Bkk Post -Border closure comes as a

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Subject: Bkk Post -Border closure comes as a boon

Bangkok Post - Oct 25, 1999.
COMMENT / DEALING WITH BURMA

Border closure comes as a boon
Rangoon's knee-jerk reaction of clapping shut the borders presents us with a
wonderful opportunity to get our house in order.

Subin Khuenkaew and Nussara Thaitawat

It is clear by now that the Burmese junta did not expect the reaction it got
from the Chuan government and the Thai public following the closure of its
land and maritime borders and the suspension of the fishing concessions of
Thai companies.

So just what reaction did it expect, one wonders?Perhaps the Burmese junta,
used to being pampered by the Thai government, expected it to come running
and begging on its knees for the earliest re-opening of the borders, and for
all its demands to be met, whether reasonable or not.

After all, Thailand has stood up for Burma's human rights abuses and
undemocratic ways for so long with that "constructive engagement policy"
even as the international community rejected the regime. Also, certain
former top brass with close links to past governments would be more than
helpful to their "friends" in Rangoon.

But this was not the case this time, certainly after Burmese ambassador to
Bangkok Hla Maung told reporters after meeting with Foreign Minister Surin
Pitsuwan that the re-opening of the borders depended on the arrest and
prosecution of the five students who occupied the Burmese embassy in Bangkok
on Oct 1-2.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman may have tried to excuse the ambassador by
saying he was not so abrupt in his talks with Mr Surin, but the message was
clear to senior members of the government, the army and anyone else
interested.

The initial panic at the huge economic losses for Thai businesses from the
closure of the border soon translated into a rekindling of that deep-down
antipathy many Thais have for that historical enemy, Burma.

Protests against the government soon lost momentum and the black market
trade along the porous 2,180km border has grown dramatically, with prices
skyrocketing, to the delight of small traders. Many of these traders say
they hope the border remains closed as long as possible.

A senior army analyst said the Burmese officials manning the border also
were enjoying the closure because of the exorbitant "taxes" they were
collecting.

"The Thailand of today is not what it was just one year ago," said one
senior military officer responsible for security along the northern border
with Burma. "To be precise, the army of today is not what it was just one
year ago."The personal interests of certain senior officers and the
influence they wielded on the government in Bangkok were for a long time the
critical factors which placed Thailand at a disadvantage when dealing with
Burma. These have been removed since Gen Surayud Chulanont took over as army
commander-in-chief last year.

The commander's well-publicised policies are to build a compact but strong
and efficient army, and to deal with the "uniformed mafia", the soldiers who
operate extortion gangs and commit other criminal offences.

The business ties between senior Thai army officers and the Burmese junta
must abide strictly by the law, according to Gen Surayud.

He also has said that with the personal interests of the bosses set aside,
the senior officers in the field will no longer feel embarrassed and
intimidated about addressing the real issues which affect ties between the
two countries.

Thailand and Burma, of course, rank the importance of these real issues
differently.

The most important issue for Thais is the influx of millions of
methamphetamine pills and heroin from Burma, which is regarded as a threat
to national security, while Burma sees Thailand's alleged complicity with
anti-Rangoon ethnic groups as most serious.

The second most important issue for Thais is the Burmese nationals and
ethnic minorities who are fleeing human rights abuses and economic hardship
in Burma-there is an estimated one million of these illegal immigrants in
Thailand.

This is followed by the spillover of the never-ending ethnic conflict
between the Burmese military rulers and the ethnic minority groups, border
demarcation, and the regulating of border trade. The spread of certain
communicable diseases, some already under control in Thailand such as
elephantiasis, is also causing concern and costing Thai taxpayers millions
of baht.

Over the past five years, all these problems have only gotten worse and most
analysts would agree that unless Burma can achieve a level of political
stability, they will never be resolved.

The senior military officer, who has been based in the North now for over a
decade, said it was not easy to read the collective mind of the Burmese
junta.

"Who knows how long the border will be closed," he said "It could be days,
weeks, months, even years."Sources in the Third Army said they were taking
advantage of the closed border to "stabilise" communities living along the
frontier and to settle certain long-standing issues. A closed border is
easier to handle from a military perspective, according to Third Army
commander Maj-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwongse.

Maj-Gen Tomorn Kittisophon, the 4th Infantry Division commander and also the
commander of the Tak-based Naresuan Task Force, said the army would work
more closely with civilians to win their support in the fight against
illicit drugs and illegal settlers.

The army has extensive experience in building strong civilian support from
its anti-communist drive in the 1960s and '70s. People served as its eyes
and ears, and supported it with supplies and other help.

This work, though never fully abandoned, was given less emphasis after the
communist threat subsided. But Maj-Gen Tomorn said the army would have no
problem picking it up again after some training for officers. "It's the same
type of work we did during the time of the communist insurgency, only the
enemy is different."The Third Army has been flexing its muscle over the past
two weeks after Burmese soldiers reinforced their positions along the border
after the embassy siege. It also has been exerting a very visible presence
in communities known to have close links with ethnic minority groups across
the border.

For example, troops with the 1st Cavalry Division, who since Oct 1 have
replaced the infantry in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, have been using their
V-150 armoured vehicles on the road running parallel to the border and park
them right in front of villagers' homes before knocking on their door.

There are training exercises in at least five sensitive locations along the
common border, with that in Mae Hong Son's Pai district being conducted by
the US Special Forces. The focus is on combat readiness in mountainous
terrain.

Maj-Gen Tomorn said there was nothing unusual about the training. It's
October and many of the soldiers in the North have just taken up their new
posts. But the training is being conducted with live ammunition and in
so-called problem areas near the border.

The Naresuan Task Force, which recently has been relocated from Chiang Mai
to Tak, is training near the border town of Mae Sot, an important trading
point across from Myawaddy township in Burma and a politically volatile area
where the Karen National Union and the Rangoon-backed Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army have reached a stand-off.

Soldiers with the 4th Infantry Regiment are training in Mae Sariang
district, and those of the 7th Infantry Regiment are in Mae Hong Son's Muang
district.

The Phamuang Task Force, made up of cavalrymen relocated recently from Nan
province where they were responsible for security along the Laotian border,
is training along a wide stretch of the most sensitive border region between
Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.

The 7th Infantry Regiment's 5th battalion is being trained by the US Special
Forces in Pai district, Mae Hong Son. The training is part of the annual US
military assistance but the venue has been shifted from Lampang to the
rugged mountain ranges of Pai.

"We're most ready," said Maj-Gen Tomorn.

The Third Army is on the right track with its double strategy: winning the
hearts of the people as well as maintaining a strong military presence. The
challenge is more whether its cavalrymen can adapt to the new situation and
keep up the work, and whether other government agencies will work with them
to stabilise the border.

The cavalrymen were relocated from the border with Laos. "We could
communicate in Lao with the soldiers on the other side and with the local
people, but here we can't understand a thing," said one soldier with the 2nd
Cavalry Regiment manning the border in San Ma Ked village.

The village in Chiang Mai's Mae Fah Luang district is located just 2km from
the new headquarters of drug kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang of the United Wa State
Army, who is generally accepted to have close ties with the Burmese military
junta.

Thai businessmen have been pressing the government to open an official
border crossing at San Ma Ked after the San Ton Du temporary checkpoint was
shut over three months ago to deny the UWSA the fruits of the drug trade.

San Ma Ked and the adjoining villages of Hua Mae Kham and Mong Kaw Lang make
up a most sensitive area. They form an area of Thai land jutting into Burma
inhabited by ethnic Akha, Lahu, Lisor and Mong villagers, many of whom have
farmed the land on the other side of the border for as long as they
remember. Only villagers in their teens who have been to school can speak
Thai, making civilian work extremely difficult.

Narcotics officers are paying special attention to these villages,
especially Hua Mae Kham, as they believe they are part of the Wei network in
Thailand.

The Bangkok Post recently visited the three villages and noticed many
four-wheel-drive trucks parked at houses whose owners were unlikely to be
able to afford them. There also are new brick homes, which are in sharp
contrast to the old, dilapidated wooden homes of the ethnic villagers. The
owners of the brick homes have been nowhere to be seen after the Chuan
government got tough with drug traffickers along the northern border.

One army analyst said the cavalrymen were known to be rather rigid in their
methods and would have to be more flexible and adapt their strategy from
time to time while in the North. "Their armoured vehicles can only be a
deterrence for so long," he said.

He also said the Third Army's work could easily come to nothing if other
government agencies do not address the key issue of nationality for the
ethnic minority groups and their right to education and land ownership.

"How can we expect them to love Thailand when we deny them Thai citizenship?
How can we blame them for their allegiance to the other side rather than to
us when we see them as drug traffickers and destroyers of the environment?"
he asked.

The closure of the border should not be seen only from the economic point of
view, said the officer. "We have such an advantage over Burma, but we don't
realise it and we allow the Burmese junta to push us around."No one knows
how long the border will be closed. The Burmese generals themselves
certainly will not be affected.

Only the Burmese people, as usual, will suffer at having to buy goods at
exorbitant price on the black market-to the joy of Thai traders.

This is an opportunity for Thailand to settle its problems and build a
strong society along the border.

The Third Army is on the right track and should receive the co-operation of
all agencies, and the Burmese generals can just watch these developments in
Thailand if they please.