Bkk Post-Agreement to set up joint

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Subject: Bkk Post-Agreement to set up joint anti-narcotics committee

March 9, 1999
THAI - BURMA RELATIONS
Agreement to set up joint anti-narcotics committee
Gen Than Shwe tours Doi Tung project

Saritdet Marukatat
Chiang Rai

Thailand and Burma yesterday agreed to set up a joint committee to oversee
stepped-up cooperation in the suppression of drug production and trafficking
along their common border.

Government spokesman Akkapol Sorasuchart announced the plan after talks
between Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and visiting Burmese counterpart Gen
Than Shwe at the Doi Tung Development Project in Chiang Rai.

In a joint-communique released in Bangkok last night, the two prime
ministers stated their governments' determination to "further enhance"
cooperation at all levels in the fight against narcotic drugs. Law
enforcement authorities also agreed to take concrete action against
precursor chemicals.

According to Mr Akkapol, senior Thai and Burmese officials will meet in
Burma soon to flesh out plans towards the setting up of the new joint
committee, which will bring together respective drug suppression agencies,
the police and possibly the military.

The committee's main duty will be "to very seriously contain or even destroy
the drug production factories wherever their location is", the spokesman
said.

Accompanied by about 50 officials from both sides, the two prime ministers
began talks about two hours after the Burmese party flew into Chiang Rai
from Rangoon. The discussions - which focussed on drug suppression and
border problems - continued for about two and a half hours through a working
lunch.

According to the spokesman, Gen Than Shwe noted that the drug problem would
take some time to solve, and spoke of Burma's 15-year plan to eradicate
narcotic drugs.

Prime Minister Chuan pledged to cooperate with this plan but emphasised Thai
concerns about short-term problems, in particular the need for cooperation
to stamp out factories along the border that were producing amphetamines for
shipment to Thailand. At the same time, he acknowledged that the presence of
minority groups in the border areas made access difficult for the Burmese

government.

Burma's eradication plan is for dealing with long-term problems, the
spokesman said. "We in Thailand are more concerned about the short-term one
that's really affecting the country and affecting the world," he added.

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said the two countries were well placed to
cooperate in drug suppression, with Thailand able to share its experience
and technology and Burma its resources.

He emphasised that bilateral cooperation remained necessary even though the
two countries were party to the United Nations International Drug Control
Programme also joined by Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam.

"Consultations at a summit level are necessary and will benefit such an
endeavour," Mr Surin added.

Win Aung, his Burmese counterpart, said Burma was taking time to eradicate
drugs because of the obstruction posed by minority groups. "We try to solve
the problem step by step, gradually declaring one after another an
opium-free zone."

Mr Win Aung did not rule out the possibility of amphetamines being produced
in Thailand, saying factories could be set up "anywhere on the border". He
also pointed out that Burma did not produce the necessary precursor chemical
ephedrine, and that "these chemicals are imported from India, China or
Thailand".

As for border problems, Mr Surin expressed confidence that the summit-level
talks would help keep them in check.

"I think that border problems will ease, that there will be a decline in
mistrust and closer links in several areas," he said, advocating more
consultations and exchanges at all levels through existing mechanisms.

The two prime ministers felt that security and stability along the border
were vital to the development of both sides, he added.

The two countries' Regional Border Committee will discuss the question of
launching a joint patrol in the Andaman Sea when it meets in Phuket in the
coming weeks. Three Thais and a number of Burmese have died in clashes close
to disputed waters over the past few months.