Posted on 03/24/2006 9:49:09 AM PST by ASA Vet
Nakhon Ratchasima _ Police raided an isolated hut in a national park yesterday seizing a large cache of weapons and ammunition and arresting a man accused of supplying arms to separatists in the deep South. The operation in Tab Lan National Park, in Khon Buri district, followed a tip-off that firearms were being smuggled into the country from Cambodia, police said.
The weapons were said to have been shipped through Sa Kaeo's Ta Phraya and Aranyaprathet districts and were about to be sent to the restive South.
Police said they arrested Somsak Thawornrat as he attemped to flee and seized 23 firearms, including M16 and AK47 rifles, hand grenades, TNT and C4 explosives, infra-red goggles and several hundred rounds of ammunition.
The 44-year-old suspect denied the police charge of illegal arms trading, saying the weapons seized were part of his personal collection.
But police said their investigation showed the former 31st Artillery Battalion conscript had travelled to and from Cambodia via Sa Kaeo to purchase arms on many occasions.
In Yala province, rangers seized two rifles and a number of cartridges in a forest near Tolaolo village in Raman district. A unit from the 4103 Ranger Regiment acted on a tip-off about a militants' arms shipment from Sai Buri district in Pattani.
A search found two AK47 rifles, two magazines and 17 bullets.
Officials believed the weapons belonged to Usman Buemang's group which is active in Raman and Muang districts and may have been used in attacks on law enforcement officials in the area.
Thai Ping
Likely path: PRC > Cambodia > Esarn
"arresting a man accused of supplying arms to separatists in the deep South."
- A.K.A. Muslim Zihadists
Thanks for the ping. I know I'm going to go through FR withdrawls during my two week vacation in Thailand. I'll just have my Sony shortwave to keep in touch with what's going on in the world. I'll miss all my FR friends.
I will be spending 2 weeks in the land of smiles this year, myself.
It's a great place and I hope you have a wonderful time. I'm leaving this Sunday and I'm very excited.
I saw the article had a date line Korat and assumed that's where this was.
A lot of these arm shipments are also smuggled through Thailand and into Burma. They are then sold to the various minorities fighting the Burmese government.
Korat? Our safe haven once.
Only been to Korat a couple times. In 1969 and then again in 2000.
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