Surin, Buriram gradually close evacuation centres as border situation eases

[Dave the Dude]

Surin, Buriram gradually close evacuation centres as border situation eases
TNA 2011-05-02

BANGKOK, May 2 - Surin and Buriram, two Thai provinces bordering Cambodia, have gradually closed their evacuation centres for local villagers centres as the residents are returning home as the border situation has eased, with no heavy weapons clashes taking place between Thai and Cambodia troops.
 
While Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ordered the army to high alert at the Thai-Cambodian border as Cambodia is still using tactics to incite [incidents] and making sporadic attacks with small arms.
 
He added that the sniping and inciting by Cambodian troops could eventually lead to intensified clashes anytime so that the army must closely monitor situation.
 
Surin Governor Serm Chainarong said the province had closed 35 evacuation centres and provided transportation for some 44,000 villagers to return to their homes after the situation returned to normal.
 
He said that during the last four days, there were no heavy weapons in action on the Cambodian side.
 
In Buriram, Governor Thani Samartkij closed three evacuation centres following the clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops at Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district had eased with only small weapons fire being heard.
 
Villagers who fled the fighting to shelter at centres in Ban Kruat and Prakhon Chai districts have gradually returned to their homes. The province has closed three centres and six remaining centres are expected to be closed on Monday.
 
Mr Thani said six villagers were wounded from the fighting. Two homes were destroyed and 14 homes were damaged.
 
Meanwhile, minister attached to the prime minister's office Ongart Klampaiboon reiterated that during the border clashes between April 22- May 2, eight Thai soldiers were killed and 131 were wounded.
 
One civillian was killed in the while three died from congenital diseases at hospital in Surin, he said.
 
Mr Ongart said he has instructed Surin governor to build 169 additional bunkers in at-risk areas in the province. (MCOT online news)

[Admin]

Good to hear. A customer just called me today and they didn't answered the phone there I thought they must be shut for the moment.

I will check again tomorrow and let you know guys.

[Pee Nuu]

I'd be cautious, as recent activity has no died down. Both sides are nutters.

[Admin]

Thousands return to homes on border
By The Nation
2011-05-03

Many evacuees have returned to their homes after border fighting in Surin died down over the past two days, and a few refugee shelters have been closed.

PM's Office Minister Ong-art Klampaiboon said yesterday that villagers had been ordered to leave the shelters by provincial authorities, after analyses by military and civilian agencies showed that the firing of light weapons at local spots would remain only sporadic. Troop mobilisations on both sides had also stopped, and force strength was not likely to be beefed up.

Field commanders agreed to a cease-fire starting at 4pm on Saturday, with Cambodia agreeing to withdraw from Ta Muen Thom and Ta Kwai temples in Surin, but exchanges were reported until 4am on Sunday.

Military spokesman Col Preeda Butrraj said about 14,000 Cambodian villagers had been armed as an extra force. "Given these fighters' lack of discipline, they regularly spark gunfights at their initiative," he said.

A military source claimed many career soldiers had left the frontline in violation of their superiors' orders, after realising that they had been used to serve personal gains, and had been given no promise about compensation for their families in case they were killed. Many had been demoralised by reports of the dead bodies of their comrades being abandoned while "many" outposts were being manned with new conscripts, after soldiers "deserted".

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, in an interview at a Bangkok hotel, said the border situation was now under control, and repeated that the skirmishes had been plotted by Cambodia as an excuse to seek sympathy in future demarcation talks with Thailand.

He cited a rumour that was spreading that Cambodian migrant workers had been killed in Thailand as a ploy to provoke confrontation.

Surin Governor Serm Chainarong declared a three-day observation period, beginning yesterday, before deciding whether to send home more residents or allow them to stay on at the 35 shelters in the province. Surin has been the prime arena of operations since border fighting erupted on April 21.

The weekend saw intermittent exchanges of small-arms fire, while shelling and rocket attacks ceased last Friday. No more casualties on Thailand's side have been reported but figures for Cambodia had been cited by Thai media, which could not be independently verified.

All nine shelters in neighbouring Buri Ram had closed, pending further closures if more than 9,000 residents are willing to go back home, Governor Thanee Samartkij said.

The project to build 169 temporary housing units in four border provinces, including Ubon Ratchathani and Si Sa Ket, will continue despite the situation easing, with construction due to be completed this weekend, Ong-art said. The latest government casualty toll counted eight soldiers and four civilians killed, and 131 people wounded.

The government is negotiating with sugarcane mills to extend the purchase of cane from farmers, who can now return to their plantations to harvest their crops, he added.