Many Thais Affected By Border Disputes With Burma

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Many affected by border disputes with Burma

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation, Ranong

Many locations in southern Ranong province, on the border with Burma, are still in dispute and waiting for settlement between the two countries, officials said over the weekend.

The disputes are seriously affecting the daily lives of people in the areas as many fear losing their farming lands.

The major areas of dispute are in the sea at the mouth of the Pakchan River, also known as the Kraburi River, where Thailand and Burma claim sovereignty over three islands near Victoria point. The islands are known locally as Koh Lam, Koh Kan and Koh Kinok.

The three islands were not mentioned in any treaty or map between Thailand and Burma or Britain which occupied Burma in 19th century, said the Foreign Ministry's Director of Treaties and Legal Affairs, Ittiporn Boonpracong.

An exchange note between the Siamese and British governments in 1868 suggested the islands of Saddle and Delisle belong to Siam, while Victoria, St. Matthew and the Birds' Nest group of islands belonged to Burma, then a British colony. The 1868 map, known later as the greenred map, also did not mention the three islands in question, he said.

The three islands are relatively small. There are no people, fresh water or beaches on the islands. The biggest is Koh Lam, only 25 rai in area. But they are landmarks for the sea boundaries of the two countries. Thailand used Koh Lam as the beginning marker of its sea boundary, while Burma used Victoria island so that the two countries have overlapping claimed areas in the Andaman sea, where fishery resources are plentiful.

Another disputed area is located in Ban Hat Chick, in Kraburi district of Ranong province, where both sides claim the small island of Koh Tayim (the island of grandfather Yim Thanabat) in the Kraburi River.

Originally, Koh Tayim island was supposed to be on the Thai side, since the deep water channel in accordance with the 1934 agreement is located close to Burma's shore. But local people dug a cannel to divert water flow in the river to facilitate logging transportation in the late 1980s, so the water channel near the Thai side is deeper.

Burma claimed sovereignty over the island, arguing the deep water channel was located close to the Thai side.

Samruam Thanabat, 48, a grandson of Yim Thanabat said the island had belonged to his family since the beginning as it is a part of their soil. "I dug the channel by myself to facilitate the logging operation," he said. "There's no way the island belongs to Burma."

Samruam plants palm oil trees in the island without any objection from Burmese authorities. "I have full rights over the island as it belongs to my family," he said.

Other conflict along the Pakchan River took place as Burma protested Thai embankment projects to prevent river bank erosion. Naypyidaw said the projects would affect its river bank too, and result in a change of boundary line in the river.

Thailand stopped construction of these projects on the river in Ranong province after a series of protests from Burma.

Prayong Thungrod, 63, a farmer at Mamu subdistrict in the province said he would lose a large area of paddy field due to river bank erosion. "Unless the embankment project continues, I will lose more land in the next wet season," he said.

Chief of Thailand's ThaiBurmese Joint Boundary Committee Vasin Teeravechyan said all border disputes are waiting for negotiation in the committee when the next meeting is resumed.

Thailand proposed a joint technical committee to handle the problems but Burma has not yet put its components in the body, he said. "We hope to have a meeting on boundaries with Burma early next year," he said.

-- The Nation 2010-12-20