Thailand and China Seen as too Greedy
Kultida Samabuddhi / Bangkok Post
October 09, 2003— Thailand and China are mainly to blame for the loss of forest in Burma, according to a report by the London-based environmental group Global Witness.
The report, titled A Conflict of Interests: The Uncertain Future of Burma's Forest, says the demand for natural resources in China and Thailand has fuelled conflict and environmental destruction in Burma. Most of the logging activities were in the areas occupied by minority groups, such as Kachin, Karenni, Karen, and Shan states.
``Burma is resource-rich but surrounded by resource-hungry nations. Thailand is the third largest importer of Burmese timber after China and India,'' said Jon Buckrell of Global Witness when it launched the agency's report on logging and conflict in Burma at the Foreign Correspondents Club on Tuesday.
China imported over one million cubic metres of timber from Burma last year, he said. However, the exact amount of timber exported to Thailand was unavailable.
Simon Philips, a Global Witness researcher, said logging on the Thai-Burmese border had been greatly reduced compared to the levels of the early 1990s. This was partly because of the Salween scandal, when it was found that a large number of imported Burmese logs were actually from a Thai forest.
``There is still a significant cross-border trade of furniture and semi-finished wood products, especially in Tak province. There had been a lot of attempts to ban timber trade along the border, but when authorities try to stop the trade, the entrepreneurs involved in the trade send out trucks to block the highway,'' he said.
In December 2001, Global Witness saw that soldiers overseeing checkpoints in Mae Ramat district, Tak province, were still facilitating the trade. Mr Philips said the Thai government's ban on importing furniture from Burma in November 2001 had in reality presented corrupt officials with more opportunities to increase the unofficial taxes they imposed on Thai traders.
The report concluded that ``Thai timber continues to be laundered across the border, with the complicity of Thai border authorities, in much the same way as it was during the Salween scandal.''
The report also named some influential Thai people who it claimed were involved in the timber trade with Burma, including former top military officers.
Mr Philips said Chinese logging operators had caused vast destruction to Burma's forest, particularly in Kachin state on the Chinese-Burmese border. The Chinese government also invested in road construction to facilitate logging and the roads had also severely damaged the forest.
The report said Burma was one of the most biologically diverse countries in mainland Southeast Asia and had a large number of endemic species
It recommended that money earmarked for forest conservation and rehabilitation projects in China and Thailand be made contingent on an end to destructive logging practices by Chinese and Thai companies in other countries.
The environmental group called on the Thai government to be serious about ending the importation of logs and processed timber from Burma and for immediate action to strengthen bilateral collaboration with the Burmese Forestry Department and the minority groups, to address illegal logging.
The report will be translated into Burmese and Chinese and submitted to relevant agencies in all three countries.
