HIATUS THE WAR AGAINST DRUG

When Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came to power over a year ago, there
were high hopes that serious efforts would be made to tackle the drug
problem. During the election campaign, Thaksin vowed to take decisive
action against government officials who had been put on a "black list"
because there were reasons to believe they were linked to drug dealing and
trafficking.

Shortly after taking power, Thaksin held a high profile meeting in Chiang
Rai, bringing in a "who's who" of the anti-narcotics circle. A big screen
was erected and up flashed photos of Mong Yawn town, allegedly the major
source of methamphetamines cheaply produced by the pro-Rangoon Wa drug
army. A picture of Burma's intelligence chief Lt- General Khin Nyunt, the
architect behind the cease-fire deal with the Wa, was also flashed on the
screen. The message was clear: Thailand would hold Burma accountable for
the illicit activities of their ethnic groups, while shady Thai officials
would also be targeted.

A year and a half later, there doesn't seem to have been any changes. True,
there have been more arrests, but it can be argued they have resulted from
higher production.

As regards making Burma accountable for the illicit activities of the
ethnic warlords, scores of whom operate independently along the border,
Thaksin instead has conveniently ignored his own words and reached out to
one of the most condemned regimes on the planet. There have been tripartite
meetings with the Wa and the Burmese over the drug issue - a move that
effectively put Rangoon out of the loop in holding the Wa accountable.
There was also talk about financing a crop-substitution project in the
Wa-controlled areas, a move which overlooked the fact that the meagre
returns wouldn't come close to the money made from drugs.

Still, the government is unabashedly trying to show that it means business
in the war against drugs. While a few small fish have been caught and
convicted, the main culprits on the blacklist are still free. And the
pro-Rangoon Wa army continues its criminal behaviour.

Our leaders in Bangkok have to go beyond public relations gimmicks and take
their message to the people who are directly affected. This includes
talking to people like Samart Loifah, the district chief in Tak's Mae Sot
district who uses social sanctions to get drug addicts to become part of
the community again. Besides addicts, the government also needs to examine
the situation of the so-called "mules" - the hilltribe people living along
the northern border who cross back and forth between Thailand and Burma
carrying small amounts of methamphetamines. They earn Bt1 per tablet, and
as an individual can haul about 50,000 tablets per trip, they feel the risk
is worth taking.

The vast majority of these hilltribe people are technically "stateless" -
though Thailand uses them to boost its tourism trade - with no way of
climbing out of the poverty and the lowly status into which they are born.