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NEWS - Gloves off for Thai Army in
- Subject: NEWS - Gloves off for Thai Army in
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1999 20:29:00
Subject: NEWS - Gloves off for Thai Army in Drugs War
Gloves off for Thai Army in Drugs War
Reuters
27-JUL-99
GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Thailand (Reuters) - In the jungle on
the Thai-Myanmar border, a small stretch of no man's land
is
all that separates heavily armed Thai army units from
fighters of the Myanmar-based drug rings they have vowed
to destroy.
In a recent visit to the highland frontier, Thai army
chief Gen.
Surayudh Julanond told his men no holds were barred in
the
war against what he calls Thailand's biggest security
threat.
"We cannot tolerate gangsters using this area as a haven
for
drugs trafficking any more," he said. "If the traffickers
use
arms, you can strike back with arms."
He spoke at a mountaintop base in northern Thailand just
yards away from units of United Wa State Army, an ethnic
guerrilla army considered by most independent analysts to
be Myanmar's most notorious drug-trafficking force.
Narcotics experts say the Wa now control most of the
production of illicit drugs in the so-called Golden
Triangle
opium-growing region, the world's No. 1 source of heroin.
Known primarily for opium, from which heroin is made, Wa
areas also make huge quantities of amphetamines that have
become a major scourge in Thailand, putting pressure on
Thai leaders to act.
In recent weeks, Thailand has deployed more than 800
troops in areas opposite UWSA positions and has also
established mortar and artillery bases, an army source
said.
"The purpose of these fresh deployments is to reestablish
stability in these areas," Surayudh said.
Sources in the narcotics suppression drive told Reuters
at
least 29 members of Wa drug gangs had been killed on the
border in the past year. Col. Suthas Jarumanee, commander
of a task force assigned to conduct search-and-destroy
missions against Wa units, said his men killed seven
members of a UWSA drug gang in a firefight last month.
"The drugs war is declared and the search-and-destroy
missions will continue," he told reporters.
Last week, National Security Council chief Kachadpai
Burusapatana urged a shoot-on-sight policy against drug
gangs."Alien drugs traffickers from a neighboring country
are
becoming increasingly rampant," he told a seminar. "The
only way to deal with these people is to execute them on
the
spot."
The UWSA has become increasingly influential since it
reached a cease-fire with the military government in
Yangon
10 years ago. It controls areas of eastern Shan State
near
the Chinese border as well as borderlands opposite
Thailand.
Suthas said the UWSA had mobilized more than 5,000
guerrilla fighters to protect its drugs business near the
Thai
border. What had really alarmed Thailand, though, was a
recent linkup between the northern Wa army based at
Pangsan near the Chinese border under Pau Yuqiang and
the southern group under Wei Hsue Kang near Thai border.
Suthas said this prompted a full alert among Thai forces
on
the border.
The United States has offered a $2 million reward for
Wei's
capture and named Pau, who denies involvement in the drug
trade, in its list of Golden Triangle drug traffickers.
Wei is
apparently unperturbed -- according to a Thai army source
he has consolidated his position in the border district
of
Mong Yon and is actively expanding his influence in the
Triangle.
"The U.S. government is offering $2 million for his head
but
crossing the border to get him is not an easy task," said
army
Maj. Prathompong Kasetsuk.
Mong Yon was a former stronghold of Khun Sa, a notorious
drug lord also wanted by the United States who now
resides
in Yangon. Myanmar insists he has retired from the
business
after surrendering to the government in 1995, but Thai
narcotics officials believe he is still closely linked to
narcotics.
Pinyo Chaithong, chief of the Office of Narcotics Control
Board in the northern Thai town of Chiang Mai, said Khun
Sa's son and guerrilla fighters were increasing their
output.
"His son is actively in drugs business and there are
signs
that Khun Sa is also involved in the drug again," Pinyo
said.
The board estimates there are at least 57 amphetamine and
heroin factories in the Golden Triangle under the control
of
the UWSA and guerrillas of the Mong Tai Army Khun Sa
created. It estimates UWSA areas now produce 300 million
amphetamine tablets a year, mainly for the Thai market.
"Apart from producing drugs in Mong Yon, the Wa have also
created satellite villages for their drugs rings on Thai
soil, so
we have to establish order in the suspect villages,"
Suthas
said. He said the army was concentrating its domestic
crackdown on traffickers on 26 hill tribe villages in the
Mae
Ai, Mae Chan and Mae Fah Luang districts of Chiang Mai
province.