MILITARY'S DRUG FIGHT PRIMED TO BACKFIRE

We cannot solve our overwhelming drug problem by punishing scapegoats.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Thai military is doing with
its border resettlement programme.

Last week, the military organised a press trip to update the media
about drug warlords' criminal businesses and the military's border
clean-up programme. With tacit support from the Burmese junta, the
ethnic warlords in Burma are setting up drug factories right across
the border. Their ant armies are making use of the long and
mountainous terrains along the border seams to carry the goods into
Thailand.

It is expected that 600 million tablets of methamphetamine will soon
inundate Thailand. Much of them will end up in the hands of our
children, ruining their lives and families. Unquestionably, the drug
influx will shake morals, destroy communities, intensify social
problems and criminalise Thai politics even further. Understanding the
severity of the problem and agreeing with the military's solutions are
two different things, however. The military wants to stem the ant
armies by "rearranging" border villages, or "jad rabiab chai daen" in
Thai. It involves resettling scattered border villages, mostly
hilltribes, into one same area for easier control. And training them
into self-defence settlements. The military hopes that by
simultaneously limiting the hilltribes' farmlands, it can solve
deforestation in the mountainous areas.

It also hopes to win these hill peoples' hearts and minds by giving
them income-generating development assistance. Unfortunately, that
will be too much to hope for.

All Buddhists know that we cannot solve any suffering or problem
unless we know the root causes and tackle them earnestly. What causes
the mushrooming drug trade? On the Burmese side, it is the Burmese
government's hypocrisy and the drug warlords' criminal businesses. On
our side, it is money politics that involves corrupt leaders and
godfathers at all levels. Their collusion with corrupt officials as
well as police and military officers are common knowledge.
International drug racketeers are also cashing in on the
methamphetamine trade that grows on the huge gap between drug
production costs and market prices. At four baht a tablet, they can
command sale prices of 120 to 150 baht in Bangkok. The villagers who
want quick money are also to blame. But they are a small part in the
ya ba trade. By playing tough with only the underlings, the military
crackdown will end up hiking ya ba prices even further. And the big
fish in the drug trade will become even bigger.

Other problems lie ahead for the military's draconian, uniform
resettlement policy that cannot accommodate local differences.

Diverse hill tribe people live along the 2,400-kilometer Thai-Burmese
border. They differ in their cultures and farming methods. Some are
war refugees. Some are new settlements. Many are century-old
communities. But the military put them all in the same kettle. "They
are all aliens," said a high-ranking military officer. "Only our
national unity counts." Such a concept of unity is based purely on
racism. And no policy based on this open ticket for oppression and
exploitation can win friends.

Given local complexities, the border clean-up programme might work in
some areas, but they will surely fail in many others because the
authorities never ask what people want.

Under any guises, resettlement breaks up communities. It impoverishes
people and intensifies land use, leading to more use of farm chemicals
and more environmental degradation. It will also destroy indigenous
knowledge on local plants. Ironically, the scheme to contain the drug
trade will end up pushing the poor right into the arms of smiling drug
traffickers.