As civil war rages in Myanmar, a Thai border town has become a hub for diplomacy and espionage
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Officially, there are two border crossings between the Thai town of Mae Sot and Myawaddy in Myanmar: one for goods and cargo, and another for people, both staffed by customs and immigrations officers from the two countries.
Unofficially, there are dozens, if not hundreds of places to cross the Moei River, which separates Thailand and Myanmar – from well-built wooden bridges that can support a motorbike, to rickety bamboo structures spanning a bend where the river narrows, or pontoon boats hauled across each way by overhead cable.
Mae Sot has historically been a hub for trade and migration across the Moei. For decades, the porousness of the border has also made it an ideal sanctuary for refugees, aid groups and resistance organizations fighting against military rule in Myanmar. Since a February, 2021, coup plunged the country into civil war, Mae Sot’s population has swollen by tens of thousands, as people have fled the fighting and the military junta’s recent conscription law.
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No country officially recognizes the NUG – a parallel government set up by resistance groups after the 2021 coup – but Mae Sot provides a place for foreign officials to meet informally with the people that might one day be running Myanmar. (U.S. state department counsellor Derek Chollet did so during a public visit in 2022, and many more have quietly over the years, according to interviews with multiple resistance figures.)
Like Vienna during the Cold War, Mae Sot is a hub not only for diplomacy, but also espionage. Thai, Chinese and Myanmar intelligence services are said to operate in the town, with the latter believed to be running informants who keep them abreast of resistance operations.
Last week, I was up at the northernmost point in Thailand (Mae Sai), where there is a border crossing with Myanmar. The Shan Army are active in this area across the border, but probably not as exciting as the town referenced in the article.
This was the border crossing up there last week. ( am on the Thai side looking towards Myanmar.)
