Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, has alleged that government crackdowns on ethnic human rights activists along the international border between Thailand and Burma amounts to “indirect” support of Burma’s own brutal campaign against its minorities. Thai authorities have recently raided the offices of Shan and other human rights groups involved in documenting forced labor and the use of rape as a weapon against ethnic minorities inside Burma. The Thai government has pursued a number of large-scale initiatives in the region, including dam building and drug suppression operations; some critics contend that these programs provide cover for an outright policy of ethnic cleansing. Zin Mei, a Shan representative, says that the Shan people have long been manipulated and abused by drug traffickers as well as armed groups, including Burmese troops.
