Rebels welcome planned Thai-run drug free project

_{24 November 2008}

“Our only request (to the Burma Army) is that don’t use the project as a pretext to launch a military offensive in the area,” he said.

The project was proposed to the Thai authorities during the 29 April-1 May visit to Bangkok by junta prime minister Thein Sein, according to Bangkok Post. In response, Thai drug officials led by Pitaya Jinawat flew to Burma to inspect Banyen, also written Wanyin, 35 miles south the state capital Taunggyi, on 12 August.

On 3 August, 9 days before the Thai visit, the uneasy alliance between the Burma Army and the rebellious ceasefire group Shan State Peoples Nationalities Liberation Organization (SNPLO) came to an abrupt end when the group was surrounded and forcibly disarmed at their main base at Nawnghtao, some 40 miles further south.

For any crop substitution project to succeed, there are at least two pre-conditions, according to a Thai narcotics official: Peace and the local people’s dependency on opium for their livelihood.

The actual situation at the ground level is still volatile, according to reports coming to the border. “We have already fought 6 times,” claimed Hkun Hsoi Hto, who is in charge of the political department.

The junta-drafted constitution, approved in May, has granted self-administrative status to three townships in Shan State: Hopong, Hsihseng and Panglawng, where the PaOs are the dominant ethnic group. “The status is a sham, because we don’t enjoy any real administrative powers,” Hkun Okker, PaO leader and legal expert told SHAN. “We cannot even appoint our own head of local government.”

The PNLO, formed on 18 November 2007, following the breakaway by a faction from the SNPLO on 10 June 2007, issued a statement on its first anniversary, saying it is fighting for the following political objectives: Anti-military dictatorship, Anti-big nation chauvinism, Democracy, Federalism, Equality and Right of Self determination.