VZCZCXRO9914
PP RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0035 0471011
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 161011Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0406
INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0663
RHHJJPI/PACOM IDHS HONOLULU HI
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 0448
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS

UNCLAS CHIANG MAI 000035 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: GOV PREL PINS TH BM
SUBJECT: REQUIEM FOR A GENERAL 
 
REF: A. A) CHIANG MAI 22 (KNU RIFT WIDENS) 
     ¶B. B) CHIANG MAI  04  (PLANS FOR SALWEEN DAMS MOVE AHEAD DESPITE OPPOSITION) 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.   The Dec. 26 funeral of former Karen 
National Union (KNU) leader Gen. Bo Mya provided a stage for 
some of the alliances and shifting relationships that 
characterize the longest-running resistance to the Burmese 
regime.   Attendees included most elements of the Karen 
resistance as well as representatives of Burma's State Peace and 
Development Council (SPDC) and Thai military intelligence.  The 
RTG policy toward the KNU remains unchanged by the funeral or 
the Sept. 19 coup, favoring negotiations and focusing on the 
military elements of the KNU to play a key role in peace talks 
with the SPDC.   End summary 
 
¶2.  (U) Background:   The Thai-Burma border around Mae Sot in 
Tak province hosts up to a million ethnic Karen and a large 
number of Karen exile organizations.  The most prominent of 
these organizations is the KNU, which has resisted the central 
government in Burma since 1949, much of that time under the 
leadership of Bo Mya.  The Thai government has long given tacit 
support to the KNU, viewing the Karen as allies who provided a 
buffer against both the Burmese army and (in a former time) 
communist insurgents.  Nevertheless, the Thai military has 
encouraged the KNU to seek a deal with the SPDC and pressured 
the Karen to re-start peace talks with the regime. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) With Thailand's post-coup government pre-occupied in 
the south and elsewhere, officials working along the Burma 
border say they have received no significant instructions from 
Bangkok in recent months.  Although several members of the 
Council for National Security (CNS) were known as opponents of 
former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's policy of engagement 
with the SPDC, the change of government in Bangkok has had 
little impact along the border.  Third Army Commander LTG 
Jiradej Kosharat told the CG Feb. 9 that the RTA wants the KNU 
to heal its internal rifts and negotiate with the SPDC. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Karen Women's Organization (KWO) General Secretary 
Zipporah Sein confirmed in a Feb. 15 conversation Thai pressure 
on the KNU to negotiate with the regime.  She quickly noted, 
however, that the Thais have more than one policy agenda, 
including business interests in Karen State.  Zipporah 
specifically mentioned the prospect of future energy generation 
from the proposed Salween dams and reported that one of the many 
wreaths at Gen. Bo Mya's funeral was sent by the Electricity 
Generating Authority of Thailand, a state enterprise that has 
signed a Memorandum of Understanding about the dams with the 
SPDC (ref b). 
 
---Burial in Burma--- 
 
¶5. (U)  Many of these complicated dramas and odd bedfellows were 
at play during Gen. Bo Mya's well-attended funeral Dec. 26 in 
Karen State about 20 kilometers west of Mae Sot.   The decision 
to bury Bo Mya inside Karen State was made by his son Col. Ner 
Dah, who did not want the long-time resistance fighter to be 
seen as just another leader who died while in exile. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  A National Intelligence Agency officer (NIA) officer 
estimated 2,000 participants at the funeral while others put the 
number much higher:  Karen villagers, exiled political activists 
and several close associates of Bo Mya together with some 
officers from Burma Army and the pro-regime Democratic Karen 
Buddhist Army (DKBA).    SPDC representatives attended the 
funeral - and sent a wreath -- as a gesture of respect to their 
long-time enemy and erstwhile negotiating partner, with whom 
they reached a "Gentleman's Agreement" ceasefire in 2004. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  The SPDC envoys also reportedly used the funeral 
gathering to entice 7th Brigade Commander Htain Maung into 
ceasefire talks, leading to his Jan. 30 dismissal by the KNU 
(ref a).  Since then, both KNU headquarters and Htain Maung's 
group have circulated statements against each other, with both 
sides claiming Bo Mya's mantle. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  Although Bo Mya's funeral may have 
accelerated existing rifts in the Karen resistance, both Thai 
military and KNU sources now claim to be relatively unconcerned 
over the 7th Brigade group that splintered off at the end of 
January.  Nevertheless, tensions within the Karen resistance 
remain high, with former colleagues accusing each other of 
succumbing to the manipulation of outsiders.  The KNU is under 
pressure from the Thai army to negotiate with the SPDC, but will 
likely wait for shifting alliances to settle before making any 
moves 
 
CAMP