Reuters-Thailand to close Myanmar `

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Subject: Reuters-Thailand to close Myanmar ``traffickers'' checkpoint 

Thailand to close Myanmar ``traffickers'' checkpoint
08:03 a.m. Jul 31, 1999 Eastern
BANGKOK, July 31 (Reuters) - Thailand said on Saturday it would close a
customs checkpoint on the Myanmar border in an effort to stem an influx of
illegal drugs.

Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai told reporters San Ton Du border crossing,
in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand, would be closed soon. He gave
no date.

The checkpoint is regarded as a main gateway for traffickers smuggling
amphetamines and heroin from the infamous Golden Triangle, where Myanmar
meets Laos and Thailand.

``After discussions with the interior minister and the security council, I
think there is no problem closing one checkpoint at San Ton Du on the
Myanmar border,'' said Chuan, who is due to visit Chiang Mai on Sunday.

He said closure of at least one other checkpoint on the Thai-Myanmar border
was under consideration.

``We cannot close the other checkpoints now as they are still necessary for
commodities trade. But it is still under consideration and I have to discuss
this again to see what we can do,'' he said.

The announcement follows the seizure on Thursday of more than four million
amphetamine tablets and 16 kg (35.2 lb) of heroin in a border clash with
suspected ethnic Wa guerrillas from Myanmar.

Officials put the Thai street value of the haul at nearly $9 million and
said it was the biggest single seizure of amphetamines in Thailand.

Thailand has accused Myanmar soldiers of being involved in the drugs trade,
a charge denied by Yangon.

But international drugs enforcement agencies say ethnic Myanmar guerrillas
under the United Wa State Army (UWSA) based in Myanmar are responsible for
most of the illicit drugs produced in the Golden Triangle region.

Thailand has deployed more than 800 troops along the border with Myanmar in
recent weeks to try to stem the flow of narcotics, but huge amounts of
amphetamine and heroin are still pouring across the border, Thai police say.

Thai officials estimate the UWSA now produce some 300 million amphetamine
tablets a year, mainly for the Thai market.

U.S. authorities said 130,300 hectares (321,700 acres) of Myanmar were under
opium poppy cultivation last year, capable of yielding up to 1,750 tonnes of

opium gum. It takes about 10 tonnes of opium gum to make one tonne of
heroin.