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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