THAI-BURMA RELATIONS: Softer approach to border conflicts
The Nation-Published on Jan 4, 2002
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
Thailand has elected to take a softer approach to settle problems along the border with Burma by encouraging peace talks between the military junta and rebellious minorities, and offering assistance for crop substitution projects to help eradicate narcotics production.
Military manoeuvres and the war of words with Rangoon employed by hard-liners in the Thai army had never produced anything but problems for both sides, a National Security Council official said on condition of anonymity.
The Thaksin government, after nearly a year in power, had adopted a policy of reconciliation with Burma rather than condoning guerrilla activity as a buffer against vaguely perceived threats from Burma, he said.
Major ethnic guerrilla forces based along the border, including the Karen National Union (KNU), the Karenni National Progressive Party (NKPP) and the Shan State Army (SSA), are being convinced to undertake peace negotiations with the military junta.Thai officials quietly conveyed messages to the rebel leaders and the generals in Rangoon offering to mediate in peace talks, the source said.Some in the armed forces agreed with the proposal, but Burmese authorities had remained silent, the official said.
SSA commander Yawd Serk said in a recent interview that his Shan troops appreciated the initiative and agreed to meet with representatives from Rangoon and hold peace talks.''But please tell them [authorities in Rangoon] that we will never lay down our arms to surrender,'' he said.Yawd Serk and his 4,000 soldiers began fighting for autonomy in 1996 after his boss at that time - Khun Sa, a notorious drug baron - surrendered to the central government.
SSA had made several attempts to establish a truce but the junta rejected the moves because of internal conflicts between rivals; the intelligence chief Khin Nyunt and army commander Maung Aye, Yawd Serk said.
There remains no reaction from KNU and KNPP regarding the latest move from Bangkok. During its more than 50-year battle with the government, the KNU failed at least four times to sign a peace pact with Rangoon. The NKPP resumed its arm struggle after the junta broke a cease-fire accord in 1995.
The Thai government hopes that successful peace negotiations between hostile parties in Burma would stem the influx of refugees fleeing from the guerrilla wars and pave the way for the demarcation of the 2,400-kilometre Thai-Burma border.
On the narcotics front, the military has accused the United Wa State Army (UWSA), which signed a peace agreement with the junta in 1989, of producing various types of illicit drugs for the Thai market.The previous Thai administration agreed to seal all border passes to UWSA's southern bases to block the smuggling of illicit drugs and chemicals used in drug production.But the Thaksin administration has dispatched anti-narcotics officials to the Wa stronghold of Mong Yawn and offered assistance on drug substitution projects.
Officials of the Narcotics Control Board were working on the Wa's request for Bt20 million for a drug substitution project in Mong Toom, according to a government source.Thailand had a plan to train villagers in Wa territory to grow fruits and vegetables for the Thai market, he said.The Thai market needed to open up for agricultural imports from Wa territory in the near future, the source said.