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Bkk Post- Surin presses for Burmese



Subject: Bkk Post- Surin presses for Burmese input in US anti-drug drive

Bangkok post - Aug 12, 1999.
Surin presses for Burmese input in US anti-drug drive
State Department to consider proposal

The United States should consider allowing Burmese police to take part in a
US-sponsored anti-drug programme in Thailand, Foreign Minister Surin
Pitsuwan said yesterday.

Mr Surin put the proposal to Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House
Committee on International Affairs, according to Charivat Santaputra, deputy
director-general of the Department of International Organisations.

The International Law Enforcement Agency was set up in Thailand two years
ago by the Royal Thai Police Bureau in conjunction with the Federation
Bureau of Investigation and the US Drug Enforcement AgencyMr Gilman regarded
Mr Surin's proposal for the US to engage Burma in the fight against drugs as
a "valid initiative", saying his delegation would raise the matter with the
State Department once back in Washington.

Thailand has urged Burma to step up the monitoring of border areas amid
suspicions that drug trafficking rings are searching for new routes into the
country.

Last week the San Ton Du checkpoint on the northern border with Burma,
notorious as a major amphetamine smuggling route, was closed.

With that border point closed, anti-narcotics authorities now suspect drug
traffickers may be searching for alternative routes across the border, a
minister said.

Jurin Laksanavisit, a PM's Office minister, said the Burmese ambassador had
been told Thailand would donate communication equipment to Burma to assist
in the fight against drugs. Burma has agreed to set up a new checkpoint to
crack down on drug smuggling through Myawaddi, which borders northwestern
Mae Sot district, adding it will increase surveillance in other areas, Mr
Jurin said.

The National Security Council last Wednesday ordered the immediate closure
of the San Ton Du checkpoint in Chiang Mai, which borders parts of Burma
under the control of the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The UWSA is blamed for
trafficking an estimated 200 million speed pills across the border post
since it opened in September 1998.

The UWSA is allegedly using profits from the drug trade to develop their
rapidly expanding headquarters at Mong Yawn, just across the northern Thai
border.

Mr Surin also discussed the situation in China with Mr Gilman.

Richard Hecklinger, the US ambassador to Thailand who accompanied Mr Gilman,
handed to Mr Surin $25,000 in assistance for flood victims in Chanthaburi.

Mr Gilman's delegation, comprising congressmen from California, Michigan,
Ohio, Samua and Guam, also called on Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, Supreme
Commander Mongkol Ampornphisit, Finance Minister Tarrin Nimmanhaeminda and
leading Thai businessmen.-Bangkok Post and AFP