The full storyOriginally Posted by Rod Page
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southea.../MK05Ae02.html
if ever the full story will be known.
The full story
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southea.../MK05Ae02.html
if ever the full story will be known.
Davidfl
Keep The Power On
A bit more news on this amazing story:
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?op...ugs&Itemid=286
Yesterday, ASTV Manager Online, that has for years been reporting on news in the Golden Triangle, presented a clearer (but still incomplete) picture of what happened to the two Chinese cargo ships and their crew last October.
According to the report, the two ships were seized by Naw Kham, “the freshwater pirate”, who has been running a protection racket in the area since 2007, on 4 November. One of the crew women had then made a call to Thailand’s Chiang Saen to inform about what had taken place. This had sealed the fate of herself and the rest of the crew, it says.
On the next day, the two boats were stormed and taken by the Thai Army’s Pha Mueng Task Force.
On 6 October, Pha Mueng and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) officials held a press conference to explain the previous day’s events.
According to them, Pha Mueng received information at 06:00 on 5 October about the hijacking of the two boats and had accordingly organized a team to intercept them.
At 10:30, the two ships turned up and seeing the Thai officials trying to head them off, the unidentified armed men on the ships fired at the officials and later escaped in a speedboat. The catch, Pha Mueng and ONCB said, included 1 dead armed man and 920,000 pills of “yaba” (methamphetamines).
On 7 October, the dead crewmen and women started floating up on the river one after another.
On 28 October, Thai police summoned 9 Pha Mueng officers to face two charges: killing of 13 Chinese crewmen and women and concealing evidence, which the officers had promptly denied.
However, there are still two Jigsaw pieces missing, the report says: two well known men living in the nearby Maesai district: “Uncle N” and “Mr S”, who is Uncle N’s relative. (A source in Maesai told SHAN “Uncle N” was none other than Olarn Somphongphan aka Chamras Phacharoen, a known “Chao Paw” (Godfather) in the district.
Due to the disappearance of the two who are believed to have gone underground, at least three questions remain unanswered:
Where did the drugs originate?
Who seized the boats and killed the crew?
Who would be the recipient of the drugs?
A local who wished to remain anonymous said one way to find it out is to look at the year’s events that had made headlines in the area and piece them together:
4 April 2011
A ship belonging to Kings Romans Casino on the Laotian side of the Mekong seized and 19 crewmen abducted. Zhao Wei, the casino owner, was reported to have paid a hefty B 22 million ($730,000) ransom to Naw Kham
21 September 2011
Burmese and Laotian security forces attacked Naw Kham’s men at Sri Dorn Mee island, 25 km north of the Triangle. 20 of his men were said to have been killed, while 4 of the wounded came to Chiangrai for medical treatment
26 September 2011
Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister announced that Kings Romans was raided and 20 sacks of yaba pills were seized
5 October 2011
Pha Mueng seized two cargo ships, one either belonging to Zhao Wei or his associate Ah Ming
Updated (1 December 2011)
According to ASTV report, 30 November, there were 4 boats manned by an unknown armed group escorting the two cargo ships into Thai waters on 5 October. 9 Thai officers who are under investigation meanwhile say they had only fired warning shots.
Davidfl
Keep The Power On
Thanks you especially to Rod, and then to everyone else who has contributed to this thread since...
It has been a great read, but I must say it has done nothing to quell my current wanderlust, which alas must go unsatisfied for the near future...
Thanks again Rod,
Cheers,
Darryl
Nothing screams poor workmanship like creases in the duct tape...
As a merchant navy officer myself, this is a heartbreaking story. Pirates boarding a ship is akin to burglars coming into your home.
Very sad.
You never see a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrist’s office.
And some more news today 12 Dec 11;
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loca...lled-on-mekong
CHIANG RAI: Three Burmese soldiers were killed during a clash with an armed group of criminals on the Mekong River during an international joint river patrol, according to security sources.
The sources said a joint patrol force of Burmese and Lao soldiers clashed with a group of criminals believed to be led by Nor Kham, leader of a border drug gang, yesterday at Ban Don Sam Pu about 20km north of the Golden Triangle, near the spot where 13 Chinese sailors were killed on the river on Oct 5.
The clash took place as China sent armed police on 11 boats to escort nine private cargo ships sailing from Guanlei port in Yunnan to Chiang Saen port in Chiang Rai, with Burmese and Lao soldiers deployed to provide security along the Mekong River.
China has deployed more than 300 armed police to patrol the Mekong in boats in collaboration with Burma, Thailand and Laos after the death of the sailors. Thai authorities will join river patrols from Guanlei port in China to the Golden Triangle and they will be solely responsible for patrols from the triangle to Chiang Saen port.
The 13 sailors were killed on a section of the river south of China's border, raising concerns in Beijing for the safety of crew and cargo sailing south through an area rife with drug warfare and smuggling.
Thai police have detained nine soldiers suspected of killing the Chinese sailors.
The nine officers, attached to the Third Army Region's Pha Muang Task Force, were charged with murder and tampering with evidence.
They denied the charges and maintained a drug-trafficking gang from Shan State in Burma led by Nor Kham was responsible.
One initial account says the nine army officers intercepted the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8 ships as they entered the stretch of the Mekong and found 920,000 methamphetamine pills. When the bodies of the sailors turned up in the water, the soldiers became murder suspects.
Pol Maj Gen Sitthiporn Srichanthap, deputy chief of the Police Region 5, yesterday said the case against the nine soldiers had now been submitted to the Office of the Attorney General for consideration.
A team of prosecutors and police have been set up to look into the case and they have made good progress, Pol Maj Gen Sitthiporn said. The investigators would still need to question some witnesses in foreign countries, he said.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?op...ons&Itemid=308
Book Review: Cashing In across the Golden Triangle
Thursday, 22 December 2011 09:24 Reinhard Hohler
Thein Swe & Paul Chambers:
Cashing In across the Golden Triangle
Published in 2011 by Mekong Press, Chiang Mai, 192 pages, Baht 450
A Book Review by Reinhard Hohler, Chiang Mai (21.12.2011)
The study “Cashing In across the Golden Triangle” began in 2005 as an idea to understand Thailand’s economy in the North and is a comprehensive analysis of Thailand’s northern border trade with China, Laos, and Myanmar. The book’s cover dramatically shows a Chinese freighter at the port of Chiang Saen in Thailand’s Chiang Rai Province, hinting on the ever-growing influence of China there. Due to Mekong Press in Chiang Mai, the book is just out in the right time, when China also flexes its muscle into Laos and Myanmar.
The authors Burmese Dr. Thein Swe and American Dr. Paul Chambers are occupied with research at the South East Asian Institute of Global Studies at Payap University in Chiang Mai and are well-prepared to give a valuable overview and assessment of the impact of the new transnational road networks called the “North-South Economic Corridor” (NSEC), which was masterly created by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila/Philippines within the framework of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Project since 1992.
The book’s contents are divided into a foreword, preface, introduction, eleven chapters, and conclusion with an appendix, notes, bibliography, and last not least and index. There are also a list of tables and figures, abbreviations, and two helpful maps.
While the foreword was written by the “Father of the GMS” Japanese Noritada Morita, in the preface and introduction the authors note the origins of the Golden Triangle, where today the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet. Being for a long time an important focus of the narcotics trade, the Golden Triangle has been finally developed to promote trade and logistics, including electricity, communications, agriculture, and tourism. The authors explain that there are a dozen questions to ask, especially how have the new routes R3A through Shan State/Myanmar and R3B through Laos influenced and affected Thailand’s border trade with China.
To facilitate discussion, in Chapter One the authors examine different theories on cross-border trade and regional co-operation and highlight “postclassical realism” and sub-regional economic zones (SREZ), while in Chapter Two they survey Thailand’s general role in regionalism and border trade in the Mekong River Basin. In this context, they mention that Bangkok intends to establish Mae Sai, Chiang Saen, and Chiang Khong – all in Chiang Rai Province – as special economic zones. Chiang Saen is important for the free passage of commercial ships on the Lancang/Mekong River up to Guanlei in Xishuangbanna/China and further on.
Chapter Three traces the border trade between Myanmar’s Tachilek and Thailand’s Mae Sai, mentioning ethnic Chinese business networks and “casino” tourism, while Chapter Four follows the route all the way from Mae Sai to Mongla via Kengtung in Eastern Shan-State (275km), where trafficking in people, wildlife and narcotics is still rampant. Interesting to note is that international tourists cannot normally cross the Myanmar/China border behind Mongla to Daluo.
In Chapter Five, there is described in detail the border trade between Houayxai/Laos and Chiang Khong/Thailand. Also, there is a nice photograph of the new upcoming Friendship Bridge (page 75) where around a growing Chinese presence is already felt. Furthermore, Chapter Six discusses the ramifications of the route from Chiang Khong to the Boten/Lao-Mohan/China border and further on to Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan Province. Actually, Boten Golden City is – “pure and simple” – a Chinese town (see photograph on page 87). In the near future, a bus service should take only some 24 hours to connect Bangkok with Kunming (1,943km)!
Chiang Saen comes into the picture in Chapter Seven as a river portal linking Thailand to China. The authors mention China’s damming of the Lancang/Mekong River and the ambitious “Kings Romans of Laos ASEAN Economic & Tourism Development Zone’’ (see photograph on page 111). By the way, the use of gaming seems to become the engine of economic growth. Thus, in Chapter Eight and Nine, the importance of Chiang Rai Province as Northern Thailand’s gateway to China is highlighted in close competition to Chiang Mai, which until now still remains the economic core of Thailand’s North.
Last not least, there is now a kind of “Economic Quadrangle” not to be underestimated within the GMS, which also includes Cambodia and Vietnam further south. Political decentralization as well as labor migration and sociolinguistic challenges in Thailand will follow (see Chapter Ten and Eleven). In conclusion, if a kind of regional stability can be reached in the not-to-distant future, all the participating parties and countries in the GMS will “cash in” accordingly.
The very useful bibliography at the end of the book should encourage scholars and students alike to dig even deeper into this neglected but prominent theme of border trade and frontier commerce. Also, the book should not to be missed in any library with books about the GMS and the future of ASEAN or Southeast Asia.
Reinhard Hohler is a Ph.D. candidate of ethnology, geography and political science at Heidelberg University in Germany
Davidfl
Keep The Power On
and yet more news................... 4th January 2012;
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/20...t_14397335.htm
New attack on Mekong River
Updated: 2012-01-07 07:53
By Xin Dingding and Zhang Yan (China Daily)
KUNMING -Four Chinese cargo ships and a Myanmar patrol boat were attacked early on Jan 4 at Wan Pung Port in Myanmar.
The incident further raised safety concerns about the Mekong River, where 13 Chinese sailors were slaughtered in October.
The Chinese newspaper People's Daily reported that the group of Chinese ships was composed of three cargo vessels - Baoshou 8, Baoshou 9 and Yuanfeng - and an oil tanker previously named Renda 3.
The attack happened less than a month after international shipping resumed on the Mekong River and Chinese border police started patrolling the river together with their counterparts from Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
Sources from the naval police in Thailand said the attackers had fired two rockets. One fell into the water while the other exploded near the ships.
The attacks occurred in the wee hours and the assailants' goal was unclear, making it difficult for the Myanmar patrol vessel to mount a counterattack, according to a press release from the Thai police.
There were no official reports of the attacks causing casualties or damage to the vessels.
On Oct 5, 13 Chinese sailors aboard two cargo ships were shot dead by a group of gunmen in a section of the Mekong River that forms parts of the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
Thai police have said their country's servicemen were involved in the crime.
Patrols from the four countries had enabled international cargo shipping to pick up again on the Mekong River in the past three weeks.
From Dec 10, when the shipping resumed, to Jan 3, vessels transported 15,844 tons of cargo on the river. In the first 10 months of the year, an average of 24,280 tons were shipped on the river each month, said Fu Zhiming, Party secretary of the Lancang River Maritime Bureau. In China, the Mekong River is known as the Lancang River.
"About two thirds of the 86 freighters that are registered for international shipping on the river have returned to do business and so have many sailors," he said.
The industry's recovery came faster than expected, in part because the halt in river traffic let the demand for shipping build up for months. As a result, shipping charges have increased, he said.
Fu said restoring the transport industry on the river will require "personal safety to be guaranteed".
He said he doubts the Jan 4 attack will deal a big blow to the confidence of shipowners and sailors.
"The joint patrol on the river is more of a 'deterrent force', because it is not easy for patrols on the river to fight back," he said.
"If we cannot guarantee safety, the economic value of this waterway will be nothing."
Captain Feng Zhengliang, 35, who has worked on the Mekong River for 11 years, said he feels anxious doing his job even though armed police now escort cargo ships on the river.
"The recent rocket attack shows that there are many dangers on the Mekong River," he said. Statistics show more than 3 million tons of cargo have been transported on the Mekong River since 2001, generating more than 30 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) from imports and exports.
Guo Anfei contributed to this story.
China Daily
(China Daily 01/07/2012 page2)
and yet more;
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loca...cked-on-mekong
Chinese ship attacked on Mekong
SHANGHAI: Unidentified attackers fired on a Chinese cargo boat on its way from Thailand to China on the Mekong River in Laos, China's police said, less than two months after Beijing began joint patrols to protect shipping.
- Published: 15/01/2012 at 10:27 PM
- Online news: Asia
Shots were fired at the Chinese ship Sheng Tai 11 on Saturday evening, but none of the crew was wounded, China's Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its website on Sunday.
The boat, which had five crew members, was carrying wood, Chinese state television reported.
China last month deployed more than 300 armed police to patrol the Mekong in boats in collaboration with Burma, Thailand and Laos after a deadly attack killed 13 Chinese sailors in October last year.
In the latest incident, the Chinese ship was returning to China after loading cargo in Thailand, the statement said.
After the attack occurred, patrol ships from both Laos and China responded and Laos was still pursuing those suspected of carrying out the shooting.
The Mekong flows through China's southwestern province of Yunnan into Southeast Asia, serving as a major trade route through several countries.
China reacted angrily to the October murders in Chiang Saen district of Chiang Rai. Beijing ordered patrol boats down the Mekong to retrieve 164 stranded Chinese sailors and 28 cargo ships and called on diplomats from Thailand, Laos and Burma to speed up investigations.
Police in Chiang Rai have detained nine soldiers suspected of killing the Chinese sailors and are also thought to have links with a Burmese drug kingpin.
In a separate incident earlier this month, an unidentified rebel group fired grenades targetting Burmese soldiers on a patrol boat that was accompanying four Chinese cargo ships on the Mekong, but missed.
More of the same thing (Bangkok Post);
Drugs seized, 2 die in border clash
- Published: 22/01/2012 at 12:31 PM
- Online news:
A total of 100,000 methamphetamine pills, eight kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and some heroin with a street value of about 50 million baht were seized and two suspected drug traffickers killed in a clash with Thai soldiers on Saturday night near the Burmese border in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district.
Maj-Gen Prakan Cholayuth, commander of the Pha Muang Force, said the clash took place late in the night after a 10-man patrol spotted a group of about six armed men near Huay San village in tambon Tha Ton of Mae Ai district.
The six men opened fire at the soldiers when told to stop for a search. The two groups traded fire for about 10 minutes before the intruders retreated across the border.
When the clash site was searched early Sunday morning, the Thai soldiers found the bodies of two men, one about 25 years old and the other about 40. They were wearing uniforms of Red Wa soldiers. Also recovered were three backpacks and one SKS rifle.
The Thai soldiers found 100,000 methamphetamine pills, about 500 grammes of heroin and 8kg of ice in the backpacks.
Maj-Gen Prakan believed the armed men were Red Wa soldiers hired to transport the drugs across the border into Thailand.
Shoot-out near Doi Chang Moob, 2 killed. 22 Jan 2012.
Today, I was driving some guests along one of my favourite back roads, from Mae Sai, the 1149 along the border to Doi Chang Moob, then right turn along the even quieter road, the 1334 which leads to the 3051 main road to Therd Thai. Beautiful scenery along the back road along the border. Anyway, about 15 klms after the mountain, we came across an extra checkpoint. The soldiers there explained there had been a shootout and two people killed. We said we were just driving through and they let us by. We then came across a humvee with machine gun mounted on top and many soldiers with M16s. They also let us pass after some questions. 200m farther, about 30 police and a crime scene, like something out of CSI. More guns here too. They too were not sure about letting us through, but after some questioning from several officers, they did. About 20 number markers on the road, one marker where there was blood on the road. There was a reporter and cameraman there too. Then more soldiers, heavy weapons and another humvee with big machine gun on top. From what we could get from the soldiers, it appeared that some corrupt Thai police or soldiers had met up with some drug dealers from over the Burmese border and there had been a shootout last night. Two people killed, one Thai, one Tai Yai.
Not a pretty sight and certainly brought home the reality of the violence of the ongoing drug business up here.
Ian
As a side note, just finished a book by a guy who worked for years as a pilot for Air America covering Laos and Vietnam flying out of Thailand. He swears blind that air america never carried drugs at all and that the stories were all BS. His name is Allen Cates and the book is called The Truth About Air America and the CIA HONOR DENIED.
He flew many SAR missions a lot along the HCM trail which he said was particularly dangerous.
As president of the Air America Association, he fought the US govt for years to have the service of AA pilots under contract to the CIA recognized in order to get medical care and pensions for guys who served. The US govt as not interested at all.
Contrary to that, a few years ago met an Thai Indian guy whose family were VERY wealthy. He openly claimed that his Dad made a lot of money as a contractor bringing body bags back from Vietnam, stuffed with drugs.
The real story is probably somewhere in between.....
Any readers there at the time?
Last edited by brucegsrider; 23rd January 2012 at 08:28 PM. Reason: Add info
G'day 'brucegsrider',
One can only encourge debate on an issue such as this, so may I recommend also Alfred Mc Coy's "The Politics of Heroin" (revised 2003). Alfred Mc Coy is Professor of History at the university of Wisconsin, an eminent war historian & recognised authority on this issue. This is very much an area that he continues to research & speak publicly on.
Thanks Rod, I'll download it.
Go to this site http://www.drugtext.org/library/books/McCoy/default.htm amazing information, all the history and names to go with it. Any one interested in this topic will find something new here.
Harri.XR650R.
Following on from the shoot-out at Doi Chang Moob 22nd January 2012, the incident was covered on the Thai TV news yesterday. The news reader said that it was one drug dealer and a top Thai policeman who had been killed on the mountain. The policeman had only been transferred to Chiang Rai one month ago.
That back road has now been closed to the public. The fear is, that as the chinese have many patrol boats on the Kong now, the smugglers will be bringing more of the drugs over the mountains.
Ian
There was another bust on the Thai TV news, two days ago, in Mae Sai. The Thai Drug Squad busted a couple in Mae Sai that own 10 houses and found millions of yah bah tablets and 10kgs of yah ice.
A good friend went over the river a several months ago with two farang journalists to interview the owner of the Kings Romans Casino across from Sop Ruak at the Golden Triangle. I went there myself out of interest about a year ago and saw a stetched limo and several Hummers, all with Chinese registration. Seemed to be mostly Chinese people working there. Here is a copy of the report;
http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=3212
The Kings Romans Casino sits across the Mekong River on the Laos side, a gaudy beacon of civilisation in what is otherwise an empty stretch of green. We are in the Thai portion of the Golden Triangle, the historic land of opium production where Burma and Laos meet, and no one will tell us how to get across the river. We ask three people, each of which smiles and uses a suspiciously identical phrase: "Casino? No. Only Laos shopping."
We finally made it across the river about half an hour before the crossing was supposed to close, and only by invoking the name of a contact in far away Bangkok. We were dropped off at the speedboat pier and driven to one of several hotel buildings, which together can accommodate up to five hundred guests. At night, the bars and hotel buildings shine with collections of coloured bulbs, complementing the large multi-coloured crown that tops the dome of the casino building itself. The flashiness of the casino is a big change from the old nighttime scene in the area. As the manager who accompanied us said, "before there was nothing in Laos; there were no lights at night."
Construction of the pompous sounding Kings Romans started four years ago with a price tag of about 500 million US dollars, including the installation of a 46 km road from the casino to the Laos town of Huay Xai further down the Mekong River (opposite Chiang Khong on the Thai side). According to the manager, there were plenty of challenges, as labourers and materials for the building had to be transported from China into the relatively undeveloped region. The casino is one of several projects located in an area in northern Laos called the Special Economic Zone, to which the government has granted Chinese companies development rights with a 99-year lease. The Kings Romans Group controls 10,000 hectares of that region. At the end of that period, all of the Chinese-owned properties in the area will be turned over to the Laos authorities.
Meanwhile, the casino claims they are seeing about ten thousand guests per month, with many from China, Thailand, Europe, and the United States. However, during our visit we appeared to be the only foreigners in sight, certainly quite daunting at times. It is said to be similar to the casinos found in China's Macau special administrative region (gambling is illegal in the rest of China). Although the identities of the group's funders are not public, we were told the group has substantial experience in casino management, including connections in Macau, Burma's Mongla gambling region, and Boten on the China-Laos border. The manager pointed out that "there are other casinos in Laos, but they are much smaller and not as good." The company has its own security force to patrol the area. The emphasis on security hopes to prevent the serious problems (including allegations of violence and kidnapping) which plagued the gambling area at Boten.
The complex does seem rather well controlled. There is no drinking or picture-taking allowed inside the casino, and entrances are guarded by security staff and metal detectors. Unlike the bling and glam of Vegas, gambling is serious business here. Inside, huge amounts of money move around under standard casino video surveillance. A live pianist plays a baby grand on a red velvet stage. The interior design is a fusion of grandiose styles: chunky Renaissance murals, sweeping staircases, and huge chandeliers. We watched in unpaid-intern horror as one man blithely bet 625 baht over and over again at a slot machine and another played with a stack of 10,000 yuan card chips. Everywhere there are servers offering water, tea, and coffee, and smoking is allowed indoors.
The massive complex is supported by a staff of 4-5 thousand people, many of whom live in large dorm-like apartments a little outside of the main area. Some of the staff are from the seven villages in the area, and some commute to work by motorbike. Others have come to work in the area from Thailand, Russia, and Nepal. The casino's management hopes that the project will benefit local people by providing jobs and opportunities for founding small businesses. Already, the manager told us, the area has improved vastly: "before it was an opium and drug businesses, maybe an only ten years before...there were no roads, no electricity, no water...Laos is developing and it is good for them."
The manager showed us a new village the company built for locals (called Ban Kong), a set of 120 modern buildings, large and identical and yellow, built on stilts. Construction on the complex is slated to continue indefinitely. The group is looking for more partners, and plans on putting in a golf course, a museum, more 4-star hotels, and an airport. They hope to develop a network of branches and agents in nearby cities, including Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. "In twenty years, we're planning on building a city here," said the manager, "This is only a start."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed: Unfortunately, we were unable to find a way for visitors from the Thai side to go over easily. We apologise for this but it appears they have yet to put that infrastructure in place.
I am 'winging' it here from VN as my resaerch materials are all still in storage in Chiang Mai.
In terms of the report of a drug bust in Mae Sai - that would probably be a raid on Nor Kham (writing this from memory but I'm referring to the hill-triber who lives in the Mae Sai/Tachilek area & is known as 'the Pirate of the Mekong'). Nor Kham heads a fairly substantial & very bold gang & has been muscling in on the drug trade & associated ventures for some time now, especially since the surrender of Khun Sa. Disregarded initially by the big players as being too small an operator, he's slowly built a formidable operation. He, in my opinion is behind much/most of the recent drug, murder & piratage activity on the Mekong.
I'd be interested to learn who actually was involved as I'm simply 'guessing' from here.
In terms of the casino report. The investor/funder/king-player/man behind the operation is definitely Wei Xuegang - the funding is 'petty cash' for Wei who's methamphetamine trade to Thailand alone was estimated at almost $3billion annually in the mid 2000's. It also fits with the investment strategies he employs for his ill-gotten gains.
Wei is also behind the casino near Boten - this would seem clear as the man in charge of the casino is none other than Bang Ron (who used to live in Kanchanaburi but fled to Burma when Thailand issued a still valid arrest warrant for him) who moved from Burma to Laos to live not far from the casino. Bang Ron is the technical brains behind Wei's drug empire, a man with a strong understanding of drug production. His appointment to control Wei's casino near Boten is no co-incidence as Wei has reportedly opened laboratories in the same area with a view to producing ecstacy. Bang Ron also reportedly overseas the Kings Roman Casino.
Latest bust;
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/loca...-in-chiang-rai
Police seize 4 million speed pills in Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai police yesterday seized more than 4 million methamphetamine, or speed, tablets from a pickup truck left in Mae Chan district.
Police show monster drugs haul : Anti-narcotics police at the Royal Thai Police Office yesterday display 34 backpacks containing a combined total of more than 4 million methamphetamine tablets and another set of 200,000 tablets seized separately in Chiang Rai province over the past two days. KOSOL NAKACHOL
Provincial police chief Surachet Thopunyanon said his team received a tip-off that a large amount of illegal drugs would be trafficked into Thailand via the Mae Ai-Mae Chan Road.
Investigators started tracking a group of suspected drug traffickers. The suspects managed to run away but left a pickup truck with a Lampang licence plate in Ban Lao Fu Moo 20 village in tambon Patung.
Police found 34 backpacks in the truck with 60 packets of methamphetamine tablets in each bag. Altogether, 4.08 million tablets were found.
Police identified the owner of the truck as Chidphon Bua-ngoen, a resident of Lampang's Ngao district. The person believed to be the driver yesterday is known as Wutthiphong Kitbamrungkun or Cha-sue Chaside, an assistant headman in Ban Chakorna village.
- Students at risk: Even teachers selling drugs
Police will track the two down, said Pol Maj Gen Surachet.
Meanwhile, in Bangkok, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung told a news conference that Chiang Rai police on Thursday arrested two drug trafficking suspects and seized 200,000 methamphetamine tablets.
Mr Chalerm claimed that drug trafficking in Thailand has been declining because of the police's operations.
"I thank Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief, for building barbed wire fences along the Sai River in Chiang Rai. The fences have made it more difficult for drug traffickers to enter Thailand," he said.
Mr Chalerm will this weekend visit Lop Buri, which he claimed is a distribution hub for narcotics.
"My sources say the province is now the Colombia of Asean," he said.
The government's main drugs suppression strategy is to prevent reactant substances for drug production from leaving the country and to keep narcotic drugs from coming in. Mr Chalerm is confident the measures will lead to a reduction of the drugs problem.
Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri yesterday voiced his concern that space is running out for the storage of seized narcotics under the care of the Food and Drug Administration. The facility has a capacity to hold up to 30 tonnes of drugs and now stores 25 tonnes.
"Over the past four to five months, the amount of evidence drugs sent for storage has doubled," Mr Witthaya said.
Drugs kept in storage are for evidence in cases still on trial. They can be destroyed only at the end of the judicial process. If a case is suspended, the evidence must be kept for at least 20 years, or until the case resumes and concludes.
Mr Witthaya said he would ask the cabinet for an expansion of the storage facility or for a change in the law so that the impounded drugs could be kept for a shorter period.
I find all a bit of a Worry to tell the truth, our little farm is on the back road from PongPha village along the base of the Mountain on the back road in to Mae Sai or turn up the Mountain though Moms village to road 1149 at the top. Three weeks ago i had a call here in OZ at 4.20 am from the wife to say that there were thieves so she thought steeling our workshop tools she had already called her brother down the road, turnd on all the lights out side and all the woman were yelling out the thieves bolted thank goodness its a worry with just woman and kids at the farm at night.and now i worry armed drugrunners can come stumbling off the Mountain right to our back door.
I am sad to say i still need to work for another 2 or 3 years for we have what we want in life so i can not always be where i want to be with the family, 'get a dog i said so the wife gos and gets a pup from what i understand it was a smart little thing ... well not that smart the brother inlaw backed out the other night and run over the poor little bugger.
Any one got any puppys you want to give away ? would love to get one with a bit of labrador in it
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