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NEWS- TARGET THE BIG FISH : Thailan



Subject: NEWS- TARGET THE BIG FISH : Thailand needs to rethink its war on

drugs
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TARGET THE BIG FISH

Thailand needs to rethink its war on drugs

ASIAWEEK  Aug. - 20/27

FOR DECADES, LAOTA SAENLEE was a respected figure in the hills
overlooking the Thai-Myanmar border. He
was twice recognized as best village headman of his province and even
honored by royal visits to observe his efforts to
develop his hamlet and keep it drug-free. Laota also lived a life of
luxury. Income from his 200 acres of lychee and tea
plantations, he implied, paid for his imported car, his large home and
other houses in a nearby town and the provincial
capital, plus a $2-million bank account. Anything wrong with this
picture? The authorities now say there was - and arrested
Laota as the alleged financial mastermind of drug warlord Wei
Hsueh-kang's illegal yaba (amphetamine) trade. But what
took them so long to catch on? Yes, it takes time to build up a criminal
case. But the stream of development aid and
accolades that flowed through Laota's doors showed that many people
noticed nothing odd - or were paid not to notice.

For Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, Thai Army chief Surayudh Chulanont and
other law enforcers, the frontline of the war
against amphetamines pouring into Thailand lies up in the forested hills
of the Myanmar border. Over the last month, the
authorities have turned up the heat on traffickers, closing frontier
crossings and sending in troops and helicopter gunships
to battle smugglers. By choking off the trafficking routes, they hope to
bankrupt and tame Wei's United Wa State Army,
which runs a semi-autonomous enclave on the Myanmar side, where they
allegedly control yaba production and trade.
However, government authorities should rethink their strategy. Tough
action on the border will go some way toward
stemming the yaba tide. But Thailand's lawmen need to focus their
attention closer to home.

For decades, drugs have flowed because Bangkok took aim largely at the
criminal foot soldiers. It tended to ignore the
big-time drug lords, their middlemen and, especially, the "legitimate"
businessmen, policemen, soldiers, bureaucrats and
even elected politicians who smooth the way for the nefarious traffic.
Anti-narcotics officials believe that some lawmakers
could in fact be lawbreakers. If the enforcers want to save the nation
from the scourge of yaba, they would have to take the
battle into government offices, police stations and barracks, and
sparkling company offices. Everyone, from rich
parliamentarians declaring their assets when entering office to local
officials with lifestyles seemingly at odds with their
salaries, should be asked how they accumulated their wealth. The
welcoming pool in which the narcotics tycoons swim
must be drained dry.

Bangkok's latest campaign will no doubt close some drug routes in the
frontier regions. But alternative supply lines will be
found, and other smugglers will come forward to replace those arrested
and killed. True, the battle on the border is
important. But the tougher fight is to convince the kingpins, the
middlemen and the thousands who turn a blind eye to the
traffic - who value a few backhanded baht more than the lives of school
children - that the authorities are serious about
clamping down on drugs. Prime Minister Chuan and Gen. Surayudh must take
the war to their own home turf. The health of
Thai society depends on their resolution and skill in doing so.