Thai-Burma border update

The Moei River breeched its banks and flooded the Burma border town of Myawaddy and as many as 5,000 residents homes were affected by the floodwaters. It is estimated that as many as 25,000 people in Karen State have been made homeless by the floods. Sources from a community-based group who are helping the flood victims said that the water…

Floodwaters in the Thai Burma border towns of Mae Sot and Myawaddy have started to fall. Residents on both sides of the border have started to clear away the debris brought by the floodwaters. The director of the Burma Children Medical Fund, Kanchana Thornton explained to Karen News that the floods had played havoc with patients’ treatment schedules. “We need…

Local people affected by the construction of Thailand’s and Burma’s Dawei-Kanchanaburi road link in Southern Burma have rejected to be involved in a ‘public consultative meeting’ to approve the last stage of an environmental impact assessment report. A villager from Kaw Htee Klo (Tha Byut Chaung) told Karen News that surveyors from the Environmental Research Institute of Chulalongkorn University headed…

The Burma government opened today, ‘Htee Kee’ in Southern Burma, a new border trading post between Thailand and Burma. Htee Kee is a border checkpoint crossing Kanchanaburi province of Thailand and Burma’s Myitta Sub-Township in the Tanintharyi region. The Dawei-Kanchanaburi road link passes through Htee Kee. The opening ceremony of the Htee Kee border trading post was done by Burma’s…

A new trading entry between Thailand and Burma was opened this week that links both countries on their southern borders. The new trade crossing links SingKhorn in Thailand’s southern provinces of Prachuap Khiri Khan with Mawhtaung a large town in Burma’s Myeik district. Senior officials from the Karen National Union joined with Burma government ministers and Thai officials at the…

District police and officials arrested people working at a gambling facility in Myawaddy, Karen State, and then burnt the casino. The raid took place last weekend. The illegal casino was located in Section 4, near the Vow pagoda, was ordered to be destroyed by the Myawaddy District chairman, U Than Shwe and District police officer, U Aung Myint. A Myawaddy…

The Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Child Rights (Burma) said at a ceremony to acknowledge the organization’s 10-years working on the Thai Burma border that they had organized 20,000 birth certificates for children from Burma. Ma Aye Thandar Aung from the statistics department of CPPCR spoke to Karen News. “We’ve provided birth certificates to 21,700 children in 10…

Using support from the Asia Development Bank, Thailand is planning to restart construction of the road between Myawaddy and Kawkareik Town in Karen State by the end of 2012. Saw Khin Maung Myint, the Karen State Transport Minister confirmed in an interview with Karen News that the planned road construction is part of the highway connection between Thingan Nyi Naung…

Burma’s Ministry of Construction plans to build a second Friendship Bridge between the Burma border town of Myawaddy and the Thai town of Mae Sot. Plans to build the bridge were reported in the Thai media citing from a media statement released by the Burmese government’s Ministry of Construction, director, U Kyaw Lin, who said that the reason for the…

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is scheduled to visit Mae La refugee camp on Saturday June 2, located in Thailand’s Tak province an organizer of her confirmed to Karen News. Colonel Eh Kaw Htoo, commander of the KNLA/KNU Peace Council Border Security Special Forces told Karen News. “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will visit Mae La refugee camp on June…