 | Thailand - Transnational Issues |
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| Transnational Issues:
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Disputes - international: separatist violence in Thailand's
predominantly Muslim southern provinces prompt border closures and controls with
Malaysia to stem terrorist activities; Southeast Asian states have enhanced
border surveillance to check the spread of avian flu; talks continue on
completion of demarcation with Laos but disputes remain over several islands in
the Mekong River; despite continuing border committee talks, Thailand must deal
with Karen and other ethnic rebels, refugees, and illegal cross-border
activities, and as of 2006, over 116,000 Karen, Hmong, and other refugees and
asylum seekers from Burma; Cambodia and Thailand dispute sections of historic
boundary with missing boundary markers; Cambodia claims Thai encroachments into
Cambodian territory and obstructing access to Preah Vihear temple ruins awarded
to Cambodia by ICJ decision in 1962; Thailand is studying the feasibility of
jointly constructing the Hatgyi Dam on the Salween river near the border with
Burma; in 2004, international environmentalist pressure prompted China to halt
construction of 13 dams on the Salween River that flows through China, Burma,
and Thailand
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 116,499 (Burma) (2006)
Illicit drugs: a minor producer of opium, heroin, and
marijuana; transit point for illicit heroin en route to the international drug
market from Burma and Laos; eradication efforts have reduced the area of
cannabis cultivation and shifted some production to neighboring countries; opium
poppy cultivation has been reduced by eradication efforts; also a drug
money-laundering center; minor role in methamphetamine production for regional
consumption; major consumer of methamphetamine since the 1990s despite a series
of government crackdowns
This information comes from the CIA
World Factbook September 2009.
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