Border permeability and the state in southeast asia: Contraband and regional security

Contemporary Southeast Asia

Volumn 23, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 254-274

  Tagliacozzo, Eric ^a  

^a Cornell University ^*  (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84937334754     PISSN: 0129797X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1355/CS23-2D     Document Type: Article

References (55)

1. See, for example, Khoo How San, “ASEAN as a ‘Neighborhood Watch Group’”, Contemporary Southeast Asia 22, no. 2 (2000): 279–301; and Michael Leifer, The ASEAN Regional Forum: Extending ASEAN’s Model of Regional Security (Oxford: Oxford University Press for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1996).
2. See the essays in Peter Katzenstein, ed., The Culture of National Security: Norms and Identity in World Politics (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996).
3. Two sophisticated statements here are Hastings Donnan and Thomas Wilson, Borders: Frontiers of Identity, Nation, and State (Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1999), pp. 1–14; and Malcolm Anderson, Frontiers: Territory and State Formation in the Modern World (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996).
4. For comparative analyses of frontiers, see A.I. Asiwaju, Borderlands Research: A Comparative Perspective (El Paso: University of Texas Borderlands Perspective Paper #6, 1983); and Michiel Baud and Willem van Schendel, “Toward a Comparative History of Borderlands”, Journal of World History 8, no. 2 (1997). For useful anthropological studies, see Deborah Pellow, Setting Boundaries: The Anthropology of Spatial and Social Organization (Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 1996); and Hastings Donnan and Thomas Wilson, “An Anthropology of Frontiers”, in Border Approaches: Anthropological Perspectives on Frontiers, edited by H. Donnan and T.M. Wilson (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1994).
5. Two very good recent studies here are Josiah McC. Heyman, ed., States and Illegal Practices (Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1999); and Wilem van Schendel, “Easy Come, Easy Go: Smugglers on the Ganges”, Journal of Contemporary Asia 23, no. 2 (1993): 189–213.
6. See Thongchai Winichakul’s discussion on this; Thailand was a partial exception to this pattern in Southeast Asia. Thongchai Winichakul, Siam Mapped (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994). For a theoretical discussion on the nature (and evolution) of borders, see J.R.V. Prescott, Political Frontiers and Boundaries (London: Unwin Hyman, 1987).
7. “Bersaing Di Langit Terbuka BIMP-EAGA”, Suara Pembaruan, 25 November 1997, p. 16; and “Mindanao Bakal Unggul Di Timur ASEAN”, Suara Pembaruan, 25 January 1997, p. 17.
8. “A New World of Possibilities for Lao Aviation Travelers”, Vientiane Times, 3–5 April 2001, pp. 1–2; “Lao-Myanmar Border Co-Operation Discussed”, Vientiane Times, 24 September 1997, p. 1; “Border Market — Big Problem for Vietnam”, Vietnam Economic News 40, no. 1 (October 1993): 4–5; Teh-chang Lin, “The Development of Mainland China’s Border Trade”, Issues and Studies: A Journal of Chinese Studies and International Affairs (July 1996), pp. 42–53; “Border Openings Should Increase Thai Trade”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 7 February 1997, p. 13. For a very good, recent analysis of mainland Southeast Asian border patterns as a whole, see Grant Evans, Chris Hutton, and Kuah Khun Eng, eds., Where China Meets Southeast Asia: Social and Cultural Change in the Border Region (Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2000).
9. “Pos Pelintas Batas RI-Filipina Ditambah”, Kompas, 10 December 1997, p. 8; “Tenaga Willing to Supply Power to Sumatra via Bridge Link”, Straits Times, 29 June 1997; “Malaysia Undecided Where Bridge to Indonesia Will Begin”, Straits Times, 26 June 1997. For boundary agreements across the land border in Borneo, see Laporan Delegasi Republik Indonesia Mengenai Pertemuan Panitia Teknis Bersama Perbatasan Indonesia-Malaysia Yang Ke-12 Tentang Survey dan Penegasan Bersama Perbatasan Darat Antara Indonesia and Malaysia (Jakarta: Taud ABRI, 1981).
10. “Cambodia-Malaysian Trade Up 83.5 Percent”, Weekly Review of Cambodia Daily, 19–23 March 2001, p. 4; “Oudomsay to Get Land Route to China”, Vientiane Times, 10–12 April 2001, p. 4; “Immigration Plaza to be Built at Border Town”, Straits Times, 9 July 1997; and “Land-Linked, not Land-Locked”, Vientiane Times, 17–19 September 1997, p. 9.
11. “Burma Road”, Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), 6 November 1997, pp. 16–17. This is to say nothing of the other descending “pincer” of Chinese influence into Southeast Asia, Beijing’s claims on the Spratley and Paracel Islands. See “Laut Cina Selatan, Tambang Emas Masa Depan”, Kompas, 4 December 1997, p. 7.
12. These concerns have been on the agenda of recent APEC meetings; see “Spotlight on Free Trade, Security as APEC Opens,” Viet Nam News, 16 November 2000, p. 1–9. For the incident itself, see “Thai Mekong Patrol Officers Threaten Lao Cargo Boat Crews”, Vientiane Times, 15–17 October 1997, pp. 1–2.
13. “TNI AL Usir 10,096 Kapal”, Kompas, 5 December 1997, p. 8; “Efektivitas Gelar Unsur Laut Perlu Pemikiran Konsepsional Lebih Lanjut”, Angkatan Bersenjata, 27 November 1997, p. 12; and “Perahu Dari Manado Hanyut 3,000 Km”, Suara Pembaruan, 25 November 1997, p. 1.
14. “Other ASEAN States Urged to Follow Singapore-KL Joint Approach to Crime”, Straits Times, 10 June 1997; “Vietnam, Cambodia Police Sign Police Accord”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 19 March 1997, p. 8; and “Lao Police Delegation Back From Interpol Meeting in Beijing”, Vientiane Times, 20–23 September 1997, p. 4.
15. Indonesia has taken to mapping the culture of border peoples in this manner, too; see Suwarsono, Daerah Perbatasan Kalimantan Barat: Suatu Observasi Terhadap Karekteristik Sosial Budaya Dua Daurah Lintas Batas (Jakarta: Pusat Penilitian dan Pengembangan Kemasyarakatan dan Kebudayaan, 1997). “Eye on Ships”, Straits Times, 7 June 1997; “Seminar on New Lao Mapping and Survey Network Held in Vientiane”, Vientiane Times, 5–7 November 1997, p. 4; and “Border Market to be Opened”, Jakarta Post, 10 November 1997, p. 2. For the other example mentioned above, see “AFP Waging High-Tech War vs. Abus”, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9 April 2001, p. 2.
16. “Government to Remove Immigration Chief”, Jakarta Post, 3 April 2001, p. 2; “Jemaah Haji Paspor Hijau Tetap Dilarang”, Angkatan Bersenjata, 19 November 1997, p. 7; “K.L. to Launch Passport with Electronic Security Devices”, Straits Times, 27 July 1997; and “New Regulations on Border Passes to Thailand”, Vientiane Times, 29–31 October 1997, p. 20.
17. Two recent books, one on the Philippines, the other on Thailand, have explored these dimensions in quite sophisticated fashion; see, respectively, John Sidel, Capital, Coercion, and Crime: Bossism in the Philippines (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999); and Pasuk Phongpaichit, Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand’s Illegal Economy and Public Policy (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1998).
18. “Korupsi, Dampak, dan Solusinya”, Angkatan Bersenjata, 11 November 1997, p. 4; and “Vietnam dan Indonesia Terkorup di Asia”, Kompas, 19 March 2001, p. 3.
19. “Sugar Daddy”, Far Eastern Economic Review, 23 November 1997, pp. 27–30; “Smells in High Places”, The Economist, 28 May 1994, pp. 32–33; “Guingona Says Sotto Bought Shabu Chemical”, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 27 November 1997, p. 1; and “Policeman Was Found With Obscene Videotapes”, Straits Times, 7 June 1997.
20. “Subsidized Smuggling,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 29 March 2001, p. 18; “HK Official Says Cambodia a Criminal Haven”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 24 January 1997, p. 14; “Safe Haven for the Mafia”, Cambodia Times, 25 August 1997, p. 1; “Crime to Rise in the Asia Pacific”, Vietnam News, 1 November 1997, p. 7; and “Organized Crime Threatens Asia-Pacific Stability”, Borneo Bulletin, 1 November 1997.
21. “Canadians Bagged Holding Bad Bills”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 6 February 1997, p. 11; “Fake US Dollar Bills Printed at Three Pyongyang Plants”, Straits Times, 29 June 1997; and “Japan Busts Counterfeiting Ring”, Straits Times, 19 June 1997.
22. “Seek UN Help to Fight Money Laundering, Interpol Urges”, Straits Times, 21 October 1997; and “The Disappearing Taxpayer”, The Economist, 31 May 1997, p. 13 passim.
23. “Polisi Buat Sketsa Wajah Tersangka Pemasang Bom”, Kompas, 19 March 2001, p. 17; “Gun Find at Airport”, Cambodia Times, 27 October 1997, p. 1; “Man Nabbed in Rifles Case”, Cambodia Times, 10 November 1997, p. 3; “Polisi Sita 225 Karung Amonium Nitrat”, Kompas, 2 December 1997, p. 8; and “Pelempar ‘Bom’ Rumah Hakim Ditangkap”, Suara Pembaruan, 18 November 1997, p. 18.
24. “Thai–Burmese Border Warms Up”, Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 April 2001, p. 10; “Border Bravado”, Far Eastern Economic Review, 8 March 2001, p. 19.
25. “Fighting on a New Front in a Forgotten War”, Asiaweek, 19 January 2001, p. 32–35; and A Modern Form of Slavery: Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand (New York: Asia Watch, 1993).
26. See, for example, Rizwan Gregory, “A Wanton Waste of Beauty: Asia’s Wildlife Trade”, Asian Geographic 7 (March–April 2001): 64–77; and “The Ten Billion Dollar Black Market in Endangered Animals”, New York Times Magazine, 16 February 1997, p. 28.
27. “Populasi Harimau Sumatera Terancam dan Mengancam”, Angkatan Bersenjata, 25 November 1997, p. 5; “Toothless Environmental Laws Keep Wildlife Trade Healthy”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 10 March 1997, p. 3. For the important place of the tiger in Chinese culture and its indigenous pharmacopoeia, see Edward Schaefer’s fascinating study, The Vermilion Bird: T’ang Images of the South (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967), pp. 228–29. See also Eric Dinerstein, A Framework for Identifying High Priority Areas and Actions for the Conservation of Tigers in the Wild (Washington D.C: World Wildlife Fund/Wildlife Conservation Society, 1977), pp. 1–11.
28. “The Ten Billion Dollar Black Market in Endangered Animals”, New York Times Magazine, 16 February 1997, p. 30. These items are prized by collectors, not epicures; this also holds true for many rare snakes. See “Hunted and Hounded: Rare Boelen’s Python Slithers to Extinction,” Jakarta Post, 13 April 2001, p. 9. On turtles, see “Foiled — Plot to Smuggle Out Rare Turtles”, Straits Times, 13 September 1997; photo with caption, Indonesian Observer, 9 September 1997, p. 4; and “Endangered Tortoises Seized From Mini-Mart”, Straits Times, 5 June 1997. See also B.P. Joshi, Wild Animal Medicine (New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., 1991).
29. For the general context, see Jenne H. de Beer, The Economic Value of Non-Timber Forest Products in Southeast Asia (Amsterdam: Netherlands Committee for IUCN, 1989), pp. 1–175. See also “Foreign Botanists Stealing Plants From Endau Rompin”, New Straits Times (Malaysia), 1 December 1997, p. 1; “Ramos Cracks Down on Herb Hunters”, Straits Times, 2 December 1997; “Two Thais Killed on Border”, Nation (Thailand), 26 November 1997, p. A6; Pinkaew Laungaramsri, “The Ambiguity of ‘Watershed’: The Politics of People and Conservation in Northern Thailand”, SOJOURN 15, no. 1 (2000): 52–75 (especially pp. 59–63); and “Eagle-Wood Trees, Once Abundant, Now Driven to Extinction”, Viet Nam News, 16 November 1997, p. 7.
30. “Putusan Hakim Terhadap Nelayan Asing Terlalu Ringan”, Suara Pembaruan, 2 April 2001, p. 14; “209 Unit Pukat Harimau Dimusnahkan”, Angkatan Bersenjata, 8 November 1997, p. 8; “Navy Catches Filipino Boats”, Jakarta Post, 29 November 1997, p. 2; and “Chinese Fishermen on Trial”, Jakarta Post, 5 September 1997, p. 2.
31. For illegal mining and extraction, see “DENR Cracks Down on Illegal Mining”, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 25 November 1997, p. 15; and also “Pailin Residents, Thai Firms Cash In On Post KR-Gem Rush”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 19 March 1997, p. 9. For small-time timber-runners, see “5 Taiwanese Held For Logs”, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1 November 1997, p. 16; and “Smugglers Leave Central Pine Forests Bleeding”, Viet Nam News, 23 November 1997, p. 9. During a fieldwork trip to the Thai/Burmese border near Mae Sot in the early 1990s, I saw gems being traded in the back alleys of Mae Sot town, not just on the main strip of gem shops; some of the merchants who were engaged in this commerce also had attack rifles loaded in the backs of their jeeps. Gem smuggling is a huge business on this frontier, as it is also on the Thai border with Cambodia. On the Burmese boundary, the shallow draught of the Moei River (only 4 feet in some places) makes gem smuggling very easy. I was able to wade across the border into Burma about a mile north of the Mae Sot/Myawaddy checkpoint with no problems in 1990; a motorized patrol skiff, manned by Burmese border guards, came down the river only infrequently. Burmese traders I spoke with said that the dangers of this commerce were very real — someone had been shot trying to transport contraband goods only the week before I had gotten there. For a discussion of the area, see Mya Than’s Myanmar’s External Trade, ISEAS Current Economic Affairs Series (Singapore: ISEAS, 1992), p. 59; and also his “The Golden Quadrangle of Mainland Southeast Asia: A Myanmar Perspective”, ISEAS Economics and Finance Working Paper #5 (Singapore: ISEAS, 1996), p. 13. For the size and scope of the illegal timber trade generally in Southeast Asia, see Herb Thompson, The Political Economy of Forestry, Logging, and Timber Industries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Region (Murdoch: Murdoch University Asia Research Centre on Social, Political, and Economic Change, 1995), pp. 1–31.
32. “RCAF to Focus on Loggers Again”, Cambodia Times, 18 August 1997, p. 3; “Logs Seized in Mekong River Raid”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 14 April 1997, p. 3; “Resin Farmers Protest Tree-Felling”, Phnom Penh Post, 16–29 March 2001, p. 12.
33. “Thais, Cambodians Meet to Discuss Logging”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 13 January 1997, p. 2; “Police Blame Thai Business for Koh Kong Logging Rise”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 23 April 1997, p. 7; and “Timber Trucks Load Up in Ratanakkiri”, Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 10 January 1997, p. 13.
34. Mya Than, Myanmar’s External Trade, p. 58.
35. “Amid State of Decay, Crime Pays”, Nation (Thailand), 15 November 1997, p. A4; “RF to Seek Closure of Border Checkpoints”, Nation (Thailand), 12 November 1997, p. A3; and Bertil Lintner, Cross Border Drug Trade in the Golden Triangle (Durham, UK: International Boundaries Research Unit, 1991), p. 29.
36. According to this source also, a parallel contraband, crossing the Borneo land border but moving in the opposite direction (that is, Malaysia to Indonesia), is the commerce in bullets and firearms, which are much cheaper and easier to procure in Sarawak and Sabah than they are in Indonesian Borneo. For two rather opposite appraisals of timber trading in this region, see Globalisation of the Timber Industry in the Next Millennium: Conference Proceedings (Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Timber Industry Board and Malaysian Timber Council, 1998), pp. 1–118; and Nancy Peluso, Rich Forests, Poor People: Resource Control and Resistance in Java (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
37. For the larger picture, see “Concern over Deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia”, Nation, 30 January 2001, p. 6. See also “Another Illegal Logging Op. Detected in Sabah”, New Straits Times, 27 November 1997, p. 6; and “Logs Worth $1.2m Seized in Illegal Logging Raid in Sabah”, Straits Times, 11 September 1997.
38. “Ribuan Jati Muda di Kupang Ditebang”, Kompas, 19 March 2001, p. 19; “Ribuan Meter Kubik Kayu Illegal Disita di Samarinda”, Suara Pembaruan, 23 November 1997, p. 6; “Timber Thieves Caught in the Act”, Jakarta Post, 20 November 1997, p. 2.
39. For the political context of doi moi for these numbers, see Quan Xuan Dinh, “The Political Economy of Vietnam’s Transformation Process”, Contemporary Southeast Asia 22, no. 2 (2000): 360–88. See also “Customs Well Short of Plan”, Viet Nam News, 19 November 1997, p. 2.
40. “Struggle or Smuggle”, Far Eastern Economic Review, 22 February 1997, p. 26 passim.
41. Mya Than, Myanmar’s External Trade, p. 57–58. The structural conditions of how this situation has remained so fluid on Burma’s borders is explained well in Stephen McCarthy, “Ten Years of Chaos in Burma: Foreign Investment and Economic Liberalization Under the SLORC-SPDC 1988-1998”, Pacific Affairs 73, no. 2 (2000): 233–63, especially p. 257.
42. These interviews were conducted with Bugis sailors on Jakarta’s Sunda Kelapa docks in August and September of 1998; I cannot give the names of the crew members (or their ships) for obvious reasons. These sailors, in fact, spoke of the true “outlaws” in Indonesian waters as being the maritime police — agents who can shake down passing ships with near impunity. Interviews were also conducted with Indonesian labourers (in a variety of occupations) in Singapore.
43. “Believe it or Not”, Far Eastern Economic Review, 27 October 1997, p. 23.
44. “Cigarette Haul”, Straits Times, 19 July 1997; “Cigarettes Smuggled in Car Compartment”, Straits Times, 5 July 1997; and “$6.3m Fine for Cigarette Smuggler”, Straits Times, 23 June 1997.
45. “Struggle or Smuggle”, Far Eastern Economic Review, 22 February 1997, p. 27.
46. “Smuggled Champion Cigarettes Confiscated”, Manila Bulletin, 10 November 1997, p. 20; “Blue-Seal Cigarettes Seized”, Manila Bulletin, 1 November 1997, p. 12. See also John Sidel, “Murder, Inc., Cavite: Capitalist Development and Political Gangsterism in a Philippine Province”, in Gangsters, Democracy, and the State in Southeast Asia, edited by Carl Trocki (Ithaca: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1998), pp. 55–80.
47. “The Fine Line on Pirated Goods”, Jakarta Post, 31 August 1997, p. 1; “Report Music Pirates and Get Paid”, Straits Times, 16 October 1997, p. 38. See also “Importer Resmi LD/Video Statis Perlu Ditinjau Izinnya”, Angkatan Bersenjata, 27 November 1997, p. 9; and “VN Bootleggers Targeted”, Nation (Thailand), 6 December 1997, p. A6.
48. “Vendor: Licensing CD’s, VCD’s, Unworkable”, Weekly Review of Cambodian Daily, 19–23 March 2001, p. 2; and “War Against CD Piracy”, Borneo Bulletin, 1 November 1997, p. 1.
49. “The Fine Line on Pirated Goods”, Jakarta Post, 31 August 1997, p. 1; and “Pirated Software: Your Gain and Loss”, Jakarta Post, 31 August 1997, p. 9.
50. For a cogent analysis of how illegality survives and indeed flourishes in the Thai business context, see James Ockey, “Crime, Society, and Politics in Thailand”, in Gangsters, Democracy, and the State in Southeast Asia, edited by Carl Trocki (Ithaca: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program, 1998), pp. 39–54. For the ramifications on the computer industries of these two countries, see “BSA to Target Provinces”, Nation (Thailand), 9 December 1997, p. F2; and “Malaysia Tougher on Piracy”, Nation (Thailand), 9 December 1997, p. F2.
51. “Hong Kong Haven for Pirated Software”, Borneo Bulletin, 21 November 1997, p. 16; and “Swift Action Needed to Deal with Software Pirates”, Straits Times, 24 July 1997.
52. “Five Nabbed for Falsifying Shipping Documents for Crew”, Jakarta Post, 3 November 1997, p. 3.
53. “RCAF General Charged with Issuing Fake ID’s”, Weekly Review of Cambodia Daily, 2–6 April 2001, p. 6; “Americans Alarmed by Visa Scam Artists”, Phnom Penh Post, 16 February to 1 March 2001, p. 3; and “Couple Arrested for Forging IC’s and Visit Passes”, Straits Times, 7 November 1997.
54. See, for example, the essays in Carl Trocki, ed., Gangsters, Democracy, and the State in Southeast Asia.
55. Unfortunately, these non-military aspects of regional security have often been left out of otherwise very keen analyses of the region. See, for example, N. Ganesan, “ASEAN’s Relations with Major External Powers”, Contemporary Southeast Asia 22, no. 2 (2000): 258–78; and Sheldon Simon, “International Relations Theory and Southeast Asian Security”, Pacific Review 8, no. 1 (1995): 5–24, both of which concentrate on more “traditional” security concerns (the role of the United States, China, and Japan, as well as arms build-ups, Cambodia’s instability, and territorial claims in the South China Sea.) The problems posed by border permeability and contraband never figure in these very cogent examinations.