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illegal logging
January 4, 1998 Bangkok Post
ILLEGAL LOGGING
Influential people
behind the illegal
border business
Money and power are the name of the
game
Illegal logging involves powerful people. It is big business in
which the operators are protected by politicians and men in
uniform - primarily the military.
The National Security Council lists logging as one of major
border businesses. But it would not survive if it were not for the
links between minority forces, politicians, local administrators
and local military units.
"In the logging business, money and power are the name of the
game," said Pongpol Adireksarn, the agriculture and
cooperatives minister.
The House of Representatives has attacked these "irregular"
relations several times.
Suchart Tancharoen, the former deputy interior minister in the
Banharn Silpa-archa government, was censured for his alleged
involvement in logging by minority groups along the Thai
Burmese border.
Mr Suchart, now a Thai Party MP for Chachoengsao, was said
to have jointly invested in a logging business with Zaw Ma
Khine, a Burmese businesswoman with close ties with Burma's
military rulers.
Former premier Mr Banharn himself was also accused of taking
bribes from log traders to open temporary checkpoints to allow
log imports on the Thai-Cambodian border.
And ex-premier Chavalit Yongchaiyudh faced similar
accusations when he assumed the premiership.
Logging along the Thai-Burmese border from the northern
province of Tak up to Mae Hong Son further north has been
under the control of the rebel Karen National Union, Karenni
National Progressive Liberation Front and Khun Sa, the drug
warlord of the Mong Tai Army who surrendered to Rangoon.
Funding comes mainly from Thai investors including Sakabee
Co, Thai Veneer Industry 999 Co, SPA Richwood Co, Korean
Veterans Welfare Co, Polpana Co, B and F Goodrich Co, STB
Co and Boonsawat and Company Co.
Some of these firms hold logging concessions in Burma while
some are sub-contractors hired by the concessionnaires to build
roads into the jungles, fell trees and remove logs from the forests.
Logs shipped in by the concessionnaires hold certificates of
origin approved by both the Thai and Burmese governments.
A major logging operator in Mae Hong Son described the
business as "dirty, mysterious and tricky".
This operator said she was double-crossed by other log traders
who made false reports to authorities that her certificates of
origin were fake.
She insisted she had obtained them through official channels. It
took her almost one year for her application to be approved by
the foreign and interior ministries and agencies concerned in
Burma.
Logging in Burma required huge investments from the start.
Roads had to be cut into concessioned areas and workers risked
being attacked by rebel forces or suffering from malaria.
Payments for the logs had to be made in cash and food and
other necessities had to be supplied to both the minority forces
and Burmese soldiers.
These did not involve extra costs - kickbacks paid to authorities
in exchange for their help in facilitating logging operations.
The logging operator said rivals had several times relied on the
influence of their supporters to delay imports by her company
and sought to buy her logs directly from the rebels.
Betrayal, she said, was often paid back by "death".
The operator, however, denied loggers had started to cut trees in
Thailand's forest reserves. She insisted the logs came from
Burma.
"If we don't cut the trees there, then other countries will," she
said.
Her business, she claimed, contributed a lot to society. The firm
paid almost 100 million baht in tax annually and provided
financial support to schools in border areas.
But she admitted that forests could not be destroyed in large
scale without support from powerful people.
The government should tighten logging regulations to help create
fair competition.
Kriangkrai Vanachayangkul, owner of Vanakarn Sawmill in Mae
Hong Son, who was arrested and his business shut down for
allegedly using fake certificates of origin when importing logs,
believed he had been double-crossed.
Mr Kriangkrai finally won his case, which cost him more than 10
million baht.
Before the charge was brought, Mr Kriangkrai said an influential
logging trader had asked to buy his sawmill. He refused. The
businessman then asked to rent it. He refused again and then
received a death threat.
Mr Kriangkrai used to log in concessioned areas in Mae Hong
Son but turned to buy logs from Burma after the closure of
forests in the country.
He admitted, however, that the logs shipped in through Mae
Sariang district in Mae Hong Son could possibly be cut illegally
in Thailand, then sent to Burma for sealing, and later brought
back to Thailand.
Mr Kriangkrai also admitted that logging operators could not run
businesses without the support and influence of politicians and
powerful military officers.
Major logging companies holding concessions in Burma all had
politicians and military generals as shareholders.
It seemed that "ordinary" people could not own logging firms.
Logging in border areas would be difficult and dangerous without
assistance from the military.
Log imports from Burma through Mae Hong Son were made
possible by the former Chavalit government which agreed to
open five border passes in Ban Huay Pueng, Ban Nam Piang
Din, Ban Huay Ton Noon, Ban Sao Hin and Ban Mae Sam
Laeb.
The opening was meant to allow three big companies to bring in
10,000 logs. However, there was also an influx of illegally-cut
logs from Burma, prompting that country to send a protest to
Thailand.
A source said Burma alleged that eight Thai firms had falsified
certificates of origin.
The complaint, however, was ignored by Thai authorities
because government insiders had connections with logging
operators.
Burma then retaliated by closing border checkpoints in Mae Sai,
Chiang Rai, and Mae Sot, Tak. That caused cross-border trade
to drop by one billion baht.
A meeting of Karen rebel leaders chaired by Gen Bo Mya early
last year discussed the problem of illegally-cut logs in Thailand.
Thai loggers were also said to have paid a large sum of money to
cut trees in areas held by Khun Sa and the Kaya minority.
The source said it was impossible to break the links between
businesses and influential politicians.
Illegal logging in Salween National Park was exposed only
because new power groups close to the new government wanted
to take control of the business, said the source.