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8/9/2019 Smear campaign against resistance groups continues-Thailand
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Smear campaign against resistance groups continues
Written by Hseng Khio Fah/Emily Hobbs
Monday, 19 July 2010 17:49
A document received by SHAN from an unidentified source on the border contains yet more
allegations of conspiracy between Burmas ethnic resistance groups and the Thailands Red
Shirts. This time the resistance group the Karen National Union (KNU) is being accused ofsupporting the Red Shirts during their protests against the Thai government in May.
Earlier, the same allegation was made against the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA)
and Shan State Army (SSA) South; both groups, particularly the latter like the KNU, are also
positioned on the Thai-Burma border.
The allegations against each group appear to have been leaked through different channels. The
first allegation against the SSA South was distributed via an email written in Burmese
language; SHAN received reports of the second allegation against the NDAA from the Thai
security units on the border and the latest allegations against the KNU were also distributed via
email, but this time written in substandard Thai.
The email said that jobless KNU members had been enticed by the Red Shirts into joining bypromises of employment and money. The Red Shirts oppose the current Thai government, led
by Abhisit Vejjajiva, because they claim it was never popularly elected. They protested for 68
days before troops marched on their camp in central Bangkok on May 19th, killing fourteen
people and bringing the number of fatalities due to political violence over the two-month period
to 90.
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8/9/2019 Smear campaign against resistance groups continues-Thailand
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Smear campaign against resistance groups continues
Written by Hseng Khio Fah/Emily Hobbs
Monday, 19 July 2010 17:49
The KNU gave the same response as the NDAA, saying that the group had nothing to gain by
involving itself in political issues in Thailand and that doing so would divert focus from its own
agenda, according to the KNUs General Secretary Zipporah Sein.
Our fighters are active in Karen State, not on the border. It is just a groundless accusation and
rumor trying to discredit the KNU, she said.
Further unconfirmed reports suggest that as a result of these rumors the SSA South was
asked by Thai authorities to move out from Thai soil.
The purpose of the allegations seems to be to damage the relationship between the ethnic
groups on the Thai-Burma border and Thai government, which is described by a Thai security
officer as occasionally stormy but on the whole proper. If Thailand were panicked into closing
its borders, the ethnic groups would be left in limbo in the event of an attack by the Burma
Army.
The Thai security have been conducting an investigation into the allegation against the NDAA,but up to this day they have not announced that they have found any evidence which can
support the claim.
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