Rangoon shares border tax with ceasefire groups

Shan Herald Agency for News 3 February 2005

The lion's share of the tax levied at 3 border crossings with China goes to the armed ethnic groups that have concluded ceasefire pacts with Rangoon, say border watchers in Thailand.

75% of the border tax collected by the newly formed Nakatha unit at Kambaitti (Kachin State) is for the National Democratic Army-Kachin (Special Region #1) of Sakhong Ting Ring. "The same goes for Laiza (Kachin State) for Kachin Independence Organization and Chin Shwehaw (Shan State) for Kokang," said a monitoring source.

Incoming and outgoing fees are 2 yuan each way for each person, 2 yuan for motor vehicles and 25 yuan for cargo trucks. ($ 1 = 8 yuan) The Nakatha (Border Commerce), founded on 11 January to replace the disbanded Nasaka, formed by Gen Khin Nyunt during his tenure, comes under the Economy and Commerce Ministry, which in turn coordinates between its immediate superior the Prime Minister and the Trade Policy Council, headed by Vice Senior General Maung Aye.

The Nakatha units themselves are made up from 5 components: Customs, Immigration, People's Police, Myanma Economic Bank and Internal Taxation. One result of its is a huge overlap among different departments that in turn results in confusion. "It's a big mess right now", one officer was quoted as saying. "I'm not sure whether we'll be able to sort it out."

One pleasant outcome of the "concoction" is that the new setup is "more honest" than other government agencies. "That won't last long," assured a businessman in Tachilek. "When the Nasaka was first established in 2001, its commander Htay Naing looked and acted like a virgin. No one was able to bribe him. But the space under his bunk, by the time he was taken back to Rangoon in chains (late last year), was said to be crammed with packetsof banknotes."

Network Media Group also reported on 31 January, the business community in Myawaddy, opposite Maesod, was also having a hard time trying to bribe the newly-arrived tax collectors.

The Nakatha units have been set up in 11 border towns, according to sources: Muse, Loije, Kambaitti, Laiza and Chin Shwehaw on the Chinese border; Tachilek, Myawaddy and Kawthaung (Kawsawng) on the Thai border; Maungdaw on the Bangladeshi border; and Reed and Tamu on the Indian border. Units on the Chinese border report to Lt-Col Hla Maw Oo. But Tachilek and Myawaddy on the Thai border each has its own head officer: Lt-Col TheinHlaing and Lt-Col Saw Hla Tun respectively.