Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jun 2000 Source: Bangkok Post (Thailand) Copyright: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2000 Contact: http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/ Author: Sanitsuda Ekachai Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post. 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Allan Wilkinson