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Bangkok Post(2/8/99)



Army on alert as PM gives order to close checkpoint
Chuan visits border areas with top brass


Nusara Thaitawat and Subin Khuenkaew
Chiang Mai


The Third Army is gearing up for any consequences from the government's
decision to close the San Ton Du border crossing which leads to the
southern headquarters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the main supplier
of methamphetamines to the Thai market.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, also defence minister, approved a
recommendation from Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Surayud Chulanont to close
the border last week. He expects the paperwork to be completed this week,
making the closure legal.

Mr Chuan yesterday visited what has been classified by the Third Army as
sensitive border areas in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

Mr Chuan was accompanied by Gen Surayud, Kachadpai Burusphat,
secretary-general of the National Security Council (NSC), and Prasong
Soonsiri, the PM's national security adviser. "The Third Army is getting
ready for any consequences," Mr Chuan said.

Up to 6,000 Thai workers are employed by the UWSA in various infrastructure
construction in Mong Yawn, opposite San Ton Du, up to Mong Hsat, deeper
inside Burma's eastern Shan State.

Mr Chuan told the Bangkok Post he was concerned about the possibility of
repercussions against the Thai workers by the UWSA, but added he was
confident they would be safe as their work benefited the UWSA.

Speaking at an outpost of the Task Force 17 right on the border and a few
hundred metres from the first UWSA outpost, Mr Chuan said the temporary
border crossing at Kiew Pha Walk in Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai, over
40 km from San Ton Du and also leading into UWSA-controlled area, would
remain open.

He said ordinary villagers used the Kiew Pha Walk crossing and that it was
the policy of the government to encourage close contact and trade between
neighbours.

All concerned agencies have agreed that San Ton Du should be closed because
Mong Yawn is the nerve centre of the UWSA's drug empire, Mr Chuan said.

Besides, San Ton Du was not a permanent border crossing; it was opened
temporarily for certain goods under the Customs Act, he said.

Col Sutat Jarumanee, chief of staff of the 17th Infantry Regiment, said in
an interview on Saturday the army had a list of people who crossed into
Mong Yawn as workers of one of the seven companies which had obtained

concessions from the UWSA.

"We have records to show that shortly after these people went to Mong Yawn,
drug consignments were sent across the border," he said.

Col Sutat said that he believed a significant amount of drugs were smuggled
into Mae Ai in empty trucks which delivered goods to Mong Yawn. The army's
17th Task Force was not authorised under Thai law to search these vehicles.

Mr Chuan said the decision to close San Ton Du would be conveyed to the
Burmese government as a matter of courtesy because Rangoon had sent a
letter to Bangkok stating its consent for the Thai side to open San Ton Du.

"The ethnic Wa is not our problem, drugs are. The ethnic Wa is Burma's
internal affair, we do not have any problems with them," said the prime
minister.
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