Karen general offers to host Thai drug busters
The leader of an armed Karen group yesterday repeated his denial that he was involved in drug production and dealing, and said he would guarantee the safety of Thai anti-narcotics agents who entered areas of Myanmar under his influence for the purpose of
Brig-General Nat Khann Mway was speaking at a press conference called in response to the recent revival of interest in a Thai arrest warrant for him.
Taunting Chalerm Yoobamrung, with whom he has engaged in a war of words, Nat Khann Mway of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) called on the Thai deputy prime minister to apprehend and imprison fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra before taking action against him. Thaksin is viewed as the de facto leader of Chalerm’s Pheu Thai Party.
“To keep the Thai law up to a high standard, Thaksin, who has been indicted and convicted of crimes, should be caught and imprisoned, but in my case there has been no evidence produced, only baseless allegations, which have affected me,” the brigadier-general said.
“As a Karen with Myanmar nationality, I should be prosecuted and stand trial on Myanmar soil, even if I am indicted with sufficient evidence against me. Why keep hounding me and [try to] put me in a Thai court?” said Nat Khann Mway on behalf of the Klohtoobaw Karen Organisation, the DKBA’s political wing, at an event protected by more than 500 fully armed DKBA fighters at a base across from Tak province.
Nat Khann Mway also asked why the nine-year-old warrant was being pursued now. The issue had damaged him and the DKBA, which had been scheduled to take part in important negotiations, he said without elaborating.
The Karen general did not provide details over how Thai agents would conduct any inspection, but said Thai and Myanmar authorities regularly conducted anti-narcotics operations, and that joint inspections at DKBA facilities could be carried out immediately.
The chief adviser to the industrial council in Tak, Chaiyuth Senitantikul, speaking after the Karen general’s press conference, said he would prefer that Thai authorities stopped making any further statements on the issue.
“Counter-statements will not do any good for the Thai side, as the issue is longstanding and official procedures with Myanmar authorities are underway,” he said. Chaiyuth repeated his opinion that the DKBA-imposed closure of border crossings would not be long-term or have further effects on cross-border trade.
Chalerm, speaking after Nat Khann Mway’s press conference, said Thaksin had done nothing wrong, but had been ousted on political grounds, whereas Nat Khann Mway’s case was a drug-related crime and a completely different issue. He said the general would be arrested on sight in Thailand because the warrant for him was still valid.
