8-4-2024 (YANGON) Myanmar’s Military regime has made a plea to Thailand for permission to land a transport plane at Mae Sot airport, aimed at evacuating troops and their families from the recently fallen border town of Myawaddy, now under the control of Karen rebel forces.

Over 600 junta soldiers have reportedly surrendered to the Karen National Union (KNU) and its allies, who seized control of seven military bases in and around Myawaddy. The significant defeat is anticipated to have profound implications for Thailand, already anticipating an influx of Myanmar refugees following the junta’s activation of military conscription in February.

Myawaddy, situated in Karen (Kayin) State, formerly housed the junta’s largest military stronghold before its recent loss to rebel forces.

The regime has suffered losses in several towns to ethnic armies in Shan State, along the border with China, and in Rakhine State, bordering Bangladesh.

The imposition of conscription by the junta came after heavy casualties, widespread defections, and surrenders of troops to a resistance offensive that has swept Myanmar since late October last year.

Myanmar’s embassy in Thailand reached out to the Thai Foreign Ministry on Sunday night, seeking permission for an ATR 72-600 aircraft to land at Mae Sot airport for 72 hours to evacuate “special passengers and cargo.” These passengers are believed to be military personnel and government officials who surrendered to the KNU and will be transported back to Yangon.

Although a Myanmar ATR 72-600 landed at Mae Sot on Sunday, it departed soon after amidst reports that the KNU had detained Myanmar troops and their families near Shwe Kokko, close to Myawaddy.

The Myawaddy-Mae Sot checkpoint is the largest of six border checkpoints between Thailand and Myanmar.

Trade through the Myawaddy checkpoint dropped by 40% as of February compared to the previous year, according to Myanmar’s Commerce Ministry.

The Myawaddy-Mae Sot border point operated as usual on Monday, local reports confirm. The KNU, long fighting for self-governance since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, vehemently opposed the military coup in February 2021. Since then, it has provided refuge for anti-military officials, offered defense training to civilians, and formed alliances with the armed wing of the parallel National Unity Government, known as the People’s Defence Force, to combat junta troops.

The balance of power in Karen State shifted in February after the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) severed ties with the military government. BGF chief Major General Saw Chit Thu announced in January that he would no longer obey Naypyitaw’s orders.

While there are no signs yet that his group, now renamed the Karen National Army, will join the resistance movement, its disassociation has significantly weakened the Myanmar military and its allies in Karen State.

The loss of Myawaddy, granting control of most of Karen State to the KNU, signifies another setback for the beleaguered military regime led by coup-maker Min Aung Hlaing.

China, Myanmar’s largest foreign investor, has reportedly intensified diplomatic pressure on the regime, with recent visits by envoys to Naypyitaw.

ASEAN’s peace plan for Myanmar, known as the Five-Point Consensus, has largely been disregarded by the junta, failing to prevent the country from descending into civil war marked by allegations of widespread junta atrocities against civilians.

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