The Thailand Landmine Impact Survey was conducted from June 2000 to May 2001 in targeted areas along Thai’s borders with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Malaysia.  The objective of the survey was to locate areas contaminated by landmines and/or UXO and to support target mine action activities.

The survey utilizes many instruments to meet its objectives such as interviews with locals, questionnaires, sketch maps, topographic maps, compasses, and GPS.  A pilot test for the survey was conducted in Sakeow Province near the Thailand-Cambodia border.  The actual survey consisted of two parts; a field survey consisting of four 18-person teams collected information province-by-province and a visual inspection of the suspected area followed.

The results of the survey indicate that 27 of 47 provinces surveyed are contaminated with landmines.  Approximately 2,731 communities are affected.  Additionally, the survey reports that 3,123 landmine/UXO casualties have occurred, 346 of which took place in the last couple years.  Of these casualties, 1,498 victims were killed and 1,981 were injured.  As a result of the survey’s conclusions, TMAC has declared 20 minefields as its top-priority for clearance.

Q&A Session

George Focsaneanu (TMAC)

Observation: Thailand has twice the casualty/injury rate than Mozambique.

We are given a realistic picture of problem and can see it is more severe than first anticipated.

Major Ho Hin Chai (Malaysia)

Question: In the target areas long the Thai-Malaysia border, was the survey done independently or in cooperation with Malaysian authorities?

Answer: The information came from inside Thailand, not from the Malaysian side, although we did collect information from Cambodia.

Dennis Barlow (Director, Mine Action Information Center)

Question: Is GIS information difficult to integrate with other data?

Answer: IMSMA was used first to keep coordinates of suspected area.  Overlay information is most important for Thailand.

Dave McCracken (Senior Technical Advisor, TMAC)

Comment: The survey should be conducted in the host-nation language and input into the database in the same language.  The beneficiary of the survey is the host-country and the locals that live in mine-affected communities.  If needed, the survey can be translated into other languages.  This has been a problem for TMAC.  We are now in the process of translating the survey into Thai because the deminers in the field cannot use it in the language it is currently in.