The Sino-Burma border based National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) aka Mongla group has refuted allegations that it had offered military support and training to the Thai Red-Shirts following the recent protests which ended in May, insiders said.
The Mongla group, based in eastern Shan State on the Sino-Burma border, has denied playing any part in Thailand’s internal affairs. The group maintains that its own agenda focuses only on their continued resistance against joining the Burmese junta’s Border Guard Force programme, and their ongoing commitment to maintaining stability in the region. It claimed it was not in their interests to involve themselves in the political affairs of another country.
The Thai Red Shirts oppose the current Thai government, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, because they claim it was never popularly elected. Their 68-day protest was finally ended on May 19, when troops marched to the Red Shirts camp in central Bangkok killing 14 people and bringing the number of fatalities due to political violence over the two-month period to 90.
The Mongla became part of the Communist Party of Burma that occupied territories along the Sino-Burma border in 1968 and maintain a brotherhood with Communist Party of Thailand until it agreed to the ceasefire with the Burmese military in 1989. Today, some former Thai communist party members are believed to be among the Red Shirts, aiding speculation that there could still be a link between the two groups.
“During that time we helped each other but since the end of the communist era, we have had no further involvement,” stated a senior officer from the Mongla group.
A regular visitor to the Mongla region supported the Mongla group’s denial, saying he did not see how it would be possible to train Thai nationals in Burma in the way the Thai security report alleges. The strict time limit imposed on visas (seven days) would make coordinating such a task very difficult. In addition, everyone coming in and out of the region must pass through checkpoints which are closely monitored by the Burmese Army and any such unusual activity would have been noticed.
The allegation comes at a difficult time for the Mongla group, which is under constant pressure from the Burmese military junta, and could jeopardize the possibility of the group aligning with other resistance groups bordering Thailand in the future – something the Burmese Army is keen to prevent from happening, according to border watchers.
Whereas in the Communist era it was easy and necessary to provide mutual support between the two parties, today the Mongla’s involvement with the Thai Red Shirts would be like “putting lice on our heads”, said a senior Mongla official. To paraphrase this old Shan proverb using an English one: the group needs more problems like it needs a hole in the head.
