SCMP-Dozen die in Golden Triangle d

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Subject: SCMP-Dozen die in Golden Triangle drugs war 

Wednesday  April 14  1999
The Mekong Region

Dozen die in Golden Triangle drugs war

THAILAND by WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok
Thailand's northern border with Burma's Golden Triangle has become a
frontier of fire in the past month: at least a dozen people have been
killed, some in execution-style murders.

The details are murky, but the mayhem comes after desperate attempts by
Thailand to smash blatant drug trafficking by ethnic Wa gangsters.

Veteran border watchers believe the violence is likely to escalate as Thai,
Chinese and even Burmese drug fighters collide with greedy traffickers and
corrupt officials.

Two weeks ago, nine Thais were bludgeoned to death on the border, two hours
drive from the northern capital of Chiang Mai.

The police first said they were massacred by Wa thugs after stumbling upon a
heroin factory.

But now investigators have blamed ethnic Chinese gangsters.

The villagers may not have been innocent hunters but the losers when a black
business deal turned sour, according to local officials.

A few days ago, soldiers killed an intruder armed with an AK-47 after a
brisk firefight on the border. The dead man's colleagues escaped back into
Burma.

Last weekend, two Lahu tribesmen and a police officer were killed after a
gun battle between a "sizeable" Lahu gang and police in the Vieng Pao
district of Chiang Rai province.

The gang were trying to collect money for amphetamines sold to local
dealers, police said.

The leadership of the United Wa State Army have been quick to claim they had
nothing to do with the Fang massacre and have asked to meet local senior
officials.

Thai officials willingly concede privately that on many lonely parts of the
border gun law rules - and that ugly murders are all too frequent.

But they also suspect that whoever was responsible for the grisly murders
was at the very least associated with the Wa.

"They are so powerful now. Everyone must be scared of them," said one
observer.

The Wa have become the reigning kingpins of the Golden Triangle, with
thousands of heavily armed soldiers and bases along the Thai and Chinese
borders.

They are the successors to the notorious Khun Sa, the "world's most wanted
man" who surrendered into prosperous retirement in Rangoon three years ago.


But if Khun Sa was reviled in the West for most of his long career he was
able, in reality, to cut live-and-let-live deals with Thai and Burmese
officials.

The Wa desperados and their ethnic Chinese hoodlum associates have
discovered that pushing a wave of drugs - notably amphetamines - into
neighbouring countries can also be highly lucrative.

The result: bedlam in many Thai communities. One report said half of Chiang
Mai schoolchildren had tried amphetamines.

This is political dynamite in Thailand. Despite the many corrupt border
police and soldiers, intense pressure from Bangkok has resulted in the
disruption of much of the illegal border trade.