6 days ago
Thai army probing landmine incident on border
The Thai army is trying to find out whether a landmine that injured three Thai soldiers — one of whom lost a foot — was old or a newly planted one at the border with Cambodia in Ubon Ratchathani.
The Second Army Region said on Thursday that it had instructed its explosive ordnance disposal unit to check on the contested border area where the incident took place to determine the type of the landmine and how long it had been there.
'The official result of the investigation is expected in two or three days,' it said.
The investigation comes after a soldier stepped on a landmine while his group was patrolling from the Morakot Operations Base to Hill 481 at 1.30pm on Wednesday in the Chong Bok area of Nam Yuen district in the northeastern province.
The three injured soldiers were sent to Sunpasitthirasong Hospital in Muang district of Ubon Ratchathani. They included Pvt Thanapat Huiwan whose left foot was severed at the ankle. He remained conscious while receiving first aid, saline solution and oxygen and was transported to the hospital on a helicopter.
He underwent an operation and doctors were closely monitoring his condition to prevent infection.
The other two soldiers, Sgt Patiphant Srilasak and Pvt Nathawut Srikhem, suffered chest pain.
A military source said the soldiers had discovered a Russian-made PMN-2 anti-personnel mine. Subsequent searches revealed three more PMN-2 mines. Photographic evidence indicated the mines are recent deployments rather than remnants of old stock, the source said.
However, Maj Gen Winthai Suvaree, spokesman for the Royal Thai Army, said it could not yet confirm if the mines were newly planted.
It is expected to take a couple of days to establish the facts clearly, particularly concerning the type of mine and when it was laid.
The army spokesman said border units would conduct further verification to determine whether Cambodian forces were involved in laying the landmines.
Both Thailand and Cambodia are signatories to the Ottawa Convention, which officially prohibits the use of anti-personnel landmines, having ratified the agreement in 1999, he said.
Chong Bok is part of Nam Yuen district in Ubon Ratchathani province. The area forms the so-called Emerald Triangle that borders three countries: Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. It was a battlefield between Thai and Vietnamese troops in 1973 when the Vietnamese chased Khmer Rouge soldiers fleeing Cambodia to the Thai border.
Thailand and Cambodia held a short exchange of gunfire in the area on May 28 as a simmering border dispute between the two countries boiled over, with tensions remaining high to this day.
