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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.