Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHIANGMAI37
2009-03-13 09:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chiang Mai
Cable title:  

KNU UNDER INCREASED PRESSURE AS INFLUENCE WANES

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM MOPS BM TH 
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VZCZCXRO8516
PP RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0037/01 0720914
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 130914Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0996
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1078
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000037 

SIPDIS

NSC FOR PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/12/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MOPS BM TH
SUBJECT: KNU UNDER INCREASED PRESSURE AS INFLUENCE WANES

REF: A. 08 CHIANG MAI 193 (KNU WILLING TO TALK?)

B. 08 CHIANG MAI 29 (SPDC BLAMED FOR KNU)

CHIANG MAI 00000037 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Alex Barrasso, Chief, Pol/Econ, CG Chiang Mai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



------------------------------------
Summary and Comment
------------------------------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000037

SIPDIS

NSC FOR PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/12/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MOPS BM TH
SUBJECT: KNU UNDER INCREASED PRESSURE AS INFLUENCE WANES

REF: A. 08 CHIANG MAI 193 (KNU WILLING TO TALK?)

B. 08 CHIANG MAI 29 (SPDC BLAMED FOR KNU)

CHIANG MAI 00000037 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Alex Barrasso, Chief, Pol/Econ, CG Chiang Mai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



--------------
Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (C) According to multiple sources, both inside and outside
the Thai Government, Thai pressure on the Karen National Union
(KNU) to lay low and for its army commanders to relocate to
Burma has intensified in recent weeks. Several KNU commanders
have departed Thailand's Tak Province for Karen State just
across the border. It is unclear whether the current RTG
crackdown extends to other Burmese exile groups that use the
Thai side of the border as a base of operations. Many of these
groups receive funding from the U.S. Separately, exile media
outlets reported that a KNU Central Committee member was
recently expelled from the KNU for meeting with the head of a
pro-regime KNU splinter group.


2. (C) Comment: The latest Thai crackdown on the KNU could be
coming from any of a variety of levels. Political: Thailand
just hosted the Burmese Prime Minister along with other ASEAN
leaders at the ASEAN Summit. Military: Thai Army Commander
Anupong Paochinda and Thai Armed Forces Chief Songkitti
Jaggabartra recently visited Burma. Local: Township Border
Committees meet regularly and can generate get-tough requests
from regional Burmese leaders to their local Thai counterparts.
Regardless of the source of the increased pressure, the KNU's
clout with Thai authorities is a shadow of what it was in the
1970s and 1980s, when the KNU served (with Thai support) as a
buffer between the RTG and Burma's military regime. Splits
within the KNU, and the passing of charismatic leaders like Bo
Mya and Mahn Sha (Ref B and previous),have not helped the KNU's
cause. RTG crackdowns on the KNU and other exile groups tend to
be episodic and temporary, and usually timed to coincide with
official high-level Thai-Burma meetings. However, if the KNU
continues to weaken and the RTG's latest crackdown along the

border shows staying power, the KNU will find it increasingly
difficult to sustain its half-century resistance against the
Burmese regime. End Summary and Comment.

-------------- --------------
KNU Under Pressure, but Is It Alone?
-------------- --------------


3. (C) According to Royal Thai Army (RTA) and National
Intelligence Agency (NIA) contacts in Mae Sot, Tak Province
(just across the border from the town of Myawaddy in Karen
State),the RTA command has given orders to clamp down on the
KNU, the armed wing of which has fought a low-level conflict
against Burma's military regime for over 50 years. The RTA and
NIA accounts differ slightly, however, with the NIA asserting
that subsequent to a request conveyed by Myawaddy authorities at
a recent Township Border Committee meeting, the KNU only needs
to vacate its current office space and safe houses and move to
new premises on the Thai side of the border. According to a
letter sent to the KNU from the RTA, a copy of which we received
from a Mae Sot contact, the KNU must relocate to positions
across the border in Karen State. This latter account is
supported by press reports and two Amcit NGO activists who have
long-standing contacts with the KNU and other Burmese exile
groups.


4. (C) RTA contacts also told us that during recent encounters
between senior Thai and Burmese military officials (likely a
reference to Anupong's and Songkitti's recent visits to Burma),
Burmese military officers had claimed that the ability of
Burmese exile groups to operate freely, particularly in Mae Sot,
has a negative impact on Thailand's relations with Burma.
According to the RTA, the Burmese handed over images depicting
locations used by the KNU and other Burmese exile groups. This
account is consistent with a Burmese exile media report that
Burmese intelligence officers operating along the border gave
Thai authorities a list of addresses known to be used by Burmese
groups in Mae Sot.


5. (C) According to the NIA, the crackdown extends to other
Burmese exile groups in Mae Sot and perhaps elsewhere in
Thailand. They too would have to relocate to new premises,
though they could remain on the Thai side of the border. We
note, however, that to date no group other than the KNU has told
us it has been forcibly relocated. On March 13, an exile
contact told us that his and other exile groups had temporarily
closed their offices. When we last spoke to KNU contacts on

CHIANG MAI 00000037 002.2 OF 002


March 6, they told us they were preparing to move to the Burma
side of the border. (Note: The U.S. provides several million
dollars of funding to Burmese exile groups located along the
Thai-Burma border, mostly through the National Endowment for
Democracy, Open Society Institute, and USAID. Many of these
groups are based in Mae Sot.)

--------------
KNU Defections?
--------------


6. (C) Separately, the Democratic Voice of Burma reported on
March 12 that Nay Soe Mya, a son of late KNU leader Bo Mya, was
recently expelled from the KNU. According to the report, he had
met with the head of the KNU Peace Council (a pro-regime KNU
splinter group) in Rangoon without the permission of the KNU
leadership, prompting his expulsion. This comes on the heels of
the January arrest by Thai police of Ner Da Mya, one of Bo Mya's
other sons, for carrying weapons without a license. According
to RTA contacts, Ner Da was summoned to a meeting in Mae Sot by
the Thai military, which intentionally engineered his arrest by
the police while he was on his way to the encounter.


7. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassies Rangoon and
Bangkok.
MORROW