Problems On The Mekong River Are Far From Over: Thai Opinion

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EDITORIAL

Problems on the Mekong river are far from over

The Nation

After the unresolved killing of 13 Chinese sailors on the waterway last year, China has upped the ante on security coordination in the region

China has moved a step closer to becoming a major power in mainland Southeast Asia's longest intra-nation region, now that its troops are patrolling the mighty Mekong River.

It is a China-led security scheme with neighbouring countries - the first in Chinese history - that will affect the overall strategic landscape in the region. The move has come after 13 Chinese crew members of two cargo boats were hijacked by a gang of bandits operating from the Burmese sector of the Golden Triangle late last year.

According to Thai officials, the Chinese crews refused to pay the pirates a "passage" fee. Then, in what appeared to be a staged incident, the bandits tossed about one million methamphetamine tablets on the boats and tipped off Thai security forces about drug-trafficking gangs. The Thai military fell for it and set up a blockade on the Mekong River inside its territorial waters.

But when the bodies of the 13 Chinese crew members began to surface from the water, the old explanation as to how the authorities came to know of the drugs had to make way for a new excuse. And so they blamed a Shan druglord, Naw Kham, known for leading similar raids in the past.

The problem is that not many knew that Naw Kham works as a spy for the Thai military, overseeing security in the infamous Golden Triangle.

It was this very point that Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung wanted to expose; thus the decision to indict the men who were at the blockade that night when the two cargo boats entered Thai waters.

Was it because his Pheu Thai Party has an axe to grind with the military?

Was he just trying to humiliate the soldiers for using bandits and drug-traffickers as spies in an area that is traditionally a no man's land, even for the Burmese government soldiers who cannot access a number of areas under the control of ethnic armies like the Wa, Chin, Kachin, Shan, Karen, and other armed ethnic groups.

With regard to using Naw Kham, Thai soldiers in the far North see themselves as playing the same proxy games that China and Burma have been playing for decades. And so they question the motive of the Pheu Thai top dogs for going after the Pha Muang Task Force the way they have been.

China moved quickly following the massacre to work out a mechanism for better law enforcement and security cooperation among the four Mekong countries in that area. Beijing wanted a joint patrol but Bangkok will only go as far as a coordinated patrol. This means the Chinese security forces have to stop before entering Thailand's territorial water.

However, Thailand agreed to a proposal calling for the establishment of a Combined Operations Centre in Guanlei, Xishuangbanna, that will act as the focal point for intelligence information about cargo ships travelling in and out of river ports, to coordinate patrols.

For centuries, the Mekong has served as the main transport route for people and goods from inland southwestern China, criss-crossing the heartland of Southeast Asia through Burma, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, down to the South China Sea via Vietnam. Chinese engineers in 2005 blasted rocks to clear the way for larger cargo ships from China.

But while regional leaders set their sights on a win-win trading scheme, they forget to look at the reality inside the Burmese sector of the Golden Triangle, where opium warlords and drug armies play for keeps. Robbing ships on the mighty Mekong is only the end result of failed governance on land.

If the countries in this region, including China, are serious about securing the safety of crews going up and down the Mekong River, they will have to address the political and security challenges in the Golden Triangle.

The security forces can travel up and down the river all they want, with all the firepower they have, but it won't chase away the drug-trafficking problem. Bandits, drug armies and opium warlords will continue to lurk and look for an opportunity to strike. Just don't blink. Those 13 deaths were just a sign of things to come.

-- The Nation 2012-01-05

[rmacdon61]

Might not be a bad thing if China exercises its right to "free transit" on the river and cleans up issues, or forces Burma to respond to the issues involving drug trade by running armed vessels on the river.

[eljeque]

River or a highway.

Chinese boats, Thai boats, Burmese boats, etc., should stop when they are no longer running along their own national boundaries. Then, the goods on board should be transferred to a boat owned by-and with crew from the country which has the river there.

Then it will be a national and not an international problem.

[Payboy]

Time to rename the Naga Fireball Festival.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

River or a highway.

Chinese boats, Thai boats, Burmese boats, etc., should stop when they are no longer running along their own national boundaries. Then, the goods on board should be transferred to a boat owned by-and with crew from the country which has the river there.

Then it will be a national and not an international problem.

Where are you from, la-la land? It is an international waterway, and the nations bordering it have a shared responsibility to keep it open for international traffic.

Burma is certainly a special case, with so many areas under the effective control of local de-facto control by private armies funded by drugs/arms/people smuggling. The Myanmar "central" government doesn't have the resources and/or motivation to fulfill its responsibilities, so those neighboring governments with the resources will need to step into the breach, that is if/when they are motivated.

However since some or all of those governments' forces with the appropriate responsibilities are likely to have been co-opted by the criminals or actually participating in such activities themselves. I'm sure just as here in Thailand, elements of the Chinese military are run as private fiefdoms without effective control from the central civilian government. As always in this part of the world, money talks, buys the guns much more easily than the other way around.

Love the story of the bandits tossing millions of yaabaa pills on board to set up the Chinese against the Thais. What are the odds of the public version being the truth, LOL?

Real wild west stuff and not likely to change anytime soon. . .

[folium]

River or a highway. Chinese boats, Thai boats, Burmese boats, etc., should stop when they are no longer running along their own national boundaries. Then, the goods on board should be transferred to a boat owned by-and with crew from the country which has the river there. Then it will be a national and not an international problem.

Where are you from, la-la land? It is an international waterway, and the nations bordering it have a shared responsibility to keep it open for international traffic. Burma is certainly a special case, with so many areas under the effective control of local de-facto control by private armies funded by drugs/arms/people smuggling. The Myanmar "central" government doesn't have the resources and/or motivation to fulfill its responsibilities, so those neighboring governments with the resources will need to step into the breach, that is if/when they are motivated. However since some or all of those governments' forces with the appropriate responsibilities are likely to have been co-opted by the criminals or actually participating in such activities themselves. I'm sure just as here in Thailand, elements of the Chinese military are run as private fiefdoms without effective control from the central civilian government. As always in this part of the world, money talks, buys the guns much more easily than the other way around. Love the story of the bandits tossing millions of yaabaa pills on board to set up the Chinese against the Thais. What are the odds of the public version being the truth, LOL? Real wild west stuff and not likely to change anytime soon. . .

Spot on. See the attached piece from ATOL for an excellent update on events in this nasty little corner of SE Asia.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ML17Ae01.html

For decades this has been a lawless area with players including the Red Chinese PLA, KMT, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, various Burmese and Hmong ethnic militias and druglords, plus the CIA. Symptomatic of this was the latest deaths in Myanmar inflicted on a joint Burmese/Lao military patrol by a Burmese drug militia.

The Mekong is and always has been a vital trade conduit for legitimate and the most profitable illegal merchandise, the profits from which are recycled through casinos and other laundering devices to fund the vested interests, supply their weaponry, finance the bribes and keep everyone interested in fighting their corner.

All in all a very unpleasant, no quarter given, high stakes game being fought out just across the border (and sometimes as in the October murders, within Thailand), all a little different to the puerile drivel that takes up much of TV.