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THE NATION: Report warns Salween lo



Politics 

      Report warns Salween
      logging threatens
      national security

      SERIOUS national security problems could
      possibly flare up at any time if the illegal
      logging in the pristine Salween National
      Park, an operation which needs to employ
      Burmese minority groups, continues
      unimpeded, according to a police report. 

      According to the report, compiled by Pol
      Gen Salang Bunnag, an assistant police
      chief in his capacity as head of the Police
      Department's anti-deforestation force, the
      illicit business is not only devastating
      Thailand's pristine forests, but also
      contributing to the uneasy and sometimes
      simmering situation on the Thai-Burmese
      border. 

      The recent investigation into the illegal
      logging in Salween Wildlife Sanctuary and
      Salween National Park in Mae Hong Son
      revealed that the operation was the biggest
      since commercial logging was banned in
      1989. The operation involved various
      groups, including Burmese and Thai
      officials, the report said. The long-standing
      scandal was rekindled last week when
      Forestry Department Deputy Director
      General Prawat Thanadkha decided to
      donate Bt5 million to the Thai-Help-Thai
      campaign. He claimed that the money was
      left at his house as a bribe for him. Although
      he declined to elaborate on who tried to
      bribe him, public and media attention
      immediately focused on the Salween
      scandal, and Prawat himself did not deny
      the reports. 

      The large-scale destruction of the forests
      had been in operation for three years,
      covering vast areas of Ban Ta Fang, Ban
      Mae Sa Kerb, Ban Sob Ngae, and Ban
      Chob Tha along the Salween River in Mae
      Sariang district, the report said. 

      Normally, logging operators recruited both
      Buddhist and Christian Karens -- Burmese
      minority groups who have been waging
      wars against each other. The firms would
      pay them one-third of the wages in advance
      and the balance after the logs had been
      transported from Burma to Thailand, the
      report said. 

      Although most of the timber was cut in the
      Thai forests, they were floated along the
      Salween River to Burma and then shipped
      back to Thailand again. The process would
      allow the timber to get a stamp and
      certificate of Burmese origin. 

      Apart from the Burmese ethnic minorities, a
      group of Thai people was also hired by
      unscrupulous logging firms to work in the
      illegal logging industry. These people had
      good relations with Burmese military
      officers, who in turn would facilitate the
      unlawful operation. 

      The local group was very influential and they
      usually resorted to violent means in dealing
      with Karen workers. 

      ''They forced Karen people trying to get
      refuge on Thai soil to work for them. If the
      immigrants refused, they would shoot the
      elephants the Karen brought along with
      them,'' the report said. 

      In addition, they also pressured Thai
      officials, including the Anti-Deforestation
      Command (ADC) to cooperate with them. 

      Conflicts often sparked when timber
      shipped from Burma arrived on Thai soil in
      Ban Ta Fang, an area dominated by
      Buddhist Karens. The Buddhist Karen
      usually opened fire if the loggers did not
      supply them with protection money. 

      Following the Prawat bribery controversy,
      the logging scandal intensified when
      Thaweesak Antha, a former police
      sergeant in Mae Sariang, handed out a list
      of people allegedly involved in the illegal
      logging to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai
      on Saturday. 

      Chuan, who was on an inspection trip in
      Mae Sariang, was caught off guard when
      Thaweesak told him that the list contained
      15 names of those involved in Salween
      logging. 

      Thaweesak said that he had been
      assigned in 1994 to glean information
      about the illegal logging. However, he was
      forced to quit his job after he submitted the
      details to his superiors. 

      ''I was accused [by my superiors] of being
      involved in the illegal business as well. 

      ''But how could I catch a tiger cub, if I did
      not go inside the [tiger] cave,'' he told
      reporters. 

      Last December Thaweesak submitted the
      same details to the Agriculture and
      Cooperatives Ministry, however, he failed
      to get any response. 

      In an interview with The Nation, Thaweesak
      said he spent several months in the forest
      trying to get along with loggers and traders.
      He said he had taken some photographs of
      the logging process. 

      ''I sent the photographs to the prime
      minister. I also wrote down the details of
      each process in the pictures,'' he said. 

      The most popular route for transporting the
      timber, from Tha Pua to Mae Sariang, is 30
      kilometres long. Thaweesak said the
      loggers used high-powered trucks to carry
      the timber over the first 20-kilometre stretch
      from Mae Pua to Huay Haeng, which was
      rough terrain. 

      From Huay Haeng, the timber would be
      loaded onto 18-wheel trucks, which were
      later covered with canvas. 

      Thaweesak said the transportation from
      Huay Haeng to Mae Sariang was often
      carried out at night. 

      ''The trucks always went smoothly through
      several check-points. They were never
      checked or intercepted,'' he said. 

      Fearing for his own safety and for his
      family, Thaweesak called on Central
      Investigation Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Seri
      Temiyavej to take him as a witness in the
      Bt5 million bribery. 

      ''I think that those involved in the Bt5 million
      scandal are among the 15 people on the
      list,'' he said. 

      BY PREECHA SA-ARDSORN 

      The Nation