Northern Illinois University Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University

Review
Author(s): Josef Silverstein
Review by: Josef Silverstein
Source: Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1 (1995),
pp. 103-105
Published by: Northern Illinois University Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40860502
Accessed: 10-02-2016 23:11 UTC

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 Burma,Thailand,and Laos

why thingsare as theyare or what can realisticallybe done to

changethem.
R. H. Taylor
Schoolof Orientaland AfricanStudies
UniversityofLondon

Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgencysince 1948,by Bertil

Lintner. Boulder: WestviewPress;Bangkok: WhiteLotus, 1994.
xv + 514. $59.95,cloth.

Beforethe study under review was published,the author

wrotethreebooks on Burmawhichtold of thepeacefulrevolution
and militarysuppressionin 1988 (Outrage:Burma'sStrugglefor
Democracy, Hong Kong: Review PublishingCompanyLtd.,1989),
the historyof the Burma CommunistParty(The Rise and Fall of
the Communist Partyof Burma(CPB), Ithaca: Cornell Southeast
Asia Program,1990),and an earlierlong visitto the KachinState
(Land of Jade:A Journey ThroughInsurgentBurma,Edinburgh:
Kiscadale Publications;Bangkok:WhiteLotus,1990). The present
studyweaves togethermaterialfromtheborderareas,ratherthan
fromRangoon, and thus provides a freshapproach to Burma
studies.
The authorbringsa strongbackgroundto his work,having
reportedon eventsand people in thehill areas of Burmaformore
thanthirteenyears. His workin theFar EasternEconomicReview
establishedhis reputationeven beforehis books were published.
While he has not been welcome in Burma since 1988 when the
militaryoverthrewthe governmentit had put in place nearlya
decade and a halfearlier,he neverthelesshas keptwell informed
about events in Rangoon throughcontactsinside the country,
interviewswith people who have lived or passed throughthe
country, and carefulmonitoringofBurmaradioand press.
In manyrespects,Lintner'spresentstudyparallelsthework
of MartinSmithwhose workBurma:Insurgency and thePoliticsof
Ethnicity (London: Zed, 1991) was thefirstmajorworkdevotedto
an examinationof modernminority politicsin Burma. Withthese
two worksavailable it is now possible to know the historyand
politics of the whole of Burma,ratherthan just the heartland

Crossroads9:1 103

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Book Reviews

wherepreviousauthorshave concentrated.
In the volumeunderreview,Lintnergives greateremphasis
thandoes Smithto theplace ofopiumin theinsurgencies ofBurma
and theriseof theBurmaarmyto politicalpowerin Rangoon. He
describesin detail the linkagebetweenthe NationalisticChinese
Armies(KMT), whichinvaded and tookrefugein thehill areas of
Burmafollowingtheirdefeatby Communistrivalsin China,and
theirconnectionswiththeU.S. and othernationsduringtheCold
War. He discusses the KMT's organizationand distributionof
opiumand herointo theoutsideworldand thewayitinvolvedand
used the ethnicminoritieswhichgrew the crop. He also details
the way in which the Burma army used many of the same
minoritiesto fightits enemies by allowing them to continue
profitingfromthe opium tradein whichtheywere involved,and
describesthe corruptionof the militaryleadershipthroughtheir
involvementin narcoticsand smugglingas contrabandpassed
throughtheirareas.
AlthoughLintneris recognizedas an experton thesubjectof
opium in Burma,as one who spent a greatdeal of time in the
Kachin areas under the control of the Kachin Independence
Organization(KIO), and as one who knew the leaders verywell,
he says nothing of the Kachin effortsto eradicate opium
production,whichaccordingto international monitorsachieveda
notablemeasureof successno othereradicationprogramcan claim.
A discussionofthislocal effort is important becauseitdemonstrates
that where local leaders are determinedand theirpeople are
willingto follow,majorcrop reductioncan be achieved without
interferencefrom the national governmentor international
organizations.
IfLintnersaysnothingoftheKachinprogram,neitherdo any
oftheotherauthorswho writeaboutopiumin Burma.The KIO has
publicized its own effortsin this area and the U.S. State
Department's1993 International NarcoticsControlStrategyReport
confirmed thefactthattheKachinsreducedopiumcultivation and
production in theirown areas,butgivesno details on their
program.
Omissionof any discussionof theprogramby Lintner,who spent
morethana yearlivingamongsttheKachins,is unfortunate, as the
worldhas seen so littlesuccessin efforts elsewhereto reduceand
eradicatetheopiumcrop.
Finally,drawingon his otherstrength, his knowledgeof the
structure,leadership, and activity of the Burma CommunistParty,

104 Crossroads9:1

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 Burma,Thailand,and Laos
Lintnerretellsthestoryhe wroteearlierin his 1990bookon therise
and falloí theParty(notedabove) and places it in thecontextof a
comprehensivehistoryof modern Burma. Much of the work
represents the informationhe gained by visiting the Party
headquarterswhen it was stillintact,and fromthe documentshe
gatheredand theinterviews he conducted.
This is an importantbook for many reasons: it adds a
dimensiontoBurma'shistory whichcan no longerbe ignored,and it
parts the curtainbetween international involvementand local
Burmaaffairswhich has fortoo long been closed. Finally,it is
timelybecause thenationsof the worldare becominginvolvedin
Burma and thereis littlein the existingliteratureto help them
catchup on whathas beengoingon insideofthattroubledland.

JosefSilverstein
RutgersUniversity

Lao Women: Yesterdayand Today,by Mayoury Ngaosyvathn.

1993. Bilingual: Lao x +
Vientiane: StatePublishingEnterprise,
132;Englishx + 220. Paper.

Remembrancesofa Lao WomanDevotedto Constructing a Nation:

KhamphengBoupha,by MayouryNgaosyvathn. Vientiane: State
Printing Lao
Enterprise, Women'sUnion,1993.v + 83. Paper.
Kith and Kin Politics: The Relationship Between Laos and
Thailand, by Mayouryand PheuiphanhNgaosyvathn. Manila:
JournalofContemporary 1994. viii+ 137.
Asia Publishers,

"Lao womenin thepreviousregimewereshackledby threeyokes:

social tradition, colonialism and neo-colonialism, and their
husbands."

Althoughthis quotation introducesRemembrances ofa Lao

WomanDevoted to Constructing a Nation,it sums up the main
argumentof Lao Women:Yesterday and Today.These twobooksby
MayouryNgaosyvathncan be approached as 1) a studyof the
statusof women in Lao history; 2) an example of modernLao
feministwriting;or 3) an example of the impact of Western

Crossroads9:1 105

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