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300,000 speed pills burned near bor



Subject: 300,000 speed pills burned near border 

                                                          
                                        December 31, 1998 

                                 

NARCOTICS / SHAN FIGHTERS SHOW READINESS TO
                 HELP FIGHT DRUGS

300,000 speed pills
burned near border

Display attracts more scepticism than
praise

Subin Khuenkaew Nusara Thaitawat
Chiang Mai

Shan independence fighters set ablaze
nearly 300,000 amphetamine tablets
and a kilogramme of heroin in a
"liberated area" just across the
Thai-Burmese border on Tuesday in a
demonstration of their intention to help
Thailand and the international
community fight illicit drugs from inside
Shan State.

But there was little praise for this
demonstration, held across from Wiang
Haeng district by the Shan State Army
(SSA) two weeks after it announced its
readiness to work with foreign governments and the UN against drugs.

There has been no official reaction so far from Thai and US
authorities, nor the UN regarding the SSA's announcement. There
may as well be none. Analysts said it is a deja vu for these authorities.

Since 1958 other Shan groups have claimed they were fighting for
independence from Burma, most have promised to wipe out illicit
drugs in exchange for support for their struggle for self-determination
and rural development.

"It's a difficult one for both the Thai and US authorities. While both
want to see an end to drugs production in the Shan state, they cannot
assist an ethnic group fighting for independence from Burma," said an
analyst.

In an interview with the Bangkok Post in Muang district earlier,
Lt-Gen Sommai Vicharvorn, Third Army Commander, offered only a
short statement:

"The Third Army was assigned by the government to stop the influx of
illicit drugs across the northern border. With refineries being located
on the other side, we welcome all those who volunteer to help us. If a
certain ethnic group wants to hand over drugs they seized on the other
side, we will take it but there must be no conditions or strings
attached."

As preparations were being made for the drugs to be burnt on
Tuesday, Thai soldiers from the Naresuan Task Force manning the
border pushed back SSA fighters who had crossed into Wiang Haeng

and warned that mortar shells will be fired just on the border line in the
next few days.

No representatives from the US Drug Enforcement Administration,
reportedly invited to witness the destruction of the drugs, showed up.

"I'm disappointed that our efforts are not recognised," said Col Yawd
Serk, commander-in-chief of the SSA.

In a speech given before setting the drugs on fire, Col Yawd Serk said
since March his group had destroyed nine refineries, chemicals and
drugs worth some 100 million baht in Mongpan and Mongtang
districts.

The drugs destroyed on Tuesday - 284,000 speed pills and one
kilogramme of heroin - were seized from Kachin dealers near the
border on December 21.

Col Yawd Serk reiterated his group's pledge to work with the
international community to wipe out illicit drugs in the Shan State and
called on those governments who are serious about the issue to look
deeper into the real roots of the narcotics problem in Shan State.

"The drugs problem in Shan State cannot be resolved without
resolving the ethnic conflict," he said. "If the international community
will assist the SSA, we will be able to cover more ground."

Col Yawd Serk also reiterated the SSA's call for the international
community to recognise the status of the Shan State as a sovereign
state in 1948, after independence from Britain, for non-governmental
organisations to provide humanitarian assistance to the Shan people,
and finally for all the Burmese soldiers to withdraw from the Shan
State.

The Shan State of Burma is the world's largest source of opium and
the source of millions of speed pills aimed for the Thai market. 
                                                       


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Last Modified: Thu, Dec 31, 1998
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