MAE SOT, Thailand -- Thailand's foreign minister on Friday said he urged Myanmar's military authorities not to violently respond to its army's loss of an important border trading town to its opponents, and that so far they seemed to be exercising restraint.
Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara spoke during a visit to Mae Sot, which lies directly across a river from the Myanmar town of Myawaddy, where army troops abandoned their last defensive position early Thursday.
Their hasty escape ceded virtual control of the busy trading town to guerrillas of the ethnic Karen National Union and its allies, including members of the pro-democracy People's Defense Forces.
Myanmar's once-mighty armed forces have suffered a series of unprecedented defeats since October, losing swaths of territory including border posts to ethnic fighters and guerrilla units. Civilians took up arms after the generals seized power in 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The military has frequently hit back heavily, using air power.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for Myanmar's military government, told the BBC's Burmese language service Thursday night that the soldiers at the army's last base outside Myawaddy abandoned the post for the safety of their families who were living with them. He said Myanmar was in talks with Thailand about getting them safely back and acknowledged that Karen guerrillas were inside the town.
There is concern that the Myanmar military might launch a concerted counterattack against Myawaddy, which could send thousands fleeing into Thailand for safety and badly disrupt border trade.
Speaking to reporters after inspecting the area, Parnpree said Thailand had already spoken with Myanmar's military and told them they did not want to see violence, offering Thailand's help.
"Now, what we are most concerned about is that we want to see peace in Myawaddy, not only because of the trading, but it's our neighbor," he said. "We do not wish for any violence to happen. If talks are possible among their groups, we will be very welcoming of that, and if they want us to be the mediator, we are ready to help coordinating."
He said he hoped there could be talks between the opposing sides to prevent retaliatory attacks.
On Friday evening, however, there were at least two explosions on the Myanmar side of one of the two bridges connecting Myawaddy and Mae Sot. Their cause could not immediately be determined.
Residents from both sides of the river said earlier that there have been frequent explosions in the past few days from airstrikes against captured positions outside Myawaddy, but that Friday was quiet. Thai immigration officials said visitor numbers from Myanmar were unexceptional.
But for some, the quiet was the problem. A Myawaddy resident who only gave his name as Sulai told The Associated Press that it unnerved him so he fled.
"They fear the quiet. They are afraid of silence with no sound of fighting. Those with experience say it means the fight is much more likely to continue," he said.
Thai troops were keeping watch in Mae Sot on Friday, especially near the bridges. Besides reassuring residents of their safety, they served to block pockets of trapped Myanmar soldiers from slipping across the border.
On the Myanmar side, a small group of men lounged in the stifling heat. Thai troops said they were from the Border Guard Force, a Karen group that was aligned with Myanmar's military who recently severed their links.
The Karen National Union -- the leading political body for the Karen ethnic minority -- said in a statement on its Facebook page Friday that it will establish administrative mechanisms, prevent illicit businesses, contraband and human trafficking and implement stability and law enforcement as well as facilitate trade in the Myawaddy area when it secures its position there.
The KNU said it's deeply concerned about the security of the people living on both sides of the border and seeks to have stability and access to humanitarian aid and is also working to achieve meaningful cooperation with the Thai government and local and international partner organizations.
Lightning illuminates the sky behind the gunner on a Thai military armored vehicle as he keeps watch Friday along the Moei River under the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot in Thailand’s Tak province. Thailand’s foreign minister on Friday said he has urged Myanmar’s military authorities not to violently respond to its army’s loss of an important border trading town to its opponents, and that so far it seems to be exercising restraint. (AP/Sakchai Lalit)