Hundreds of civil war victims receive treatment every day as chaos in Myanmar spreads across the border with Thailand | World News

The Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot, a town bordering Myanmar, is a harrowing window into a civil war that has suddenly escalated.

In the scorching heat of the early morning hours, the wards are packed with patients, some with catastrophic injuries.

We entered a room full of amputees, many of them recently injured by airstrikes and landmines.

Lying on a bed with his stomach held together by a bandage, we meet Maung Maung.

His voice is incredibly strained and he can barely move. She just lost both of her daughters. One was two years old and the other was 14.

“They were hiding in a school. I thought it would be safe. After the bomb, I saw the body of one of my daughters destroyed,” he tells us.

Many here say they are too afraid to return to their home country and that fighting is now a daily threat.

For decades, Dr. Cynthia Maung, founder of the clinic in Thailand, has seen the graphic side effects of the world’s longest civil war, a brutal confrontation between Burmaof the army and a mix of pro-democracy groups and local ethnic rebel armies.

However, in recent weeks, she says the number of patients coming to her has almost doubled to 500 a day.

“This is the worst situation I have experienced in 35 years here. It is the worst situation,” says Dr. Maung.

As we speak, there are patients of all ages. She is her great hope, but she is juggling increasingly complex and desperate cases.

Recently there has been a sharp increase in the number of people arriving here injured by bombs.

The embattled ruling junta has been increasingly carrying out airstrikes in the face of heavy losses. The resistance now controls more than half of Myanmar’s territory.

One of the most symbolic defeats came two weeks ago in Myawaddy. The small city has a huge economic role, known as the so-called “gateway to Thailand”.

He has long been a focal point for many ethnic and pro-democracy groups, but rarely seemed vulnerable.

However, two weeks ago, rebel forces led by the ethnic Karen army made their move, surprising observers by taking the town.

Videos on social media show the military apparently launching an operation to retake it, but their convoy is ambushed and resistance fighters seize their vehicles and make them flee.

On top of a hill on the Thai side of the border, the army keeps a close eye on everything. There is a nervousness and tension that has not existed since the 2021 coup.

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Second Lieutenant Chuchat Farangtong tells me: “I felt that the resistance groups were well prepared.

“There were signs before they attacked. My unit could see their manpower and weapons. And there were civilians waiting along the river preparing to cross.”

In the past few days alone, thousands of people have fled the fighting in Myanmar, many of them fleeing conscription pushed by an army that desperately needs more men.

Among them is Nyi Nyi, 19, now hiding in Thailand after secretly crossing the border, a terrifying journey that took three days.

“When I was fleeing, most of my friends were arrested by the military,” he says.

“They were interrogated and tortured. They were trained for only three weeks and then sent to the front.”

He claims that opponents are being brutally attacked by the military desperate to cling to power: “They starve opponents, put them in stress positions and beat them until their ears bleed.”

We asked the ruling junta about their accusations. They did not respond to our request for comment.

Myanmar’s military government has been losing ground in its border areas for months, while pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed groups have launched a series of successful offensives.

This has been possible thanks to the union of groups that were previously disparate.

The ruling military government is unlikely to be at risk of being overthrown imminently, but we haven’t seen a change like this in years.

That’s a challenge for neighboring countries trying to navigate their relationship with Myanmar, rising violence in border areas and the exodus of Myanmar’s people.

We went on patrol with the Thai police, who seem to be trying to play the role of protector and enforcer, helping some find shelter and detaining others.

They tell us they have arrested up to 30 people trying to cross illegally into Thailand each day.

“I’m worried about bullets flying towards the Thai side,” says Lieutenant Manop Sivadumrong.

“Therefore, we have deployed border police and provincial police along the border to prevent the arrival of illegal immigrants and help Myanmar people on both sides in case they are injured.”

It is a delicate balance for them and for many other countries: a byproduct of a conflict that many have ignored.

But the international community is slowly waking up.

China, the United States and Thailand are reevaluating their strategies. Whatever happens next, Myanmar’s future will likely remain divided and without any authority in charge.

And a fragmented state will likely wreak havoc among innocent civilians and continue to spread across national borders.