Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08CHIANGMAI125
2008-08-21 06:26:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chiang Mai
Cable title:  

THA-BURMA CROP SUBSTITUTION PROPOSAL ADVANCING, SLOWLY

Tags:  PREL SNAR PHUM PREF TH BM 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHCHI #0125/01 2340626
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 210626Z AUG 08
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0819
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 0890
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000125 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/21/2018
TAGS: PREL SNAR PHUM PREF TH BM
SUBJECT: THA-BURMA CROP SUBSTITUTION PROPOSAL ADVANCING, SLOWLY

REF: CHIANG MAI 30 (BURMA SEEKS THAI HELP FOR CROP SUBSTITUTION)

CHIANG MAI 00000125 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Mike Morrow, CG, ConGen, Chiang Mai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



----------------------
Summary and Comment
----------------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHIANG MAI 000125

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/21/2018
TAGS: PREL SNAR PHUM PREF TH BM
SUBJECT: THA-BURMA CROP SUBSTITUTION PROPOSAL ADVANCING, SLOWLY

REF: CHIANG MAI 30 (BURMA SEEKS THAI HELP FOR CROP SUBSTITUTION)

CHIANG MAI 00000125 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Mike Morrow, CG, ConGen, Chiang Mai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



--------------
Summary and Comment
--------------


1. (C) Thai and Burmese officials met in mid-August to explore
a Burmese request for Thai assistance in crop substitution and
poverty alleviation in drug-producing border areas. While the
project reportedly has the backing of the Thai King, progress is
slow as the Burmese have yet to meet the Thais' request for
access to the project area and related scientific and
demographic data. Also, both sides still must approve a draft
MOU submitted by the Thai Foreign Ministry. The Thais are
seeking assurances in the MOU that the project would not require
forced relocations of local residents.


2. (C) Comment. Thai officials believe the project could
reduce the flow of drugs, crime and economic migrants from Burma
into Thailand, and serve as a confidence-builder for cooperation
between the two countries' counternarcotics and development
agencies. However, success will depend on the Burma regime's
commitment to seeing the project through and refraining from
politicizing it as a tool to manipulate ethnic groups in eastern
Burma. End Summary and Comment.

-------------- --------------
Thai-Burmese Crop Substitution Talks Continue
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Thai and Burmese officials met in Nay Pyi Taw August
13-14 to further explore a project for crop substitution
cooperation in drug-producing areas near the Thai-Burma border.
The project was proposed by Rangoon earlier this year, and
received the backing of Thailand's King Bumiphol when Burma's
Prime Minister called on him in June. At the August meeting,
the Burmese side was headed by the Secretary General of the
Ministry of Progress of the Border Areas and National Races and
Development Affairs, and included officials from the education,
health, and agriculture ministries. The Thai side was headed by
the Office of Narcotics Control Board's (ONCB) Deputy Secretary

General, who was accompanied by Foreign Ministry officials,
including the Thai Ambassador to Burma.


4. (C) This was the sides' second meeting, following initial
discussions in Thailand last February (reftel). According to
ONCB Northern Region Director Janya Sramajcha, who attended both
meetings, the Burmese this time fleshed out their request by
identifying three areas for Thai assistance:

-- establishment of a poverty reduction and crop substitution
project, based on successful Thai models, in the Ban Yin area of
southernmost Shan State;

-- training for local Burmese at northern Thailand's non-profit
Mae Fah Luang Foundation, a crop substitution and poverty
alleviation program established in 1985 under royal patronage;
and

-- technical assistance for Burmese Government "Livelihood
Development Centers" in Shan, Karen and Mon States.

--------------
Next Step: MOU
--------------


5. (C) For next steps, Janya told us the Thai MFA is waiting
for Rangoon's response to a draft MOU it submitted during the
August meeting. The language, once finalized, would have to be
approved by both the Thai parliament and Burma's ruling council
(SPDC). If the MOU is approved, Thai assistance would be funded
by both the ONCB and the MFA's foreign assistance agency. The
funds would be allocated over a 12-year period, with initially
large outlays gradually diminishing over time with the aim of
the project becoming fully sustainable by the Burmese at the end
of the 12 years. In the meantime, in October a Burmese
delegation will travel to the Mae Fah Luang Foundation's Doi
Tung Development Project in northern Thailand to further develop
cooperation plans.

--------------
Romancing the Pa-O
--------------


6. (C) Shan State's Ban Yai area is populated primarily by the

CHIANG MAI 00000125 002.2 OF 002


Pa-O ethnic group, Janya told us. He said the Pa-O have a
cease-fire agreement with the Burmese regime, though some "old
guard" Pa-O elements refuse to recognize the cease-fire. In
fact, the GOB was not willing to allow the visiting Thai
delegation to travel to Ban Yai due to concerns that the Burmese
Army has not fully secured the area. Nonetheless, the Burmese
assured the Thais that Rangoon has good relations with the Pa-O,
and anticipate the group having seats in the national parliament
following the planned 2010 elections. The Burmese claim that
the main aim of the project is poverty reduction, as in their
view the Pa-O are not currently active in narcotics trafficking.
Rangoon admits, however, that the region has been known in the
past for poppy-growing, so one element of the project's launch
would be a GOB declaration of Ban Yai as an "opium-free zone."


7. (C) The anti-regime Shan State Army, meanwhile, has warned
the Pa-O that implementation of the Ban Yai project would result
in forced relocation of local communities in the area, Janya
said. The Thai Government is sufficiently concerned about this
to have written into the draft MOU a clause nullifying the
agreement should forced relocations occur. Janya is unsure how
the SPDC will react to this clause, though he told us the
Burmese insisted no relocations would be carried out.

--------------
Moving Forward Slowly
--------------


8. (C) Mae Fah Luang Foundation Director of Operations
Dispanadda Diskul, who was part of the Thai delegation, said its
organization will need a lot more information from the Burmese
before it can move forward. He expressed disappointment that
his team was unable to visit Ban Yai at this time. When he
hosts the Burmese at the Foundation's Doi Tung project in
October, he will press for a timeline for when his assessment
team can travel to Ban Yai to meet with local leaders. Diskul
has explained to the Burmese that, for the Foundation to make a
serious project assessment, it will need not only access to the
site and its people, but also extensive scientific data on
temperature, altitude, and soil, as well as demographic data on
the local Pa-O. He cautioned that it "will take time" for the
Burmese government to be willing and able to provide the
necessary access and information.


9. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassies Bangkok and
Rangoon.
MORROW