- Title: MALAYSIA: NEWSMEN TAKEN ON THAI BORDER TOUR
- Date: 18th October 1971
- Summary: 1. AERIAL V..showing flooded paddy fields and mountains 0.06 2. CU Pilot 0.10 3. AERIALS..of jungle on border 0.18 4. Newsmen leave helicopter 0.25 5. Malaysian officer briefs newsmen (3 shots) 0.37 6. Troops with jeeps by roadside 0.42 7. TRAVEL SHOT..in jeep (2 shots) 0.48 8. Army camp sign 0.51 9. GV of camp 0.57 10. GV Sandbagged bunker 1.02 11. Malaysian troops (3 shots) 1.12 12. Artillery squad, PAN to newsmen watching 1.20 Initials ES. 1216 ES. 1242 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd November 1971 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: THAI-MALAYSIA BORDER
- Country: Malaysia
- Reuters ID: LVA7C02N6P0ZXW4TO46957JLLY9O
- Story Text: The Malaysian authorities last week took newsmen on a rare tour of the Thai border, where troops are fighting an elusive band of Communist insurgents.
Much of the 350-mile border is inaccessible jungle which provides an ideal sanctuary for the guerrillas whose strength is estimated at around 1,200.
The Malaysian officers had plenty to say about the activities of their troops, but offered little evidence of cantact with the Communists.
SYNOPSIS: The Malaysian authorities last week took newsmen on a rare tour of the Thai border area where troops are fighting an elusive band of Communist insurgents. Much of the 350-mile border is inaccessible jungle which provides an ideal sanctuary for the guerrillas whose strength is estimated around 1,200. Although Malaysian Army officers had plenty to say about the activities of their troops, they had little evidence to offer of contacts with the Communists.
In one area, where intelligence reports said the guerrillas were operating, no contact had been made for four months. Such is the shadowy nature of the insurgents that only six contacts in the border area had been made in the last eighteen months. It is a frustrating job for the Malaysian troops, sweating it out in the heavy humidity of the rain forest. While they lay both ambushes and mines, the most they can expect is a few harassing shots as a diversion. The Malaysian say many of the guerrillas are Chinese recruited from rubber and tin mines, often with cash inducements. Thai bandits and smugglers are also employed as guides and sometimes become mercenaries in what the Malaysians claim is a Communist campaign to disrupt Malaysian-Thai relations.
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