Chapter 9 retrospective history

This anticlimactic military operation by the Thai government has only one symbolic victory--it has indeed mastered the Star Stack, but it does not solve the problem. Not only does it not solve the problem, but it makes the problem more explosive.In fact, the four borders of Thailand, as long as it is a border area, are like a pile of explosives.This is the case in the Thailand-Myanmar border region, the Thailand-Laos border region, the Thailand-Cambodia border region, and the Thailand-Malaysia border region, all of which have brought deep sorrow to this peace-loving country.The first problem is that opium drugs are deeply rooted, and the second problem is that the mountain people are complex, and the two are intertwined like vines.Just like the members of the "Shan State Revolutionary Army", in addition to the Shan State, there are also Shan State of Chinese descent, as well as Burmese, Chinese, Chinese, Akha, Qi, and Lawa... It can be called a group of people. National Coalition Army.The Muslim armed groups in the southern Songkhla area that demanded independence (in fact, they demanded to merge with the Federation of Malaysia) are mainly Malays.The armed group of the Communist Party of Thailand that vowed to overthrow the government in the Khao Asan area in the north is mainly Hmong and Siam.These seeds of turmoil cannot be eradicated with a single thought by the Thai government.Every disaster has its historical origins. Only by understanding these historical origins can it be easy to understand why the Golden Triangle was formed, why this feat of "conquering and suppressing" came to such a useless ending, and why there is a possibility of another explosion in the future.

Western newspapers once described Thailand's military action as the "Second Opium War", revealing its historical background.When European and American countries talk about the Golden Triangle, they gnash their teeth and think that the opium in the East is harmful to the world. They forget that there is no opium in the East. The drug that poisons the Orientals—especially the Chinese, returns to its original owner intact, that’s all.In the early nineteenth century, when China refused to be poisoned, Britain launched the first Opium War to force China to accept it.Unexpectedly, the sky net was restored, and it was not missed. One hundred and fifty years later, in 1982, it even borrowed the hands of Thailand to launch the "Second Opium War". He also sternly cursed at "drug dealers" and "drug lords".

Tracing back to the source, the country that is glaring today and working hard to eradicate drugs is the chief culprit of drug trafficking in the past. As far back as the last year of the sixteenth century—in 1600, the British East India Company was established. This was a starting point. Ambitious British businessmen not only wanted to expand and plunder India, but also used military power to maintain what they advertised. Free trade, anyone who opposes free trade is tantamount to breaking the rules of heaven.In order to make more money, they collected more gold and silver, and ancient China became the most attractive prey.One is to provide a potentially huge market for Britain, which is accelerating its expansion; this alone is enough to dazzle British businessmen.The more important one is that China is supplying many luxury goods to the UK, such as tea, which is an indispensable daily necessities in the UK.

However, in Sino-British trade, Britain is very deflated, it has been running a growing deficit, China rarely buys British goods, and Britain buys things from China, China does not accept barter, but only accepts silver.This traditional method of opening eyes only after seeing money has caused Britain to complain.At that time, almost all British ships to Guangzhou were loaded with gold and silver.The British watched the dazzling wealth flow into China. On the one hand, they were heartbroken, and on the other hand, they were desperate. They urgently needed to strike a balance.Finally, I thought of a strange product, which was still unknown at that time, unlike the opium that makes people change color when it is mentioned now.

The Chinese have the same impression of opium, as of any herbal medicine, that it is nothing more than a medicine to be boiled in water.The Dutch businessmen who were still entrenched in Taiwan at that time were smarter and taught the Chinese to mix opium with tobacco to smoke. As expected, the effect was greatly increased, and it was more stimulating than smoking pure tobacco.At the beginning of the seventeenth century, I don't know who started it first, maybe the Chinese or the British invented a more intoxicating enjoyment, refining opium into a thick ointment, using a pen as long and short as the core of a ball pen Iron needles, stained with smoke cream, were roasted on the weak lamp placed in the center of the bed.This is an art. In the early twentieth century, that is, when I was young, I saw this kind of scene with my own eyes. At that time, some famous women like "wine girls" must have this skill in addition to being beautiful and delicious. , is the first-rate lady.The baked smoke paste quickly becomes smoke bubbles, and then welded on the suction pot at one end of the "smoke gun" (smoke pipe). Addicts and ladies lie on both sides of the smoke lamp. When smoking, it only takes two puffs Belly, a beautiful world immediately appeared in front of his eyes.Facing that beautiful world, my heart is full of confidence and joy, which cannot be bought with money.

Initially, addicts were limited to wealthy lords and their sons and grandsons, but after the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, more and more people who have the ability to work in society, such as: military officers, soldiers, businessmen, laborers, Even women, even senior officials of the central government, and even self-proclaimed defenders of traditional culture, have turned to the drug abuse camp in large numbers.Millionaires or some land rich people also encourage their sons to take drugs.Although there was no electronic computer at that time, there was an abacus with the same effect. After precise calculation, it was found that the consumption of a person's puffing was very limited, which was better than gambling.Gambling can ruin a family, and smoking opium is just a drop in the bucket for a huge fortune.

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, China had become an opium world, and more than half of its citizens, including most of the senior government officials, were as skinny as jackals.It is a terribly tragic spectacle created by Westerners, and chiefly by respectable Englishmen.