THIRD ARMY CHIEF REPLACING THAKSIN

PM Cancels Burma Trip, Security Fears

Third Army commander Lt-Gen Picharnmeth Muangmanee will visit the
Wa-controlled township of Yong Kha, in Burma, replacing Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra who cancelled the trip for security reasons.

Mr Thaksin had planned to visit Yong Kha to jointly preside over the
opening of a hospital there with Gen Khin Nyunt, his Burmese counterpart.
However, he cancelled the trip after his advance security team said it
would be too risky, a security officer said.

The officer said Rangoon did not have full control over Yong Kha and its
surrounding areas which were known to harbour anti-Rangoon elements as well
as drug-trafficking gangs which had been hurt by the Thai government's war
on drugs.

Both Mr Thaksin and Gen Khin Nyunt could be potential targets of those
hostile groups. Also, the advance security team was not fully comfortable
with the security arrangements provided by Rangoon, the officer said.

Army chief Gen Chaisit Shinawatra backed Mr Thaksin's decision, saying the
trip was not worth the risk involved.

He had learned from intelligence reports that anti-Rangoon forces or drug
traffickers may try to create a situation that would poison Thai-Burmese
ties, Gen Chaisit said.

Mr Thaksin said he cancelled the visit to Yong Kha because he had a far
more important business to attend to, including the Thai Rak Thai party's
general assembly on Friday and Saturday.

His decision would not cause any displeasure in Rangoon because the matter
had already been discussed with the Burmese leadership.

Lt-Gen Picharnmeth, co-chairman of the Thai-Burmese Joint Border Committee,
would make the visit on his behalf, Mr Thaksin said.

Under the original plan, Mr Thaksin was to preside over the opening of a
hospital in Yong Kha and inspect progress of a project to promote
cultivation of cash crops that would replace drug crops.

Rangoon had planned to send three Russian-made MI-17 helicopters to fly Mr
Thaksin and his party to Yong Kha, with the Thai prime minister and his
Burmese counterpart Gen Khin Nyunt on board the same aircraft.

On their way from Tachilek to Yong Kha, the helicopeters would have to fly
over rugged terrain and dense forest areas where security risks were very high.

Thailand has provided 20 million baht to help fund the crop substitution
project at Yong Kha. The project, which is under direct supervision of M.R
Disnadda Diskul, chief executive of the Doi Tung Development Project, has
won much praise from Rangoon.