Region’s drug problems are closely linked to Myanmar’s civil strife

For decades when people speak of drug trafficking in the heartland of Southeast Asia, they tend to point to the infamous Myanmar sector of the Golden Triangle, where opium warlords and narco-armies continue to roam somewhat freely.
    Reports about criminal elements and foreign crime syndicates come up every now and then. Movies have been made about it – like Hollywood’s ‘American Gangster’ starring Denzel Washington, about a rogue who imported heroin directly from the region to cut out middlemen. He made a bundle and went to jail for it, too.
    There was a Thai fugitive, Bang Ron, who reportedly escape arrest and took refuge with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), dubbed the world’s largest armed drug-trafficking army by the US State Department.
In fact, one of the Wa leaders, Wei Hsueh-kang, reportedly Bang Ron’s main supplier of methamphetamines, had obtained Thai citizenship and was resident in Chiang Mai’s Fang district. 
Wei was arrested on heroin charges in the late 1990s but for some strange reason a Thai court granted him bail. He crossed the border to the Myanmar side and the rest was history. Indeed, a number of Wa leaders have been indicted in US federal courts for heroin trafficking. 
One thing about these drug lords is that they have a big and powerful army to protect them. 
The UWSA is said to have about 30,000 soldiers, not counting reserves. Because they are so powerful, they are able to carve out a little autonomous region for themselves through ceasefire deals and agreements with the Myanmar government. 
Even if mule or drug caravans get attacked when crossing the border into Thailand, these drug armies inside Myanmar’s sector of the Golden Triangle go untouched. 
It has been this way for decades and the situation is not likely to change anytime soon until the region and the world community understands that the drug production and insurgencies raging in northern Myanmar are inter-linked and inseparable. No counter-narcotic policy has any chance of success if it doesn’t look at the political side of the equation.
Thailand’s eastern neighbour, Laos, has made steady progress with its opium eradication with the help of the international community. But there are no large narco armies operating on their soil in the same manner as Myanmar.
And so when a flashy, high profile, well-connected individual like Xaysana Keopimpha comes into the picture, it quickly grabbed public attention. 
Unlike Bang Ron or Wei who kept away from the public spotlight and surrounded themselves with an army, Xaysana flaunted his connections and wealth. The showboating eventually caught up to him and now he is in custody.
Thai police have linked him to all sorts of celebrities and powerful figures in the Lao government. Movie stars, Lamborghini cars, big houses – all the reason why the arrest attracted so much attention. 
But there is also the human side of the story: People, young and old, who are hooked on the illicit drugs supplied by these narco armies and distributed by the like of Xaysana. 
Families are drug users have been torn apart and lives ruined, needlessly, by these drugs that have made a handful of people rich. 
This is not to say that we should criminalise every single drug our government has declared illegal. In fact, how we define what’s legal and illegal – as well as how we deal with addicts – should be subject to vigorous debate. Sadly, we are too eager to punish the users instead of looking for humane ways to help them kick the habit.
There is no need to demonise every user because how society relates to what we call ‘drugs’ differs from one to another. Many of the drugs that we classed as illegal are used for recreational purposes in other countries. Many American states, for example, have legalised marijuana. Also, one should not forget that some of the painkillers used in hospital are a derivative of opium.