Asia Highway Closed as Burma Army, DKBA Exchange Fire

[Tomtomtom69]

The DKBA rebel army has been exchanging gunfire with the Burma army about a dispute that I have been told by my good friend from Myawady (formerly an immigration official at that checkpoint). Due to the imminent official opening of the road, which is 99+% complete, the Myanmar government wants to flush out these rebels as they have been collecting illegal road tolls. Just last Saturday I passed through this new road mid-evening with my party and our driver paid the rebels a small amount of money at 3 makeshift checkpoints. We plan to cross back to Myawady this Saturday.

My friend tells me that he is confident the road will re-open to traffic as usual (if it hasn't already done so) by morning after the Burma army reaches a compromise with the rebels so they can still get some money after the government takes control of the road. If for some reason the road isn't open again by Saturday we will be forced to use the old one way road instead.

This news story features some information about the clashes that occurred, but the real reasons for what happened are not made clear.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/asia-highway-closed-as-burma-army-dkba-exchange-fire.html

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Gov’t troops and DKBA Clash Over New Asia Highway

Fighting between government troops and soldiers from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army on the new Myawaddy – Kawkareik Asia Highway this Thursday morning, 2nd July. Karen News is led to understand that the fighting broke out over security for the highway over a planned official visit to the area.

The fighting between the Burma Army Infantry Battalion 231 under the Military Operation Command 12 and soldiers from the DKBA under the command of Brigadier General Saw Kyaw Thet resulted in a number of casualties.

Sources told Karen News that as a result of the fighting there was at least one dead Burma Army soldier.

Read more: http://karennews.org/2015/07/govt-troops-and-dkba-clash-over-new-asia-highway.html/

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Asia Highway Closed as Burma Army, DKBA Exchange Fire

RANGOON — Renewed fighting between government troops and ethnic Karen rebels in eastern Burma led to a temporary shutdown of the new Asia Highway on Thursday morning.

Clashes erupted around 5:30am between the Burma Army and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), a splinter group born of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the southeastern ethnic state’s dominant rebel force.

A DKBA spokesman, Maj. Saw Lont Lon, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that he was aware of the clashes but could not confirm whether any casualties occurred. The conflict is ongoing at time of writing near Kawkareik, Karen State.

Read more: http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/asia-highway-closed-as-burma-army-dkba-exchange-fire.html

[siam2007]

it's just a MAFIA pretending to fight for political reasons....

[Tomtomtom69]

We are due to pass across the road on Saturday. Sources tell me the road has re-opened, but will need to confirm again first before attempting to cross. Otherwise, it's back to the old road, but that will mean waiting one more day.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

We are due to pass across the road on Saturday. Sources tell me the road has re-opened, but will need to confirm again first before attempting to cross. Otherwise, it's back to the old road, but that will mean waiting one more day.

Hi Tomtomtom69, thanks for sharing and feel free to post an update when you return from your trip.

[Tomtomtom69]

We are due to pass across the road on Saturday. Sources tell me the road has re-opened, but will need to confirm again first before attempting to cross. Otherwise, it's back to the old road, but that will mean waiting one more day.

Hi Tomtomtom69, thanks for sharing and feel free to post an update when you return from your trip.

Unfortunately the situation has gone from bad to worse. Not only is the new road still closed, but the DKBA (the main actors in this saga) have told drivers travelling the old one way road today (4th of July) not to come tomorrow, in other words they are preparing for a big battle. In the meantime, at least one soldier of the Burma army has lost his life, while rumours persist that up to 30 people on both sides may have been killed, however, this figure is doubtful as not a single Burmese news source has provided any updates recently.

This whole thing is greatly inconvenient for me as I have been forced to travel either via Htee Khee (Phu Nam Ron) and then find a car so I can drive back to Mae Sot where I parked my car or fly from Yangon back to Bangkok and then rent a car to drive up to Mae Sot to pickup my car. I have chosen the latter option as it's much faster and more convenient - a big detour is necessary to avoid this trouble spot and couldn't have come at a worse time. However, somehow I'm not surprised that these rebels didn't leave as ordered by the government and the timing is not a coincidence given that the government plans to open the road officially this month, something they announced a few months back.

My guide, formerly an immigration official at the Myawady checkpoint also told me that while the other 3 rebel groups have all complied with the government's demands, the DKBA is putting up a final fight to the death, but in all likelihood the Burma army will gain full control within a relatively short period of time and will flush out the rebels and dampen their intentions permanently. While I would have liked to see them do so without blood shed, clearly enough is enough and the rebels need to go. The new Asia Highway (and the old mountain pass road) are vital pieces of infrastructure that link central Myanmar with Bangkok via Mae Sot and most of Thai-Myanmar overland trade passes through this border checkpoint. Given the ADB's funding of this new road, which was built by a Thai contractor, it would be highly embarrassing if the Myanmar government can't get it under control within the next few days (or couple of weeks at most).

Anyway, at this point I would recommend against all non-essential travel to either Myawady (even though the town is safe, but it's tense and the border could close at anytime) and any travel near Kawkareik, which is the closest township to the fighting. Everywhere else in the state is peaceful as usual.

I will of course provide further updates once they are made available to me. I intend to call my guide every so often, starting next week. In the meantime, he will have to stay in Hpa-an or nearby and attempt to travel back to his home in Myawady by motorcycle once the situation returns to normal. At this stage though, it's anyone's guess as to when that might be.

[Tomtomtom69]

Update: I received a phone call this morning from a friend who works as a guide in Myawady and has connections with Myanmar and Thai immigration that while the bridge is operating as normal, for the time being they are not allowing foreigners to use visas for crossing to Kawkareik and beyond until they re-gain control of the situation and properly open both of the roads on/around the Dawna range. I hope that this measure is just temporary, but as of yesterday at least, nobody (locals nor foreigners) were allowed to travel between Myawady and Kawkareik, whether using the old or new roads.

As soon as I receive new updates, I will post them here.

[Tomtomtom69]

it's just a MAFIA pretending to fight for political reasons....

That sentiment has also be echoed by my local contacts and I agree with you. The actions of these rebels (or mafia as you say) are not doing anyone any favours and my US$800+ extra expenses, detour and inconvenience due to the fighting also leaves me raging. Now I have to find the time to drive a rental car together with a relative up to Mae Sot to retrieve my parked car that under normal circumstances I would have driven back down to Bangkok after crossing back across the Mae Sot/Myawady crossing.