Naypyidaw has sent two more army battalions to an area of southern Burma where Karen rebels have been blocking construction of a road linking the Thai town of Kanchanaburi with Tavoy, the site of a multi-billion dollar deep-sea port project being built by Thailand's biggest construction company.
According to sources close to rebels based in the area, the additional troops arrived yesterday, along with trucks carrying rations of rice and military supplies. The two new battalions will join six others recently sent as reinforcements for three battalions already stationed in the area.
Saw Kwe Htoo Win, the chairman of the Karen National Union's (KNU) Mergui-Tavoy District (Tenasserim Division), told The Irrawaddy that the increase in troops began last month, although the reason for the buildup wasn't clear. The total number of troops in the area is now believed to be around 800.
Eh Na, the editor of Kwekalu, a Karen-language news agency based in Thailand, said that he had received reports that the government troops were under orders from Naypyidaw to launch an offensive against the KNLA and secure the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy highway construction project.
“They have been ordered to clean up the area and prevent anyone from disturbing construction of the super highway. They might launch an offensive next summer,” said Eh Na.
The Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD), Thailand’s largest construction firm, is contracted to build the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy highway, which will provide access to the Dawei (Tavoy) deep-sea port and Special Economic Zone (SEZ), also being constructed by ITD.
On July 28, some 50 workers of the ITD fled from Burma to the Thai side of the border to escape fighting between Burmese government troops and Brigade 4 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, that broke out near their work site.
Hostilities broke out close to the worker's accommodations and the construction site known as Base 1, as Burmese government forces came under surprise attack from KNLA Brigade 4. The Karen guerrillas also burned down a temporary Burmese outpost along the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy highway.
Earlier the same month, KNLA troops prevented ITD employees from working on the highway project.
The KNLA said they were blocking construction because of concerns that the mega-project would have a severely negative impact on the local population and environment. Displaced villagers also said that they have not been compensated for the loss of their land.
The Dawei SEZ project was approved last March by Burma's then military government. The US $60 billion project includes a deep-sea port, a giant industrial zone, roads, railways, transmission lines and oil and gas pipelines.
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