BD Editorial: Myanmar Must Seize Ch

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Subject: BD Editorial: Myanmar Must Seize Chance To Squeeze Drugs Supply

Myanmar Must Seize Chance To Squeeze Drugs Supply
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Business Day Editorial, Bangkok, 24 Jan 1996

The surrender late last week of Khun Sa's Mong Tai
Army to the Myanmar state forces under Lieutenant
General Maung Thint in a formal ceremony in Ho Mong
is a positive development in the sense that the
Golden Triangle's protracted warfare has come to
an end -- at least temporarily.

The Myanmar authorities appear to be taking a
magnanimous and conciliatory stance towards the
vanquished. The government's own English language
newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, stated in an
editorial that the soldiers of the Mong Tai Army
are "brethren" who "deserved the right of choice
 . . . of forsaking what was wrong and taking up
what was right". 

To make the development more meaningful Myanmar
must now concentrate on finding a way to tackle
the larger issue of how to contain or at least
restrain the production and export of opium and
its derivatives from the Golden Triangle.

US authorities estimate that Khun Sa and his
forces controlled about half of the heroin produced
in the Golden Triangle, and so a reasonable question
to ask is whether or not there will be any 
significant reduction in the flow of the drug from
the area now that Khun Sa and his troops have
surrendered.

Myanmar's State Law and Order Restoration Council
(Slorc) has a clear opportunity to demonstrate to
the world its commitment towards fighting the
scourge of illegal drugs by taking steps to ensure
that opium production in the area is substantially
reduced.

Thus, Khun Sa's surrender should not be taken merely
as bringing a former enemy into the fold, and of
ending armed conflict in the region, but more
importantly as a first step in effectively curtailing
the obscene trade in drugs.

It is an open secret that Khun Sa's influence,
financially and otherwise, is immense not only in
the Golden Triangle and throughout the region. His
low-profile network of business associates spans the
globe, and the financial assets he commands probably
rival those of many of the world's largest corporations. 

What will now become of this global network, and
will Khun Sa maintain control over it?

Myanmar officials recently stated that one of the
reasons they would not consider turning Khun Sa
over to US authorities is because doing so would be
futile as there are many other would-be Khun Sa's
waiting in the wings and ready to fill the power
vacuum, if indeed there is one to fill.

The question then turns to the issue of the extent
to which these Khun Sa understudies have already
jumped onto the stage, and if or when they have,
will Slorc be willing to put them out of the drug
trade business for good?

We can only hope for this scenario in the North
and trust that while Myanmar authorities are doing
what they can to reduce the supply, the countries
where the demand mostly originates will also do
their share to solve the problem. Only when both
demand and supply are brought under control will
lasting solutions emerge. 
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