The Nation - Chiang Mai border post

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Subject: The Nation - Chiang Mai border post to be closed

The Nation - Aug 2, 1999.
Headlines

Chiang Mai border post to be closed

A BORDER checkpoint in Chiang Mai which is allegedly used as a channel to
smuggle drugs from Burma into Thailand will be closed this week, Prime
Minister Chuan Leekpai announced yesterday during a trip to the area.

Chuan had hinted at the imminent closure on Friday and Saturday but given no
date. After his inspection of the area yesterday, the prime minister said he
would instruct Chiang Mai governor Pravit Sisophon to order the closure of
the San Ton Doo temporary checkpoint in Mae Ai district this week.

It is so far the government's most drastic anti-drug action which has
bilateral implications. The Foreign Ministry is known to have been cautions
over the proposed closure, but most senior military officers, local
authorities, police, the Nation Security Council and the Office of the
Narcotics Control Board favour the measure.

Information he obtained from yesterday's trip would also be presented to the
National Security Council, on which Chuan serves as ex-officio chairman.

Chuan said the Kiew Pa Wok temporary checkpoint in Chiang Mai's Chiang Dao
district would not be closed as had been recommended by local authorities,
because the border checkpoint acted as an important channel of cross-border
trade and communication for many people from both sides of the border.

The prime minister added, however, that the authorities would be stricter
with people who pass the checkpoint.

He said yesterday Rangoon would also be informed of the closure.

''The Burmese government should also be informed of the closure,'' he said,
adding that according to international practice, closure of a border
checkpoint should be agreed to by the countries which share the border.

Chuan said the Interior Ministry alone could order closure of the
checkpoint. But National Security Council secretary-general Kachadpai
Burusapatana said yesterday that the prime minister, in his capacity as the
ex-officio NSC chairman, was empowered to order the closure.

''San Ton Doo is a special checkpoint. It doesn't need the power of the
Interior Ministry to close. The prime minister is empowered to order the
closure. He has the final say,'' Kachadpai said.


Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said yesterday that Chuan had told
him the checkpoint had to be closed.

Sanan said the prime minister had the power to order the closure without
consulting the NSC. He was ready to instruct the Chiang Mai governor to
enforce the closure if ordered by the prime minister.

Earlier, Sanan reportedly appeared to disagree with the closure of the San
Ton Doo checkpoint for fear that it would affect people living in the border
area.

Chuan, accompanied by the NSC chief and Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Surayud
Chulanond, inspected the Thai-Burmese border in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai
yesterday as pressure mounted for border checkpoints to be closed as part of
a security crackdown on drug trafficking.

The premier's group also went to Mae Fa Luang district of Chiang Rai, where
a haul of about four million amphetamine pills had been seized after an
armed clash between a Thai border patrol unit and drug couriers from outside
the country.

Kachadpai said yesterday the San Ton Doo checkpoint had no substantial
economic benefits for Thailand and was a threat to national security.

He added that his agency was specifically concerned about border situations
in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son.

The checkpoint is adjacent to the Burmese city of Yon, reportedly a
stronghold of the separatist United Wa State Army (UWSA), a major trafficker
of amphetamines and other illicit drugs.

Akom Tuladilik, a district chief in Chiang Mai, said yesterday the Third
Army Area had temporarily closed the Kiew Pa Wok checkpoint many times, the
latest on May 1, after it had been found that it had been used by foreign
immigrants to enter Thailand, and by drug traffickers.

Surapol Tansuwan, chairman of the Region 9 Chamber of Commerce, which also
covers Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, said yesterday the private sector agreed
to the closure of the San Ton Doo checkpoint because it was small and the
closure was unlikely to affect border trade in the area as claimed by some
people.

Many other routes could become alternative channels for border trade, he
added.

The Nation