Hundreds flee Myanmar border town to Thailand as clashes erupt

Fighting ensues after an ethnic armed group, its allies overrun military bases around town

- Tan Hui Yee

MAE SOT, Thailand - Hundreds of Myanmar civilians fled to western Thailand on April 20 after clashes broke out between Myanmar military and resistance forces near a bridge linking the two countries.

The Second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge links the strategic border township of Myawaddy and Thailand's Mae Sot district.

The fighting erupted more than a week after ethnic armed group Karen National Union (KNU) and its allies overran Myanmar military bases around Myawaddy - a key trading hub through which over US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) of trade passed in the fiscal year ending March.

The military has been grappling with growing armed resistance since seizing power from the civilian government in a 2021 coup.

Since October 2023, it has lost control of key territories near the China-Myanmar border to ethnic armed groups.

According to the KNU, troops from the Myanmar military's Infantry Battalion 275 - whose base had been raided by the KNU and allied groups had sought refuge in an area near the Myanmar side of the bridge.

This bridge is one of the two linking Mae Sot and Myawaddy through which Thailand had sent its first tranche of aid in March, as part of a plan to create a humanitarian corridor to Myanmar.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin posted on X, formerly Twitter, on April 20 that he was "closely monitoring" the situation.

"I do not desire to see any such clashes have any impact on the territorial integrity of Thailand, and we are ready to protect our borders and the safety of our people," he wrote. "At the same time, we are also ready to provide humanitarian assistance if necessary." Thai media outlet Matichon reported that more than 1,200 people fled to Thailand on the morning of April 20 amid bombardment by military aircraft.