The Myanmar military has intensified offensives in Karen State as it seeks to reopen the Asia Highway—one of the country’s most critical trade arteries—to the Thai border. The renewed offensives center on Kawkareik and come days after junta leader Min Aung Hlaing met with the Thai military chief.
According to frontline sources, the junta has reinforced Light Infantry Battalions 545 and 546 based in Kyonedoe, Battalions 547, 548 and 549 in Nabu, and the No. 12 Military Operations Command in Kawkareik with additional troops and ammunition from Hpa‑an and Mawlamyine.
Their goal is to force open the Asia Highway by early April, when a new government is expected to take office in Naypyitaw.
A resident said daily clashes have intensified around two villages near resistance positions on the old Kawkareik–Myawaddy road close to Kawkareik town.
“We hear gunfire and artillery every day now. It has become much heavier. Airstrikes are more frequent too,” he said. “Just the other day, two jet fighters came and bombed us.”
Karen fighters confirm that junta columns are advancing on resistance positions north of Kawkareik, supported by airstrikes.
Thailand is eager to see the highway reopened as its closure has severely disrupted cross‑border trade, which has to be rerouted at great cost and inconvenience.
“Thailand has been talking to the junta and also coordinating with Karen groups,” a source in Myawaddy close to Karen armed groups said. “The junta’s sudden push to retake the highway is clearly linked to these discussions.”
The junta briefly regained control of parts of the Asia Highway and the Thingannyinaung base last September with the help of the then-allied Karen Border Guard Force (BGF). But the northern section of the highway near Kawkareik remains firmly under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU) and allied People’s Defense Forces.
Military defector Swe Taw said the junta wants to open the highway by April 1, but that is a tall order. “Reopening will only be possible if Thailand pressures or negotiates with the KNU, and even then the terrain is mountainous and vast—there’s no way the junta can clear every area within the deadline,” he said.
Thailand’s engagement with the junta has been unusually active lately. Earlier this month, Thai armed forces chief General Ukris Boontanondha met Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw, followed by a series of visits from Thai military and diplomatic officials. Bangkok is under global pressure to curb scam‑center networks along the border in Myawaddy and is eager to restore multi‑billion‑baht trade flows.
