Thai PM challenges Burma to act on Mong Yawn
Source : The Nation(March 12)
PRIME Minister Thaksin Shinawatra emerged from the Chiang Rai drug conference a diplomatic adventurer, using the media hype surrounding the forum to turn the tables on neighbouring Burma by highlighting Rangoon's suspicious narcotics policies.
Mong Yawn looks likely to become a household name, and a real thorn in the already rocky relations between the two countries The Chiang Rai forum was used to make known to the general public what Thai narcotics officials already well knew - that Mong Yawn is a growing "drug-manufacturing city". But the meeting did more to add to Burma's discomfort and embarrassment than simply raise the profile of Mong Yawn.
Although they did not point directly at the Burmese junta, senior Thai officials delivered an unspoken yet resounding message at the meeting: Mong Yawn is too big and vibrant to have escaped Rangoon's attention. Thaksin himself said he would like to hear the junta's explanation of Mong Yawn's continued existence.
"I want to reassure you 1 million per cent that I will talk with Burma about the drug issue," Thaksin told reporters. "I want to hear explicitly from the Burmese authorities that they are not responsible for Mong Yawn," he said.
Participants at the conference looked on in shock on Saturday at an exhibition of satellite photographs showing various stages of illegal drug production at Mong Yawn.
More exclusive photos, not shown to everyone, pictured top junta leaders including security chief Lt General Khin Nyunt and army chief General Maung Aye apparently observing activities in the town. Thai academics said the pictures could be a major international blow to the Burmese government.
"I haven't seen the pictures myself but if they are authentic this is a very big story," said Chulalongkorn political scientist Chaiwat Kamchu. "Thailand will have to go for broke in drug talks with the junta."
Thammasat political science lecturer Surachai Sirikrai agreed, saying if the pictures were real they would put Rangoon on the diplomatic defensive. "The Burmese government will have a lot of explaining to do, and no matter how [poorly] it is perceived internationally already [because of its political repression], its status will sink even further."
Mong Yawn, just 30 kilometres north of Chiang Mai province, is the major staging ground of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), an ethnic militia accused of being one of the world's biggest drug manufacturers. The Thai military says that since building began in 1998, it has become a self-contained drug-making centre complete with its own dam and hydroelectric generating plant, as well as hotels and a casino.
The settlement in the southern region of Burma's Shan State is currently home to a population of 55,000 and there are plans to move in another 50,000 by the end of this year. The transformation of what was once a remote village into a thriving city has allegedly been funded by profits from the drug trade, including heroin, which is sent all over the world.
Senior ministers and officials attending the Chiang Rai conference said they were alarmed by the rapid development of Mong Yawn over the past two years. The premier said the sophistication of the facility made it clear Thailand could not avoid raising the drugs issue with the Burmese.
"A cordial relationship must be based on mutual trust, as the drugs problem is a major threat to Thailand," Thaksin said. "We need a decisive and determined response from Burma ... we will ask for their cooperation and sincerity."
The UWSA came into being in 1989, shortly after the fall of the Communist Party of Burma, which incorporated a large number of ethnic Wa as foot soldiers.
Rangoon immediately signed a cease-fire with the group, fearing their China-supplied weapons would fall into the hands of other rebel groups.
The UWSA has since launched a mass relocation of about 200,000 ethnic Wa from Shan State to areas along the border with Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. It claims the resettlement was not forced and that it was in line with the UWSA's efforts to eradicate opium cultivation. The new locations near the Thai border, it said, allowed the Wa villagers to cultivate other kinds of crops.
The Thai government does not see it that way, however. Many officials have expressed concern that the resettlement and the expansion of the UWSA could pose a threat to national security.
A few years ago, a border pass in Chiang Mai leading to Mong Yawn was shut down. Thousands of Thai nationals were involved in a variety of construction projects in and around Mong Yawn, including small dams, hospitals and schools. The checkpoint closure forced Thai contractors carrying out the infrastructure work to opt for a more expensive route to transport their goods and construction supplies. Many deemed the move a form of economic sanction against the Wa.
The closure was aimed at disrupting the flow of drugs from Burma and preventing the flow of chemicals used for making meth-amphetamines into the areawhere a large number of heroin and amphetamines labs are situated.
The UWSA was allowed to shift its operations from Panghsang on the China-Burma border after signing the cease-fire agreement with the government. The deal was arranged by Khin Nyunt.
Before the closure of the border checkpoint, the UWSA welcomed outsiders, allowing Thai merchants to transport everything from household goods to construction materials.