Two bombs dropped by Myanmar military aircraft on a Karen rebel position across the Salween River on Saturday evening sent blast waves and shrapnel into Thailand’s Mae Hong Son province, according to several news sources. They damaged about 17 homes and several public buildings in Mae Sam Laep subdistrict, Sop Moei district. The strike hit Saw Lae Tha, an area held by the Karen National Union (KNU) directly opposite the Mae Sam Laep pier. No injuries were reported on the Thai side.
Local officials and ranger units surveyed the village on Sunday morning. They found shattered windows, cracked walls and collapsed ceilings. The Mae Sam Laep health promoting hospital lost four glass doors and four windows, and part of its ceiling fell in. A church, a child development center, a meeting hall and a tourist services building run by the local administration were also damaged.
Pongpipat Meebenjamas, chief of the Mae Sam Laep Subdistrict Administrative Organization, said the attack also affected a mosque and a Buddhist temple. Some buildings were struck by bomb fragments, he said, while others were damaged by the force of the explosions.
The bombs fell while Pongpipat and his staff were overseeing construction of a riverside viewpoint, forcing workers and villagers to take cover. Some families who live beside the river spent the night farther inland, including at the subdistrict administration office.
Residents later handed fragments found on the Thai side to a ranger unit. A military officer who examined them said they appeared to come from a bomb weighing at least 500 pounds.
By Sunday, the usually busy pier had gone quiet. Shops along the river stayed closed, and boat services were temporarily suspended.
Local leaders are now asking Bangkok for help. Pongpipat said military operations were increasingly affecting communities on the Thai side and urged the government to hold talks with Myanmar’s authorities on stopping airstrikes close to the border.
The subdistrict headman said residents had been warned repeatedly about possible attacks on KNU forces. That included a warning on October 31 of an expected strike along the Salween, although the exact location wasn’t known. Villagers have been told at community meetings to keep music low so they can hear warnings. He’s also calling for bomb shelters inside the village so people can reach safety quickly instead of fleeing inland.
The KNU released a statement on Sunday saying the strike followed an earlier warning from Myanmar’s army. According to the group, the army’s township border committee in Myawaddy sent a formal protest letter on August 31 to Thai border officials and traders. The KNU says the letter told them not to deal with the group or move goods through the Saw Lae Tha checkpoint, and threatened airstrikes on its base and warehouse there. The reports published on Sunday did not include any comment from Myanmar’s military.
This isn’t the first time the war has reached Mae Sam Laep. In April, a bomb from a Myanmar air raid on a KNU hospital across the river landed on the Thai bank of the Salween. Rangers moved nearby residents to Huai Kong Kat village as a precaution, and no injuries or property damage were reported on the Thai side at the time.
The latest strike also comes during a tense week along the border farther south. On October 29, fighting in Myanmar’s Myawaddy township sent mortar rounds and gunfire into Mae Sot district in Tak province. A Thai woman, 55, was hurt by shrapnel, and more than 20 homes were damaged. Thai troops fired warning rounds toward the Myanmar side. The army’s Naresuan Force then suspended trade through unofficial border crossings in Mae Sot and Phop Phra districts from October 30 to November 5.
On Sunday evening, the Royal Thai Air Force sent two F-16 fighter jets to patrol the skies over Mae Sot and nearby areas. The local task force told residents ahead of time to expect louder aircraft noise than usual and not to panic.
In Mae Sam Laep, officials have begun registering damage to homes and public buildings so residents can apply for government assistance under official rules. Community leaders are pressing the government to raise the strikes with Myanmar, set up early warning measures and build shelters along the river. The KNU says the strike was aimed at cutting its supply lines, and it still holds the riverbank opposite the village, so residents on the Thai side remain on alert for further attacks.
