Navy ships on standby for evacuations

Myanmar violence may see Thais flee

The Royal Thai Navy has four ships on standby in the Andaman Sea, ready to evacuate Thais from Myanmar if the civil conflict there escalates.

Navy chief Adm Adung Pan-Iam has ordered the Region 3 commander responsible for the Andaman coast to deploy two frigates, HTMS Saiburi and HTMS Prachuap Khiri Khan, and two landing ships, HTMS Mannok and HTMS Mattaphon, for use in the event evacuations are necessary.

The four vessels are ready to pull Thais out of Myanmar if the fighting between the Myanmar government army and resistance forces escalates and puts their lives at risk, he said.

Meanwhile, the situation on the border between Mae Sot district in Tak province and Myawaddy township has eased following a battle in the area opposite Sai Yok district in Kanchanaburi, a neighbouring province immediately below Tak.

A security source said about 120 resistance fighters captured and set fire to a government military base manned by 20 soldiers on Sunday after two days of fighting. The smoke and flames could be seen from Thai soil.

The fighting was in the Dawei area, about 10 kilometres from Ban Thai Muang in Sai Yok district, the source said.

Reports of injuries and deaths have not been confirmed.

According to the Labour Ministry, Myanmar migrant workers have also been permitted to arrive in Thailand by air in addition to the conventional means of arrival via overland routes and by sea.

In light of the ongoing conflict along the Thai-Myanmar border, migrant workers from Myanmar can fly in from Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, to Bangkok via Don Mueang airport under the labour-related memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Thai and Myanmar governments.

The arrival by air provides a safer mode of transport in comparison to overland or by sea. The border fighting has disrupted or even halted job placement in the country, especially near the Myawaddy-Mae Sot checkpoint.

Air travel options for Myanmar migrant workers were made possible at the request of the Myanmar government, according to Somchai Morakotsriwan, director-general of the Department of Employment.

So far, 5,547 workers have applied to come by air. They had originally planned to make their way into the country through land border checkpoints.

Mr Somchai said employers of those travelling by air are required to inform the immigration authorities at Dong Mueang airport of the incoming Myanmar nationals ahead of time.

The employers must also arrange transportation to take the migrant workers from the airport straight to a designated facility for health check-ups.

If the workers fail the health test, they will be sent back immediately to Myanmar.

If they pass the test, the employers need to bring the workers for compulsory training at a respective local employment office.