Nasty legacy of the Slorc

Bangkokpost,   Published: 14/05/2012 at 01:54 AM ... 

The new and supposedly progressive government of Myanmar faces many challenges in throwing off the sordid past of 48 years of military tyranny. One deeply troubling heritage is the drug trade. Neighbours including Thailand have given President Thein Sein a long rope, but all agree that the long years of Myanmar drug trafficking must end.

The demand by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung that Myanmar extradite Na Kham Mwe is a curious part of separating Myanmar from its deep drug dependence.

Known in Thai as Nakammuay and Kammuay, Na Kham Mwe (the alias means "moustache") is officially wanted by the Thai government. There is a reward of 1 million baht for anyone who can help bring him to justice. Allegations that the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) is involved in drug smuggling stretch back to at least 2003. The recent challenge by the Burmese warlord to "inspect my camp" are meaningless, since he is a suspected trafficker and enabler, not a producer of methamphetamines.

The point is whether he is a drug lord. Mr Chalerm has been extremely selective and coy about his actual charges against Na Kham Mwe. The DKBA has certainly been an unpleasant group which has caused major problems at the Thai border for many years. But neither the Tak area of Thailand nor the DKBA strongholds inside Myanmar have been known as a serious source of drugs or trafficking.

The Shan warlord Naw Kham, extradited from Myanmar by a Chinese SWAT team last Saturday, was far more notorious, much more involved with drug trafficking and considered more dangerous. He is the most-wanted foreigner by the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) with a reward of 2 million baht on his head. Naw Kham was intimately involved, for example, in the massacre of 13 Chinese sailors last year, a case which involved the Thai army. Mr Chalerm never demanded his extradition.

The first false fact about the DKBA is its name. It is almost a rule that any group with "democratic" in its name is a dictatorship. The DKBA is as "democratic" as the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The "Buddhist" part is barely credible, since it emphasises the 1994 split with the mostly Christian leadership of the original Karen resistance group.

From its beginning, the DKBA was largely a creation and operating arm of the sinister Slorc _ the State Law and Order Restoration Council which ruled Myanmar after the 1988 massacre of real democrats. It conducted raids at and across the Thai border, and was always _ even as it continues to be _ a threat to peaceful civilians and border trade.

Similarly, the two-star "general" Na Kham Mwe created both his name and his alleged rank from wholecloth. His real name is Saw Lah Pwe, and his military standing, including in his own country, is equally fictitious.

More by coincidence than careful planning, Mr Chalerm's request provides opportunity. It gives the new Myanmar government a chance to distance itself from the Slorc legacy of brutality and acquiescence in the drug trade. It provides a chance to tighten up border security and provide confidence to commerce in the Tak province region.

The still powerful Myanmar army will probably try to protect its ally. But Na Kham Mwe is part of the problem in Myanmar, not part of the solution.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/293152/nasty-legacy-of-the-slorc