The Straits Times May 1, 2008
DOI TUNG (Thailand) - MYANMAR Prime Minister General Thein Sein plans to copy Thailand's crop substitution programme in a bid to eradicate opium production in the kingdom, a Thai official said on Thursday.
The general wrapped up a three-day trip to Thailand with a visit to an agricultural project in Doi Tung in the northern province of Chiang Rai.
'General Thein Sein walked through the planting plots and paid attention to all the details about the projects,' local official Somchai Roongsaeng told reporters, who were unable to approach the premier due to tight security.
'He used to visit the projects when he served as a military chief responsible for the areas near the Golden Triangle,' he said, referring to the illicit opium-producing region covering parts of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
Gen Thein Sein said he wanted to follow the Thai crop substitution programme, initiated by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, to promote agricultural development and tackle the drug problem in Myanmar, Somchai said.
The general wanted farmers to grow cash crops instead of opium, in particular in the border region of Shan state in northeast Myanmar, which borders Thailand.
The Myanmar prime minister was accompanied by top Thai officials on his visit to the project.
Myanmar is the second-largest opium producer in the world after Afghanistan while Thailand has been opium-free for 20 years thanks largely to its successful crop substitution programme. -- AFP
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment