Seventeen buildings, including a hospital, a church and an office of the sub-district administrative organisation were slightly damaged by shrapnel from bombs dropped by Myanmar government forces on a Karen rebel base near the border in Sob Moei district of Thailand’s Mae Hong Son.
The hospital and a conference facility sustained broken windows and fallen ceiling panels, but there were no injuries. The Thai military said that the shrapnel came from 500 pound bombs.
Suparb Nutnongkran, the chief of Mae Sam Laeb sub-district, said that he had warned villagers living near the Myanmar border to turn down the sound of music and lower their voices at home, so they could hear the sound of approaching Myanmar aircraft.
The Ban Huai Kong Kard School in the sub-district has been turned into a temporary evacuation shelter for Thai villagers.
It is reported that Myanmar’s junta submitted a note to the Thai-Myanmar border committee in Myawaddy township, addressed to Thai officials and traders, asking that they not support the supply of goods through the checkpoint controlled by forces of the Karen National Union.
The checkpoint and its nearby base used to be occupied by the junta’s forces, but was captured by the rebel force five years ago. The junta forces are now trying to seize back the area.
Yesterday, the Thai Air Force sent two F-16 jets to conduct surveillance over Mae Sot district and nearby areas and to warn Myanmar’s junta about airspace intrusions.
The Thai military has increased forces near the border to protect Thai villagers and to prevent the fighting in Myanmar from spilling across the border.
