Well, ever since the Nyugen case erupted, I've been reading more about the illicit drug trade. Apparently most of it that pass through this region originates from what's known as the 'Golden Triangle' area around the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos.
Image from BBC online
Here is an interesting story from The Australian about Singapore's trade relationship with the military junta in Burma, which is apparently profitting from the drugs trade.
Here is another take on the illicit drug trade in the Golden Triangle. It was an interview given by Adrian Cowell, a British filmmaker who ventured into the area during the 1960s.
Excerpts:
"...I think when the revolutionaries [Burmese revolutionaries fighting the regime at that time] started with opium, they were all idealists, and they did not want to have anything to do with opium...They now are inevitably taxing opium, because actually it's a major source of income for them, and they cannot survive without taxing it....And gradually, as opium dominates your taxation system and your military system more and more, that begins to twist what you're fighting for and who you are. And it's a dangerous thing. It's like any source of finance..."
"...Opium has been a medicine used by their societies and cultures for thousands of years....So that we have banned it here, they regarded it as normal. Heroin only really started to be taken by the people there in the seventies, but it wasn't widely spread. But in the eighties it became very widely spread, and they can see themselves destroying their own society with heroin..."
So idealists start out with the noble aim of fighting for autonomy end up being corrupted by big money.
I end with a quote from Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace prize laureate whom I admire...
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.
Technorati tags: Golden Triangle, Opium, Heroin
2 comments:
myanmar n burma same onot?
Burma is British colonial name. Now shd be Myanmar.
I don't know about the purported drugs trade and the politics. What I do know is that the people and the business is suffering becos of the Western sanctions. I was there for 2 weeks recently. The people are wonderful, so courteous and humble. In Spore, we talk so much about customer service, wait till you go to Myanmar. And safe some more, unlike Jakarta.
I wish I had taken some photos of the 'suffering' businesses there. Just share a couple of examples.
I went to a place called Lake Inya. There were beautiful chalets along the lake - alas all run down and closed due to lack of biz. I went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Huge area; good enough for wedding dinners. First night there - I was the only customer; 4 waiters attended to me. I spent US$2+ (1 person very hard to order dishes).
I thot it was just a particularly slow night. Went again the next day - same situation. They told me they survived on banquets/dinners and some tour groups - mainly from Thailand.
I repeat. I don't know about the politics. But it just doesn't seem right to be that you should punish the people becos you are not happy with their govt. So I tell my friends; make a trip there if you can.
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