The five-minute attack by two unidentified boats on Jang Guojong 007 at a location between Laos' Muang Kham village, Ton Pheung district, Bokeo province and Burma's Wanpong village, Tachilek district at 11:30 am left three officers injured. The three are currently under treatment in Chiangrai's Sri Burin Hospital.
This is the latest in a series of mysterious shootings on cargo boats on the Mekong since the year began, according to Thai and local sources.
Out of five armed groups that are active in the area: Shan State Army (SSA) South, United Wa State Army (UWSA), Burma Army, Naw Kham and Ja Eu militia, local sources believe it was the handiwork of Naw Kham. "He has been demanding taxes from boats that use the river," said a well informed source in Tachilek. "And he is the only one who has homes in all the three countries in the region.
His residences are said to be in the following locations, according to a source:
- Pahsa Hsarmpu, Mongphong Tract, Tachilek district on the Burmese side
- An Arkha-Lahu village between Mounghi Noi and Muonghi Luang, north of Ban Mom, Bokeo province on the location side
- A village near the mouth of the Kok River in Chiangsean district, Chiangrai province on the Thai side
The SSA South's Kengtung Force Commander Lt-Col Gawnzeun, who said his units are in hot pursuit of Naw Kham, believes the ex-militia chief of Hawngleuk is being protected by the Burma Army. "Junta units in the area that have never hesitated to jump on our troops are doing nothing against him," he said. "He had also been very close to Col Myint Han, the area operations commander, before the crackdown in 2006. It was widely suspected that the raid on his house in Tachilek in 2006 was tipped off in time by some local commander, so he could make his escape."
The raid by Burmese authorities repeatedly netted 150 assorted weapons, two compressors and millions of speed pills.
Naw Kham (48) a former supply officer to Col Hsulai, a lieutenant of Khun Sa in the Mong Tai Army (MTA), surrendered with his boss in 1996 and had been living in Tachilek as Hawngleuk militia leader until 2006. He is one of the new faces in the drug trade, according to Hand in Glove: The Burma Army and the Drug Trade in Shan State, a report published in the same year by SHAN.
