On the long-awaited Burmese election day, Sunday November 7th, armed resistance groups engaged in concerted military operations against the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) forces in the border towns of Myawaddy and Three Pagodas' Pass, resulting in their temporary occupation.

As a result of the fighting, within 48 hours, more than 10,000 persons found temporary shelter in Thai government-designated sites in Mae Sot district of Tak province, 3-4,000 in Phop Phra district 60km south of Mae Sot, and a further 3,000 in Sangklaburi district of Kanchanaburi province. Thousands more are thought to have sought safety in Thailand in other border areas through informal networks of friends and relatives.

There has been a coordinated emergency response between the RTG (Royal Thai Government), UN and CCSDPT (Committee for Coordination of Services to Displaced Persons in Thailand) agencies.

TBBC is taking the lead in providing food, shelter and non-food items to the temporary shelters.

Now four days after the election, although fighting in Myawaddy has subsided and many of the refugees who arrived in Mae Sot are spontaneously returning, the situation on the border remains highly volatile, with an extended stay of the Phop Phra and Sangklaburi caseloads, as well as new and substantial influxes, highly probable.