Bangkok has ordered heightened security across four western border provinces after a Myanmar Air Force bombing campaign in Karen State spilled over international lines, with at least one bomb landing in Thai territory on April 20.
Naypyidaw confirmed to Bangkok on Wednesday that the strikes were part of “internal fighting.” However, the cross-border escalation forced the immediate evacuation of Thai residents from Ban Mae Sam Laeb village in Mae Hong Son Province, prompting a stern rebuke from Thailand’s leadership.
“If there is fighting, it must remain on their side. Our country must not be affected,” Thai Prime Minister Austin Charnvirakul told local media on Wednesday. Security measures have since been intensified in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Tak provinces.
Civilian targets devastated in Karen State
Directly across the border from the evacuated Thai village lies Ohmuhta, a settlement in Bu Tho Township under the control of Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 5.
Eh Doh Wa, an information officer for the Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN), told DVB that Myanmar Air Force jets dropped nine bombs on Ohmuhta during the April 20 raid, completely destroying a local hospital and a church.
The assault follows a string of recent attacks on civilian infrastructure. The KNU reported that earlier airstrikes in Hpapun Township on April 14 destroyed a school and several homes, while a prior attack on an Ohmuhta healthcare facility on April 12 left an unknown number of patients injured.
“The military’s use of airstrikes to target areas under the control of resistance forces has gotten worse after the appointment of the new commander-in-chief,” a Karen military analyst told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Inside Myanmar, the humanitarian toll is mounting. “Ethnic Karen villagers live in fear for their lives and are afraid to stay in their homes,” Eh Doh Wa told DVB, issuing an urgent plea for food, medicine, and shelter materials for the newly displaced.
KNU rejects peace talks in Naypyidaw
The escalation in violence comes just 10 days after Min Aung Hlaing was inaugurated as President by a pro-military parliament in Naypyidaw.
In the wake of the bombings, the KNU firmly dismissed Min Aung Hlaing’s recent proposal to hold peace talks with resistance forces on July 31.
“The KNU has already withdrawn from the [Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement] since the 2021 coup,” Saw Taw Nee, the KNU spokesperson, told Reuters. “We have no plans to return to negotiations or follow the NCA path.”
The ethnic armed organization is now urging the international community and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to move beyond rhetoric and take “practical action” against Naypyidaw to stop the systematic targeting of civilians in KNU-controlled territories.
