A Trip To The Border

A Trip To The Border

I was up in Chiangrai 26-27 June. And here are a few things I learned there that I would like to share with you. 

Bribing To Pass Exams

There in Maesai, I ran into a woman I once knew 15 years ago. She had got married and has a 6 year old daughter who is at school in Laikha. "Before I left for Tachilek some months ago, I asked my daughter what she would like me to buy for her," she said. "And could you imagine what a 7 year old replied? She said she didn't want anything for her, but she would like me to buy something for her teacher, because she's afraid without a present to sweeten up her teacher, she wouldn't pass her exams. That shows how much our education system has deteriorated."

It was in Maesai also that I received a letter from one of my old friends, Liangsy (not his real name). He wrote that he wasn't worried much about his son not passing his exams, because he's a member of the Union Solidarity and Development Association and also a member of the school's musical band (he plays a flute). Still, he had to bribe K.15,000 to the headmaster so his son could continue studies in his school (in Taunggyi) that boasted the highest turnout in the 10th standard exams.

Wa on the border

Many friends I saw there spoke about our Wa cousins.

Moengzay told me that the Was had just acquired a license to buy 300-automobiles from Thailand. "They'll be spending at least B.150 million, but nobody's complaining," he said.

An old friend from the Shan State Army South, who is active in the area opposite Chiangrai, spoke about Wa relocations affecting the local people who were there first. "They don't force out the people from their homes and lands like the Burmese do," he said. "But they take all unoccupied pieces of land. They are also buying up the local girls as wives."

Another friend from the ex-Mong Tai Army who is now a businessman told me he saw about 2,000 families in Ho Talang, a village between Monghsat and Tachilek, alone. "That's as many as the number of new Wa families in Mongton Township," he said, adding that he wasn't up in Mongyawn, so he wouldn't try to estimate how many Wa settlers were there.

S.H.A.N. had received reports earlier that 50,000 households i.e. almost the whole population from the Wa region near the Chinese border, would be relocated in Mongton and Monghsat townships, opposite Chiangmai and Chiangrai provinces.

Wa Taking up Road Construction Security

The friend, who was in Mongton recently, confirmed that Wa troops had replaced the Burmese unit at Loihtwe, a strategic mountain opposite Muangna village, Chiangdao District, Chiangmai. "Some of them even wandered into Thai territory one time, but were believed to have been pushed back by the Thai security forces," he said.

One Wa officer he met was reported to have said the Wa fighters would be responsible for the security of road construction from Mongton to Homong, a distance of about 120-150 km. "He said he hoped he wouldn't encounter any disturbances from Yawdserk, because if he did he would have no choice but to retaliate," he said. "I'm sure this is the ploy the Burmese are using to create hostility between Wa and Shan.

"So far there has been no comment from the SSA. (Sao Sengsuk, leader of the Shan Democratic Union, commented: "It is also to create hostility between the Wa and the world community, which will eventually be used to crush the Wa.") 

Killings and Drugs

A monk in Ban Thoedthai, Mae Faluang District, Chiangrai, confirmed his meeting with a Shan monk from Kunhing about the killings in the township. "More than 60 of them were killed at the same spot," he said. 

However, he told me he was in southern Shan State during the dry season and saw thousands of people engaging in poppy cultivation. Vast poppy fields from Phra Kaohsu (Nine Buddha Images) to SanLoiMaw in Hopong and in Loima-Loiyay, between Mongpawn and Loilem, were seen by him and other fellow travelers. 

The quality, as reported earlier by S.H.A.N., does not match that grown along the Thai-border. Whereas 10 kg of opium in the hinterland could produce only 1 kg of heroin, it needs just 6-7 kg of border opium to produce the same amount of heroin, according to informed sources. 

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