Mine Clearance Underway as Forces Prepare for Pushback

BANGKOK, Oct 14 (TNA) -Thai authorities are accelerating efforts to secure the volatile border with Cambodia, simultaneously continuing mine-clearing operations and preparations for a pushback effort.

For a fifth day, Thai forces worked at Ban Nong Ya Kaew in Sa Kaeo province, clearing the area to reclaim encroached territory. The ongoing operation has recovered a total of seven landmines and located an abandoned Cambodian military encampment.

While officials aim to declare the area safe within seven days to allow Thai residents to return to their farmlands, recent heavy rains threaten to delay the deadline.

In a related move, Thai military, police, and local administrative forces recently completed joint riot-control drills. These exercises focused on crowd control and suppression tactics in preparation for potential violence during a planned removal of Cambodian settlers from the Thai villages of Ban Nong Chan and Ban Nong Ya Kaew.

All security forces are now reported to be fully prepared and are awaiting the final order to commence the operation.

The border friction and continuous checkpoint closures have had a clear spillover effect on illegal migration. Over the past two weeks alone, authorities have arrested 132 Cambodian laborers attempting to enter Thailand illegally. 

Following the detention of a recent group of 37 laborers on Monday, local police have ramped up legal action, implementing stricter judicial measures in an effort to deter the ongoing influx of illegal migrants. -819(TNA)