FOCUS-ALBRIGHT TAKES SWIPE AT MYANMAR DRUG RECORD

NONG HOI, Thailand, March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright took a swipe at Myanmar's tolerance of opium production on
Wednesday on a visit to a Thai village where flowers and vegetables have
replaced poppies.

Albright told the villagers of Nong Hoi in northern Thailand she had come
to show support for projects which improve the lives of the local hill
tribes and which provide alternatives to opium cultivation.

"This is in marked contrast to the country of Burma (Myanmar), where they
are not doing the kind of things you are doing here," she told
schoolchildren and local dignitaries.

Nong Hoi is close to the Golden Triangle, the opium-growing region which
includes parts of Myanmar, Laos and northern Thailand. Opium cultivation
has declined in Thailand but Myanmar remains one of the two biggest
producers in the world.

Last week the U.S. State Department again ruled that the government of
Myanmar was not doing enough in the international war on the drugs trade.
The ruling, known as "decertification", deprives Rangoon of most U.S. aid
and some multilateral loans.

Albright presented a computer, laser printer and soccer balls to the local
primary school and said the United States had spent $1.3 million on similar
crop substitution programmes in Thailand over the past three years.

"The message is we must do all we can to provide alternatives to the dead
end of drugs. Here in Nong Hoi you are saying no to narcotics, yes to
vegetables and flowers, computers and books," she said.

One of the local farmers said he now earned 50,000 baht ($1,350) a year
from flowers and vegetables, compared with 4,000 baht (now about $100) from
opium in the old days.

"They're driving cars now," said Prince Bhisadej, a cousin of King Bhumibol
and a patron of the programme.

"It isn't as if they're losing money. They're making money from vegetables.
That's a very good story," Albright said.

Albright later met representatives of non-government organisations that are
working against the trafficking of hill tribe girls to the sex trade in
southern Thailand.

She told them U.S. foreign policy had expanded to include new areas like
the war on drugs and the status of women.

"If there are to be improvements in democracy, then women have to be part
of it. A country that does not make the best of its women is losing half
the population," she added.

"It's essential girls not be exploited, abused or exposed to AIDS. It's
important to fight back. There are alternatives to the dead ends of
prostitution and drugs," she said.

Albright later flew to the capital Bangkok for talks on a visit meant to
encourage advocates of reforms which might help complete a recovery from
the Asian financial crisis.

"We want to show our strong support for what's going on in that country, in
many ways a role model for democratic reform and for economic reform," a
senior U.S. official said earlier.

The United States will ask for Thai help with efforts to apprehend Khmer
Rouge leaders including military chief Ta Mok, who sometimes comes to
Thailand.

Albright will also explain to the Thais why the United States does not
support the candidature of Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi as
director-general of the World Trade Organisation.