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. - --- MAP posted-by: Tom