Reinforcements guard against drug traffickers
Chiang Rai: The army has deployed reinforcements along the Thai-Burmese border to guard against drug smuggling, which is expected to intensify due to the lingering political uncertainty.

A column of heroin traffickers tried to infiltrate Ban Mae Choke in Mae Fa Luang district on Friday, but were intercepted by the Shan State Army (SSA). A battle erupted in a forest, which has alerted the army to possible incursions by the traffickers or SSA members.

Pa Muang task force commander Wanatip Wongwai said soldiers had already been despatched to a Thai border village where eight Muser hilltribe families live. Stray bullets from the gunfight hit the village but no one was injured.

Maj-Gen Wanatip said troops from the 3rd Cavalry Battalion are backing existing units along the border to stop drug smuggling in the northern border areas.

The ongoing political stalemate, which has diverted government attention and resources from the suppression of drugs, has increased concerns that drug trafficking is becoming rampant again. Narcotics Control Board director for the northern region Pitaya Jinawat said yesterday that the political situation could give the illegal drugs trade more room to “re-generate”, and the momentum of the government’s war on drugs seems to be slowing down.

“Our drug prevention and suppression missions seem to be less vigorous at this time,” Mr Pitaya said.

Elections in recent weeks and other police missions have also led to an insufficient number of police task force being deployed to crack down on drug smugglers, said Mr Pitaya.

“If I was a drugs merchant, this would be the right time for smuggling,” he said. Meanwhile, Thailand’s Township Border Committee (TBC) yesterday sent a protest letter to TBC Burma over a stray mortar shell which landed on the village during the fight between the traffickers and the SSA.

It was also reported that another ethnic minority group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), plans to retaliate against the SSA for blocking the drug trafficking operation. Some UWSA soldiers were reportedly members of the drug smuggling gang.

The SSA said it blocked the trafficking because it did not want to be associated with the gang bypassing a nearby SSA military base to transport illegal drugs.