A group of about 50 protestors set up makeshift homes in the path of the pipeline at the beginning of December. Their camp is right next to a densely forested area which they're determined to protect.

The protestors claim that building a 50 kilometre stretch of the gas pipeline through the forest would be an environmental catastrophe. The authorities have become increasingly worried as work on the pipeline has approached a protestors camp.

On Tuesday, 200 troops were sent to the area to monitor the situation. The government has invested millions of dollars in the project and it wants the pipeline to be built as soon as possible.

If it isn't completed on time the state-run petroleum authority of Thailand, which is overseeing the project, could receive a hefty fine. Thailand signed an agreement with Burma nearly three years ago to buy gas from the Andaman Sea but since then the project has provoked much controversy.

Burma's military government was accused of using forced labour to construct the pipeline and human rights groups claim that thousands of ethnic minorities were moved from their homes. The Burmese have virtually completed work on their side and are now waiting for the Thais to finish.