Govt must be wary of UWSA bid for border deal

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL
Govt must be wary of UWSA bid for border deal
The Nation

Caution is advised while making any decision on opening up a checkpoint in Chiang Mai

The United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of the armed ethnic groups allied with the Myanmar government, has asked officials in Nay Pyi Taw to help get the Thai government to open up a border checkpoint in Chiang Mai province.

According to Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN), a Chiang Mai-based media outlet, the issue was discussed in Mong La, a border town in the far north of Shan State, during a recent meeting between the Wa and the Myanmar government.

The UWSA, dubbed the world's largest drug-trafficking group by the US State Department, wants the Khiu Pha Wawk border checkpoint at Chiang Dao district reopened.

The crossing was closed in 2002 following vicious cross-border clashes between Thai soldiers and Wa troops.

The UWSA is aligned with Myanmar, and its troops were also caught up in the firefight near the border in 2002. According to SHAN, the UWSA vice president Xiao Minliang also made other requests to Myanmar - assistance for road construction, licences for 60 Wa trucks, national identity cards for the Wa people, a hydropower plant on the Salween, a coal-mining project and a hydropower plant in Hsipaw.

The UWSA troops were once foot soldiers in the now defunct Communist Party of Burma (CPB). After the CPB fell apart in 1989, Wa militias were left with plenty of weapons that helped make them a force to reckon with. The then security tsar of the Myanmar junta, Lt-General Khin Nyunt, quickly entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Wa to neutralise them.

The UWSA were allowed to control their own territory and grow whatever it wanted to. The crop of choice was opium and the main product that the Wa became known for is heroin.

Today, the UWSA has an army of about 30,000 with more reserves who they can call upon to take up arms if needed. Thailand was never comfortable with the fact that the UWSA had expanded its operations to the Thai border in the late '90s, which led to all-out clashes and cross-border shelling in 2002. All of this was to punish the Wa and to inform the Burmese junta that their friendship with the UWSA would not come at the expense of Thailand's security. Other factors, such as a desire for cross-border trade and business, has motivated suggestions to open border checkpoints along the Thai-Myanmar border.

But checkpoints leading to the Wa-controlled area have been helped to flood the world with top grade-four heroin and swamped the streets of Thailand and Southeast Asia with methamphetamines.

Beside the recent effort in Mong La, a similar request was made to the Thai Foreign Ministry to open up a couple of border passes. Obviously, businessmen along the border did not succeed with their request to reopen the border that leads to Mong Yawn, also a UWSA-controlled town.

A sizeable chunk of the Myanmar sector of the Golden Triangle is controlled by armed ethnic groups and warlords. Perhaps the question to ask is: Who would benefit the most from the proposed opening of border-crossings Is the economic benefit to Thai businessmen along the border area enough to override the security concerns Moreover, is a stronger UWSA good for Thailand?

The Thai government should be aware that the UWSA control their own territory and any Myanmar presence at the Khiu Pha Wawk crossing will be more symbolic than serious.

Bangkok could always argue that all cross-border agreements are between the Thai and Myanmar governments. But let's not pretend that we don't know what they are doing in the Wa-controlled area.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Govt-must-be-wary-of-UWSA-bid-for-border-deal-30247796.html

-- The Nation 2014-11-15

[ChrisY1]

I dare say that there are people of influence in Thailand, that would like to see this crossing opened for obvious reasons......

Should the Myanmar government preesure Thailand for this crossing, it should definately be rejected outright......

[chainarong]

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I dare say that there are people of influence in Thailand, that would like to see this crossing opened for obvious reasons......

Should the Myanmar government preesure Thailand for this crossing, it should definately be rejected outright......

That might be so now with PM Prayuth, what about future governments, if you get my drift.

[marcusd]

Ahh Chiang Mai rich and lovely because of free trade. And it will help boost the lagging economy again. A neww checkpoint open for free trade. Just what the West needs. More opium all freely traded again through Chiang Mai

[khwaibah]

Ahh Chiang Mai rich and lovely because of free trade. And it will help boost the lagging economy again. A neww checkpoint open for free trade. Just what the West needs. More opium all freely traded again through Chiang Mai

Another HUB for Thailand.

[Thailand]

Very few friends outside of Thailand so pressure from Myanmar may well push the general in to accepting the opening of the crossing again.

Perhaps a percentage for the government?