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The Nation(29/7/99)



Border crossing closed by Army

TAK -- A checkpoint along the Thai-Burmese border in Phop Phra was closed
yesterday following frequent incursions on to Thai soil by alleged members
of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). 

Unconditional restrictions on border crossing are being imposed on people
from both sides until further notice, said military officers from the 4th
Infantry Regiment who ordered the closure. 

A deputy village headman was abducted on Tuesday by a number of DKBA
members, but managed to escape. The minority group had earlier stolen five
tractors belonging to a timber company in the district. 

Responding to the Army's proposal to close another two checkpoints in
Chiang Mai province, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday said he would
give a green light to the proposal if it resulted in the drug trade being
curbed more effectively. 

He dismissed a new report that the Interior Ministry opposed the proposal,
saying that each government agency might have different points of view on
the problem based on its own information. 

The San Ton Doo and Kiew Pha Wok checkpoints have reportedly been mainly
used by a company hired by the Wa Army to build military installations.
Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said he would investigate the matter. 

Sanan called on government agencies in charge of national security along
the border, including the National Security Council, not to fear the threat
of civil lawsuits which might be filed by the construction company for
financial compensation over the border point restrictions. 

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Police seize caffeine, guns in border raids

CHIANG MAI -- Anti-narcotic authorities yesterday caught a village headman
and his nephew in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district, not for possession of
narcotics but for a raided cache of documented arms and ammunition,
officials said. 

Meanwhile, in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district, eight Burmese men were caught
in the act of trucking six tons of illegal caffeine across the border to
Myanmar. 

PM's office minister Jurin Laksanavisit, said yesterday the government
plans to include the border provinces of Tak, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai,
Chiang Rai, and Nan in a zone where movement and handling of caffeine must
be reported to the authorities. 

The 17th infantry task force, as the anti-drugs authorities are officially
known, said yesterday that Huay San village headman Lao Ta sae-Li and his

nephew Ah Lepa sae-Li, were caught with a cache of documented M-16 attack
rifles, 9-mm and 11-mm calibre pistols and more than 300 rounds of
ammunition. The raid turned up no drugs, officials said. 

Lao Ta, the officials claimed, had close ties to world famous narcotics
trafficker Wei Hseuh-kang, who had been arrested by Thai authorities. Wei
was released on bail and has remained at large ever since. 

The authorities did not say why they had not pursued the arrest of Lao Ta
earlier since he had settled down in the border district for such a long
time that he had become a grassroots community leader. 

The raid on the Burmese men led to a second swoop on Doi Tung Transport
firm in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district. Two thousand kilogrammes of caffeine
was seized there. The substance, the officials said, was transported via
Mae Sai Transport Services. 

According to an official estimate, the seized caffeine can be turned into
160 million amphetamine pills. 

Jurin said the government is making a trade-off between the benefits and
drawbacks of an open border crossing point, which also can act as a transit
route for narcotics. 

The government will come up with a decision on this issue within one week,
he said. 

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