Thais want dialogue with Myanmar over clashes

Thais want dialogue with Myanmar over clashes

BANGKOK (REUTERS): Thailand's new government on Monday backed away from an early visit to Myanmar to patch up relations after bloody border clashes, but said it would seek to restore friendly ties through dialogue.

Tensions flared between the two countries earlier this month, with dozens reported killed in clashes between soldiers.

Thailand says Myanmar soldiers sized one of its border outposts and then hit the Thai frontier town of Mae Sai with stray shells during a battle against ethnic guerrillas. But Myanmar has denied it shelled Mae Sai, and has accused the Thai military of backing ethnic Shan rebels, who Yangon says are the major drug producers and traffickers in the region.

New Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his defense minister, former premier Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, are expected to take a softer line on Myanmar than the previous government.

But the border clashes have handed the new administration an early diplomatic dilemma. Thaksin said last week he would visit Myanmar soon to try to soothe tensions. But new Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters on Monday there were no plans for an early visit, although dialogue was needed.

"If the first negotiations do not produce results, you just have to try again. It is unrealistic to expect results from one single meeting," he said. Military talks at the border to calm tensions have not so far produced any results.

Surakiart said Thailand would not interfere in clashes between ethnic groups in Myanmar, but would take strong action if Thai territory or citizens were affected.

"Conflict with ethnic minority groups are Myanmar's internal affair and Thailand would not intervene. But there would be an exception if Thais are injured or killed in such incidents, in which case the armed forces would have to step in to safeguard our sovereignty," he told reporters.

He said good relations were in the interests of both countries: "Close and peaceful ties ... would be conducive to border trade which is beneficial to the people of both countries."

Since the clashes, each side has accused the other of supporting the drugs trade.

Thailand says the United Wa State Army, an ethnic army allied with Yangon, is the main player in narcotics production and trafficking and is flooding Thailand with amphetamine pills. It says Yangon is turning a blind eye to the drugs trade.

But Myanmar says the Shan guerrillas are the culprits, and insists it is trying to stamp out drug trafficking.

Myanmar's official media has been heavily critical of the Thai military, with a commentary in official newspapers on Monday saying Thai troops had been helping Shan guerrillas attack targets in Myanmar.

But in an apparent olive branch to the new government in Bangkok, it suggested their political enemies may have been behind the clashes.

"In the internal political tricks of Thailand, a group of some deficient politicians tried to use the Thai army to make the new government lose confidence. They did so since the new government seemed to pay high regard to Myanmar-Thai relations," the commentary said.

Another commentary on Saturday accused the Thai army of trying to promote a "Greater Thailand Policy" and push the country's borders outwards.

Accusing the military of helping Shan drug trafficking, it said: "A poisonous viper should be dealt with accordingly." Tensions at the border remained high, with the crossing between Mae Sai and the Myanmar town of Tachilek remaining closed. Both sides have reinforced their troops in the area.