At the recent auction of seized cars held in Kengtung, eastern Shan State, Wa were recorded as being the biggest buyers than traders and businessmen, said local sources.
The auction was for 10 days from 10 to 20 October. The number of cars exhibited in the auction was 812, but all were second-hand vehicles and most were unlicensed.
Many businessmen and brokers from Rangoon, Mandalay, Kengtung and Tachilek, attended the auction. But the biggest buyers were Wa brokers from the Wa capital Panghsang on the Sino-Burma border and its southern Military Region 171st based along the Thai-Burma border, according to one of the brokers in Kengtung.
“They [Wa brokers] got dozens of cars from there. Most were Toyota Mark II,” he said.
The cars mostly exhibited were Toyota Saloon Mark II, Toyota 4-wheels, 6-wheels Dyna and 10 wheels. Among those, the most sold were Toyota Saloon Mark II seven though the price was high. The auction-price for a Mark II was Kyat 125 million (US$125,000) with a license. Earlier, the prices were just Kyat 60 million (US$60,000).
About 60 to 70 out of the 600 exhibited cars were sold to Wa brokers. But most were not bought under their names, according to him. (Other sources say not less than 200 were bought by the Wa.)
This has taken many people by surprise as it is widely known that there is palpable tension between the Burmese Army and the Wa since the Wa turned down the junta’s demands to become a Border Guard Force in June.
Since then, both sides have been reinforcing their troops, providing weapons and other supplies to forces that are facing each other. And tension along border areas between them has also mounted until the Burmese Army finally announced that Wa soldiers must inform about their travel itinerary and models of their cars in advance to respective area commanders.
A political analyst said that one of the reasons may be the Wa are trying to smoothen ruffled feathers. “Or maybe it’s a signal that the Wa are willing to accept the junta’ demand to transform into a Border Guard Force and some of them are car brokers and businessmen,” he said.
Border sources have also reported that most of the Wa cars with SW and NW plates have been disappearing from public view since the tension started.
At present, the Burmese Army is increasingly waging a psychological warfare designed to put out the fight in the ceasefire groups and persuading them to accept its demand before the general elections are held.
