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Govt watches new border



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<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5><b>Govt watches new border
Problem with Unease<br>
</font></b><font size=4>The growing menace of drugs and the power.of the
United Wa State <br>
Army Thai authorities worried, writes <b>Don Pathan </b>of <i>The Nation.
<br>
<br>
</font></i><font size=3>TA THON, Chiang Mai - Eco- nomic sanction for
political gain has long been a popular measure among governments, <br>
despite the fact such moves are not always successful. <br>
Nevertheless, the Thai government has decided to experiment with it by
cutting off a land-link with an unwanted neighbour who has occupied an
area just on the other side of the northern border for the past decade.
<br>
With the recent closure of a border pass leading to an area controlled by
the United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of the world's largest armed drug
trafficking groups, the government is hoping that massive infrastructure
development by the UWSA will be disrupted and its freewheeling narcotic
activities will be contained. <br>
For decades, Thai authorities have turned a blind eye to the illicit
activities in the eastern region of Burma's Shan State until drug abuse
became a national problem. More than 250,000 Thais are estimated to be
addicted to methamphetamine (yaa baa) and nearly the same number are
hooked on heroin, according to the Thailand Development Research
Institute. Just about every sector of society is up in arms over this
dangerous development. <br>
Indeed, resources have been drained to contain the flow of opium and
heroin into the country and some are calling for immediate action against
the Wa. <br>
But given the complexity of the problem, swift action may not be the
answer. The very presence of the Wa army on the doorstep of the Kingdom
is testimony to the lack of political will among security agencies to
impose preventive measures on what was seen years ago as an escalating
problem. <br>
Instead, business&nbsp; dealings with the Wa have gone on --as national
security took a back seat to the interests of a few in the private
sector. <br>
Security officials say the controversial Son Ton Du checkpoint, which
opened last year after local businessmen lobbied the National Security
Council, has enhanced the business link between Thai merchants and the
UWSA. The pass was allowed to open despite the fact that contractors and
workers would be paid with drug money. <br>
It is estimated that 2,000 Thai nationals workin the Wa-controlled area
in Shan State, though some say the figure could be higher. They are
building everything from hydrpower dams to schools, hospitals and even a
casino. <br>
A road linking the town to the UWSA's major stronghold in Panghsang on
the Burma-China border is progressing accordingly, while a loop from Mong
Hsat, some 70 kflometers from Mong Yawn, to the commercial town of
Tachilek is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The entire
route from Mong Yawn to Panghsang is about 500 kilometres <b>(see map).
</b>Once completed, the route is expected to enhance the UWSA's grip to
the region. <br>
One Thai sub-contractor building a UWSA-financed road said he likes
dealing with them because there is no bureaucratic red tape.
&quot;They'll pay you on the spot upon completing each kilometre&nbsp;
with cash,&quot; he said. <br>
Everything went well until six months ago when authorities found nine
Thai villagers from nearby Fang district beaten to death with their hands
tied behind their backs. <br>
Their bodies were scattered along the Thai-Burmese border. The culprits
were alleged to be members of the UWSA. Some authorities believed the
gruesome murders were, the result of a drug-deal gone wrong, while others
insist the victims were innocent villagers out on a hunting trip. <br>
Suspicion, over government official involvement surfaced when a leading
suspect, an ethnic Chinese businessman, better known as Ah-loo Sae-mah,
was gunned down by two men immediately after meeting a senior police
officer in an attempt to clear his name. <br>
All fingers pointed to Mong Yawn, a southern stronghold of the UWSA,
about 20 kilometres from the Son Ton Du checkpoint, inside Shan State.
<br>
Local media played up the stories and the military and police came out in
force. A curfew was imposed on a number of districts in Chiang Mai and
Chiang Rai, and Prime Minister Chuan Leckpai visited the checkpoint.
<br>
The pressure was on the central government to do something. Closing the
border seemed a logical move.<br>
 For Thai nationals who have business dealings with the Wa, the closure
of the pass meant that alternative routes would have to be found. The
call for a pass in nearby Baan San Maket in Chiang Rai was quickly shot
down. <br>
Thai border officials said exporters have turned to the Mae Sai-Tachilek
border crossing in Chiang Rai to transport their goods to Mong Yawn,
while a number of Thai workers have begun to use the Kok River to travel
back and forth to their work sites. <br>
During a recent visit by <i>The Nation </i>to the border, the manager of
a Thai construction company was seen in a bitter argument with Thai
soldiers guarding the Kok River route. They were refusing to let him
cross the border with an electric rice cooker. <br>
Because the pass is unofficial, a young army officer said, only basic
household goods from the local market were allowed to be transported.
<br>
For the manager, the explanation did not hold water. All he knows is that
his men are tired and hungry ftom work which they cannot get in their own
country. <br>
&quot;The government has very little consideration for its small-time
private sector,&quot; the angry manager roared without directing his
comments to anybody in particular. <br>
An irritated army sergeant shouted back: &quot;Aren't you at all
concerned about the natiods security? And the drug problem?&quot; <br>
Realising he was in a no-win situation, the manager backed down and went
on his way. The rice cooker stayed behind, a symbol of the aura of
uncertainty for Thai workers and contractors in Shan State. <br>
Though the merchant was upset at not being able to take the rice cooker
with him, his frustration has more to do with the fact that his project
will become more expensive now that he has to find a new route for his
shipments of supplies. <br>
He estimated the cost of the road project will increase by 15 per cent to
about Bt 85,000 per kilometre because of the closure of the Baan Son Ton
Doo pass. <br>
Another Thai businessman, who asked not to be named, accused Thai
authorities of a cop-out by demonising the Wa army and the ethnic group
as a whole. <br>
Drug trafficking has always been the work of warlords with cooperation
from government officials on both sides of the border, he said. <br>
Maj Gen Chamlong Phothong, the 3rd Army Region's chief-of-staff, defended
the authority's decision to close the pass as an attempt to curb the
group's money-laundering activities. <br>
Millions of methamphetarnines produced cheaply by the UWSA flood Thailand
on a weekly basis and the money is channelled out of the country through
the very route that the drugs entered, Chamiong said. <br>
In 1996, about US$600 million in unexplained foreign inflow was
discovered in Burma's shabby economy. Much of this, said Burma watchers,
came from drug money made possible by the tactical alliance between the
numerous narcotic groups and the military government in Rangoon. <br>
&quot;We're very concerned with what's going an over there,&quot; said a
young army officer standing on a bunker over- looking the Wa hills just
on the other side of the border. &quot;If the Wa Set too strong, it would
be very difficult for us to contain them.&quot; <br>
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