Myanmar's rising drug trade

News > Investigative Report

Critics say that the ceasefire agreements signed with ethnic armies are driven by a desire to capitalise on the country's booming narcotics business not a desire for change and that the army and politicians are padding their coffers with the proceeds

Published: 12/02/2012 at 04:07 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum

Professor Des Ball pushes plates of what is left of a roast duck and barbeque prawn dinner to the side as he spreads a large map across the dinner table and stabs his finger at a point where northern Thailand meets Myanmar.

HILLSIDE HAVEN: Poppies are grown in the Shan mountains with the protection of local militia groups and the Myanmar army.

''We're talking thousands of tonnes of drugs being produced just across this border. In Myanmar there are so many military checkpoints and roadblocks. You can't move that amount of drugs through a country that is as militarised as Myanmar without the government's army knowing about it.''

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: Writer: Phil Thornton; Position: Writer

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drsmith
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Discussion 13 : 12/02/2012 at 11:35 PM13
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What happens to all the drugs confiscated in Thailand?
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med142
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Discussion 12 : 12/02/2012 at 08:14 PM12
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tommylee disc 10# I agree with you. nothing new in what he says, I always question the actual ability of these people(prof Ball)also. What has he actually done on his own with regards the drugs trade publications which is new and not already known. I will answer that, and people can check also, he has done nothing at all, all the ground work was and has been done by students he was teaching, he just gets the credit for there hard work. I am sorry but gone are the days when a prof was a prof and all the work was there own. The picture of him here does him no justice at all, aswell he looks as high as a kite. This is not his own work yet again, all this information is available to anyone, just need to look around for it.
would you trust a face like that in the picture here also?
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khunbj
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Discussion 11 : 12/02/2012 at 07:42 PM11
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Drugs and drug trade cannot be eradicated only suppressed to a certain degree .... Thailand's borders are not that easy to control, a lot more tricky than f.ex the border between the US and Mexico that despite loads of effort simply cannot be controlled 100% ....with illegal things there are not so many options, one would be to legalize drugs ... but for moral reasons that never really seem to be a viable solution the other way is to stop the buying ... reduce the no of drug users... here I think Thailand could do a lot through information and rehabilitation of drug users ... but remove the problem altogether ...nope that is not going to happen.
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tommylee
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Discussion 10 : 12/02/2012 at 04:46 PM10
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Prof Ball has only researched what has already become common public knowledge. Unfortunately, the roots of the drug „industry” go much deeper and are more gruesome and sinister: It is a global, organized crime syndicate.
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dao
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Discussion 9 : 12/02/2012 at 03:42 PM9
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Unusually rich army generals in Thailands Norht seems like a good place to start in Thailand .Publicity on Burma and its drug labs on a world stage seems like another .
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jacksprat
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Discussion 8 : 12/02/2012 at 12:19 PM8
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> Well, the Army is certainly on the border, but as to politicians ... that is red shirt country! Now the police know which politicians to go after.
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med142
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Discussion 7 : 12/02/2012 at 11:37 AM7
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Well. Part of this report is ok, the other part, really is not. yes what disc#3+4 say is correct.
But this person should also know that as the border is many thousands of kilometers long and not easy to patrol the drugs will always find away into Thailand from Burmah. He is only stateing the obvious that everyone who has a little knowledge about drugs and the effects of them, how they are transported from one country to another.
A lot of his research will be plegerism also, as he will have the students that he teaches at uni do the research for him in their final projects and put his name to it.Then they pass and get the degree. Its common practice now and has been for a few years. What i would say that its not just the north its all along the border down to the south, why do you think the trouble will never be resolved in the south? its also a cover to smuggle drugs from 2 countries. To much money to be made.
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capealava
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Discussion 6 : 12/02/2012 at 10:51 AM6
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The so called world war on Drugs has failed and it will always fail. The harm caused by bulging prison, corrupt police, violence almost matched the suffering caused by drugs themselves. Drug use is increasing in Chinaat a fantastic rate a country known for it’s repression-but now money rules. Time to take a new tack -De-criminalization, some form of legalization and taxation.
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capealava
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Discussion 5 : 12/02/2012 at 10:37 AM5
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The post here are so simplistic. The USA the most technologically and richest country in the world has a neighbor named Mexico. The USA demand for drugs fuels the 1 trillion dollars worldwide drug trade. The USA stop it Why?? Because the demand is there. People want drugs. Thailand vs Burma-no difference
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Victor
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Discussion 4 : 12/02/2012 at 08:51 AM4
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Police at the check points always let official-looking vehicles pass without hindrance, I see this everywhere, especially upcountry.
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