January 5, 1998 NARCOTICS / BURMA'S

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

January 5, 1998
NARCOTICS / BURMA'S HELP SOUGHT


Poppy plantations on the increase 
Crops grown on steep and difficult terrain

Onnucha Hutasingh 
 Mae Hong Son


              Poppy growing in Mae Hong Son is on the increase after years 
              of gradually reducing plantation sizes.

              This means that Chiang Rai is still a dealing centre and Chiang 
              Mai is filled with addicts.

              In 1987-88 there were 10,737 rai of poppy plantations. In 
              1994-95 this had been cut to 1,543 rai. But recent figures say 
              the size has grown to 2,611 rai, making the province the 
              country's biggest producer of poppies.

              The Northern Drug Control Centre says the Lisor, Hmong, 
              Muser and Karen hilltribe people are to blame for the expansion 
              of poppy fields. 

              A drug intelligence officer in Mae Hong Son said that the crops 
              were grown in steep valleys in Pai district and Pang Ma Pha 
              sub-district which are almost inaccessible to the authorities 
              seeking to destroy the poppies.

              The crop is then supplied to heroin production plants along the 
              Burmese border. The major buyers are refineries in Khai Luang 
              opposite Pang Ma Pha and Mae Or opposite Muang district.

              Relentless suppression by Thai authorities had driven many 
              growers across the border into an area formerly held by the 
              defunct Mong Tai Army of former drug warlord Khun Sa who 
              surrendered to Rangoon. But they would not be gone forever.

              New deals were now being done between the growers and the 
              Burmese military commanders. 

              Opium, heroin and amphetamines were the top three illicit drugs 
              produced on the Mae Hong Son border.

              And even though Khun Sa had gone, production had not shrunk 
              thanks to his former 3,000 followers who remained in the area.

              With the support of Thai financiers these people were back in 
              the drug producing game.

              The source said the Shan minority had been supplied chemicals 
              used to refine heroin and Thai investors, mostly kamnan and 
              village headmen, helped clear trafficking routes.

              The chemicals had been shipped to production bases in 200-litre 
              oil containers.

              It has long been accepted that opium and heroin produced by 
              Khun Sa's followers were top grade, as was the quality of their 
              amphetamines.

              The source said speed pills produced in Ratchaburi and Suphan 
              Buri could never rival amphetamines from the northern border, 
              which are laced with heroin.

              Amphetamines produced under the trade name W99 is sold at 
              25 baht a tablet in Mae Hong Son but jumps to 70-80 baht in 
              Chiang Mai and 200 baht in Bangkok.

              Mae Hong Son is not only a major narcotic production centre 
              but also a strategic point on the drug trafficking routes.

              Chemical substances are smuggled into Mae Hong Son via 
              several border passes on its 430km border, such as at Nam 
              Piang Din Pass in Muang district and Nong Tao in Pang Ma Pha 
              sub-district.

              The Pai-Mae Malai Road is also the main trafficking route for 
              drugs produced in Mae Hong Son and go to other regions via 
              Chiang Mai's Mae Taeng district.

              A drug official said authorities were paying special attention to 
              vehicles using this route and whose licence plates were issued in 
              Chiang Mai, which is a major centre for drug use. 

              Officials had several times intercepted chemicals used in heroin 
              production, as well as amphetamines. But anti-drug campaigns 
              had not been that successful due to budget constraints.

              The lack of cash also hit the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

              The Narcotics Control Board reported that drugs were used in 
              3,855 of the 8,943 villages in the northern region.

              In Mae Hong Son, there were 4,973 drug addicts but only about 
              300 of them sought rehabilitation at two centres each year.

              A new centre was opened recently and was expected to help 
              treat another 300 drug addicts yearly.

              Hilltribe people are the biggest drug users, according to a report 
              by the Mae Hong Son provincial administration. Opium has 
              generally been used among them for pain relief and to boost 
              energy levels. Many, however, have turned to heroin which is 
              widely used among the unemployed and students.

              Amphetamine use has spread rapidly among students and 
              labourers, including loggers and farmers.

              Sano Pakmahadilok, 50, a Karenfrom Ban Mae U Kho in Khun 
              Yuam district, has been a slave to drugs for more than 20 years.

              He and his entire village first tried drugs given out for free by 
              Hmong hilltribesmen. But once addicted they had to start paying 
              200 baht for a tube of opium.

              Sano said all his money went and he then had to help the Hmong 
              work in the poppy fields in exchange for the opium.

              It was when anti-drug officials came to educate his village about 
              the dangers of narcotics that Sano asked his neighbours to 
              undergo rehabilitation with him. Eighteen of them are at a centre 
              now.

              Sano was optimistic that drugs would finally be eliminated from 
              his village because the village headman and drug officials have 
              been taking tough action against drug peddlers.

              An official at the centre said many of the addicts were hilltribe 
              people who had produced the drugs themselves.

              They could use as much as they wanted while working in 
              production plants and had half of their wages deducted later.

              The official was worried that the hilltribesmen might return to 
              using drugs again after leaving the centre.

              "They told me they did not know what kind of jobs could earn 
              them good money like drug production," he said.

              Patients receive medication and health promotion for 21 days.

              Pichet Janjenjob, the centre chief, said an intensive drive against 
              drugs, which called on officials to assimilate themselves with the 
              hilltribe people to get first-hand information on drug problems, 
              would help curb the spread of drugs to a certain extent.

              Mr Pichet might be being too optimistic, however. The centre 
              has only four or five staff and a vacancy for a doctor has not yet 
              been filled.

              Under a five-year plan to fight drugs, started last year, the 
              provincial administration will focus on educating people, 
              rehabilitation and the promotion of different occupations.

              There were good signs that Burma would cooperate more with 
              Thailand in drug prevention and suppression under a programme 
              sponsored by the United Nations.

              Burma had for the first time sent more than 20 officials from 
              anti-drugs, customs, immigration and intelligence units to attend a 
              meeting in Chiang Rai early last month. There Thai authorities 
              discussed measures to stop the smuggling of chemicals used in 
              narcotics production.

              A source in the drug intelligence unit said Burma might cooperate 
              in return for Thailand's help in controlling minority forces along 
              the border.

              But the meeting did not yield any concrete results.

              The source said that Thailand could not be free of drugs without 
              serious help from Burma.