The Forgotten Victims Of Thailand's Silent War With Landmines

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa, BERNAMA’s correspondent in Thailand shares his take on the Bangkok capital city and its unique social narrative. BUACHET (SURIN PROVINCE), May 26 (Bernama) -- The sound of gunfire and explosion has long fell silent in this remote district of northeastern Thailand, located near the Cambodian border. However, for villager Thon Deena, 43, the tragedy that befell him after the conflict is forever etched in his mind. He nearly lost his life as a consequence of living in the once conflict stricken area. The jungles here have a dark and bloody history, where for years armed men roamed its hilly terrain and waged fierce battles, making Buachet well-known for the wrong reasons. He and his brother knew of the jungle well, treated it as their sacred "playground", despite the repeated warnings from the authorities and villagers about the dangers posed by the landmines and undetonated ordinance. "We knew about the danger of landmines in the forest, we have been warned before. However, we were very familiar with the forest as we could see the landmines whenever we stepped into the forest. We were quite sure we will be safe," he told Bernama when met here recently. TEMPTING FATE However, in 1989 everything changed when Thon, a 17 year-old teenager at that time, went for a routine trip to a nearby forest with his brother in search of wild mushrooms and other jungle produce to earn some extra money. Thon took the familiar route like how he did every time when he stepped inside the jungle, rarely venturing outside the normal pathways and always kept his eyes wide open. Yet despite taking all the precautions, he fell victim to the landmine and added to the statistics of those who lost their limbs there. "I was unlucky, my left foot stepped on a landmine and loud explosion ensued. I was so shocked, but did not feel any pain at first. It was about 20 minutes later while lying on a pool of blood did I felt the horrendous pain," he said. The powerful explosion shook the surroundings, throwing him several metres off the ground and almost severing his left leg. LOSING LEFT LEG His brother, who was spared in the incident, frantically searched for help after recovering from initial trauma and panic. Barely conscious throughout the ordeal, Thon was brought to a nearby hospital by the villagers where the doctors struggled to save his badly mangled left leg. "The doctors could not save my left leg and had to amputate it. I was hospitalised for two months and needed two years just to learn to walk using artificial leg," said Thon who has since married and has a 19-year old son and a 12-year old daughter. The mishap was caused by an anti-personnel mine, a type of small landmine but packed with tremendous destructive power. "It (anti personnel mine) is designed not to kill the victim, but merely to cause severe injury or to maim them," said President of the Thai Civillian Deminer Association (TDA) Sirisai Amornchai, who has been overseeing the mine clearance operations in Buachet's forest. THOUSANDS OF LANDMINES According to him, thousands of landmines remain buried in Buachet's forest and the bulk of the silent killers are the anti-personnel mines, followed by anti-tank mines, bobby traps and undetonated ordinance. TDA and its partner, Thai Mine Action Centre (TMAC) have been entrusted by the government with the difficult task of decontaminating Buachet from landmines. However, they did not have the exact figure of the landmines left in the district's forest. Almost daily the team would find new landmines in surrounding jungles, he said adding that ascertaining the exact figure of active landmines in Buachet's jungles is next to impossible while the mining clearing operations could take years to complete. "Efforts to clear certain areas and deactivate each and every landmine as well as unexploded ordinance are painstakingly slow because the clearing team has to be very careful," said Sirisai. COUNTRY RAVAGED BY LANDMINES Besides the Thai-Cambodian border provinces in northern Thailand, the areas near the shared boundary with Myanmar such as Chiangmai, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit and Tak also remain contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordinance. Sirisai noted that many people outside Thailand were not aware that the country had problems associated with landmines and Explosive Remnants of Wars (ERW) like in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. Though the war may have been long over, villagers were still being killed or maimed by landmines. In 2016 six incidents were recorded including a farmer who was killed on his land when his agriculture machine rolled over an anti-tank mine. "As of March 3, 2017, Sirisai noted approximately 422.6 square km of the country particularly areas along the Thai-Cambodian border remain contaminated with landmines and other unexploded ordinance," said Sirisai. People living in regions with landmines in Thailand risked getting killed or maimed every time they step outside of their house. STIFLING ECONOMIC INITIATIVES Besides the danger it posed to life and limbs, the existence of landmines and unexploded ordinance has also stifled the government's initiatives to develop the local economy and lifting the livelihood of the local people. “We have returned about 2,445,513 sqm of land back to the people, for them to utilise the land for their economic benefits. No landmine accident at that site have occurred ever since,” said Sirisai on the outcome of demining efforts by TDA and TMAC. TDA's effort has also been receiving recognition from the Japanese government who contributed financial assistance through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). An hour drive from Buachet, lies the Chong Som border town which has been seeing a hive of activities and a "magnet" for small Thai and Cambodian's traders, ever since TDA and TMAC cleared its surrounding from thousands of landmines and unexploded ordinance. According to Sirisai, the border town of Chong Som stood testament on how a successful landmine decontamination effort could unleash the economic potential of an otherwise dangerous land. -- BERNAMA