The Nation - ONCB Chief Dismisses C

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Subject: The Nation - ONCB Chief Dismisses Claims

The Nation - Aug 5, 1999.
ONCB Chief Dismisses Claims

THE head of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, Payont Pansri,
yesterday dismissed suggestions that the United Wa State Army had expanded
its operations from the Golden Triangle to Burma's Mon state adjacent to
Thailand's central region.

''They would have to seriously brainwash the Mons in order to do so,''
Payont said.

Payont dismissed the claims by the Kanchaburi provincial authorities as
baseless.

The Wa would have to move down from the eastern Shan state adjacent to
Chiang Rai province and pass a number of armed ethnic groups, including the
Shan State Army, the Karenni National People's Party, the Karen National
Union and the New Mon State Army -- all of whom are staunchly against drug
trafficking.

Besides opposing drug trafficking, Col Yawd Suk's Shan State Army has
launched a number of military campaigns against armed drug trafficking
groups operating around the Golden Triangle in an effort to gain
international support.

Yawd Suk has also urged the Thai Army to cooperate with his men to curb the
flow of drugs coming out of the region and called on the international
community to boycott the military government of Burma which he accused of
turning a blind eye to the situation.

The Nation