in Thailand's Tak province on Friday, April 12, 2024. Thailands foreign minister says he has urged Myanmars military authorities not to violently respond to its armys loss of an important border trading town to its opponents, and that so far it seemed to be exercising restraint.
“Now, what we are most concerned about is that we want to see peace in Myawaddy, not only because of the trading, but it’s our neighbor,” he said. “We do not wish for any violence to happen. If talks are possible, among their groups, we will be very welcoming of that, and if they want us to be the mediator, we are ready to help coordinating.”“We have already sent people to talk to them. And for the situation today, they already said that there will not yet be any violent retaliation.
But for some, the quiet was the problem. A Myawaddy resident who only gave his name as Sulai told The Associated Press it unnerved him so he fled. On the Myanmar side, a small group of men lounged in the stifling heat. Thai troops said they were from the Border Guard Force, a Karen group that was aligned with Myanmar’s military who recently severed their links.
The Karen, who are native to the eastern state of Kayin, have been fighting for more than seven decades for greater autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. A wider struggle including other ethnic minority groups and pro-democracy militants began after the army’s 2021 takeover.