‘Stray’ bullets fired from Myanmar injures six in Thailand
Thai media reported that around 300 residents of Karen State’s Myawaddy Township crossed the border into Thailand’s Phop Phra District due to fighting along the Burma-Thailand border between regime forces and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) on Tuesday. Four migrants from Burma and two Thais were injured by stray bullets fired from Myawaddy into Mae Sot District on March 31.
Mae Sot residents told Thai media that three of the four injured Burma migrants were “heavily wounded” and two Thais received “minor” injuries. All of them were taken to the Mae Sot Hospital by Thai authorities. Myawaddy is across the border from Thailand’s Tak Province, where both Mae Sot and Phop Phra are located. It is 81 miles (130 km) east of the Karen State capital Hpa-An.
Sources close to the KNLA told DVB that fighting against regime forces along the Myawaddy-Wawlay road resumed in March. During fighting near Minletpan village in southern Myawaddy, stray bullets fired from the Burma side of the border struck and damaged a house on the Thai side in Mae Sot’s Mae Kon Ken village on Jan. 26. No injuries were reported.
Roads reopen in Karen State and Tanintharyi Region
The 27-mile (43 km) stretch of the Asia Highway along the Myawaddy-Kawkareik road in Karen State will be reopened today, pro-regime media reported on Wednesday. Kawkareik and Myawaddy townships are located along the Burma-Thailand border 56-81 miles (90-130 km) east of Hpa-An.
A regime administrative official in Karen State told pro-regime media that he expects trade flow to increase as the road is vital for trade with Thailand. Regime forces regained control of the Myawaddy-Kawkareik road from the KNLA in September. The road had been closed due to a military counteroffensive against the KNLA launched in December 2023.
Pro-regime media reported that the military reopened the 152-mile (244 km) long Myeik-Dawei road in Tanintharyi Region on March 30 after regaining control of the Winwa bridge and the Winwa outpost in Thayetchaung Township, which was seized and held by the KNLA from March 11-29. Thayetchaung is located 18 miles (29 km) south of the Tanintharyi Region capital Dawei.
Rights groups slam Min Aung Hlaing’s bid for presidency
The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), a network of elected lawmakers in Southeast Asia, condemned Min Aung Hlaing’s appointment as vice-president by Burma’s parliament – in his bid to become president – stating it would “legitimize atrocities and impunity that undermine the rights of peoples across Myanmar.” Min Aung Hlaing appointed Ye Win Oo as the next commander-in-chief of the military on March 30, which is the next step to the presidency.
The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), a group of international human rights experts on Burma, stated on Wednesday that “a change of costume will not make Min Aung Hlaing presidential, or his fabricated government civilian or democratic.” It also called on the international community to support the Steering Committee for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union, a new coordination body of six resistance groups, which seek to end military rule in Burma.
In a post shared to social media on March 31, jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris said “Min Aung Hlaing and his generals stole power from the people of Burma. Now, they attempt to dress up their control as a return to civilian government. This is not democracy. This is deception.” Aris called on Min Aung Hlaing to release all political prisoners in Burma. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has documented 22,252 remain imprisoned.
Read our latest DVB English News op-ed by James Shwe: The junta crowns its president while the resistance builds its state
News by Region
NAYPYIDAW—Residents told DVB that one viss (1.8 liters) of edible palm oil cost as high as 17,000 MMK ($4 USD) on Tuesday although the Supervisory Committee on Edible Oil Import and Distribution under the regime’s Ministry of Commerce set the reference rate at 6,600 MMK ($1.5 USD) in March.
“No one sells palm oil at the reference rate,” a resident of Tatkon Township told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Tatkon is located 37 miles (59 km) north of Naypyidaw. A trader at Naypyidaw Town Market blamed the rising price of edible oil on increased transportation costs due to fuel shortages. Read more
SAGAING—Residents in Kalay Township told DVB that they want the Chinland Defence Force – Kalay Kabaw Gangaw (CDF-KKG), which operates in the Kalay and Kabaw Valley, to stop forced recruitment. Kalay and Kabaw are located 144-207 miles (231-333 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.
Salai Za Bawi Thawng, the CDF-KKG chairperson, told DVB that recruitment is “not mandatory.” It is a member of the Chinland Council and also operates in Magway Region’s Gangaw town, 222 miles (357 km) northwest of Magway. The CDF-KKG stated that 92 of its members have been killed since the 2021 coup.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,325 MMK)
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