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, Drugs and the IMF: Some Implications of "Structural Readjustmentn for the Bade in , Girls and Women in the Upper Mekong Region David A. Feingold Abstract mesde trafis illicitedanslecontexteplus preach the virtues of belt-tightening, large de llAsie du Sud-Est. Le caract8re austerity and hard to peasant A highly informed and detailed analysis cnt et disproportion& de l'impact des farmers and displaced workers is hard of the intimate rela tionship between politiques Cconomiques du F.M.I. sur la to miss. Evenbefore the Asian Crisis, the structural adjustment programs and the vie des femmes et des jeunesfilles de la British economist Paul Ormerod noted: thriving drug and sex trade in the Upper rkgion est examid avec une attention Austerity and dkkipline are the hall- Mekong Region of , providing particuli2re. I1 est aussi tenu compte de marks of the favoured policies of the additional perspective on illicit trafick- l'importance que rmit une comprkhen- IMF throughout the world, yet its ing and trade in the larger Southeast sion plus large de la traite des blanches, own salary bill has risen by 38 percent Asian context, Attention is specifically nommhent de par la description de la in the last two years, and is budgeted drawn to the harsh and disproportional situation en terrnes de problikes migra- to riseby a further 22 percent in 1994.2 impact of IMF economic policies upon toires et d'exploitation de la forcede tra- In the face of the realities of , other women andgirls,also acknowledging the vai1,plutdt questrictement en termes de economists are coming to question the great impmtanceof a &understand- questions de naturesexuelle. efficacy the "one for a man, two for a ing of international traffic in persons, in horse" patent medicinepolicyprescrip- terms of migration problems and labour Introduction tions of the IMF.3Moreover, women and exploitation, rafher than solely in rela- The financial crisis, which began in girls have been disproportionally irn- tion to sex. Thailand, has tumbled economies pacted by these policies, raising ques- throughout Asia. The strong (e.g., Ja- tions both of equity and long-term social pan) have been hurt; the weak (e.g., In- stability. Une analyse tr2s fouillke de la relation donesia, Bunna/) have been However, two important S.E. Asian intimequislCtablitentreles programmes devastated. The prescription of the in- industries are well-placed to benefit d'ajustement structurauxet leflorissant ternational has been the from the present economic policies. commerce de la drogue et des faveurs "strong medicine" of "reforms" which This paper will begin to explore the sexuelles dans la dgion du Haut Mkkong have raised the prices of necessities, effects of these policies on the two in- en Thailande;ce cmmerceayan t comme squeezed the agricultural sector, dustries which have shown themselves principale caracthistique de fournir un crunched , and slashed employ- best able to respond to the changing aperpcomplhwtairesur toutes lesfOT- ment in countries with few social safety conditions of the free market-commer- nets. Thailand-the travel brochures' cial sex and illicit drugs. It will also "Land of Smiles"-worries about its ris- explore the broader of the David A. Feingold, Ph.D., is n research anthropologist andfilmmaker assodated with ing suicide rate. pictures of impact of development policies on the the Ophidian Rcrraarchlnstitute. He has recently food riots and farm lootings in Indone- trade in women-particularly, - completed a three-filmproject on land mines in sia and tearful Korean families leaving ity women-in the Upper Mekong Re- ~okmbiquefor-~hk~~, and serves as n the children they can no longer feed in @on4 consultant on and Communicationfor orphanages make manifest the deadly The Upper Mekong Region UNESCO/PROAP. He is also a consultantj5r side-effects of the prescription. They the UNESCOlffldm~hproirdoncltlturalfactors in the transmission and prevention of HIV/ tend toundennine thebland assurances The Upper Mekong region has formed a AIDS,and senwon the UN Working Group on of IMF bureaucrats, immune to criti- coherent cultural, ecological and eco- Trafficking. cism, that allwillbe well, if only democ- nomic zone for centuries. Historical This paper is part #a larger research study ofthe racy does not prevent leaders from trade and migrationnetworkshave con- tmde in minoritygtrb andrcrmnmfrrmr , "staying the course." Even tinued into the present. The opening of Burma (Myanmar) and Laos into Thailand. Week reported an Asian "social back- borders to and trade in the re- Raraarch~this*ish?ingconductddundrr lash," and wonied. "Economies are on gion has increased the flow of grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. the Else Sackler thebrinkof depression-and the result- populations across borders for trade Foundation bvgrants),ind the Spunk Fund ing popular rage could force leaders to (licit and illicit) and labour, with major Inc. The project hos recciocdadditionalsupport pullback from reform."' implications for both the sex and drug fnnn the~&tcdo at ions ~ducutional,~c&t@c The irony of gray-suited Westerners industries and the epidemiology of erui Cultural Organizution (UNESCO). jettingbusiness class (atleast) to Asia to HIV/ AIDS. It is an area characterized by ethnic diversity, cultural pluralism Byanyrneas~&aulsttZcrec- and linguistic complexity. In Yunnan Yunnan in 1985 and that as of 1997, ognized that those measures are woe- alone, with a population of 40 million only Yunnan province has reported fully imprecise-the international people, there are 13 million minority more than 1000 cases, mostly among traffick in persons is continuing a proc- people belonging to 26 ethnic groups. minorities.' In the Lao PDR, data are ess of expansion, specialization, and The lowland Lao are barely amajorityin limited. It is clear, however, that the in- differentiation that has grown the Lao PDR These minorities crosscut crease in tourism, the expansion of exponentially over the last decade. In- political boundaries. For example, the networks connecting , Vietnam creasingly sophisticated networks have Akha, a traditionally highland people, and Thailand through Laos, poverty developed which rival illicit drug traf- speaking a Tibeto-Burman language, and proximity to high HIV/AIDS areas ficking in global reach, are found inChina, Burma, the Lao PDR, pose clear risks for an epidemic that the profits, and effi~iency.~In any smug- and Thailand. An Akha from Luang country is ill-equipped to combat. Just gling operation, the size of the product Namtha in Laos will communicate more as the HIV/ AIDS epidemic in Thailand determines the methods of . easily apd have more in common with moved frombeing an "IVDrug Use Epi- Unlike drugs, which are easily con- another Akha from Chiangrai, Thailand demic" to being a "Sexual Epidemic," cealed, human beings are a fragde than with a Lao two hours walk down China is starting to experience a transi- that calls attention to itself. Therefore, the mountain. tion in primary mode of transmission from the point of view of the smuggler, There are a vast number of distinct from IV drug use to heterosexual inter- corruption is nearly always less costly languages from different language course. Political and social policies in than concealment. Most trafficked per- families. Many of these are unwritten Burma are working to guarantee an sons are moved across international languages with no indigenous scripts. HIV/AIDS epidemic nearly without boundaries in more or less plain view. While some have transcriptions devel- parallel in ? This means that corruption is an essen- opedby Western missionaries,these are tial, rather than merely facilitative, part frequently based on the Roman alpha- Women as : Traffic of the process. It may also mean that bet and not widely used. The Chinese and Trade given the world-wide trend toward have also developed transcriptions,but To understand the structural underpin- tighter immigration criteria and the these are also not widespread. While nings and implications of the flow of drive to cut labour costs in the global there is considerable multilingualism women into the Thai sex , it market, the corruptiveinfluences of the even (or especially) among the non-liter- may be useful to distinguishconceptu- traffick in persons will exceed even that ate people of the region,minority women ally between "traffic" and "trade." of the trade in illicit drugs. &e notably less likely to command ei- While there is no universally accepted While sexual trafficking certainly ther the national language or other mi- definition of trafficking, the Global Alli- constitutes an important and profitable nority languages. This means that they ance against Trafficking in Women sub-sector of the international traffick are less likely to be adapted to non-tra- (GAATW) has developed a pragmatic in persons, it should be emphasized ditionalemployment,and less likely to and effective one: that most trafficking is for non-sexual have access to accur'ate information Trafficking in women: All acts in- forms of labour. Similarly, although the about the wider world. Therefore, high- volved in the recruitment and/or majority of those trafficked for sex are land women are particularly vulner- transportation of women within and women and girls, the majority of traf- able to trafficked or non-trafficked sex across national borders for work or ficked women and girls are not traf- work and to the related threat of HIV/ services by means of violence or ficked for sex. Recently, more and more AIDS. threat of violence, abuse of authority international attention, if little effective or dominant position, debt bondage! has the The Upper Mekong region contains deception or other forms of coercion. policy, focused on traffick in zones of high HIV infection and trans- women.1° However, while specialized mission, and areas vulnerable to explo- Under this definition, "trafficking" international organizations, such as sive expansion of HIV/AIDS.~At involves discrete and overt acts against the International Migration Organiza- present, HIV/AIDS is a major threat to women, which could, in theory, be iden- tion (IMO) and the International Labor the economic and social viability of the tified and sanctioned. "Trade," on the (ILO), see traffickrng in region. In particular, it is a threat to the other hand, is merely descriptive of the the larger context of migration problems physical and cultural survival of the exchange involved in the entry into sex or labour exploitation,most of the atten- highland minorities. In Thailand, the work, and makes no judgement about tion has focused on sex. This is under- HIV/AIDSepidernic first matured in the the cause or process of that entry. All standable. As headline-grabbers, girls North. Of the cumulative AIDS cases, trafficking is trade, but not all trade is sold into in the largest proportion (36%)are in the trafficking. Economic, political, and are-topically-sexier than girls (and provinces of theupper North, compared social policies may promote or hinder boys) working asnearslaves on tapioca to 9.5 percent for Bangk~k.~In China, either or both. plantations. - the Ministry of Health reports that the

! Refige, Vol. 17, No. 5 (November 1998) 5 1 I In a sirnilax vein, the sexual traffick- dollar until June of this year--fellas low dollar in April, to 2,600 to the dollar in ing of women and of children are often as the mid-fifties to the dollar, before August. At present, the rate stands at conflated as if they were the same phe- recovering to around thvty-seven to the about 4,600 kip to the dollar. In addi- nomenon, tobe addressedwith the same dollar at present. Because of the large tion, Thai investment in Laos has come remedies." While such approaches outstandingdollar denominated loans, to a virtual standstill. Yet, the Lao may appear to provide useful rhetorical it is unlikely that the present rate can be economy does not appear to have fallen weapons for public mobilization, they maintained. The demand for U.S. dol- as much as the Thai, at least partially, often obscuremore than they clanfy. In lars to pay these loans will likely drive some suggest, because it did not have far the end, this helps neither the women, the baht still lower in the future, despite to fall. Much of the countryside remains nor the children. For the international economic "reforms" imposed on Thai- partially isolated frommany of the mar- community, the linkage of trafficking to land by the IMF. ket forces, which have penetrated even , sexual exploitation and The fall in the currency, the collapse the most remote regions of Thailand. coercionismorecomfortableinthecase (or government closure) of shaky finan- Many of the consumer imports, particu- of children because they are deemed cial institutions, highinterest rates and larly in the North, come from China, and innocent. Children (generally, those increased taxation imposed under the have not increased in price comrnensu: under eighteen) are defined by interna- EMF agreement, as well as the higher rate with the drop in value of the kip vis- tional treaty and much national law to cost of any imported have caused histhe dollar. However, civilservants, be incapableof giving consent to engage massive layoffs in a country that has the business sector, and the urban popu- in commercial sex;12 hence, complex only seen growth for more than a dec- lation in general are certainly being and disquieting (to most adults) ques- ade. The stories in newspapers have squeezed. In addition, many within the tions of choice, agency, options and featured th~secalled "The Formerly government are becoming less en- volition are subsumed.13 In contrast, Rich" having garage for BMWs chanted with the free market and the while some women are coerced or de- and Mercedes-Benz (Thailandwas for- opening of Lao in generaL Many ceived into sexual labour, many adult merly the eighth largest market in the of the older, more conservative Party women choose as a rational world for Mercedes-Benz), and the officials have always been suspicious (not necessarily desirable) strategy for former investment banker who has of the expansion of economic, social economic survival for themselves and started a sandwich street vending ven- and-most of all-political liberaliza- their families. ture. However, while these stories sell tion. As long as the trajectory of the Sex work is more highly rewarded newspapers and attract CNN, the more economy wasup, they were constrained than any occupation available to un- significant long-term dangers are the by the apparent success of new, more educated (and-in present condi- precipitous rise in prices and, open policies. The collapse of the tions-even many educated) women. even more telling, the increased cost of "Asian Miracle," however, has given Evenbefore the present crash,gex work rice. As with the start of many economic new impetus to forces of repression that was far better rewarded than alterna- crises, the distress of the rich in the capi- were always present. tive sectors. Fifteen years ago, earnings tal is noticed, while the pain of the poor If economic insularity and authori- for what was called the "speaal serv- in the countryside is ignored. tarian rule were truly protective, Burma ice" sector in Thailand averaged 5,000 It shouldbenoted, however, that for would be better off than any nation of baht per month, while most female mi- the hiU peoples of Thailand, the "boom" the Southeast Asian mainland. In fact, grants in other occupations were earn- of the past decade has been something what little national economic activity ing less than 840 baht per month." In of a bust. For the highland minorities, existed in Burma has virtually ground 1996, Kritiya and Phornsuk studied a theyears of dramatic economic growth to a halt. One year ago last June, one sample of thirty-three women sex work- in Thailand were years of shrinking dollar equalled about 100Burmese kyat. ers from Burma and China. Theaverage economic opportunities and increasing By the end of June 1997, a dollar monthly income was 5,008 baht, of social dislocation. Without citizenship equalled around 200 kyat. In the middle whichtheywereabletosendhome1,283 and withoutland tenure, themajority of of July, the price jumped from 200 to 340 baht. In contrast, other occupations the tribal population of Thailand was in one day, and trading stopped. The (domestics, etc.) earned 1,957baht per sinking, while much of the rest of the rate recovered to about 280, where it month and were able to remit 563 baht.= country prospered.16 remained until recently. (The present The crash has affected Laos and rate is well over 300.) The Current Crisis: Burst Bubbles Burma (Myanmar)as well as Thailand, The reasons for the collapse and par- and Faded Hopes but for quite different reasons and with tial recovery of the kyat are complex and The period since July 1997 has been a quite different results. Half of Lao PDR very different from that of the baht. time of major economic upheaval in (PeoplesDemocraticRepublic) reserves Burma maintains a dualmonetary sys- Southeast Asia. The Thai baht-which are held in baht. Over the past year, the tem; both kyat-the national was twenty to the dollar from 1%1 until Lao kip has fallen from around 1,000 to currency--and FEC (Foreign Exchange the early eighties and twenty-five to the thedollarbeforethecrash, to 1,700 tothe Certificates), denominated in dollars.

7, No. 5 (November 1998) I- This gave the regime aneffectivelicense fleeingthecdti0~8inBunrt~.A- ThedoftheW to print U.S. dollars, as long as people in point are the Shan girls and women inflation of the Burmese kyat and the believed themyth. FECs were notbacked who came to Chiang Mai seeking work drop in the Lao kip arehaving profound by anything. To some extent, however, on the many projects that effects on the regional economies of the Burma's currency problems (if not her flourished in that city. Today, these Upper Mekong. It is not yet clear, how- economy as a whole) have been helped projects have come to a standstill- ever, what will be the effect on the eco- by the collapse of much of the cross-bor- there is no construction work in Chiang nomics of the regional sex industry in der trade withThailand. This has meant Mai, for migrants or anybody else. A general, and on the participation of mi- a lower demand for dollars to purchase large number of Shansremain stranded, nority girls and women in particular? In trade goods. unable to find legitimate work, unable the recent past, factories in Thailand Our most recent research along the or unwilling to return home. These have absorbed women (particularly China-Burma border shows a complete young women are particularly suscep- from Northeast Thailand) who, in collapse of legitimate trade in the previ- tible to recruitment into the sex indus- former times, supplied thesex trade. The ously booming area of Ruili. What had try, and their undocumented status recent economic meltdown and, more formerly been a region of thriving cross- makes themespetdly vulnerable to the particularly, the policies designed to border exchange of raw materials from worst types of exploitation. cope with it have resulted in wide- Burma for manufactured goods from spread layoffs. These layoffs have China is now limited to narcotics and The Sex Industry-Adaptation to disproportionally impacted women- girls to supply this Chinese gambling Change not because the industries have been centre. (Ruili is one of the few places in The long-term effects of the Asian eco- directly discriminatory, but because China where gambling is legal.) Some of nomic collapse on the net they are capital dependent during a the most important heroin factories in of sexual services are, as yet, unclear. At credit crunch. If these Thai women are the world can be seen from China just the top end of themarket, anumber of so- forced to take up sex work, it is unclear across the border in Burma Not surpris- called "member clubs" have closed in whether they will displace foreign and ingly, drugs are easily available in this . These are expensive, more or minority women, or bring down the region of China, despiteharsh penalties less exclusive clubs, providing eater- price of services. Many will choose to and great concern on the part of the tainment and indirect sexual servicesin follow earlier migrants to higher paying national government. This is particu- llluxuriousssurroundings. The women sex work in Switzerland, , larly signrficant in that, like Thailand, who work in them are chosen both for Canada, or ." the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China their beauty and for their ability to Moreover, the increase in fighting started as an I.V. drug epidemic and is charm customers. They are extremely along the Thai-Burma border has re- now turning into a sexual epidemic. well paid, and few trafficked women sulted in still greater population dis- Unaccompanied men are now coming ever work in these establishments,The placement and cross-border migration from all over China to gamble in Ruili, member clubs, night clubs and bars that at precisely the time when Thailand using the sexual services of cross-bor- catered exclusively to Japanese have sees itself as most threatened by migrant der recruits, and returning home. been particularly hard hit by the with- labour. Workers come fromasfar away Moreover, use is very low. drawalby Japanesecompanies of many as Myitkyina in Kachin State in the In human terms, the inflation of the representatives working in Thailand. hopes of day labour in the fields, or, with Burmese kyat has tumeda bad economy Moreover, those whohave remained are luck, some more permanent job. Even into an impossible one. A low-level civil entertaining less extravagantly than in though the work is hard and the pay servant is paid 700 kyat per month; a 10 the past. Club memberships were often low, a couple of days work will cover kgbagof ricecosts 1,100 kyat. This situ- paid for by companies as a job benefit for their travel costs and reap a profit ation guaranteescorruption and places hard-working salary men abroad and greater than is available in Burma. impossible burdens on families, mak- as a place to entertain customers and Many of the women who come for agri- ing daughters more vulnerable to mi- government officials. In moves to trim cultural or household work end up in gration to Thailand and China for sex costs, member clubs and golf clubs have sex work because the pay is far better work. The cost of girls in Ruili gives all suffered. and they are desperatetohelp their fami- some measure of the economic despera- However, less lavish lies. tion across the border: 10 rmb for a"1ow complexes seem to be flourishing, and I believe it is essential to investigate class" girl up to SO rmb for al'highclass" the most recent survey of sex workersby the impact of these and other economic one. This is equivalent to about $1.25 to theSTDControlDivisionof the Ministry changes on the structureand dynamics $6.25, respectively. of Public Health found no decrew in of the sex industry. En simple terms, is In addition, the collapse of much of thenumber of CSWssincethe start of the commercial sex a lwury or a commod- the economic activity in Northern Thai- crisis (but no sigruficant increase ei- ity? Will people with less disposable land has severely restricted the alterna- ther). income chose to continue their level of tive opportunities for migrant labour sexualconsumption(it being one of the

Refige, Vol. 17, No. 5 (November 1998) few pleasures that they can still afford), Thailand, the women frequently come has been the of free con- cut down their consumption level, or to depend on one or more of these net- doms by the Ministry of Public Health. move "down market" (i.e., frequent works. This program is now at risk because of lower priced establishments)? Does Wehave located the LukMoo (Piglet) budget cuts, and medical officials fear commercialsex operate according some Network, who are responsible for about that it will not survive the year. version of Say's Law of Markets; ie., that 50percent of the girls and women smug- supply generates its own demand? gled into Thailand from Shan States, Illicit Investment: Growth and Given the importance of the sex indus- China and Laos to work in brothels. Survival through Sex and Drugs try to the Thai economy, these are not There are also other networks, such as In many parts of the world, illicit activi- trivial questions. Any policy foda- theKabuankarn Loy Fah ("Floatin gin the ties provide capital, both directly and tion which attempts to encompass the sky" Network) specializingin girls for indirectly, for legitimate investment. reality of the sex trade must address the and Karaoke bars. Much This becomes more sigrufrcantin com- underlying economic structure of that like illicit drug networks, each of these munities or countrieslacking sufficient trade, as well as the dynamics of its networks depends on financing and capital and credit mechanisms. It is adjustment to changing economic and political protection tooperate. Standard most important, however, either in social conditions. bribes must be paid tomove girls across times of rapid economic expansion, Our researchhas found that theentry borders and through police check- where capital resources do not keep of girls into sex work involves a complex points. Profit maximization dictates pace with perceived investment oppor- of interlockingnetworks-both formal transporting girls through the fewest tunities; or in times of severe contrac- and informal, commercial and non- numbers of checkpoints. This is the tion, when a credit crunch can cut off commercial-criss-crossing borders great appeal of using the Mekong River. other sources of investment. throughout the Upper Mekong region. The Piglet networkhastried avariety During the l97Os, the development of There is a flow of females moving north of means to smuggle girls to supply to Northern Thailand was fuelled, not in one area; south in another. Tai Neu the brothels. Although the Mekong surprisingly,by the most important re- - girls go intoChinaDwhile Dai girls from River transport hasbeen halted, the Pig- gional industry- production. the Sip Song Panna (Xishuangbanna) lets have turned to overland trafficking Not only did most of Burma's massive region of China travel down through routes through Tachilek (Burma)to Mae production of opium (much of it con- Burma to Thailand. Some are actually Sai (Thailand).From there, girls can be verted tomorphine base or heroin)pass kidnapped and/or sold; that is, "traf- moved around the country, some are through Thailand to the rest of the ficked", in the traditional sense of the traded all the way to Malaysia. The Pig- world, but also Thailand provided a term. Others are vidims of deception- let financier never involves himself di- safe, relatively stable environment for promised , household or fac- rectly in trafficking. He assigns agents both direct and indirect investment of tory jobs, only tobe lured or forced into to work on his behalf, but if an agent is the profits derived from the trade. sex work. Most, however, make "volun- arrested by the police, the financier will For example, in Chiang Mai, some tary" choices to start their journeys, intervene-usinghis political power to sixteen new were built between though these choices are often predi- secure the agent's release. 1977 and 1981. T'his is not to say that cated upon harsh economic conditions Over the past eighteen months, each and every was financed and at home and scant knowledge of the changes have taken place, which have built by a local "opium warlord," hand- outside world. Research indicates that resulted in a movement from so-called ing over bags of cash in his shadowy most arenot somuch fleeing abjectpov- direct sex work (brothels)to indirect sex incense-smoked lair. Rather, it is that erty and political oppression (as in work. This has resulted inbetter work- the proceeds of the trade provided the Burma), but chasing a better, more exat- ing conditions for the women in the necessary investment capital that was inglife. Muchof the impetus can be de- North, but created more of a public otherwise absent from the local scribed as the lure of "bright lights, big health problem because of less control. economy. The banking systemsthe city." Many of the girls believe that the Thailand is the only country in the re- modem, formal system as well as the streets of Thailand are "paved with ghto bring its HIVinfectionrate under traditional, informal ones-accumu- gold;" that life is more exciting than in controL In Burma, Laos, and China, HIV lated capital from the deposits of those their villages; and that they willbe part infection rates are climbing, but in Thai- involved directly or indirectly with the of a dominant population, instead of a land new infections have fallen dra- drug trade.ls To cite a case in point, minorityastheyateinQlina.Partofthe matically in the last five years. (Of General Li Wen Huan, the KMT general "push factor" is the "to get rich is glori- course, the number of AIDS cases is still who arguably controlled more opium ous" attitude that pemades China, in increasing at a horrifying rate due to than anyone else in this century, was a which rural people see themselves as past HIV infections.) Even in Thailand, valued customer of the Chiangmai shut out of the opportunities for mate- however, new threats are emerging be- branch of the Bangkok of Com- rial advancement. However they start cause of the economiccrisis.One comer- merce. Before a recent and scandalous out, in the course of their joumey to stone of the Thai pubic health success collapse (not involving drug money), the BBC was considered a quite respect- Notes able institution. Other "respectable" of the military. Despite fervid protests in Thailand-including some and calls for extradition by the United "Asia:Sczcial Backlash," Business Week, 17 well-known international ones-have States, Khun Sa has a variety of invest- August 1998, 19. benefited from similar depositors. ments including transportation, hotels, P. Omerod, The Death qf Economics (Lon- At present, to the extent that one can and banking. It has also been alleged by don: Faber & Faber, 1994), 3. speak of local investment in Burma, that some familiar with narcotics in the re- M. Feldstein, "Refocusing the MF," For- investment derives from the opium gion that he continues his old interests eign ADirs (March/April1998):20-33. trade and (more recently) the trade in in the drug trade through intermediar- For the purposes of this paper, the Upper amphetamines. Lo Hsing-han was a Mekong region includes Thailand, Burma ies-although in a diminished capac- (Myanmar), the Lao PDR, and Yunnan, major opium trafficker who, in the early ity. Such allegations have been firmly China. It should be noted, however, that 1970s,joined a coalition of Shan revolu- denied by the government of Myanmar. many of the moss-border issues discussed tionary groups that offered to sell a third However, Burmese denials carry little apply equally to Vietnam and , of the world's illicit opiates to the United credibility with Western governments as well. There is a steady flow of girls and States or the UN for about $12 million. such as Great Britain, which has ac- women for sex work from Vietnam into Cambodia, from Cambodia into Thailand, He was betrayed by his high-ranking cused the Myanmar regime of profiting fromvietnaminto China, and from China contact within the Thai government of directly from the drug trade.21 intoVietnam. In oneborder town, Chinese the time, who was afraid that Lo would in Burma shows the heavy men prefer Vietnamese girls, while Viet- reveal the details of a corrupt relation- investment of Chinese from the tradi- namese men prefer Chinese girls. ship that was vastly profitable to both tional opium region of Kokang, and the J.Gray, "HIV/AIDS in The Hills: ACrisis sides. Arrested and returned to Burma gambling centre of Ruili across the bor- JustWaiting toHappen,"paper delivered to stand trial for a variety of political (but der in China has also profited from to the 5th International Thai Studies Con- ference, SOAS, of London, not narcotics) offences, most observers Kokang Chinese investment. This in- 1993. believed that it was unlikely Lo would vestment has attradedminoritywomen Material on HIV/AIJX is derived from see the light of day again. Today, he re- from Burma to provide sexual services interviews with health officials and re- portedly owns transport lines, the Trad- to Chinese men visiting Ruili for gam- searchers in China, Thailand, Burma, and ers Hotel in Rangoon (), as well bling, and these women, in turn, repat- Laos, as well as UNAIDS. as having numerous other hotel and riate money to their families in Burma. China Ministry of Health and UN Theme banking investments. The US. State A study for the United Nations hter- Group on HIV/AIDS in China, China Re- Department reported that 15percent of national Drug Control Program sponds to AIDS: HWDSSituation Report all foreign investment in Burma goes (UNDCP) concluded-no doubt with and Needs Assessment, Beijing, 1997. through a company owned by Lo's rela- some embarrassment-that "the effects 8. C. Beyrer, War in the Blood: Sex, Politics and tives.lgThe hotelbusiness seems to have of the illicit drug industry on both the AIDS in Southeast Asia (Bangkok: White Lotus, 1998). an appeal to many at the upper levels of balance of trade and the balance of pay- 9. See, for example, recent television reports the opium trade.20 mentsof the producer country.. .tend to that the U.S. JusticeDepartment cracked The major consequence of the cap- bep~sitive."~~Thestudygoes on tonote a ring that had smuggled over 12,000peo- ture of Lo Hsing-han was to allow the that "under conditions of structural pleintotheunitedstates,whowere forced now well-known Khun Sa to capture adjustment .. .", ". .. foreign exchange to work in conditionsof virtual servitude. control of much of the trade. The so- from drug exports may have .. . benefi- 10. For a recent example, the Economic and called "King of Opium" of the "Golden cial effects on the economies concerned, SocialCommbdanfor AsiaandthePacific Triangle" combined revolutionarypoli- mitigating some of the hardship associ- (ESCAP)hosted aReghalConferenceon TraffickhginWomen.!3imihrconferen~es tics and business acumen to control and ated with structural adjustment pro- have been&nvened over the last eighteen - tax-but not own-+ major portion of gramrne~."~Muchthe same canbe said monthsbytheMekmgRegionalLawCen- ; the opium production of Burma and to for the sex industry. tre, the ILO, and organizationsin the Phil- frustrate the flailing efforts of the US. It isestimatedthatsexis a$Z2.5 to$27 ippines, not to mention several major government to capture him. Two dec- billion business ~ Thailand, or be- conferencesandworkshopsin South Asia ades of large rewards for his capture, tween 10 and 14 percent of GDP.~Just and Europe. support for his enemies and a Brooklyn as sex and drugs can mitigate the hard- 11. United Nations Children's Fund indictment left Khun Sa quite un- shipsof structuraladjustment, so struc- (UNICEF), Children and Women in MyanmcA Situation Anolysrs, Rome (New scathed, and demonstrated (yet again) tural adjustment can improve the York: UNICEF, 1995). the impotence of moral puffery as a sub- comparative advantage of the se%and For example, in discussing the estimated stitute for effective socio-economic drug industries. It might be well to con- 20poO to 30,000 "girls"from Burma work- policy. Having negotiated a "surren- sider such unintended consequences ing in Thai brothels, this report states that der" to the Burmese army in January when preaching development sttate- "the majority are befwmI2 and 25 yem old." (39, my emphasis)--a rather broad 1996, Khun Sa now lives in secluded gies to the rest of the world. range when considering issws mlated to

R+ge, Vol. 17, No. 5 (November 1998) 9

sex, and one that obscures more than it 14. P. Tongudai, "Women, Migration and 19. Bangkok Post,S June 1997. clarifies. Employment-A Study of Migrant Workers 20. DuringoneofmyinterviewswithKhunSa, 12. The United Nations Convention on the in Bangkok" (Ph.D. dissertation, New York before he was expelled from his headquar- Rights of the Child, signed by every University, New York, 1982). ters at Hin Tek in the mountains of country except Somalia and the United 15. P. Pongpaichitetal., Guns, Girls, Gambling Chiangrai Province in Northern Thailand States, defines "child" in Article 1 as and Ganja: Thailand's Illegal Economy some years ago, one of his men invited me "every human being below the age of 18 and Public Policy (Chiangmai: Silkworm to come and see "the lake." I pointed out years unless under law applicable to the , 1998), 214 n. 5. that nearest lake was in Payao, a consider- child, majority is attained earlier." 16. For the relationship of the decline of the able distance away. He laughed, and ex- This seems quite straightforward. How- upland economy to the entry of highland plained that they were making a lake for the ever, as Lim emphasizes in her survey of women into the sex industry, see: resort hotel they were going to build. Khun , "There are various com- D. A. Feingold, "The Hell of Good Inten- Sa later said that he wanted to stock the lake plications when applying this age criterion tions: Some Preliminary Thoughts on with fish-he had read thatforeigners liked to at the national and local level." (171) For Opium in the Political Ecology of the go fishing-and wondered what he should examples from Indonesia and Malaysia, Trade in Girls and Women," in South call the hotel. We joked about "The Kingpin see: China and Mainland S.E. Asia: Cross Hilton." L. L. Lim, "Child Prostitution," in The Sex Border Relations in the Post-Socialist Age, 21. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook con- Sector: The economic and Social Bases ofPros- edited byG. Evans (In press, 1997). demned Myanmar as "... one of the few titution in Southeast Asia, edited by L. L. 17. S. Watanabe, "From Thailand to Japan: governments in the world whose members Lim (Geneva: ILO, 1998), 170-205. Migrant Sex Workers as Autonomous Sub- are prepared to profit out of the drugs trade 13. H. Montgomery, "Children, Prostitution, jects," in Global Sex Workers: Rights, rather than seek to suppress the drugs and Identity: A Case Study from a Tourist Resistance, and Redefinition, edited by K. trade," (The Nation, 3 September 1997). Resort in Thailand," in Global Sex Kempadoo and J. Doezema (London: 22. UNDCP, Economic and Social Consequences Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Routledge, 1998), 114-23. of Drug Abuseand Illicit Trafficking, Redefinition, edited by K. Kempadoo and J. 18. Both the overseas Chinese and the UNDCP Doezema (London: Routledge, 1998), 139- overseas Indian have Technical Series #6, Vienna, 1997,25. 50. maintained complex traditional banking 23. Ibid., 26. Montgomery presents an important, em- systems for centuries, which have allowed 24. L. L. Lim, "The Economic and Social Bases pirically-based actor-centred critique of the efficient transfer of funds and credi t of Prostitution in Southeast Asia," in The standard international discourse on child over long distances and across borders. Sex Sector: The economic and Social Bases of prostitution. As she states, "... despite the These informal systems are virtually Prostitution in Southeast Asia, edited by L. L. passion that child prostitution arouses, the impenetrable to outsiders. However, it is Lim (Geneva: ILO, 1998), 10. LJ children themselves have been largely known that the Chinese systems play an silent. Many people are speaking in their important role in drug trafficking and, it name but very few people have listened to now appears, in the trade in women as them and know who they are or how they well. perceive what they do" (p. 150). Asylum: AMoral Dilemma By w. Gunthe;r .Plaut Toronto: York Lanes Press, ISBN 1-55014-239-9;192 pages, indexed; $19.90. Every year the refugee landscape changes, but only in that more problems are added, fewer are solved, and all become constantly more urgent. Fuelled by the explosion of the world's population, the quest for asylum is one of the most pressing problems of our ag~;R(;!Nf?~~ir.tI~pati0I1S-19~atedtrequ~tly, but bYM me~QSexdusively, in the Westemworld,..,..haveto respond to masses ofhp.manity~eatMing{ornewlivablehoInes. Human compi'issionJor these refugees can be found everywhere, but so can xenophobia and th(;! deSir(;!topreserve one's nation, economic well being, and cultural integrity. The dash between these impulses represents one of the great dilemmas of our time and is the subject of Plaut's study. In exploring it, he provides a far-ranging inquiry into the human condition. rhepoo~~~tSpoli~cal,.efly:Uc,.phnoSQphical, rel@p'US,and.soqiolbgkal argUmentS, and deals with spme of them.ost troublesome and heartbreakiJ:tg conflicts ill the news. Contents: ThelsSJleSiQuestions Without Answers; Definitions; Religion, Natural Law, and Hospitality; A Look at History; Some Ethical Questions; Through the tens of Sociobiology; Community and b:\dividual; Contended Rights: To Leave, Return, Remain; 'fJutJ?ract:iff;R~~MlM~cil.; Fqp,r ~~an.LiU1ds;GliInp~$ of Europei'ind CentralAInerica; Tl1j!Nprtl1 American Experience; The Sari~a1'YMovetnent;A FinalLoQk; Bibliography; Index. AsY~!lm.A Mol'izl Dile;mma is simultaneously published in the United States by Praeger Publishers, and in Canada by York Lanes Pte$S. 4P9#qkltfrom; Cen.ti'ef()tRef11g(!eStudi~s Fax: (416) 736-5837 · Email: [email protected]

10 Refuge, Vol. 17, No. 5 (November 1998)