Cheewin Sattha in Mae Hong Son
A stronghold of Wa troops suspected of running
drug factories near the border is located at a Chinese Haw village in Muang
district, according to a border source.
The source said more than 20 men living in Ban Rak Thai of tambon Mok Jam Pae
in Muang district were Wa soldiers led by Col Maha Sang of the Wa National Army,
which runs several drug plants in Burma opposite Tak.
A couple of pick-up trucks were found parked in front of each of the houses
in which the foreign troops were staying, the source added.
A report by the provincial anti-drug centre shows there is a speed pill
factory in a border area between Muang and Pai districts which is accessible on
foot or by four-wheel-drive vehicles only.
According to the report, the centre is focusing its drug suppression on 13
villages of tambon Tham Lod, Na Poo Pom, Pang Ma Pha and Sop Pong in Pang Ma Pha
district.
It was reported that army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont, who inspected the
border in Mae Hong Son early this month, had called for serious action against
any local leaders involved in the drug trade.
Over the past two years, only two large seizures of speed pills have been
made in this northern province, compared with millions of methamphetamine
tablets and drug precursors confiscated in neighbouring Chiang Mai and Chiang
Rai provinces.
Bangkok Post - Aug 16,
2000.
BURMESE REFUGEES
Escapees won't get 'person of
concern' status
They'll be returned to holding
centres
Yuwadee Tunyasiri
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has agreed in principle
not to grant "person of concern" status to Burmese refugees who escaped from
holding centres at the border, a top security official said.
National Security Council chief Kachadpai Burusapatana said the UNHCR had
accepted Bangkok's proposal to send this group of refugees back to their holding
centres.
Further talks on the issue would be held soon, he added.
More than 400 Burmese refugees had escaped from their holding centres in
Tak and applied for "person of concern" status with the UNHCR.
Thailand's protest against resettlment of this group was based on internal
security reasons, he said.
The NSC feared an agreement to grant the status to the runaway refugees
would encourage others to follow suit.
Mr Kachadpai said the status of these refugees was different from that of
the Burmese student exiles at Ratchaburi's Maneeloy holding centre.
About 800 of the student exiles have been resettled in third countries. A
thousand more are expected to be resettled at the end of this year.
Mr Kachadpai said his agency had also asked the UNHCR to keep a close watch
on movements of refugees of other nationalities, particularly Sri Lankans, who
had been granted "person of concern" status.
"Thai authorities have no information on the whereabouts of these people
and we don't know if UNHCR can take care of them properly. NSC has asked the
agency to be specific with the re-settlement time frame. With these people
wandering around, it is bad for security," he said.
The UNHCR meanwhile has decided to suspend relocation of some 80 former
Burmese students to Phon Phra district following protests from local people who
fear their presence could heighten border tension. The refugees are on Rangoon's
wanted list for alleged security law violations.
Bangkok Post - Aug 16,
2000.
Two charged with smuggling in
Burmese
Tak-A truck driver and his assistant were arrested in Mae Sot district on
Monday for allegedly trying to smuggle 33 illegal Burmese workers to Pathum
Thani.
Driver Dejcharoen Khonkhayan and Somchai Lertvijit, his assistant, were
arrested at a highway checkpoint in Ban Nong Bua after 33 illegal Burmese were
found hidden in the truck.
The suspects allegedly said they had been paid 6,000 baht each by an
unidentified person to take the Burmese to an illegal job broker at Khlong Song,
Pathum Thani.
The suspects were sent to Mae Sot police station where they were charged
with human smuggling. The 33 Burmese were also charged with illegal entry.
Tak governor Nirat Vatjanaphum said a provincial task force dealing with
illegal foreign labour was keeping a close watch on more than 100 vegetable
delivery trucks after it was discovered some of them had been used to transport
illegal Burmese as well as methamphetamines.
The Nation - Aug 16,
2000.
Border discussions with Burma still
mired
THE unsettled border demarcation with Burma remains a major concern to
Thailand's security forces because of lingering mutual misunderstandings, Deputy
Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.
Both sides are still at loggerheads about the content of a memorandum of
understanding on the demarcation, Sukhumbhand said. He was speaking after
meeting security agencies on the latest developments in border discussions.
Yesterday's meeting, normally held every four to five months, was also
attended by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, deputy Prime Minister Banyat
Bantadtharn, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and Deputy Supreme Commander Sampao
Chusri.
A contentious point, Sukhumbhand said, is whether to include in the MoU a
"general description of boundary alignments", as Burma demands. If so, a
definite line has to be drawn along all the 2,401km border.
Thailand does not agree with this, believing that demarcation must be
sorted out before any discussion on a general description begins, he said.
"We think a legal framework should be in place beforehand." Moreover, he
said, a particular description already exists in the1868 Anglo-Siamese Treaty,
to which both parties refer.
"We do not want to see it included [in the MOU] because it would become a
kind of treaty and have many legal implications. It would be unusual if an MoU
had to go through Parliament," he said.
The issue is being worked on by agencies of both countries to try and
overcome the technical differences. So far Bangkok and Rangoon have agreed on
just 59km of the frontier along the Roek River. Despite hiccups with Burma,
border demarcation discussions with the three other neighbouring countries:
Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, have made steady progress.
"Over 65 per cent of the border demarcation lines have been worked out with
Laos and should be completed by the deadline set for next year," Sukhumbhand
said.
On the Cambodian side, Bangkok and Phnom Penh are negotiating on the terms
of reference to support the already signed MOU.
In addition, there is still about a kilometre of frontier with Malaysia at
the source of Kolok River about which further negotiation is required, he said.
Recently, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur reached a mutually beneficial agreement to do
away with the "No Man's Land" at the Padang Besar checkpoint in Songkhla.
These discussions are expected to be completed by the end of this year or
early next year at the latest.
Far Eastern Economic Review - Aug 17,
2000.
Burmese Junta Recovers
Dollars
Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council has launched a massive
crackdown on the use of foreign currencies, particularly U.S. dollars, Rangoon
residents report. Many blackmarket money-changers dealing in dollars have been
arrested over the past month. Residents and local businessmen are now instead
asking for government-issued, dollar-denominated "Foreign Exchange
Certificates," or FECs, when charging tourists for services or changing their
money into the local currency, the kyat. The going blackmarket rate for 1 FEC is
360 kyat, but the very few people who still dare to trade in the real U.S.
currency are paying up to 380 kyat per dollar. The government is apparently
trying to rid itself of FECs, which are worthless outside Burma, and get hold of
as much foreign cash as possible. Regulations require foreigners arriving in
Rangoon to change $200 into FECs, though visitors often negotiate the sum. Many
foreign observers have suspected for some time that the Burmese government is
extremely short of foreign exchange.