[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 119 (Friday, July 21, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10489-S10490]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    THE THAI-CAMBODIAN TIMBER TRADE

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, this last Monday I chaired a hearing of 
the full Foreign Relations Committee to consider ambassadorial 
nominations for four countries within the jurisdiction of my 
Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs: Cambodia, Indonesia, 
Malaysia, and Thailand. I was impressed by all of them, and am sure 
they--as well as the Ambassador-designate to APEC--will be confirmed by 
the full Senate soon. In speaking privately with all the nominees, 
however, there was one issue I brought up with both the Ambassador-
designate to Thailand and the Ambassador-designate to Cambodia that 
they were unable to address to my satisfaction and which I believe 
should be brought to the attention of my colleagues: the links between 
the Thai military and the Khmer Rouge and their involvement in the 
illegal timber trade across the Thai-Cambodia border.
  Cambodia shares a lengthy and relatively uninhabited border with 
Thailand. The entire region is heavily forested; formerly, 76 percent 
of Cambodia's 176,520 square kilometers of land area was covered by 
forest. That amount, however, has declined dramatically over the last 
15 years due to the increased commercial harvesting of timber. 
According to some sources, tree cover has been reduced by almost half 
since 1989. The loss has been especially dramatic in western Cambodia, 
where a handful of foreign firms are responsible for a majority of the 
deforestation.
  These companies purchase concessions from the Cambodian Government, 
and theoretically make payments to the government based on the amount 
of cubic meters of timber felled. The timber is then exported over the 
Thai border, either by boat or overland on dirt roads built expressly 
for that purpose by the companies, where they are collected at places 
called rest areas before being sent further on into Thailand. According 
to both Thai and Cambodian regulations, the logger/exporter must secure 
a certificate of origin from the Cambodian Government, a permit from 
the Thai embassy in Cambodia, and permission from the Thai Interior 
Ministry to import the logs into Thailand.
  There is one more party, however, that plays a major role in the 
logging: the Khmer Rouge [KR]. Led by the infamous Pol Pot, the KR 
controlled the government of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. During that 
time, it was directly responsible for the genocide of more than one 
million Cambodians in the ``Killing Fields.'' Since the 1991 U.N. peace 
agreement established a democratic government in Cambodia, the KR has 
been relegated to the role of a rebel guerilla force. Although the 
government has made some inroads in combatting the KR, including 
implementing a somewhat successful amnesty program, the KR remains a 
strong force in the western khet of Batdambang, Pursat, Banteay 
Meanchey and Siem Reap. Despite the campaign being mounted against 
them, though, they still receive a steady flow of food, military 
supplies, and currency sufficient to pay their 10,000 to 20,000 man 
militia; and therein lies the connection to the timber trade and the 
Thai military.
  Over the past several years, the press has consistently reported that 
the Thai military has been providing assistance and support to the 
Khmer Rouge. The links between the two are longstanding. Beginning in 
1979, Thailand acted as a funnel for Chinese-supplied arms being 
transshipped to the KR--apparently in return for an end to Chinese 
support for rebel Thai Communists in northern Thailand. Since then, the 
evidence suggests that the Thai have regularly supplied the KR with 
logistical support and materiel. In return for this support, Thai 
business interests and certain government sectors have benefitted from 
access to timber and gem resources within that part of Cambodia along 
the Thai border controlled by the KR. Their interest is sizable; in 
1993, the U.S. Embassy in Thailand estimated that Thai logging 
companies had some $40 million invested in timber concessions in KR-
held areas.
  It is from the sale of these resources that the KR acquires funds 
sufficient to continue its reign of terror in Cambodia. The process is 
actually quite simple. Foreign companies interested in harvesting 
timber in western Cambodia purchase official lumber concessions from 
the government in Phnom Penh. Having dealt with the de jure government, 
however, the companies must then deal with the de facto government in 
western Cambodia: the KR. The companies pay the KR for the right of 
safe passage into KR-held territory, to fell the timber, and to 
transport it out to Thailand safely. The present going rate of payment 
to the KR per cubic meter is between 875 and 1,000 baht, or between $35 
and $40. It is estimated that the weekly income to the KR from timber 
carried across just two of the many border points is around $270,000, 
with total monthly income to the KR estimated at between $10 and $20 
million.
  Once felled and placed on the back of trucks, the logs are driven 
across the Thai border. That crossing, however, is not without its 
costs. The Thai military--the Marines, actually--controls a 4-mile wide 
strip along the Thai side of the border, and in order to negotiate it 
the logging trucks must pass through guarded checkpoints where, it 
appears, payments in the form of tolls or bribes are made to Thai 
concerns.
  The Thai have consistently, albeit often disingenuously, denied any 
ties to the KR or to the timber trade. Each round of denials, however, 
is soon followed by press reports and concrete evidence to the 
contrary. For example, in 1994 Thailand officially closed its border 
with Cambodia partly as a result of the murder of more than 20 Thai 
timber workers by the KR and partly as a result of international 
criticism. In a press statement made shortly thereafter, Maj. Gen. 
Niphon Parayanit, the Thai commander in the region, stated flatly that 
the border was closed, that the military had severed all links with the 
KR, and that ``there [was] no large-scale cross-border 

[[Page S10490]]
trade going on.'' The official denials have continued to this day, 
including one of the more recent by Prime Minister Chuan noted in the 
May 26 edition of the Bangkok Post.
  Despite these denials though, and despite a Cambodian ban on logging, 
credible eyewitness reports from members of the London-based group 
Global Witness fully confirm, in my opinion, that the trucks are still 
rolling across the Thai border. If--as the Thai military alleges--it is 
not involved in the timber trade either directly or by turning a blind 
eye to the shipments, I can think of no other explanation than that the 
military personnel in the border zone are completely incompetent. One 
of the more heavily travelled timber roads in the border zone, one that 
according to my information is in daily use even as I speak, is within 
sight of one of the Thai Marine camps. Nor can the central Thai 
Government claim ignorance; Global Witness recently brought to light a 
current timber import permit signed by the Thai Interior Minister.
  Mr. President, continued Thai support for the KR--in this or any 
manner--concerns me greatly for several reasons. First and foremost, 
the financial support the trade affords to the KR continues to allow it 
to survive thereby seriously endangering the growth and continued 
vitality of the nascent Cambodian democracy. That system is having 
enough trouble getting off the ground and running smoothly without 
having to deal with the KR insurgency. Secondly, Thailand's actions run 
counter to its obligations under the 1991 Peace Accord and serve to 
undermine it. Finally, the clandestine nature of the timber extraction 
has removed it from the control of the Cambodian central government. It 
is subsequently free to continue without regard to any regulations 
aimed at limiting the amount of timber taken, preventing serious 
ecological damage, ensuring sustained growth, or protecting the lives 
and livelihoods of the local populace.
  I have made my concerns about this issue clear to both of our 
Ambassadors-designate and to the State Department. I hope that this 
statement will make my concerns equally clear to the Thai Government. 
If a significant effort not made as promised by the Thai Government to 
fully investigate and then stem the cross-border trade and their 
dealings with the KR, then I would find myself placed in the position 
of calling on our government to abide by that provision of Public Law 
103-306 requiring that the President shall ``terminate assistance to 
any country or organization that he determines is cooperating, 
tactically or strategically, with the Khmer Rouge in their military 
operations.''
  In closing, Mr. President, let me note that I greatly value the close 
relationship between us and the government and people of Thailand. 
However warm or important that relationship, though, we cannot allow it 
to obscure or interfere with what is our equally important dedication 
to the principles of democracy taking root in Cambodia. I, and I hope 
my colleagues, will be watching developments closely.


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