Thai-Myanmar drug control effort underway using successful Doi Tung model

[Lite Beer]

Thai-Myanmar drug control effort underway using successful Doi Tung model

BANGKOK: -- Drug traffickers continue to use Thailand's northern border as major route to smuggle narcotics into the country to further to other destinations in the world prompting concern for authorities of both Thailand and Myanmar.

The successful Doi Tung developoment program is now seen to be applied by Myanmar authorities to solve the border drug trsfficking.e

This year alone, authorities have managed to seize almost 30 million methamphetamines or ‘Ya Ba’.

A majority of villages on the border with Myanmar have been used as collection and distribution centres which have forced authorities from both sides of the border to implement village development programmes in order to reduce dependence on narcotics trafficking.

Latest seizure in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai last month netted 200,000 methamphetamine or ‘Yaba’ pills and a further 13 kgs of ICE worth an estimated 50 million baht.

One of such centres sits approximately 100 meters from the Thai–Myanmar border.

Drug traffickers attempted to cross over into Thailand by using boat to cross the Mae Sai River at the Wieng Hom ferry.

In one case, they had apparently dumped the cache of narcotics and fled upon seeing the number of authorities at the crossing.

The narcotics were concealed within vacuum sealed bags of tea and the entire cache was liberally sprinkled with ground pepper powder in an attempt to hide the scent.

From the vantage point on the Doi Chang Moob slope along the border of Mae Sai district sits Baan Pha Khao village on the Myanmar side of the border.

The village has been used as a collection and distribution center for drugs from within Myanmar before being transported across the border into Thailand.

In the past, Myanmar drug enforcement authorities had seized almost 10 million ‘Yaba’ tablets at this very village.

The villagers, being poor and impoverished had no choice but to make a living by being pawns for local drug syndicates.

A Thai narcotics crops survey and nonitoring chief Phipob Chamni-wikaipong, said the terrain is very similar to Om Koi diatrict and the conditions are similar.

Inaccessible villages will inadvertently fall under the influence of drug lords. It is the same with Myanmar, he said.

It is because of this concern that Myanmar authorities are coordinating with their Thai counterparts to find alternative means for the villagers to make a living so that they will not turn to drug trafficking, he said.

He said now authorities from the Myanmar Narcotics Control Board (NCB) had camec to attend the Doi Tung Development Program Conference with the aim of achieving that goal.

The development program was initiated by the Mae Fah Luang Royal Foundation 12 years ago with the aim of developing the Yong Kha village of the Wah tribe on the Myanmar border.

The program achieved tremendous success and authorities are hoping to duplicate that achievement.

Deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotic Control Board Ratchanikorn Sornsiri said the effort is aimed at preventing the villagers from turning to illegal activities for their livelihood such as narcotics.

Most of these villages are located along critical drug trafficking routeshe said.

Myanmar narcotic control officer Pol Col Saw Linh Thun admitted that the program to improve the well being of hill tribes has proven effective in stemming drug activities.

He stated that the Myanmar NCB has increased the number of units from the previous 26 to 50 located at different parts of the country in order to tackle the drug trade.

He disclosed that there are two groups of Wah hill tribesmen which are the northern Wah and the southern Wah.

On almost all of these locations, the Myanmar narcotic control police have been able to access to the villages.

There are however some villages where there are strict rule prohibiting outsiders from entering but eventuality authorities were able to convince these villagers to allow them to enter the area, he said.

Thai narcotic authorities saud the cross-border joint cooperation currently underway will represent the second stage of the development program which is expected to expand to cover 56 other villages located within the Wah, Aka, Lahu and Thai Yai territories.

The program will attempt to duplicate the Doi Tung Development Program of Thailand that has proven effective in providing a permanent solution to the narcotics crops problem.

The program has now permanently converted villages that used to grow narcotics crops to other more productive crops such as coffee beans thus directly reducing the drug trade.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/thai-myanmar-drug-control-effort-underway-using-successful-doi-tung-model/

-- Thai PBS 2014-10-18

[ScubaPhuket]

I don't think anybody in the world trusts what the 'thai authorities' say any more.

[Beng]

Very well written article. Thanks for posting.

[chainarong]

Don't know much about the Doi Tung model , sounds more like a 3 wheeled cart, however the Thaksin Shinawatra model meet with some degree of success in the North , even though thousands either disappeared or were murdered and never faced trial , however they never seemed to curb the drugs trade altogether, poor old Thaksin was under investigation By the UN for Human rights abuse, however like everything in Thailand of this nature it died of withdrawal systems, although there are some families in Northern Thailand that would like to meet Thaksin, this probably will be along time in the making , but you never know.

[cgphuket]

Remember, noone uner the rank of colonel is allowed to smuggle drugs across the border.

[NongKhaiKid]

Don't know much about the Doi Tung model , sounds more like a 3 wheeled cart, however the Thaksin Shinawatra model meet with some degree of success in the North , even though thousands either disappeared or were murdered and never faced trial , however they never seemed to curb the drugs trade altogether, poor old Thaksin was under investigation By the UN for Human rights abuse, however like everything in Thailand of this nature it died of withdrawal systems, although there are some families in Northern Thailand that would like to meet Thaksin, this probably will be along time in the making , but you never know.

The deaths were attributed to dealers killing each other to prevent being grassed up and the then Thai Human Rights Commissioner found nothing wrong as Mr. t was doing a great job in the war on drugs.

In the usual manner of Thai over statement the Governor of Kalasin declared his province drug free but it wasn't long before arrests were bring reported again.

[The manic]

The more'successful' an anti drugs campaign is if based on interdiction and arrest never work because it takes more drugs out of circulation. This causes a scarcity which means the price goes up. When the price goes up the risk of selling, at any level becomes more attractive so yet more drugs get put into circulation. This model of the economics of the drug trade is clearly outlined in the introduction to The Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. Thus an anti drugs campaign as mentioned here in this article is just a money spinner for bent cops, politicians and army officials and their mafia contacts.