Prospects for a New Europe

...REBELS AND REFUGEES Keeping Thailand Off Balance BY ARNOLD ABRAMS Majestic mountains and lush green forests give this district a placid, picture-postcard-like look, but in reality it is Thailand's hottest bed of insurgency The heights are dominated by well-armed guerrillas, the woodlands are honeycombed with booby traps and concealed trails Rebel bands roam at will, prosely tizing the populace, winning new recruits and, when the opportunity arises, mauling government units Pua's easily infiltrated location along the Laos border, about 425 miles north of Bangkok, makes it more difficult to maintain security here than in other parts of the country Nevertheless, the steadily deteriorating situation in the district reflects the trend throughout northern and northeastern Thailand Despite the military's massive manpower advantage and its doubling of counterinsurgency operations during the past year, Communist-led forces continue to gam ground Recent signs of a thaw m relations between Bangkok and Peking are not likely to bring any relief, either The Chinese, who are major providers of arms and training for the guerrillas, told a Thai delegation in September that they remain committed to supporting "liberation" movements Moreover, it is m Peking's interest to keep Bangkok off balance by aiding the insurgents, now estimated to number 5,000 A classic example of the inability to cope with the guerrillas was last spring's Operation Phu Kwang, which pitted 12,000 soldiers and police against some 600 rebels supposedly trapped on a plateau in the north central region Nearly 100 troops were killed and more than 300 were wounded-mostly by booby traps The enemy body count was said to be "less than two " Although Army commanders claimed to have won control of the plateau, the guerrillas returned as soon as the troops were withdrawn After a while, observers say, the Thai leadership came to realize that Operation Phu Kwang had been a disaster But there has been no sign of a significant change in tactics At Pua, counterinsurgency units still undertake ponderous and unrewarding missions in the surrounding highlands It the government's losses here have not matched Phu Kwang, its gains have been equally dubious An estimated 700 guerrillas are active in this area, supported by three times as many sympathizers, and their ranks are growing "We have not been able to dislodge the enemy from the mountains," admits Somchai Polavieng, the district's highest civilian official "In some places they are so well dug m that we cannot move with less than battalion size strength-and then they get us with boobv traps It is a very difficult situation " Somchai finds solace m Pua's ethnic makeup which he believes will determine the outcome of the battle Two-thuds ot the district is mountain terrain held by the lebels, who are mostly hill tribesmen, the majority of the 50,000 inhabitants, however, ate Thais living in the still-secure lowlands "The general population of Pua supports the govern ment," he says "The enemy will never get a foothold m the lowlands " Perhaps not, yet there is much discontent in the lowlands for the Communists to exploit Most of the district's Thais are poor farmers who use backward methods to eke a subsistence from the infertile soil Their living standard is well below the national average, and they have long endured insufficient government services because of the local authorities' corruption and inefficiency Indeed, some of Somchai's superiors m Bangkok are no longer as sanguine as he about the insurgency threat in this country They now concede what independent observers have contended for some time Increasing numbers of Thais are joining rebel ranks, and government ne gleet is often to blame Ideology plays httle part m the conflict, guerrilla propaganda focuses on the people's daily needs "We are always doing too httle too late," says General Saiyud Keraphol, director of the Communist Suppression Operations Command (CSOC), a coordinating agency in the capital "Even now we are not ahead of the Communists' strategy We are still trying to catch up" One major catch-up program involves the resettlement of refugees, primarily hill tribesmen caught between rebellion by a minority of their compatriots and massive retaliation by government forces The crossfire has forced them to move from the mountains to resettlement sites in the lowlands Such camps are usually grim places filled with unhappy people but m Pua there is an exception the Ban Pa Klang center Its 4,500 inhabitants, consisting of Yao, T'm and Meo tribesmen are probably the only refugees in Southeast Asia who prefer a resettlement site to their native villages Sprawled over 8,000 acres, Ban Pa Klang is mn by a small group ot enlightened administrators determined to prove that the refugees can be successfully integrated into Thai society In addition to giving them decent housing and adequate cropland, the center has provided medical treatment, schooling and security "We are happy," says Laotha Sayat, chief of 1,500 Meos in Ban Pa Klang "Even if our old land were secure, we would not go back " The chief's words reflect the prevailing sentiment among these refugees, many of whom have the best of both worlds While enjoying the resettlement site's advantages, they continue to cultivate their old opium fields on nearby, guerrilla controlled slopes Local authorities have neither the means nor the inclination to stop this activity, even though the rebels obtain food and information in exchange for granting opium-growmg privileges "This crop is still the tribesmen's mam source of cash " explains one Thai officer "If we stop them from growing and marketing it, we defeat the purpose of Ban Pa Klang-to keep these people on our side " Retaining their loyalty cost Thai land about $30,000 last year, and that was just a fraction of the total expenditure on the site since it was established m 1968 A senior Bangkok official describes the expenses as "well worthwhile " Critics, however, call Ban Pa Klang a mere "showcase " The men who run the center do not deny this On the contrary, they argue that it should be a model for other resettlement camps "Our goal is to expand the Ban Pa Klang concept to other sites," says Colonel Sudsai Hasdin, who heads the hill tribe division of CSOC "But in Thailand there is a lot of opposition to chanee " Nobody knows that better than Sukit Chullanandana, governor ot Nan province, which encompasses Pua At 40, he is the nation's youngest governor, and his assignment to Nan was no accident In a rare de parture from normal procedure, Bangkok's top echelons chose him for the post over numerous other candidates with greater seniority His mission was, m effect, to win the hearts and minds of Nan's citizens before too many more succumbed to Communist promises of genuine service and superior leadership His experience since taking charge a year ago has been sobering Knowing what to do is one thing, getting it done is another "Everything moves so slowly," Sukit complains The governor is not reluctant to discuss the insurgency problem "We are losing, and there really is not much mystery about why The government is not putting enough of its best people-those with energy and devotion and ideals-in the places where they are most needed The old ways continue, and the Communists gain strength " Sukit's candor, command of English and general outlook make him a favorite among U S counter-insurgency advisers in Thailand He also spent three years in the US, where he earned a master's degree in government from Indiana Uni versity and studied public administration at Southern California "I'm an American product," he smiles More such products are in the Thai pipeline, but they have not been allowed to emerge yet The regime recognizes the need to place men of Sukit's caliber in positions of power, but it remains reluctant to bypass traditional promotional channels Even after the New Breed finally takes over, it will need time to undo the damage done by generations of neglect in places like Nan And time may be running out for Thailand While the cumbersome Bangkok bureaucracy slowly sorts itself out, the Communists are step ping up their drive in the countryside Arnold Abrams regularly reports in these pages from Southeast Asia...