Personal Account: Inside Stories of Thai-Myanmar Relations
Personal Account: Inside Stories of Thai-Myanmar Relations In December 1988, hundreds of imprisoned Thai fishermen from various prisons across Myanmar were gathered and brought to the Inya Lake Hotel. I was right there at the Inya Lake Hotel along with them. From there, they were sent back to Thailand via a special Thai Airways (TG) flight. The reason for their release and repatriation was a quid pro quo arrangement: in exchange, the Myanmar military was permitted to launch attacks from Thai territory during the Battle of Mae Sam Laut. Ever since the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) era, Thailand maintained a policy of avoiding direct military clashes with the Myanmar military. To achieve this, Bangkok supported proxy Karen armed groups. On one hand, they extracted teak logs from territories controlled by these Karen armed groups. On the other hand, taking advantage of Myanmar's weak naval control, armed pirate boat syndicates based in Ranong and Mahachai extensively plunde...