NEWS - Border pass seen as boost f

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Subject: NEWS -  Border pass seen as boost for traffickers

BORDER
17TH JUNE 1999 BKK POST

Army chief alarmed
at drug threat

Border pass seen as boost for traffickers

Wassana Nanuam

The opening of a border checkpoint in Chiang Mai is benefiting a
Burmese minority that produces amphetamines, the army chief said
yesterday.

The prolonged opening of the pass in Mae Ai district had facilitated
the import of the drug, which was a social menace, said Gen Surayud
Chulanont.

The army chief did not specify the checkpoint but was thought to be
referring to the temporary pass between Mong Yawn, in Burma, and
Ban Santondu, Mae Ai.

The pass was ordered open last July with support from Gen Boonsak
Kamhaengrithirong, former head of the National Security Council, and
Gen Chettha Thanajaro, former army chief.

The council felt opening the pass would invigorate the local economy,
with several hundred four-wheel drive vehicles having been sold
already.

The pass is a gateway to a vast area controlled by the United Wa
State Army, accused by Thai and United States narcotics authorities
as the biggest trafficker in the Golden Triangle.

Since the opening, the area has been transformed, with the
construction of a dam, roads, water and electricity supplies, fuel
storage, a school and hospital. It is estimated the entire cost is one
billion baht.

Gen Surayud felt uneasy about the development. "They sell us ya baa
[amphetamines] that help them buy materials to develop their land," he
said. "They have made a lot of money from drugs to develop their
land.

"We have to consider the matter seriously because the prolonged
opening of the checkpoint will create a large number of drug addicts in
Thailand."

Gen Surayud said Gen Charn Boonprasert, the army chief-of-staff,
had reported back on his inspection of the northern border, where he
had found deficiencies in anti-drug measures.