Foreign Minister Parnpree arrives in Mae Sot to review measures to deal with people fleeing fighting across the border.
Thailand’s foreign minister is visiting a border town near Myanmar, the foreign ministry said, after days of clashes that saw military government forces pushed back by ethnic minority armed groups that displaced hundreds of residents.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara will also visit two “friendship bridges” connecting the Thai city of Mae Sot and Myawaddy in Myanmar, a key trade hub between the two nations.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said it would review preparations for a further influx of people fleeing fighting in Myanmar.
Earlier this week, Thailand said it was ready to accept 100,000 people fleeing Myanmar. But Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin warned on Thursday that the fighting should not spill into his country’s airspace.
Fighting between Myanmar’s military and ethnic minority armed groups rocked Myawaddy this week and sent people streaming into Thailand, from where the sound of artillery shells and gunfire could be heard.
The conflict in Myanmar, sparked by the military coup in 2021, regularly causes people to flee across the two countries’ shared 2,400 km (1,490 mile) border.
On Thursday, the Karen National Union (KNU) rebel group said it had expelled troops loyal to the military-backed government who were taking shelter near one of the bridges on the Myanmar side.
Casualties on the battlefield
As fighting intensified, the number of refugees arriving from Myawaddy to Mae Sot doubled this week to about 4,000 a day, according to Reuters news agency.
Among those attempting to enter Thailand were Moe Moe Thet San and her son, residents of Myawaddy.
“I’m afraid of air raids. They made very loud noises that shook my house,” she told Reuters. “That’s why I fled here. You can’t bomb Thailand.”
The full capture of Myawaddy would be seen as a humiliating defeat for the military government, which has suffered a series of battlefield losses in recent months, prompting rare criticism of its top brass from its supporters.
Myanmar military spokesman Zaw Min Tun confirmed to reporters late Thursday that government soldiers had to “withdraw” from their base in Myawaddy, saying it was for the safety of their families.
He said the government and Thai authorities were in discussions about the soldiers, but gave no details on how many were involved.
Thailand, which says it is remaining neutral in the Myanmar conflict, has continued engagements, including aid deliveries, with its neighbor since Srettha took power last August.