Lu Thaw
More actions
| Lu Thaw | |
|---|---|
| Lu Taw; Luthaw | |
| ActiveRecorded as grown here since 2000 | |
| Geography | |
| Country | Myanmar |
| Province/State | Kayin State |
| District | Hpapun District |
| Coordinates | 18.56, 97.11 |
| Landscape | |
| Area | 6,700 km² |
| Terrain | Hills of northern Kayin State; approximately Hpapun Township |
| Growing history | |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 0 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Lu Thaw (also written Lu Taw or Luthaw) is a cannabis growing area in northern Kayin State, Myanmar. It is a township of the Karen National Union (KNU) in the KNU's Mutraw District (Hpapun District).[1] A KNU official said in 2013 that villagers displaced by the army had begun growing cannabis in five of its village tracts around 2011. The KNU ordered the crop destroyed in 2012 and again in 2013.[2]
The township
Lu Thaw is one of the three townships of Mutraw District, with Bu Tho and Dwe Lo.[1] It has 12 village tracts, five of them in the north.[3] The township is large and mountainous. The army attacked the Htee Moo Khee area in 1992 and the whole township in 1997. Villagers fled into the jungle; some crossed to refugee camps in Thailand. Those in hiding went on working their hill farms for paddy while lookouts and soldiers of the Karen National Liberation Army watched for the army. In 2006 they formed home guard groups.[4]
In early 2017 nine army camps stood in four of the five northern village tracts (Hkay Poo, Ler Mu Plaw, Saw Mu Plaw and Kaw Loo Der), whose villagers had been displaced since before 2000. People displaced from other tracts had fled into the fifth, Naw Yo Hta, where there were not enough hill farms for everyone.[5]
Cultivation
In July 2013 P'doh Kler Say, secretary of the KNU Mutraw District Organization Department, told Karen News that villagers who had fled the army and were hiding in the jungle in the Pla Ko, Ler Mu Plaw, Kay Pu, Saw Mu Plaw and Na Yo Hta village tracts had begun growing cannabis two years earlier. At first a few of them grew a little to feed their buffaloes. Traders then came from the town to buy it. Some villagers grew it because they had no other work and the traders paid well. The price of a viss doubled, from about 500,000 kyats to 1,000,000. He said the growing was often a result of displacement by the army. The KNU said that drugs were still grown in isolated places it could not reach.[2]
Eradication
The KNU said in 2013 that it had long been its policy to eliminate illicit drugs and that it prohibited their production and use. In 2012 the leaders of Mutraw District had 4,673 plants destroyed, "equal to 4,673 viss" in the words of Karen News.[2] The Irrawaddy, summarising the Karen News report, put that year's destruction at "around 7,500 kg of marijuana".[6] In 2013 a district meeting ordered the township official in Lu Thaw to search out and destroy the remaining crop, the third such campaign in the area. The district office said it believed Lu Thaw was "still a hot spot for marijuana growing". A KNU spokesperson said the campaign would have done better without two army camps in the region; P'doh Kler Say alleged that soldiers bought the drug for their own use.[2]
Accessions
No accessions documented yet.
Recent news
No recent news items.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Hpapun Situation Update: Bu Tho, Lu Thaw and Dwe Lo townships, January 2013". Karen Human Rights Group. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "KNU drug-busters wipeout marijuana crop". Karen News. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ "Hpapun Situation Update: Lu Thaw Township, March to May 2014". Karen Human Rights Group. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ "Hpapun Situation Update: Lu Thaw Township, 2016". Karen Human Rights Group. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ "Hpapun Situation Update: Lu Thaw Township, December 2016 to January 2017". Karen Human Rights Group. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ "KNU Weed-whackers Get Busy". The Irrawaddy. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2026.