Expert

Expert: Burma too dependent on drugs to get rid of them 

A well-known Burma specialist told his audience in Chiangmai on Thursday that military-ruled Burma was so dependent on the drug trade, it would fall apart without it. 

Bertil Lintner, who has written a number of books and articles on Burma, told participants at a meeting organized by Diakonia, a group based in Sweden, at least 60% of all private investment in Burma was drug-related, quoting the March 1998 issue of Jane's Intelligence Review. 

Mr. Lintner, who also distributed copies of his paper, The Golden Triangle Opium Trade: An Overview, said: "Economic collapse would likely follow any attempt to wipe it out." 

He wrote: Burma has became Asia's first and only state which survives on the export of narcotics... (I)t would be economic suicide for the Burmese government to do anything substantial about the country's lucrative drug trade. 
He also explained that the slight drop in opium production in Burma over the past few years was due to sharp changes in the weather, such as last year's El Nino. 

He concluded, "No anti-drug policy in Burma has any chance of success unless it is linked to a real solution to the country's political and ethnic problems, and a meaningful democratic process in Rangoon". 

Rangooon has vowed to make the Wa region of Shan State opium-free by 2005 and the whole country by 2015. 
Another prominent participant was Mr. Thongchai Jaiphrom from the Northern Narcotics Control Center who delivered an overview of the drug problems in northern Thailand. 

The purpose of the meeting, attended by several hilltribe communities, was to formulate "bottom up" strategies to combat the drug problems. 

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Far Eastern Economic Review, 7 December, predicts bumper opium crop for the 2000-2001 season.