Situation in Thaton district, Mon State

Thaton (Doothatu) district straddles the border of Karen State and northern Mon State. Being close to the coastal road and railway lines, this destrict is under quite heavy SPDC control, and the DKBA also has a significant presence in the eastern parts of the destrict. Only small Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) units can operate in the area, so while there is sporadec fighting in the area the villages near the Belin and Donthami rivers were forced to relocate to larger villages in 1997. Some of the people from the villages in the Donthami area are now reportedly trickling back to try living in their old villages or the surrounding forests. It is as yet unclear whether SPDC and DKBA troops will allow this to continue.
When fighting occurs, the normal response by SPDC troops is to detain and torture local village elders. This is accompanied in the area by fairly regular and systematic looting, demands for money and forced laborers as porters and at army camps. The futrre of billagers in this area will largely depend on the degree of activity conducted by the KNLA; assuming that the KNLA continues to operate there, it is likely that the SPDC will eventually clamp down further on the villagers by conducting further forced relocations.