Play more meaningful role, Surin tells ARF

July 22, 1999

SINGAPORE -- Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan yesterday called on the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) to go beyond being a mere talk shop and take on a more meaningful role by adopting mechanisms aimed at preventing disputes in the region. 

Speaking to a foreign correspondent yesterday, Surin said a number of countries in Asean agree with Thailand that the security forum should expand its focus from ''confidence-building measures'' or CBMs to ''preventive diplomacy'' aimed at eliminating possible conflicts in the region. 

Asean ministers issued a statement at last year's ARF meeting in Manila that there was still ''considerable scope to further develop and deepen cooperation on confidence-building measures'' but at the

     same time noted that the distinction between

     CBMs and preventive diplomacy was blurred.

     The move would make the 32-year-old

     regional bloc more active in managing

     conflicting claims, in order to prevent possible

     conflicts within the region, Surin said. 

     The foreign minister admitted however that

     there are some sceptics. ''There are some

     who feel that we are not ready enough, but

     also some who feel that we should move in

     that direction,'' he noted. 

     Nevertheless, the annual meeting remained a

     good opportunity for Asean members and

     their dialogue partners including China, the

     US, Russia and the European Union to

     explore such a possibility. 

     Surin's statement came just days after a

     Filipino gunboat sank a Chinese fishing boat

     after chasing the vessel for several hours

     around the Spratlys, a cluster of

     hotly-disputed, resource-rich islands and

     reefs in the South China Sea. 

     The incident, said Surin, has affected the

     ''mood'' of the international community which

     has a vested interest in stability in the Spratly

     area's sea lanes because of commercial

     shipping. 

     The disputed islands are claimed wholly or in

     part by the Philippines, China, Taiwan,

     Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing has

     insisted on treating the dispute bilaterally with

     the other claimants, but some Asean

     members would like to see it discussed at an

     international forum such as the ARF. 

     The Philippines and Vietnam are to propose a

     code of conduct for Spratly claimants to

     abide by, but Malaysian Deputy Foreign

     Minister Lauro Baja said that concerned

     Asean members should have a common

     position when engaging China on the matter. 

     Disputes and clashes over the Spratlys have

     long been a sour point for the regional

     grouping. 

     Surin said the bilateral agreement between

     Thailand and Malaysia on joint development

     of the previously-disputed area in the Gulf of

     Thailand could serve as a model for the

     claimants. It took the two countries over 20

     years to agree on the joint development

     scheme, enforced over a 720-square

     kilometre area. 

     Chairmanship of the ARF rotates among

     member countries. Thailand is scheduled to

     take over from current chair Singapore within

     the next few days. 

     Surin also noted that the issue of social

     safety nets are to be included on the agenda

     for the first time during the forum. 

     ''The spectres of underemployment, poverty

     and malnutrition that grip many nations are

     the seeds of instability which threaten to wipe

     away much of the progress that we have

     achieved over the past decades,'' he said. 

     Asean now covers the full complement of

     Southeast Asian nations, including Malaysia,

     Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia,

     Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma

     and Laos. 

     BY DON PATHAN 

     The Nation

Tension Between Burmese Junta, UWSA

Don Pathan

The Nation

24 Mar 1999  

Doi Sam Sao, Burma __ Something is cooking in Burma's northeastern frontier along the Thai border, and it's more than just chemicals being boiled in one of the numerous heroin labs belonging to Burma's narcotics trafficking groups. 

For the past year or so, tension between the Burmese junta and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) has been building up, threatening to end a decade-old ceasefire agreement between Rangoon and the armed ethnic group--dubbed the world's largest armed narcotics' trafficking organization by the United States government. The generals in Rangoon have ordered the UWSA to move back to their stronghold in Panghsang on the Burmese border with China, so far issuing two ultimatums without specifying the consequences should the armed rebels not comply. 

Naturally, the UWSA chose to ignore the demands and instead beefed up its logistics along the Thai-Burmese border opposite Chiang Mai province. At the same time, the group has begun to welcome outsiders, allowing Thai merchants to transport everything from household goods to construction materials. Twice a week, hundreds of local Thai merchants line up at the checkpoint just north of Chiang Mai's Ta Thon district to be screened by immigration and customs officers before entering what has long been a no-go area and only a couple of decades ago a place where headhunters roamed. 

Border officials said thousands of Thai nationals are currently working in the Wa-controlled territory, building everything from a small dam to hospitals and schools. The checkpoint, located in Mae Ai district, was opened last August. A road construction project--financed by both the junta and the UWSA--which will link Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district to Mong Yawn and Mong Hsat, some 90 kilometers inside Burma's Shan State, is expected to be completed this year. A loop linking Mong Hsat to the popular border town of Tachilek opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district is also on the way. 

"They are here to stay," said Maj Gen Chamlong Photong, chief-of-staff of the Thai Army's Third Region. "The pressure is on us to do something about it." 

In fact, the Thai general added, the UWSA is on the verge of becoming the next druglord of the Golden Triangle, replacing Khun Sa and his Mong Tai Army, who surrendered to the government three years ago in return for amnesty. 

Thai and US drug agencies estimate that about 1,700 tonnes of raw opium were cultivated in the Triangle last year, down from 2,300 tonnes the previous year, partly because of bad weather. About 10 kilogrammes of opium is needed to make a kilogramme of heroin. 

"The Wa are responsible for nearly half this amount," said Sorasit Sangprasert, deputy chief of Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board. 

The UWSA came into existence shortly after the Communist Party of Burma crumbled a decade ago. A ceasefire agreement, orchestrated by Burma's security chief Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, was reached soon afterwards. The idea, say Burma watchers, was to neutralize a 20,000-plus strong army that had enough weapons to last them at least a decade. Rangoon didn't want these weapons, most of which came from China, to fall into the hands of other rebel groups. For the Wa, it was an opportunity to expand their heroin empire from their stronghold in Panghsang to a new frontier along the upper Thai-Burmese border. 

But nothing comes easy in trouble-plagued Burma. The expansion meant that a war between Wa and the Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army, the Wa's arch-rival and business competitor, was inevitable. Three years ago, Khun Sa and his army surrendered to the junta and the territory once controlled by the former opium warlord was left up for grabs as Burmese, Thai and Wa troops rushed in to plant their flag poles. 

A Wa commander overseeing the crossing point to Thailand said the UWSA will not make the same "mistake" as Kun Sa. Indeed, it's a very different story nowadays. With Khun Sa and his army out of the picture, the decade-old agreement is losing its appeal as territorial control along the rugged conflict-plagued borders becomes a higher priority for certain sectors in the junta's ruling body known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). 

The SPDC has demanded that the UWSA retreat to the Chinese border. Essentially, this would mean that their heroin and methamphetamine network through Thai gateways would be shut. Thai military officers, however, say the implications are too great for the Burmese to begin a war with the Wa. 

"The situation makes it difficult for us," Chamlong said. "Besides, the Chinese don't want them along their border either." In fact, the growing drug problem in Yunnan province forced the Chinese authorities to summon UWSA leader Pao Yochang for a stern warning. At one point, the Chinese threatened to cut off the flow of food to Wa territory. 

Nevertheless, the pressure is on Thailand to do something about the flow of drugs into the Kingdom. No longer is the group producing heroin for European and American markets. Instead, narcotics officials insist, millions of methamphetamines--known locally as yaa baa--produced cheaply by the group have flooded into Thailand. 

"It's cheap to produce and the market is right here in Thailand," Sorasit said. 

During a recent two-day visit to Thailand, Burmese Foreign Minister Aung Win dismissed allegations that Rangoon is to blame for the rise in the methamphetamine problem in Thailand, saying the precursor chemicals needed for producing the stimulants come from abroad. 

"Besides, how do you know the drugs are not made here (in Thailand])" he added. "They could be produced anywhere." 

Burma has come up with an ambitious plan to end opium cultivation nationwide within 15 years. The plan has received praise from some in the international community. 

Critics say the ruling junta is too willing to appease insurgent groups as foreign condemnations take a back seat to stability in the hinterland. 

"They choose to ignore the reality (in Burma)," Win Aung said. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if the junta is willing to pick a fight with one of the world's largest producers and traffickers of illicit drugs. 

Besides, the generals in Rangoon have other pressing issues to deal with, namely the dry-season offensive against armed ethnic groups who refused to sign a cease-fire agreement with the government, Chamlong said. 

Meanwhile, all parties agree that it is a matter of time before the Wa and Burmese begin fighting each other again.