'DECISIVE' STEPS IN DRUG WAR

Thailand To Act Alone If Burma Won't Help

Thailand will resort to "decisive means" to deal with illegal drug
factories on the border if Rangoon does not act, Thaksin Shinawatra said in
Chiang Mai.

While declining to explain what he meant by "decisive means", the Thai Rak
Thai leader said yesterday he would attempt to deal with the problem
diplomatically.

On the basis of "mutual sincerity and good neighbourliness", he would have
talks with Burma's leaders about cracking down on methamphetamine factories
on the Burmese side of the border. If this failed to secure their
co-operation, Mr Thaksin said Thailand might have to deal with the problem
in its own way.

"Neighbours which share a common border must not cause trouble for each
other. If there is no response and the troubles persist, we will make
things right," said Mr Thaksin. Thailand, he said, could not tolerate
allowing ethnic people to produce drugs "on its doorstep".

The prime minister-in-waiting said he would explore personal connections
with neighbouring countries to improve relations.

Earlier, Thai military officers suggested precision cross-border raids to
destroy drug factories run by the Wa ethnic group.

The factories reportedly churn out millions of methamphetamine tablets a
day, most of which are smuggled across the border to satisfy the needs of
up to one million users here.

Burma's military strongman Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt yesterday sent a
congratulatory message to Mr Thaksin for winning the elections.

He expressed hope that Thai-Burmese relations would improve. Analysts,
meanwhile, urged the government to act promptly to stamp out the influx of
drugs and illegal labour from Burma, the two most serious security threats
facing Thailand.

They said Mr Thaksin could not afford to sit back while society was
devastated and the economy slowly crippled.

"Thai society is encountering a new war on the western frontier-the war
against drugs," warned Surachart Bamrungsuk, deputy director of the
Institute of Security and International Studies at a seminar organised by
the Supreme Command.

The government faced an uphill task. It could not rely on help from western
countries whose focus was on stamping out heroin use. The influx of speed
tablets was perceived as Thailand's domestic problem because it posed no
immediate danger to others, said Mr Surachart, a political scientist at
Chulalongkorn University.

Rangoon's policy of relocating the Wa from Burma's north to border areas
close to Thailand made it easier for the group to smuggle drugs.

Somkiat Osothsapha, an economist at Chulalongkorn University, said drug
addiction would deplete the workforce and affect foreign investor confidence.

He pointed to Colombia and Peru, where foreign investment was drying up
amid a crisis of confidence in their ability to fight the drug scourge.

He said the problem was too serious for any one agency. A war room should
be set up with the armed forces as the spearhead agency. Mr Surachart said
the emergence of international gangs dealing in drugs could prolong the
problem for a decade.