Bangkok to destroy land mines

Bangkok to destroy land mines

THAILAND: Thailand this week will become the first country in mainland Southeast Asia to complete the destruction of its land mine stockpiles, but its border areas remain contaminated with the buried weapons, the UN said on Tuesday.

"The Thailand Mine Action Center this (Thursday) will publicly destroy its remaining 2,500 antipersonnel land mines, marking Thailand's fulfillment of its obligations under the Ottawa Convention with respect to the elimination of land mine stockpiles," the United Nations Development Program said in a statement.

The ceremony at an artillery center in central Thailand's Lopburi province will be attended by government officials, ambassadors, international organizations and land mine victims, it added.

Since 1999, two years after signing on to the convention, Thailand has destroyed over 390,000 mines, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

The country will hold on to 4,970 stockpiled land mines for demining training, as allowed under the Ottawa convention. -- AFP