BANGKOK: Rare armed conflicts in Laos that are thought to be linked to drug trafficking have forced Thailand to near a well-known rock viewing point border and issued a security alert from the US.
The Phu Chi Fa stunning place, located on the border with Laos in northwestern Chiang Rai state, has been closed until further notice, according to Thai national park officials on Monday.
After studies of” clashes between the Chinese military and unexplained military groups,” the US consulate in Vientiane urged Americans considering travel to Bokeo territory to reevaluate their plans.
The consulate stated on its website that “local officials have requested raised safety levels, which will include an increase in military gates and army presence.”
Unrest is uncommon in socialist Laos, but it is a part of the Golden Triangle, which has been a hub for Southeast Asia’s attractive drug industry for decades. It covers the border regions of Myanmar and Thailand.
A border police clashed with pharmaceutical smugglers in Bokeo on Saturday, according to state-run Lao National Radio reported on Tuesday and made four arrests.
Without providing further details, the report claimed that some frontier police officials were killed and hurt in the conflicts.
Laos officers did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
At least one stray shot struck a house on the Thai side of the border, according to Suphakorn Phromcharoen, the police chief in Thailand’s Wiang Kaen city, across the border from the conflicts.
According to Thai authorities, at least one guy may have died and at least one hundred have been wounded.
