WA MONEY CAN ONLY BE FROM DRUGS

The gold Rolex watch studded with over two dozen half-carat diamonds worn
by Bao Youxiang, commander of the United Wa State Army, featured in the
latest issue of Time magazine is a telltale sign to the wealth of the
warrior born in the impoverished hinterland of Burma. The diamonds alone
would easily fetch two million baht on the Thai jewellery market.

Bao Youxiang, according to Time, is said to hold a substantial interest in
hotel and casino operations in cities in the southern Chinese province of
Yunnan. His family also reportedly owns Yangon Airways, one of Burma's two
domestic airlines.

So how did Bao Youxiang manage to amass the fortune to buy such an
expensive wristwatch, own a business empire in southern China, and build a
formidable army of about 20,000 men in just a few years?

The Wa commander has persistently denied any involvement in the drug trade.
Thai narcotics agencies and the US Drug Enforcement Administration say
differently. The UWSA's main source of revenue has always been the drug
trade, in particular methamphetamines and heroin.

It is beyond any doubt that the UWSA is responsible for the methamphetamine
problem in Thailand. Hundreds of millions of speed pills, manufactured by
mobile and fixed small laboratories in Wa-controlled territories inside
Burma, are smuggled across the border into Thailand every year by drug
caravans or couriers. Then they are distributed across the nation by
thousands of big- and small-time dealers. A senior officer with the Third
Army recently estimated that the Wa's drug factories would churn out a
billion speed pills next year and the bulk of them were destined for the
Thai market.

The main security threat to Thailand currently posed by the UWSA appears to
be the methamphetamine scourge. But a possibly greater threat, and to Burma
as well, is the 20,000-strong Wa army. The likelihood of more clashes
between Thai troops and the Wa fighters protecting their drug caravans
cannot be ruled out.

With the profits from the drug trade estimated at several billion baht a
year, the UWSA can afford the basic and even sophisticated weaponry sold on
the international black market _ something the Thai army must envy as a
result of the budget cuts which have hit its purchasing power.

The Time cover showing a young Wa warrior holding a rather new AK47 assault
rifle, possibly Chinese-made, tells a worrying story _ that is, the UWSA
now can afford to buy new equipment and doesn't have to rely on used
weapons from Cambodia. What other, more deadly weapons the UWSA has in its
arsenal and, not shown to the public, is anybody's guess? But with the
money god _ and the UWSA seems to have plenty _ the chance is that the Wa
army already has modern weaponry in its stockpile.

The Thaksin government's response to the security and drug problems posed
by the Wa has been disappointing and unimaginative. In its meetings with
the ruling junta in Rangoon, the government has avoided addressing the
methamphetamine problem, apparently for fear of offending the Burmese
generals. Instead, they just talk about joint cooperation on substituting
opium with other cash crops. Although the opium output from the Golden
Triangle is on the rise, the immediate threat to Thailand remains
methamphetamines.

Just how long the government can continue to appease Rangoon by not
addressing the speed pill problem is a huge question. But the twin problem
of drugs and the Wa army is a threat of such proportions that this
government cannot just sit by twiddling its thumbs. Nor can Rangoon afford
to continue to deny that this problem exists without putting its own
security at risk.

In any case, a solution will need to bring in China, the third player in
this circle, to advise and to cooperate.