May 5, 2009 (DVB), Burmese authorities yesterday seized firearms and ammunition from a Thai national smuggled across the border from northern Thailand, said a source close to Burmese officials.

Officials at Tachilek border-check point, adjacent to Mae Sai in Thailand, searched a truck belonging to a thirty-five year-old man identified as Mr Surachai on 4 May.

They found a pistol with 500 bullets, one AK-47 with 61 bullets, one SIG552 assault rifle with 50 bullets, a sniper rifle, and a bullet proof vest hidden underneath some sheets.

The man said the truck was used to ferry children from Burma to a nursery school in Mae Sai.

There were 11 children accompanied by a teacher from the school in the truck at the time it was seized.

Surachai has been charged at Tachilek police station and is now being questioned by the Burmese authorities.

Reporting by Naw Noreen