Herd instinct

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Herd instinct

April 23, 1998
Bangkok Post 

Summer is cattle smuggling time along the Thai-Burmese border. And with
little regulation, animal diseases could pose a health threat to consumers
and Thai herds 

Chompoo Trakullersathien

Each summer a caravan of cattle traders sets out from the border village of
Ban Tha Song Yang on a perilous journey into Burma.

Their goal is to buy Burmese cattle and drive them back to their village in
Tak province. If luck is on their side, the traders will escape the bullets
of the Burmese Christian Karens. If not, they won't live to tell the tale.

Thai cattle traders risk their lives each year. Apart from the Burmese
troops, there are also dangerous wild animals and poisonous snakes. Those
who lose their lives in the forest become the subject of village legends.
Those who survive and come back with herds of cattle can upgrade their
standard of living.

Unsurprisingly, most male villagers have jumped on the bandwagon. Some 50
men have become cattle traders while many teenagers are their greenhorn
assistants who go along to sharpen their skills and learn how to survive in
the unfamiliar territory where danger lurks at every step.

Cattle trading is brisk along the border as imported beasts are much
cheaper than the home-reared animals. Purchased in Burma for about
5,000-6,000 baht a head, they can be sold for 8,000-10,000 baht at a
livestock market or slaughterhouse. As a result, the border trade booms.

Apart from a handsome income, the cattle traders also relish the thrilling
experiences along the way. Every family has colourful stories to tell about
its mens' exploits which are circulated throughout the village and heroes
are born.

"The journey to Burma is difficult and dangerous," said 42-year-old cattle
trader Sombat Lamai. "We don't know whether we will survive and come back
to see our loved ones. We also don't know what we will meet during the
trip. We have to hide our fear and go ahead."

Sombat recalled that in the old days his village was very poor because rice
cultivation couldn't yield a productive crop. Cattle trading became an
alternative when villagers saw Burmese ranchers bringing their cattle to
sell at the border.

"We also heard from neighbouring villages throughout the North that many
people were trading cattle. So we approached the Burmese ranchers and
negotiated with them. They allowed us to buy cattle in Burmese villages and
we made a verbal promise," said Mr Sombat.

Cattle trading between the two countries has flourished since then. But the
business is done illegally because the border checkpoint is not open at Ban
Tha Song Yang to control the importation of cattle. Nevertheless, herds of
Burmese cattle continue to cross into Thailand unregulated.

The deal starts when a Thai middleman pays a deposit of half the agreed
total to Burmese ranchers in different villages for them to gather cattle.
Later the Thai traders will cross the border into Burma and drive the
purchased cattle back to their village in Thailand. The Burmese will follow
the caravan back to the village to get the rest of the money.

Setting out on foot from the village of Ban Tha Song Yang, the Thai traders
head north through Mae Poh, crossing several streams before arriving at the
Burmese border two days later.

Traders have to pay 100 kyat (about 13 baht) to cross over, and here's
where the adventure starts.

Because of the threat posed by the Christian Karen troops, the traders
sometimes hire Thai border patrol police to accompany them.

"Most of the police are on duty and not free to accompany us to the
destination. We know what will happen if we confront the Karen troops. They
will shoot us. Some of our friends were killed by them," said Mr Sombat.

"At night, we hardly sleep. We need to be alert because the troops may
attack us at any time. When I hear a sound, I pray that it's not the Karen
soldiers."

Apart from the human menace, the traders also have to watch out for wild
animals, especially snakes. "Along the way, we have to keep watching the
ground. Snakes are our enemies. Sometimes we can't spot them because they
hide in the undergrowth. We each carry a long stick to clear the path,"
said Mr Sombat.

Very often, the snakes become dinner for the members of the caravan.

When arriving at a Burmese village, he and his two young helpers will buy
all the cattle available. If he needs more, he will go to other
neighbouring villages. Negotiations are in the Karen language, so the Thai
traders need to be reasonably fluent. If the cattle price is cheap, Mr
Sombat will buy them all. But if the price is higher, he will take 50-60
cows and buffalos back to the village.

The Thai traders pay for the livestock in Burmese currency and, now that
the value of the kyat is higher relative to the baht, the traders have to
pay more for the animals.

This means a reduced profit for Mr Sombat and the others, but it is still
worth their while.

The traders usually make their journey during the summer due to the
difficulty of travelling in the border areas in winter and the rainy
season. But some intrepid souls don't allow the weather to be an obstacle.

"During the winter we may get a fever in the forest. Some can't endure the
cold weather. The rain also delays us. The slippery ground prevents us from
walking fast. So we have to spend more time," explained Mr Sombat.

On average, the cattle traders will cross into Burma 10 times a year,
mostly during the summer months. The trip takes about 20 days depending on
the quantity of cattle in the herd.

The most tiring part of the journey occurs on the Thai side of the border.

"The animals are not familiar with us so they don't listen to our orders.
They often walk out from the herd along the way. At night, some stubborn
animals walk away from the herd and get lost in the forest. We get
exhausted looking for them," explained Chaiyan Nadee, a 32-year-old cattle
trader.

To solve the problem, the traders hire Burmese villagers to control the
herds. One villager will take care of two cattle and get paid about 300 baht.

To seek permission from the officials at the Burmese border checkpoint to
bring the herds into Thailand, the traders pay 20 baht a head, Mr Chaiyan
said.

According to Prawat Kongdee, another cattle trader, in previous days the
Thai and Burmese traders could trust each another. But since the number of
traders increased, so have the dirty tricks. Some Thai traders refuse to
pay for the cattle once they get them to Thailand, he said. But the Burmese
methods of debt collection have proved compelling.

"Last year, one Thai cattle trader who refused to pay the Burmese rancher
was tied to a tree. The Burmese rancher threw nests of red ants at him and
he was bitten badly. Finally he agreed to pay the money and was set free,"
said Mr Prawat.

Another cheater was also tied to a tree with several bombs placed around
him. The Burmese rancher threatened to blow him up if he didn't pay, said
Mr Prawat.

Once the deal is done and the cattle finally arrive in the village of Ban
Tha Song Yang, the herd will be checked for diseases by an official from
the Livestock Development Department.

When given a clean bill of health, the animals will be sorted with the cows
being separated from the buffaloes. Merchants come to the village to buy
the livestock and transport them on trucks to their next destination: the
cows will head to Bangkok while buffaloes go to the northern provinces of
Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.


According to Mr Sombat, thousands of smuggled Burmese cattle pass through
the border each year and end up in Thai slaughterhouses.

"It's a common scene in our village to see herds of Burmese cattle walk
past," said teacher Tanom Kongkaew.

"The cattle trade is an important source of income to our village and to
Burmese ranchers and traders, though we know that it is illegal. We can't
stop the villagers. They need to survive."

One official of the Livestock Development Department said the department
was concerned about livestock smuggling on health grounds. Smuggled animals
have to undergo a 10-day period of quarantine to identify those that carry
parasites or diseases that could endanger consumers and Thai herds. Then
they need to be vaccinated before they can be transported inland. The
process costs about 450 baht per head of cattle.

The department has quarantine stations in the border provinces of Chiang
Rai, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Tak, Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Prachuab
Khiri Khan and Chumphon. But some traders try to avoid the extra expense by
by-passing the quarantine station and taking the animals along another route.

But such ignorance can have adverse effects on consumers and also Thai
herds. Some cattle diseases like anthrax can be passed to humans. Other
diseases such as haemorrhagic septicaemia and foot and mouth disease can be
transmitted between cattle, goats and sheep. An outbreak of either one
could cause an immense loss to the country. The department has concentrated
on eradicating haemorrhagic septicaemia and foot and mouth disease among
local and imported cattle.

"Disease prevention could be effective if importers agree to shoulder the
extra expense of keeping animals for 10 days in quarantine, but it is
difficult to make villagers in border areas follow this requirement.
Villagers do not understand the necessity of vaccinations and say it's a
waste of time," said a spokesman from the department.

The adventure stories of the daring cattle traders are still going on along
the border. And when they hear a noise in the Burmese forest, they still
pray to be spared from Karen bullets. They should also remember the
consumers in their prayers, and pray that they won't eat any meat infected
with disease.