Deadline stampedes Wa into growing more

Deadline stampedes Wa into growing more 

Drugs 

As the long declared drug-free year of 2005 draws near, Wa people in the Special Region #2 north of Kengtung have been rushing to make up for the anticipated "dry years" that would ensue, said travelers who recently returned from northern Shan State. 

"Families that used to work only one field each were now working 2-3 fields this year," said a Buddhist monk who had talked to the farmers. "At harvest time, there were only lame elders in the villages. The rest, together with their children, you would find only in the poppy fields." 

The fields would be out of sight of travelers coming along the highway between Manghseng and Panghsang, they said. "It is the official road," said one of the monk's lay attendants. "But from unofficial roads, they (the fields) were clearly visible." 

The travelers saw no fields going through Mongyang in Special Region #4 on their way to Mongpawk although villagers assured them there still were some fields grown in hidden valleys and slopes. "But beginning from Mongpawk (the Wa's first major town, where the UN is working on an alternative development project) to Panghsang, then to Pangyang,

Manghseng and Mongmau, both sides of the road were covered with poppy fields." 

Local farmers told the wayfarers then from Hopang northwards, where Wa-controlled areas border with Kokang, the Wa leadership had issued a strict ban on the cultivation of poppies.. 

Fields were not taxed by the Wa. "They tax only when there is buying and selling," informed one of the sources. 
The price in February, when the pilgrims were in Panghsang, was Y3,000 per viss (1 viss = 1.6 kg).