The Thai army has announced it will begin mine sweeping in border villages in the eastern province of Sa Kaeo on Friday, which is also the deadline authorities have set for Cambodians to leave the area.
The First Army Area said on Thursday that its Burapa Task Force had informed the commander of Cambodia’s 51st Infantry Division that it would start to collect landmines in Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaeo villages in Khok Sung district of Sa Kaeo on Friday.
‘The mine sweeping is aimed at securing a safe environment in Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaeo, which are in Thai territory, to support authorities’ operations in protecting sovereignty and the peaceful lives of Thai people,’ the First Army Area said in a statement.
The information was also intended to prevent misunderstanding and information distortion by Cambodia, the statement said.
The Burapa Task Force said the mine-sweeping plan was based on the agreement Cambodia and Thailand made on landmine clearance in their General Border Committee meeting in Koh Kong province of Cambodia on Sept 10.
Evacuation deadline
Sa Kaeo governor Parinya Phothisat, meanwhile, on Wednesday reaffirmed the Oct 10 deadline that he had announced last month for Cambodians to leave Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaeo.
If Cambodia ignored the deadline, the governor said he would not negotiate with the Cambodian side any longer.
Thailand allowed Cambodian refugees to take shelter in the two border communities while fleeing massacres during the Cambodian civil war over four decades ago. Dozens of families from Cambodia have settled there permanently.
On Thursday Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the Sa Kaeo governor was responsible for the evacuation of Cambodians from the Thai villages. The armed forces would take action in accordance with martial law imposed along the border with Cambodia, he added.
In the encroached villages, administrative, police and forestry officials also shared responsibility in relation to their respective areas of authority, the prime minister said.
In a related development, activist Guntouch Pongpaiboonwet said he would place 60 containers to form a border barrier in Ban Nong Chan on Friday.
Mr Guntouch, also known as Gun Jompalang, has built a large online following as a crusader on behalf of people seeking justice. Lately he has turned his attention to whipping up ultra-nationalist sentiment.
In August he brought a convoy of 14 septic tankers to the border village, suggesting he would spray their contents at Cambodian protesters on the opposite side of a barbed wire barrier if they got out of hand.