Pubdate: Mon, 16 Dec 2002
Source: Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Copyright: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2002
Contact:  http://www.bangkokpost.co.th/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/39

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.
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MAP posted-by: Tom