THAI OFFICIALS DISPUTE REPORTS FROM BURMA OF "BIGGEST

UNCLAS CHIANG MAI 000073 SIPDIS SIPDIS EAP/MLS, PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PREF PHUM TH BM SUBJECT: THAI OFFICIALS DISPUTE REPORTS FROM BURMA OF "BIGGEST OFFENSIVE IN A DECADE REF: A) RANGOON 591 B) CHIANG MAI 65 ¶1. Summary: Media reports of a major Burmese army offensive inside Burma are exaggerated, according to Thai officials in the border province of Mae Hong Son. The same officials confirm an increase in refugee flows along the border, with over 1,800 awaiting processing at one camp and another 700-800 internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltered on the Burmese side of the Salween River. End summary ¶2. Both Mae Hong Son Gov. Direk Konkleep and the chief of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in Mae Sariang asserted that accounts of 11,000 newly displaced persons (IDPs) in Burma appear aimed at drawing international attention to the humanitarian situation to this part of the Thai-Burma border. Most media reports have been sourced to the Free Burma Rangers (FBR) a Chiang Mai-based group that assists IDPs in Burma and publicizes their plight through widely circulated email reports of Burmese atrocities. ¶3. Our NIA contact claimed no major clashes have taken place over the last few months either along the border stretch or deep inside Burma. He acknowledged that the Burmese Army's (BA) "reorganization" of local communities near the new capital Pyinmana has caused villagers to leave for the Thai-Burma border. He attributed fighting along the Thai border to patrolling skirmishes between the regime and rebel troops. ¶4. The NIA officer confirmed 1,800 new arrivals at Mae Rama Luang refugee camp in Mae Hong Son's Sop Moei district but disputed reports that most came as a result of forced labor connected with the building of Burma's new capital city. He claimed that the figure represented the total of those seeking refuge on the Thai side since December last year. After participating in camp interviews with some of the new arrivals, he concluded that many were drawn to Thailand by hope of a better life rather than because of immediate threats to their safety from BA forces. ¶5. During a government radio interview May 3, Gov. Direk acknowledged FBR reports of new refugee flows into Thailand, which he attributed to "area reorganizing" efforts by the BA related to the new capital at Pyinmana. He stated that 1,841 people, mostly children, students, the sick and the elderly, have been allowed access to Mae Rama Luang refugee camp in Sop Moei district on humanitarian grounds since December and are being housed in the camp's holding center while their status is determined. Another 700-800 IDPs are temporarily sheltered on the Burmese side of the Salween River opposite Thailand's Ban Mae Sa-Ngoep in Mae Sariang district. ¶6. Comment: While Thai officials are interested in playing down accounts of a major Burmese offensive, they acknowledged increased refugee flows in recent months. Some of the differences are in the details, concerning whether the refugees are "newly arrived" in the last month or two, as FBR claims, or whether they "arrived gradually" since December, as Governor Direk asserted. Thai officials also noted that the reported 11,000 IDPs (they refrained from commenting on the actual number) are not grouped in the Mae Hong Son area as some media reports indicate but along the length of the Thai-Burma border from opposite Mae Hong Son down to Ratchaburi and Ranong province. CAMP