IMNA : It’s been estimated that over 10,000 residents from Three Pagodas Pass (TPP) have left their homes in Burma, with their belongings, and moved to the Thai side of the border.
Some residents have moved to areas in Mon state, south of the fighting, where their relatives live, such as Japanese Well village, Gubowl village, and Ton Dot Point village.
“Residents with no other place to go will remain in Three Pagoda Pass, on the Thai side of the border. Some aren’t able to eat because all the shops and restaurants are closed at TPP. But, we are lucky because the electricity hasn’t been cut off,” explained one TPP resident.
Residents from TPP said that 100 Mon and Karen monks were waiting around the market in TPP because they heard that the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) will burn it. The monks went to the market in order to protect it.
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, the Burmese government) troops have been reported to be on their way from Chaung Zone village to TPP, but there is no estimate on the number of SPDC troops coming, explained a source close to the DKBA.
This source added further that the DKBA will wait and be ready once the Burmese troops arrive.
Fighting at TPP began yesterday between a faction of the DKBA against the SPDC troops in the area. The DKBA had formerly been part of the Border Guard Force (BGF), fighting on the side of the SPDC. Yesterday, this DKBA faction relinquished their BGF seals and began fighting in Three Pagoda Pass and in Mae Sot. The fighting is still on-going.
