Tensions rise as Myanmar jet enters Thai air space

Tensions rise as Myanmar jet enters Thai air space

An academic has warned that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha should be wary after he dismissed an air violation by a Myanmar jet fighter as "no big deal''.

Piti Srisaengnam, director of academic affairs at Chulalongkorn University's Asean Studies Centre, said the matter should be considered in terms of national security and public communication.

''I believe the military is not complacent about national security. Obviously, Thailand has a real-time monitoring system. We sent our military attaches to speak to their Myanmar counterparts immediately after the incident,'' Mr Piti said.

However, this should be treated as secret diplomacy, with talks held behind closed doors. There is no need to bring it out to the open, he said.

''Myanmar is an Asean member and our close neighbour. If you speak or act in an unfriendly way, bad consequences will follow,'' he said.

When it comes to communicating with the public, it is important to say that Thailand and Myanmar still enjoy good relations, Mr Piti said.

However, the prime minister may have to seek advice on word choice from public relations experts to respond properly to a public mood in a particular situation, added Mr Piti.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, a former Chulalongkorn University international relations lecturer, however, said he did not think the intrusion of the Myanmar jet was a threat to national security because the two countries are close friends with cordial ties.

However, the incident has exposed the vulnerability of Thailand's air defences, said Mr Panitan, who is also chief of the government's advisory committee on security affairs.

Regarding the PM's comment that the issue was not a big deal, Mr Panitan said it is important to assure the public that the country can defend its airspace and learn a lesson from the incident.

''If the RTAF had declared it an important matter and pledged to look into it, people would have been satisfied,'' Mr Panitan said.

On Friday, Gen Prayut said Myanmar had apologised over Thursday's incident over Phop Phra district of Tak.

The day before, the RTAF scrambled two F-16 fighter jets after a Myanmar Mig-29 was detected intruding into Thai airspace having launched airstrikes on ethnic rebels along the border, according to the RTAF.

Meanwhile, fighting between Myanmar government troops and Karen combatants continued in areas around the border town of Myawaddy, opposite Ban Wao Lay Tai village in Phop Phra district of Tak province on Friday night.

A bomb from Myanmar's Mig-29 missed its intended military target at a Karen military base and instead hit a Karen village killing two people and injuring three, according to military sources stationed near the border.

After the bombing, some 92 Karen villagers, mostly women and children, fled across the Moei River and sought shelter on the Thai side of the border at Ban Muen Lue Chai in Phop Phra district.

The attack happened 400 metres from the Thai side of the border, with shrapnel damaging a house belonging to a Thai villager.

Several locals took shelter in bunkers although no one was injured, the sources said.

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