A pyrrhic 'victory' and a shameful episode

Happier time. UWSA chairman Bao Yu-xiang (left) and the then Third Army Area commander Lt. General Picharnmate Muangmanee, with the then commander of Burma's Triangle Area, Brig. General Khin Zaw, celebrate the opening of a Thai-funded school and development project in Wa-controlled area in 2003.

His administration failed to prove that law enforcement agencies did not violate any laws in the three-month-long campaign.

The former prime minister came to power vowing to take on drugs. He also stated that he would take the fight to Burma, the source of many of the illicit drugs that enter Thailand, as well as China, the only country that has any influence on the Burmese junta.

But in the end Thaksin bit off more than he could chew. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), which is responsible for much of Thailand's drug woes, as well as other drug armies, continued to operate freely inside Burma's sector of the Golden Triangle as Thailand's international reputation took a beating because of Thaksin's short-sightedness.

Wa opium farmers continue to live in poverty as drug lords reap the benefits.

What Thaksin and his administration didn't realise was the consequences of their careless policy - and the fact that they were in over their heads.

Thaksin's war on drugs was mainly for domestic consumption - a quick and bloody way to win votes without having to address other important factors such as poverty, education, social mobility and the waxing and waning of Thai-Burmese relations.

His government also overlooked the fact that Burma's drugs problem and its ethnic insurgencies are two sides of the same coin. No drug policy can ever work unless it takes into consideration the political aspects of the problem. Throughout the history of the ethnic insurgencies in the Golden Triangle area, drugs and drug money have always played an important role.

In spite of his tough talk, Thaksin chose to let Burma

off the hook by not forcing Rangoon to share responsibility for the drug armies and the illicit drugs that continue to pour out of the country. Instead, Thaksin took Rangoon's bait and agreed to whitewash the UWSA through some bogus crop substitution project that never materialised because international donors saw it as a kiss of death.

Some said he was concerned that his family investments would be jeopardised if he played hardball with the Burmese.

Burma has been consistently condemned for allowing drug dealers and former drug dealers to roam freely. Men like Lo Sing-han, Wei Hsieu-kang and Khun Sa are known to be among the richest people in the country.

By making deals with the drug lords, Burma is effectively telling Thailand and the world that other countries' drug habits are not their problem and that internal security comes before all else.

Thaksin came into power in February 2001 boasting how he had a list of names of officials involved in the trade and promising not to show any mercy in dealing with them.

The then interior minister Purachai Piemsomboon also

A senior UWSA commander, Wei Hsueh-kang wanted by Thai and US with US$2 million on his head. Wei, along with eight other UWSA commanders, have been indicted by a US Federal Court on drug trafficking.

stated publicly that the government would execute convicted narcotics offenders on a regular basis to send a clear signal that the government was serious about the problem.

Sadly - in spite of the question of accountability - the public responded to Thaksin's bloody campaign with great enthusiasm. In fact, frustrated parents were calling for more.

But the high death count was just too controversial for Thaksin or anybody else to defend. The strategy had to shift so that the benchmark for success would no longer be the body count. The new phase of his war on drugs was redefined to become a war on influential figures and mobsters.

Nevertheless, Thaksin continued to claim success. In early December 2003, the government organised a big rally to declare victory in the drug issue - whatever that meant.

With government officials ordered to attend and cheer en masse, the well-orchestrated event bore great similarity to one of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's birthday celebrations.

Today, Thaksin is living in exile. Thailand, meanwhile, is left to pick up the pieces. How far this new panel is willing to go to clear Thailand's name, no one knows. But with 2,500 deaths, the only thing that is certain is that blood is on a lot of people's hands.

Don Pathan

The Nation