Bangkok Post January 25, 1998: ILLE

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Bangkok Post January 25, 1998: ILLEGAL LOGGING

              The Salween
              chainsaw massacre

              Thai soldiers have been mobilised to
              combat illegal loggers who are felling
              trees in protected areas in a national
              park.

              SUBIN KHUENKAEW 
              Mae Sarieng, Mae Hong Son

              Two weeks after soldiers launched a suppression drive against
              them, illegal loggers are still playing a cat-and-mouse game.

              Working under the cover of darkness, Karen refugees under the
              pay of influential Thai traders move illegally-cut logs out of the
              Salween National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, tie them
              together, and tow them across the Salween River into Burma.
              The secret, night-time shipment is designed to evade the watchful
              eyes of soldiers assigned to protect the fertile forest.

              The soldiers - from the Internal Security Operations Command
              (Isoc) Region Three and the 32nd Ranger Regiment - were sent
              to Mae Sarieng on January 9 to put an end to widespread
              logging there. Their presence forced the illegal loggers to lie low,
              but not for long. About 1,000 old and freshly cut logs were
              found on the Burmese side of the Salween River during an aerial
              inspection by Isoc officials last week.

              "We can move in and seize the logs from the river, but I don't
              want the situation to turn violent," said Maj Songkram
              Duangbangna, head of the Isoc Region Three's special task
              force.

              Thai soldiers might be caught in territorial dispute with Burma if
              they take careless action. "There're international laws to be
              looked at. I have to inform higher authorities before taking any
              further action," said Maj Songkram.

              For the time-being, the soldiers have managed to contain the
              loggers' activity. Forestry Department officials must remove
              fallen logs from the forest as soon as possible before they are
              taken across the border, he said. Soldiers will provide safety for
              the forestry officials.

              The immediate task, however, is the relocation of about 10,000
              Karen refugees now residing in the national park.

              Why the relocation?: According to Maj Songkram, Karen
              refugees have been hired by influential entrepreneurs to cut trees
              in the lush, 450,950-rai national park, and in 546,875 rai of the
              game reserve.

              The refugees fled to Thailand two years ago when fighting
              between Burmese troops and the Karen National Union (KNU)
              intensified in Burma. The fighting zone was near concessioned
              areas granted to three Thai logging companies: Thai Veneer
              Industry 999 Co, Ska-B Co, and STB Co.

              Because trees in the concession areas in Burma have been
              depleted, dishonest Thai entrepreneurs turned to forests in their
              own country. The refugees provided them with a convenient tool
              to accomplish the dirty job.

              Since there is a logging ban in Thailand, the illegally-cut logs have
              to be moved to Burma to receive "official" seals and certificates
              of origins (COs) to show that they were cut in Burma. These
              logs are then brought back into Thailand via Mae Sam Laeb
              village in Mae Hong Son's Sob Moei district, and from there
              they are taken to sawmills in Mae Sarieng.

              "They literally strip our logs and cover them with sarong," Maj
              Songkram quipped.

              Corruption and collusion are the name of the game since bribes
              have to be paid along the way.

              First of all, the COs must be issued by Burmese Customs
              officials. A CO specifies the number of logs that were
              purportedly felled in Burma. Each certificate is used several times
              to facilitate the transportation of Thai logs from that country.
              "This tactic is well known among log traders," said a former
              provincial councillor.

              In fact, everyone is aware of this practice, but they prefer to
              keep their mouths shut.

              "A local policeman who tried to stop them was shot dead," said
              the ex-councillor. "A local reporter quit his job after receiving
              death threats."

              According to the source, Thai concessionaires turned to illegal
              logging in the Salween forests because there were fewer trees to
              cut in the concession areas and the cost of doing business in
              Burma had gone up considerably. "For each tree, they had to
              pay a concession fee, a cutting fee, and then protection fees for
              minority groups in that area," he said. "There are plenty of trees
              on the Thai side and a lot of men to do the dirty job."

              He estimated that 30 percent of the total forest area in the
              Salween National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary had been
              destroyed. This included more than 10,000 precious teak trees.

              Local hands: When the task force soldiers entered the national
              park area earlier this month, they stumbled on huge piles of logs
              within the three-kilometre radius of the park headquarters.

              "Saw dust must have blinded these park officials," a soldier
              remarked upon seeing the destruction.

              The tree-felling was done by villagers living on the outskirts of
              the national park closer to Mae Sarieng district. Unlike the logs
              brought in from Burma, these logs were sent directly to a sawmill
              and then on to furniture factories in Mae Sarieng.

              "The Government should close down this sawmill," a local
              conservationist said. "The villagers will stop cutting trees if there
              are no buyers."

              The Forestry Department received complaints about illegal
              logging near the park headquarters early last year, and Salween
              National Park chief Jane Tafong was removed in July. Forestry
              chief inspector Kitti Siriwallop was sent to Mae Sarieng to
              interrogate forestry officials. Jane was replaced by Chainarong
              Jantarasaratoon, who now has to deal with irate villagers.

              When park officials and rangers went to seize illegally-cut teak
              logs and planks in Mae Satob village last week, they were
              besieged by 200 angry villagers and had to retreat
              empty-handed.

              The villagers claimed they are subsistence wood-cutters and
              would face hardship if they are not allowed to exploit the forests.

              "We only cut small trees to build homes and make furniture for
              sale," a park official quoted the villagers as saying. "You should
              stop the rich traders who cut big trees. They are the real
              destroyers of the forests."

              Forestry sources, however, suspect that the villagers might have
              been incited by log traders to oppose the authorities and make
              their job more difficult.

              Tough task ahead: Maj Songkram said two things must be
              done simultaneously: Relocating all Karen refugees from the
              forests and dealing decisively with influential groups behind the
              illegal logging activity.

              The Forest Industry Organisation (FIO) will be allowed to
              remove the remaining logs to the FIO office in Mae Sarieng after
              a check by the Isoc Region Three's special task force. Mae
              Hong Son provincial authorities, meanwhile, will be in charge of
              relocating the refugees. This is expected to take a month to
              complete.

              Tanit Nantawong, head of Mae Hong Son's office for illegal
              immigrants, said the provincial authorities had asked the Interior
              Ministry to relocate the Karen refugees twice last year, but said
              no budget was allocated.

              These refugees are now sheltered in the remote village of Mae
              Sa-nage in Sao Hin sub-district; and in Mae Sa-kerb, Huay
              Kadee and Huay Kroba villages of Mae Kong sub-district.
              "Most of them are families of KNU soldiers," said Mr Tanit.

              Thai authorities plan to move them to Mae Lama Luang centre,
              which is much closer and easier to supervise. The centre now
              houses about 4,500 Karen refugees.

              Sources said many of these refugees may not want to move to
              Mae Lama Luang. Karens now move across the border freely,
              but they abandon their arms struggle before entering Thailand.
              They come in mainly to cut logs, earning about 500 baht a day,
              the sources said.

              In fact, fighting between the Karens and the Burmese has died
              down. "The Karens may claim the war is still going on to justify
              their escape into the national park and game reserve," a source
              said. "Their main interest is probably the income from log
              cutting."

              The next 30 days could be a crucial period for the soldiers and
              provincial authorities entrusted with the task of protecting our
              forests. The loggers may be lying low for the time being, but their
              chainsaws could be working at full speed again once the task
              force has left the forests. 



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Last Modified: Sun, Jan 25, 1998