Don Pathan
The Irrawaddy
Some in Thailand are talking about getting tough with the Wa, Rangoon’s "partners in peace", whose drug-dealing ways have become a bane to Burma’s neighbors.
Just when it seemed that things were smooth sailing for one of the world largest armed drug armies, along comes a maverick politician to rock the boat. In March, a ranking member of the Thai Parliament, Kobsak Chutikul, called on the United States to consider using surgical air strikes against the 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA) if they do not stop their narcotics activities by 2005 as they have promised.
"Such surgical air strikes would be in line with the emerging international order following the Sept 11 terrorist attacks [against the US]," said Kobsak, the vice-chairman of the Lower House’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a former top-ranking diplomat. "The international community has the right to take action against those who pose a threat to humanity, wherever they may be," Kobsak added.
The UWSA is one of the world’s largest suppliers of heroin and methamphetamines. The latter is locally known as "yaa baa" (crazy pills), and Thai military officials estimate that 800 million pills will enter Thailand this year. Burma replaced Afghanistan as the world’s largest source of heroin following the US-led air and ground war against the Taliban.
Kobsak, the deputy leader of the Chat Thai Party, argued that narcotics and terrorism are two sides of the same coin because one feeds on the other. The elusive nature of terrorists’ and drug traffickers’ illicit operations are identical and they use the same legal loopholes that allow terrorists and drug traffickers to sneak in and out of countries and transfer money globally, he said.
Kobsak maintained that any government that holds the well being of its citizens in the highest regard should not rule out such a military operation because the Wa’s illicit activities are "a threat to humanity". The problem with Kobsak’s statement is that it comes amid seemingly warming bilateral relations between Thailand and Burma. Dialogue between the two sides has been carried out on a regular basis, while negotiations over joint fisheries are reportedly back on the right track.
There is also talk of Thailand financing a crop-substitution project in a Wa-controlled area adjacent to Thailand’s Chiang Rai province. Troops and officers on the frontline, however, say that the fundamental problems—drugs, insurgencies, refugees and overlapping territorial claims—still remain and that now is no time for complacency.
The upswing in bilateral ties should not permit the authorities to let their guard down, as they said it wasn’t long ago that the two countries had engaged in a day-long cross-border shelling that resulted in the death of scores of people on both sides.
There is also the argument that any military action against the Wa, such as surgical air strikes as suggested by Kobsak, would infringe on the sovereignty of Burma and its military government, which in 1989 cut a ceasefire deal with the Wa drug army in return for the latter’s autonomy. Rangoon has come out with some strong words following Kobsak’s remark, accusing the former diplomat of being a warmonger and overlooking its anti-narcotics efforts.
Rangoon has also ruled out any military action against the Wa and added that Thailand’s drug habit should not be played out as Burma’s problem. Thai officials said that whether there would be an attack against the Wa or not, the improving diplomatic atmosphere should not be a free ticket for Rangoon to get out of the loop.
Thai officials, particularly those on the frontline, maintained that the junta cannot continue to hide behind claims of protecting their sovereignty while at the same time saying they have no control over the Wa’s actions. In other words, the generals in Rangoon must be held accountable for the Wa’s illicit activities. Many have been critical of the Thai government for being "too generous" in its dealings with the UWSA, saying Bangkok should rethink its strategy.
The Wa-Rangoon Connection The issue of drugs and insurgency is likely to remain a sour point between Thailand and Burma for some time to come. What concerns many people is that Thailand is becoming too complacent in dealing with the Burmese junta and too quick to take credit for what they claim to be an improving atmosphere. The heart of the problem, said observers, is much more complicated and the future rests on a number of factors—historical, strategic and economic—relating to Burma’s insurgencies. Rangoon has made it clear that they will not turn the clock back to the way things were when their troops and armed insurgent groups were at war.
After all, obtaining the ceasefire with the insurgent groups was not exactly a walk in the park. The UWSA came into being in 1989 shortly after the breakup of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), which fractured along ethnic lines. The Wa, who made up the bulk of CPB’s foot soldiers, came together and organized themselves in Panghsang in northern Shan State bordering China.
In spite of the historical mistrust between the Wa and the Burmese, Rangoon immediately signed a ceasefire with the group for fear that the weapons that the Wa had obtained from the Chinese would end up in the hands of the other groups—be it the Karen rebels or the Burmese student groups who took to the jungle after the military government came to power by gunning down thousands of pro-democracy protesters. With the ceasefire in 1989 came the green light to mobilize more troops southward, where a rival group, the Mong Tai Army of opium warlord Khun Sa, was based.
Unable to cope with a two-front war, coupled with internal disputes within his own MTA, Khun Sa surrendered to Rangoon in 1996 in return for a generous amnesty. The opium warlord has a US $2 million price tag on his head following an indictment by a US Federal Court over drug trafficking.
Today, the Mong Yawn valley opposite Thailand’s Mae Ai district is a constant reminder of how the history of drugs and insurgencies in the trouble-plagued military state has unfolded. It is also a testimony that the Wa are nobody’s lap dog. They were told by Rangoon to go back to Panghsang shortly after Khun Sa’s surrender and they refused. In fact, Burmese troops must ask permission to enter Wa-controlled area.
Today for the Wa, heroin money is financing everything from the construction of schools to dam building and other infrastructure project in eastern Shan State, which Rangoon sometimes refers to as "Wa State". For the time being, all sides have adopted a wait-and-see approach, hoping that the "good feeling" achieved over the past year between Thailand and Burma will produce some sort of lasting solution to the drug problems.
Few are convinced that any lasting peace and stability will result from these ongoing dialogues and visits. Thailand knows that they are not in the position to make any real demands from the Burmese because as far as the generals in Rangoon are concerned, anything that will jeopardize their hard-won ceasefire is a matter of life and death.
Don Pathan is the Regional Desk editor for Thailand’s English-language daily, The Nation.
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