PM HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT VISIT

Fears Drug Traders Plan Revenge Attack

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was having second thoughts yesterday
about visiting the Red Wa-controlled Yong Kha township, in Burma.

Mr Thaksin was due to open a field hospital on Dec 26 and see progress in a
crop substitution anti-drug project run by Thailand.

Mr Thaksin said he held no fears about the trip but as a prime minister he
had to listen to words of caution from people around him.

A public figure should not act at whim.

The prime minister said a security team was in Burma, scouting for
information in Yong Kha, and many security-related issues had yet to be
assessed.

Any danger would not be life-threatening, but there was a danger of
security blunders which could make the host lose face. There was no denying
that Yong Kha remained a volatile area.

Mr Thaksin said he also had other business to attend to at home.

The prime minister said he would strictly follow the recommendations of his
security advisers, although he had still to hear any unfavourable
intelligence reports from Yong Kha.

A source in the Pa Muang Task Force said Yong Kha was a special
administrative zone governed by Burma's Wa ethnic group. A visit could be
risky. There was mounting concern that drug traffickers who had fled the
government's suppression drive to Yong Kha might attempt a retribution.

The traffickers were angry that the government's anti-drugs policy had put
them and their network out of business, said the source.

Assurances given to the prime minister by Rangoon and the Wa army were not
enough to dispel security concerns, said the source.

Mr Thaksin was scheduled to preside over the opening of a field hospital
and inspect the progress of a development project promoting
drug-substitution crops.

The Burmese and Wa armies planned to deploy hundreds of soldiers along the
53-km route from Tachilek opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district to Yong Kha.

Mr Thaksin would fly from Tachilek to Yong Kha by helicopter accompanied by
Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt. There would be a heavy military escort.

The Third Army has set up a special command post in Mai Sai to provide
extra protection for the premier should the trip go ahead. Mr Thaksin would
also be accompanied by army chief Gen Chaisit Shinawatra.