HaCKeRz KrOnIcKLeZ 3/HaCKeRz_KrOnIcKLeZ.iso/drugs/hilltribe.drug.addiction

Text File | 1996-05-06 | 23KB | 541 lines

_Bangkok Post_ June 13, 1993

Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
From: [e-mail] (Coban Tun)

Subject: Bangkok Post: Hilltribe drug addiction
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1993 20:16:10 GMT

Subject: Bangkok Post: Drug trade II
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1993 20:16:17 GMT

Subject: Bangkok Post: Drug trade III
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1993 20:16:25 GMT

While development programmes have brought prosperity to rural
villages, the villagers' new-found wealth has also attracted a
horde of merchants. But they are the merchants of death. Heroin
use in opium-producing areas is reported to be higher than ever,
reports PRASONG CHARASDAMRONG and SUBIN KHUENKAEW.

ACCELERATED development in the northern highlands has somehow
brought painful side effects. The new prosperity has attracted
drug dealers to target the residents as a new source of revenue.

"More and more rural people in the highlands have turned to heroin
and the situation is getting worse. The country is now
experiencing unprecedented drug abuse," claims Dr Pisuth
Porsumritohok, director of the Mae Chaem District Hospital in
Chiang Mai.

Doctors and officials in Chiang Mai, in interviews with Sunday
Perspective, said there is an extremely high percentage of heroin
addicts in the highlands, and the victims are both lowland
residents and hilltribe people.

There are no official surveys nor figures yet. But experience
tells them that if the true figures were known, the statistics
would shock a lot of people in this country, they said.

In rough surveys, they discovered several villages where the whole
population is addicted to heroin, and many others where the number
of addicts is as high as 80 per cent of the villagers.

The areas facing the new plaque are in every province where opium
is grown against the law, said sources.

These opium-growing provinces in the North include Chiang Mai,
Chiang Rai, Kamphaeng Phet, Lamphun, Mae Hong Son, Nan, Phayao,
Phetchabun, Sukhothai, Tak, and Uttaradit.

The sources said these areas are facing rapid economic and social
development. The once tranquil villages are now brought face to
face with modern living rife with unfamiliar problems.

"It is a failure to prepare them for social consequences following
development," a government official said about the rise in heroin
abuse.

Several development projects funded locally and abroad, both by
government and non-government organisations, have brought
unexpected side-effects. The good intentions of these development
projects, especially the ones to replace opium with other cash
crops, have been successful to a degree.

"The development projects mostly intend to boost people's standard
of living and increase their earnings by giving them new
occupations besides farming or other traditional jobs," he said.

But he criticised the lack of programmes to prepare the people for
new lives following the project's completion.

One official claimed that an opium shortage had forced opium
addicts to turn to heroin. The shortage was allegedly caused by
drug warlords turning the raw opium into heroin because it can
fetch much higher prices.

With the success of the development programmes, more and more
rural people have more money to spend, officials said.

Up in the hills, some large families may earn 20,000-30,000 baht a
month.

"A small family earning 50,000 baht a year has become very common
in many areas under the development projects," one official said.
"These people naturally become modern consumers with a new style
of living."

The sources said that development alone would not harm these
people. But once drug traffickers realise the new potential market
for their deadly supplies, they are in danger.

A strong campaign against drug trafficking which prevents the
smuggling of heroin out of the country is perhaps a key factor.

"Exporting illicit drugs, especially heroin, has become more and
more difficult for traffickers. So the traffickers and producers
have turned their attention to the local market," an official
said.

There is nowhere better than the remote areas where "people become
rich and the law cannot reach them."

The number of opium and heroin addicts in the country is estimated
to be over 100,000, of which nearly half are hilltribesmen.

"Hilltribes people no longer mainly use opium. More and more have
turned to heroin," said the source.

Dr Pisuth said that Mae Chaem Hospital between 1986 and 1989
admitted 800 opium addicts for treatment and no heroin addicts. He
said he is very surprised that the hospital has now been admitting
more and more heroin abusers while the number of opium addicts has
declined.

The increase in the number of heroin addicts started in 1990, the
doctor said. "By early 1991 about half of the addicts used heroin,
but now almost all drug patients seeking hospital help are hooked
on heroin."

The number of addicts admitted to the hospital during the past two
years totalled over 2,000, including not only tribesmen but also
low-land people, said the doctor.

He said 20 per cent of the addicts are comparatively more educated
than in the past. They are also more well-off and younger, and
they are residents of villages which have benefited from
development programmes.

Dr Pisuth added, "When there is more money in the village, the
heroin goes after it."

Another factor which contributes to widespread drug abuse in the
remote areas is the increasing difficulty in smuggling illicit
drugs out of the country.

"The harder the smuggling, the more drugs are left over in the
country," said a source.

A drug suppression official said that opium production in Thailand
is minimal, and sufficient only for domestic consumption, with
very little left for border heroin factories. Some sources said
some heroin factories are in Thailand.

The major source of opium production, according to the sources, is
Burma. Due to a lack of a serious suppression drive since the
United States withdrew aid to the military junta in 1990, there
exists a situation akin to a free opium trade. Burma's opium
production has reportedly been over 2,000 tons a year since then.

In Laos, the opium output is estimated at around 800 tons.

The combined opium output in the border region known as the
"Golden Triangle" is estimated to be about 2,800 tons a year,
representing about 70 per cent of world production.

With 10-12 kilogrammes of opium yielding about a kilogramme of
heroin, there is certainly a large amount of heroin from factories
dotting the borders moving into Thailand, mainly from areas
opposite Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, the sources
said.

Thailand is used mainly as a transit point before the heroin moves
on to other countries. From Mae Hong Son, it passes through Pang
Ma Pha sub-district, Pai, Mae Taeng and Mae Rim districts on its
way to Chiang Mai.

>From Chiang Rai, it passes through Mae Chan, Mae Sai, Mae Suai to
Chiang Mai or Lampang on another highway.

The third route originates from the Shan State in Burma. The drug
is delivered and stored at Ban Therd Thai on Doi Lang before
moving to Fang, Vieng Haeng, Chiang Dao, Mae Taeng, Mae Rim
districts and Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is perhaps the centre where the illicit drug is
transported to Bangkok and beyond.

The drug from Laos's Bor Keo province goes through border points
to Chiang Khong and Chiang Saen in Chiang Rai before moving to
Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

The Laotian heroin production from Udom Meechai passes through
Chiang Kham, Phayao province, and Nan's Pua and Mae Charim. The
rest from Saiyaburi in Laos passes through Ban Khok district,
Chart Trakan and Nakhon Thai in Uttaradit before heading to
Bangkok.

Heroin in Bangkok is then exported by air, sea and land to Europe,
the US, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan.

"Nobody knows how much heroin finally lands in third countries.
But there is certainly a lot left on the way before getting out of
the country," the source said.

And it finds willing customers in villagers along the way, said
the sources. One source cautioned that there are several other
sub-routes lying between these main routes, especially in
districts and villages in rugged terrain. People in many areas
along these routes use heroin openly, several officials said.

Officials at several districts claimed there are small "mobile"
heroin factories in mountain areas under their jurisdiction. Such
factories tend to serve small communities in a certain area, said
the officials.

Drug trading in remote areas is done on a small scale, with agents
delivering the supply to other agents or retailers in villages.
Nobody knows the exact scale of activity of the primary agents,
but it is likely that several groups are involved in the
heroin-marketing operation.

Even though these drug gangs are relatively small, officials
admitted that they find it hard to suppress them. District
authorities claim they do not have enough budget to investigate
and suppress drug-trafficking in remote areas.

"We've got a lot to do. Our responsibilities have increased but we
are still shorthanded. We have district police but we don't have
money to carry out serious anti-drug campaigns in far-away
villages," one official said.

How widespread the heroin trade is in remote rural villages is
perhaps best described by Dr Pisuth: "Traffickers sometimes show
up to offer heroin to my patients in the hospital."

Meeting a drug baron in the `jungle palace'

SA LA FU is considered an "influential" Lisor hilltribesman,
happily spending his wealth, apparently from drug-trafficking, on
a mountain-top home far from Mae Chaem district office in Chiang
Mai Province.

One day, he sent an underling to see a newly-appointed district
chief, Pairoj Saengphuwongse, and invite the officer to be his
guest at Ban Thung, a tiny village where he lives.

Mr Pairoj went to Ban Thung one day as part of his routine village
inspection.

Ban Thung is about 60 kilometres north of the district office, but
due to a bad road snaking through rugged terrain, a journey may
take a whole day.

The village has long been known as an opium growing area where no
less than a thousand rai of poppy are grown annually by both
lowland people and hilltribesmen.

The officer did visit Sa La Fu at his house, which is more
magnificent than any other in the district. Some people describe
the house as the "jungle palace."

"You disappoint me very much ... Why don't you spend the night at
my house? You shouldn't turn down my invitation," Sa La Fu greeted
the district chief   with a loud voice after learning the very
first minute of their meeting that Mr Pairoj declined his
hospitality.

"I'm on official business, so I'd rather stay with my subordinate
... at the house of the village headman," the officer replied.

"The headman might be your people while he is in town. But here,
he is mine. Here he isn't your subordinate," Sa La Fu said without
mincing words.

The Lisor continued, "You're a big boss in the district. But here,
I'm the boss. Headmen and khamnan are nothing."

Mr Pairoj was stunned by the Lisor's words and tried to understand
what he actually meant.

Normally, a village headman who does not command influence himself
must get support from other villagers who are more influential. In
remote villages, especially at Ban Thung, the district officer
knew that although the district authorities give a stamp of
approval to the appointment of a village headman, others may
actually call the shots.

In this particular case, Sa La Fu is widely known as the man who
dictates the village headman nomination to the district office.

When Mr Pairoj visited Ban Thung in January early this year, he
saw green fields of poppy flowers here and there. By a rough
estimate the fields may total nearly a thousand rai.

"Do you trade opium and heroin?" the district officer asked Sa La
Fu frankly when he saw a poppy field near his house.

"No ... I don't," Sa La Fu responded with a smile and added, "Do
you have any reason or evidence to ask me this?"

The district officer knew that Sa La Fu lied, but he also knew he
could not find evidence against him. His case is quite similar to
other drug barons who seem to be above the law while an ordinary
person can be arrested on suspicion only or with a small amount of
drugs in possession.

The conversation between Mr Pairoj and Sa La Fu went on throughout
the night. The only single implied threat the district chief
passed to Sa La Fu was:   "If you want to live here happily and
peacefully ... you must behave yourself."

Sa La Fu remains a drug trafficking suspect who enjoys his freedom
because the authorities can do nothing against him.

The poppy field adjoins Sa La Fu's property, yet nobody claims
ownership, especially when there is a visit by a Government
officer. The land has no title-deed and no one knows if it is
inside or outside a forest reserve. This is typical of several
remote rural villages in the North where growing opium poppy is
still an occupation.

"I've a list of a hundred persons or more who, we believe, sell
heroin or opium here, but I can do nothing," Mr Pairoj told Sunday
Perspective.

The persons on the list are believed to sell heroin in their
respective villages.

"You might be surprised if I say there may be drug pushers in
every single village," the district officer said.

Opium is grown in every district in Chiang Mai. Mae Chaem District
is known to be at the top of the list, with about 20 per cent of
the total growing area -- some 10,000 rai -- in Chiang Mai
province.

It is a very quiet district, situated in a mountain jungle a
hundred kilometres from the provincial capital. The district has
about 50,000 residents, half of whom are hilltribe people, mostly
Karen and Lisor.

It extends along the rugged mountain terrain, covering 3,300
square kilometres, and is the second largest district in the
country after Umphang District in Tak. Mae Chaem is as large as
Prachuab Khiri Khan Province, or four times larger than Samut
Sakhon, and has seven sub-districts and 82 villages.

An incomplete list of suspected heroin pushers numbers 57 persons.
Six are branded as "major dealers."

Mr Pairoj suspects that small pushers receive their supply from
dealers who visit the district and villages regularly under such
disguises as medicine retailers, wholesalers of food, and salesmen
of household items.

"These people come in mini-trucks, pretending to sell fish sauce,
salted fish and so on," he said.

A village heroin pusher has an average of ten customers, said the
district officer.
If each addict needs up to a 100-baht-worth of heroin a day, the
drug money circulating in a village may be as much as 30,000 baht
a month. For the whole district, the illicit drug trade involves
up to 2.6 million baht a month or over 30 million baht a year.


An official estimate suggests that the outlawed Shan State Army of
the notorious drug kingpin Khun Sa sells up to
50,000-million-baht-worth of heroin a year.

With such huge sums involved, a supposedly honest person may be
tempted to chase after "easy money." What the district chief
implied is that the appeal of making a "quick kill" may have
filtered down to small community leaders such as khamnan and
headmen. They may become "influential backers" of the drug pushers
in their communities.

"The drug is now easy to find," said the officer, "You can find it
in every village ... like candy for children."

It is no surprise then that a lot of addicts can be found in Mae
Chaem district, particularly in villages bordering Mae Hong Son's
Mae La Noi, Khun Yuam and Muang districts.

Mae Na Jorn and Ban Chan are two sub-districts in Mae Chaem where
the heroin addiction has reached a "frightening level." Visiting
some villages there, a visitor might be shocked to see a small boy
taking opium.


In Mae Na Jorn's Ban Mae Hae village, everyone in a family of
eight except a two-year-old child are addicted to heroin. The
children range in age from eight to 14. Some addicted families
also trade in the drug. Na Jorn is about three hours from the
district office on a 60-kilometre dirt track.


In Sa Ja Hae, Mae Dard Noi and Mae Ta La villages in Ban Chan
sub-district, with a combined population of about 1,600, a recent
survey revealed that 10 per cent of the people are addicted to
heroin or opium. The sub-district is four hours away on a
108-kilometre tract from Mae Chaem district.

In Ban Mae Jae village, Ban Chan, all 30 families use drugs.

Mr Pairoj has started a drug rehabilitation programme in villages
closest to the district office, bringing in addicts for treatment
and campaigning to prevent others from getting hooked.

Villagers, administration officials, the police as well as doctors
in the district and from other towns are mobilised to help fight
drug abuse.
The programme started recently. Treatment centres have been
established in the villages where village headmen and volunteers,
with doctors' help and advice, take care of addicts.
V olunteers have also been assigned to watch other members of the
community so they will not get addicted.

Out of a hundred heroin addicts, thirty have been treated and
recovered from the drug habit. Sadly, some return to the drug.

Mr Pairoj said his goal is very modest. He believes his anti-drug
campaign will not get rid of all drug abuse in the area.

He often cites the following goal, "If there are now ten addicts,
it'll be all right if there is no number eleven."

New farming technology plays a part in boosting opium production
in Thailand

MORE than 32,000 rai of land in the North have been planted with
poppy to produce a record opium crop this year, said a regional
official of the Narcotics Suppression Control Board.

Chiang Mai is named as the biggest source of production, followed
by Chiang Rai, Kamphaeng Phet, Lampang, Loei, Mae Hong Son, Nan,
Phayao, Phetchabun, Phitsanulok, and Tak.

Past opium production of about 30 tons a year had dropped to about
20 tons a year in recent years. But since 1990, it has been on the
increase and has reached a high of 35 tons.

"It can break the record this year with perhaps 40 tons," said a
source.

Despite the rise, Thailand's poppy-growing area and opium output
are still small compared to those in Burma and Laos. The United
States estimated in 1990 that the poppy-growing area in the rest
of the Golden Triangle, where the borders of the three countries
join, was between 926,000 and 1,290,000 rai.

According to a Thai source, the opium output between 1987 and 1990
was about 800 tons in Laos and up to 2,000 tons in Burma.

Roughly calculating that 10 kilograms of opium produces a kilogram
of heroin, the heroin output of the Golden Triangle could be
around 280 tons a year. With a retail price of about 50 million
baht a kilo, this could fetch up to 14,000 million baht.

"Thailand, as a part of the Golden Triangle, is nothing in terms
of drug production," the source said.

Opium production in Thailand has increased in past years, not
because the growing area has become bigger, according to the
source, but because new farming technology has been introduced. A
decade ago, a rai of land produced at most 1.5 kilograms of opium,
but the new technology has boosted productivity to between three
and 3.5 kilograms.

Opium poppy growing in Thailand traditionally has been done by
hilltribes people for personal use, and it is estimated that
30,000 to 40,000 people grow poppy or use opium in Thailand. If an
addict uses 1.6 kilograms of the drug in a year, total consumption
would be 48 to 64 tons a year, which is more than that produced in
the country annually.

"This means that Thai addicts receive additional supplies from
Laos and Burma," said the source.

While most hilltribes people in Thailand are afraid of stern
measures taken by the Thai government in narcotics suppression,
the source said, high prices offered by drug-traffickers remain a
big incentive for them to continue growing the drug.

Opium produced in Thailand is normally of good quality and
commands comparatively higher prices.

A "joint" of raw Laotian opium, equivalent to 1.6 kilograms,
usually sells for 4,800 baht, and that from Burma, 6,500 baht. The
same amount of Thai opium can fetch between 8,500 and 10,000 baht.

A joint of cooked Laotian opium sells for 7,500 baht, that from
Burma sells for 8,500 baht and that from Thailand gets at least
9,500 baht.

To escape the law, hilltribes people grow poppy on small farms
situated far from one another and from roads. Drug traffickers
give them new technology which enables them to grow poppy earlier
than usual in the year.

Poppy grown before the normal growing season yield opium called
"fin dor", the production of which takes shorter time.

Hilltribes people living along the borders travel across the
borders to grow the drug in areas controlled by Burmese ethnic
minorities. Some sources say these poppy growers pay protection
money to the minority groups. Dominating the border opium farms is
the Shan State Army (SSA), led by drug kingpin Khun Sa.

The SSA not only protects the growers but finances them as well,
said the source. It guarantees minimum prices for the drug,
provides storage and supplies heroin factories.


The SSA also guarantees minimum prices for heroin factory
operators, buys and stores their heroin, and delivers it to buyers
from Thailand and abroad, the source said.

About 20 heroin factories are believed to be active along
Thailand's borders.

The factories are mobile, since the production process takes less
than 10 days. After each production run, the operators move the
factories to new locations.

This mobile factories are difficult to catch. Official anti-drug
forces need the exact location of the factories, and they must be
experienced and familiar with the mountainous terrain. Normally,
the Border Patrol Police are responsible for the task.

The authorities have had some success. In 1989, they seized and
destroyed 10 factories in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Lampang. In
1990, they destroyed four factories in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and
Songkhla. Again during the last two years, they reportedly smashed
factories in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son.
O perators of heroin factories have made the South their new base,
as shown by the capture of one factory on a Songkhla rubber
plantation. The authorities also allegedly arrested traffickers
with 48 kilograms of opium in the southern province two years ago.

Because the authorities have been able to cut domestic production,
heroin factory operators have moved across the Thai border or
hired Burmese minority groups to produce heroin for them.