Verbal attack Attempts by the Burmese military junta to discredit the Thai military over the latter's alleged military support given to Shan rebels during the SSA's attack on a Burmese military outpost at Pachee last April surprised several senior military officers, amid a report of improved relations between Bangkok and Rangoon.
``This is quite unusual'', said a military officer, who questioned why three separate press conferences were held over the past fortnight in Rangoon to criticise the Thai military over border conflicts 12 months earlier.The Burmese military junta said the attack was planned and collaborated by the SSA and the Thai military.''
They were referring to the SSA's assault on a Burmese Pachee military outpost in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district. Six Burmese soldiers were reportedly killed and 170,000 tablets of amphetamines seized by SSA troops on April 22, 2001. Uncovering drugs inside Burmese military camps at the border was not uncommon since there was a well-established drug trade involving local Burmese military commanders and the United Wa State Army, the biggest drug traffickers in the Golden Triangle.
At the junta's press briefing on March 20, they not only accused the Thai military of giving military support to SSA fighters, but also made the unsubstantiated charge that eight bags of amphetamines were given to SSA soldiers by the Thai military, prior to the assault. The amphetamines were later displayed to a group of Thai reporters after the SSA seized Pachee border outpost.
Did the press conference have anything to do with political turmoil inside Rangoon, where a group of senior military officers known for their close military ties with Burmese intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt were removed following a report of their alleged involvement in an aborted coup attempt?
A seasoned security officer who has closely monitored developments inside Burma was confident the latest incident was directly related to a power struggle inside Rangoon.
Hawkish Burmese army chief Gen Maung Aye, vice-chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, is now viewed in a much stronger light following the removal of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt's loyalists, including the air force chief, the police chief and a regional army commander. It was no secret that Gen Maung Aye, 65, who had planned to travel to Thailand at the end of the month, was widely known to be much at odds with the intelligence chief.
The verbal attack on the Thai military was deemed quite irrational by several security watchers. One suggested the power struggle inside Burma might not turn militarily explosive as long as SPDC chairman Gen Than Shwe is still in command since the premier had acted as a balancing force between the two military men.