31
OUTLOOK
The framework for Lao-American cooperative efforts to halt the production and flow of narcotics in Laos has been established. Success, however, may be agonizingly slow. Laos is an underdeveloped coun- try, beset by civil war, threatened by external aggression, and unable to control large parts of its territory. Due to the complex political and military situation in Laos, the apprehension and arrest of indi- viduals engaged in narcotics is difficult.
Nevertheless the United States must apply diplomatic and economic pressures at the highest levels of the Lao Government to insure that there is no weakening of the effort that has begun. Success ultimately depends upon the willingness of the Laos Government to apply the antinarcotics laws to all of its citizens.
Success in Laos alone will not solve the problem, however. Stopping the flow of heroin from the Golden Triangle also depends upon the co- operation of Burma and Thailand. As has been discussed, Burma is the weak link in the suppression effort. Thailand, on the other hand, is in the process of developing narcotics suppression programs simi-
lar to those in Laos.
THAILAND
NARCOTICS SMUGGLING IN THAILAND
Thailand is a vital link in the antinarcotics effort in Southeast Asia because it is both a producer of opium and a conduit for opiates moving out of Burma and Laos.
The bulk of the opium and heroin is smuggled into Northern Thai- land in the vicinity of Mae Sai in the Golden Triangle. Mae Sai is separated from Tachilek, Burma by the Mae Kok river, a shallow, nar- row river which can be easily forded at all times of the year, including the rainy season. Tachilek and Mae Sai are connected by a two-lane concrete bridge.
According to BNDD and U.S. Customs agents, there are no indica- tions of bulk movement of opium over the bridge. It is the opinion of those officials that there is no reason for traffickers to take the risk of being stopped by Thai Customs at the bridge when there is nothing to impede the transporting of narcotics in any form into Thailand at any one of a number of crossings up or down stream from the bridge. There does not appear to be any effort by agencies of either country to deter border crossing at points away from manned control stations nor are there any significant border patrols performed during hours of darkness.
There is a 15-man Thai Customs complement at Mae Sai and a checkpoint at the bridge is manned by Customs and police officials 24 hours a day. This, combined with the fact that passage over the bridge is restricted to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, inhibits the large scale movement of narcotics across the bridge. Official vehicles crossing the bridge, however, are not inspected. Given the corruption that is re-
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