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BURMA RELATED NEWS - December 27,
2001.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------------- BR - Myanmar expatriates raise awareness of
oppressed nation
BBC - Thailand closes
Burmese camp
The Hoovers - Burma's
Khin Nyunt, regional commanders visit Sagaing Divison
AFP - Thailand forcibly closes Myanmar refugee
camp
AFP - Thailand seizes properties of Myanmar drug
baron
Bkk Post - B100m
in assets seized from fugitive drug lord
The Nation - EDITORIAL : Shutting camps is
morally wrong
The Nation - WA
KINGPIN: Drug lord's assets seized
The Nation - Governor
gets power to close Maneeloy
Xinhuanet - 500 Myanmar Refugees Removed to New
Refugee Camp
NMG - Fire broke out at Lashio
Market
SHAN - Thailand's drug project in Shan
State in Wei Hsiaokang's beat, says Lahu source
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bergen Record Myanmar expatriates raise awareness of oppressed nation Thursday, December 27, 2001 By MICHELLE HAN Staff Writer They are far from the ancient cities and rural mountains of Myanmar, but a
small group of young expatriates in North Jersey are keeping ties to their
homeland alive.
Whether collecting books to send to their native country, meeting with
United Nations officials, or organizing cultural programs at a local college,
the members of the Myanmar Youth Association are bound together by a
cause.
Their mission is to increase awareness about the plight of the uneducated
and poorly served citizens of Myanmar (formerly Burma) who live under strict
military rule. At the same time, they are raising money to send overseas and
unifying expatriates who have migrated to North Jersey.
"I take every single opportunity to go out and meet people from my
country," said association Vice President Myint Wai, 24, whose mother, father,
and five brothers and sisters live in Myanmar.
The organization also gives Wai a channel to educate others about Myanmar,
the beautiful but embattled Southeast Asian nation whose recent history has been
roiled by dictatorial rule, rebel factions, and drug barons. Opposition leaders,
including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, have been imprisoned.
But there is another side to his beloved nation, Wai said.
"Most Americans don't know what Burma is," said Wai, using the former name
for a country of about 50 million known for its strong family ties and friendly
people. "But give us a chance."
Much of the momentum for the group comes from Win Win Kyi, 50, an energetic
personality with established roots in Myanmar and an open-door policy toward
anyone looking for inspiration or help.
An international student counselor at Bergen Community College in Paramus,
she has close ties to some officials at the United Nations, where her father was
a diplomat and her sister works as a population specialist.
She recently took a group of association members to Washington to meet
Myanmar's ambassador to the United States. And she uses her community ties to
solicit books from friends, libraries, schools, and co-workers to send to
Myanmar.
So far the group has sent two shipments -- nearly 2,000 books in the summer
and 3,000 this month -- including textbooks, novels, and encyclopedias for all
age groups.
With her sisters and mother in Asia, Kyi also operates Project Pencil,
which distributes No. 2 pencils to students and helps build schools throughout
the countryside in Myanmar.
Kyi -- the name is a common one in Myanmar -- first came to Oregon to study
more than 30 years ago and empathizes with newcomers from faraway lands who are
committed to life in America but often feel a sense of confusion and
isolation.
"Instead of having the best of both worlds, you can have the mess of both
worlds," she said.
In 1999, Kyi was one of 12 selected to attend the Asian Pacific American
Women's Leadership Institute. After the program, participants are required to
complete an "impact project" that will improve the lives of at least 25 people.
The Myanmar Youth Association became Kyi's project.
"I thought, 'Why can't we do something to bring the youths together?' " she
said.
One winter night at the beginning of 2001, she gathered relatives,
colleagues, students, and friends at her apartment on Hackensack's Prospect
Avenue. Kyi, who is also part of the summer faculty at Yale University and
completed a one-year midcareer fellowship at Princeton, lived alone there in a
warm, one-bedroom unit decorated with tapestries, vases, and other ornaments
from her homeland.
The gathering was a simple get-together with lots of food and conversation
about forming an organization. "They hear there's a Myanmar professor and they
want to meet me," she said.
Now the association has a house on Washington Avenue in Hackensack, which
Kyi proudly dubs "The Myanmar Youth Association International House."
She lives on the second floor. A longtime friend from Myanmar, Thet Sanda,
lives on the third floor with her three children. Two students also live in the
house, where meetings and dinners are held.
The network of Myanmar natives in New York and New Jersey is small.
According to the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service, fewer than
300 people immigrated to New Jersey from Myanmar from 1990 to 1998, the most
recent year for which statistics were available.
About two dozen people attend the association's gatherings, coming from as
far as Queens and New Brunswick and from as close as Hackensack, Bergenfield,
and Fort Lee. Still others come from Parsippany, Morris Plains, and
Morristown.
Their homeland became the subject this month of an international protest
marking the 10th anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize. Nobel
laureates signed a letter to Gen. Than Swe, the military ruler of Myanmar,
demanding her release, as well as the release of all other detainees. Among
those who signed the letter were the Dalai Lama and Elie Wiesel, the author and
Holocaust survivor.
For the fledgling Myanmar Youth Association, success comes in small
steps.
"It took a while," the group's president, Myo Myaing, said of his
responsibilities, which include a lot of paperwork and organization. "I learned
slowly through trial and error."
But the opportunity to help, even in small ways, keeps the members
going.
In the United States, children are at ease with computers in elementary
school, noted Wai, who majored in business and finance at Fairleigh Dickinson
University and now works as the office manager for a construction firm in
Englewood Cliffs. "Back home, they don't even touch a keyboard, and they don't
know what e-mail is like. I thought, 'This is not right.' "
----------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Thursday, 27 December, 2001,
09:14 GMT
Thailand closes Burmese
camp
By Jonathan Head in Bangkok
Authorities in Thailand have shut down a camp housing Burmese political
dissidents after student activists linked to the camp were involved in two
hostage-taking incidents
The closure of the Maneeloy holding centre about 100km (60 miles) from
Bangkok was announced several months ago, and most of the occupants had already
been moved.
But the last few hundred occupants were driven away without incident,
ending a decade in which the camp played host to thousands of Burmese
dissidents.
It was established by the Thai Government to house asylum seekers and over
the years became a focus for opposition to the military regime in Rangoon.
That is what proved its undoing and Burmese activists fear the closure of
Maneeloy will be the start of a wider crackdown on refugees in Thailand.
Militant history
In October 1999, a militant student group with ties to Maneeloy stormed the
Burmese embassy in Bangkok and held the staff hostage.
They were allowed to leave for the border.
But when another group occupied a hospital in January last year, the
security forces moved in and shot them dead.
The government then vowed to close Maneeloy down.
The government says it would like to close down other refugee camps, and it
still restricts the involvement of the UN Refugee Agency in screening asylum
seekers.
But there are more than 100,000 people, most of them displaced by fighting
in Burma, who are living along the border.
Many have been in Thailand for years, and there is little prospect of them
being able to return to their villages inside Burma in the near future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Hoovers
Burma's Khin Nyunt, regional commanders
visit Sagaing Divison
December 26, 2001 8:39am
Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council [SPDC] Lt-Gen Khin
Nyunt, accompanied by SPDC members Maj-Gen Ye Myint [former commander of the
Central Command] and Maj-Gen Kyaw Win [former commander of Northern Command] of
the Ministry of Defence; ministers, Brig-Gen Soe Naing, chairman of Sagaing
Division Peace and Development Council and commander of Northwest Command [first
monitored reference to this position formerly held by Maj-Gen Soe Win]; Brig-Gen
Maung Swe, chairman of Kachin State Peace and Development Council and commander
of Northern Command [first monitored reference to this position formerly held by
Maj-Gen Kyaw Win]; Brig-Gen Ye Myint, commander of Mandalay Division Peace and
Development Council and commander of Central Command [first monitored reference
to this position formerly held by Maj-Gen Ye Myint; note same name but different
persons shown by military rank]; Air Chief of Staff, and Navy Chief of Staff,
deputy ministers, officials from the Office of the State Peace and Development
Council, senior departmental officials, and responsible officers, left Yangon
[Rangoon] by Myanmar Airways this morning and arrived at Mandalay International
Airport in Tada-U, Mandalay Division, at 0815...
The secretary-1 and entourage then flew to Kanbalu in Sagaing Division and
proceeded to Kyepin-et Dam where they were welcomed by Deputy Commander of
Northwest Command Brig-Gen Soe Myint and civil and military officials.
Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt then attended a ceremony to commission Kyepin-et
Dam in Shwebo and delivered an address.
In his address, he said with a view to bringing a harmonious progress to
all parts of the Union of Myanmar, the government is harnessing the land and
water resources of the nation in an equitable manner in building the
infrastructures nationwide which will directly benefit the people. The present
dam is also included in the infrastructures. In addition to contributing to
further improvement of the living standards of the rural people of Sagaing
Division and in accordance with the goodwill and noble aims of the State, the
Kyepin-et Dam will help develop the nation's agricultural sector. He explained
that the dam will assist in accelerating the progress of Sagaing Division,
regional economy and living standard of the local people. The local people
should effectively use the developing infrastructures of the region and to
strive with zeal for their agricultural development, livestock breeding and
production sectors. Due to the favourable land, water, natural and climatic
conditions, Myanmar has firm foundations for agricultural development. He said,
moreover, the majority of people are engaging in the agriculture; Hence, the
government is giving support on all fronts for progress of the agricultural
sector with greater momentum as the sector is the mainstay of the national
economy.
The government is systematically laying down and implementing the plans to
fulfil the requirements in extending cultivable land, supplying adequate amount
of irrigation water, introducing mechanical and advanced farming system and
utilizing quality strains which are the main driving force to develop the
agricultural sector with high momentum. At the same time, in addition to the
main crop, paddy, the government is giving encouragement to develop of
cultivation of other cash crops, such as cotton, sugarcane, wheat, sesame, and
beans and pulses at the appropriate places. The government is using a large
amount of cash in building dams, pumped-water stations and underground water
supply stations depending on the results of feasibility studies for water supply
which is the most essential requirement in agriculture.
He said up to date, the government has spent 49,706.41m kyat to build the
128 dams including the Kyepin-et Dam. The dams are now irrigating 1,783,769
acres...
In accordance with respective geographical conditions, irrigation projects
are being implemented. There are 48 river-water pumping projects to supply water
to about 60,000 acres and the Underground Water Tapping Project No 1 to benefit
over 20,000 acres in Budalin Township; the Ywathaya 99-pond irrigation project
to benefit about 10,000 acres in Yinmabin Township; and the Ye-U irrigation
facilities upgrading project to benefit 120,000 acres in Tabayin Township.
Moreover, the Kindat regulating dam to irrigate 150,000 acres had been
constructed. In addition, the Thaphanseik Dam to supply water to Kindat
regulating dam had also been built. The Thaphanseik Dam is the largest in
Myanmar and it is also one of the longest dams in Southeast Asia. Together with
the existing dams, the Thaphanseik Dam will irrigate over 500,000 acres of land.
Plans are under way for the Thaphanseik Dam to generate 117.2m kWh of
electricity annually. Arrangements are being made now to build Namaw Dam in
Wuntho Township; Segyi Dam in Kale Township and Khetlon diversion weir in
Katbalu Township. Sagaing Division naturally has possessed good foundations for
meeting success in agriculture, he said...
The secretary-1 and party then proceeded to Thaphanseik Dam in Kyunhla
Township, Sagaing Division, and inspected the flow of water into the dam from
the helicopter. The secretary-1 and party then inspected the completed
Thaphanseik Dam and later proceeded to the hydroelectric power plant of
Thaphanseik Dam and observed the installation of generator and carbines in the
plant.
Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt then presented a basket of fruits to Chinese
technicians working at the project...
Source: TV Myanmar, Rangoon, in Burmese 1330 gmt 25 Dec 01
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday December 27, 4:30 PM
Thailand forcibly closes Myanmar refugee camp AFP - Thai authorities forcibly closed a major camp for Myanmar dissidents, the biggest step yet in its campaign to shut shelters housing more than 120,000 people who have fled Yangon's military government. Troops and police watched as several hundred students and others were taken
in trucks from the Maneeloy Holding Centre, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west
of Bangkok, an AFP reporter said.
Residents sang pro-democracy songs as they left Maneeloy for the Tham Hin
refugee camp, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Myanmar border.
Officials said there was no resistance from the estimated 500 people in
Maneeloy, which opened in 1992 and has been closely linked to radical groups
opposing the Myanmar junta.
Leaders of the Burmese Students Association (BSA), the main group for camp
residents, said though that about 100 people had fled during the night to avoid
the transfer and possible repatriation. The authorities said three people were
detained.
BSA leaders told AFP that dozens of those who stayed behind now face forced
repatriation to Myanmar.
The BSA released a statement saying that if "students are killed or
destroyed in any way in the future at the border, that is the responsibility of
the Royal Thai government."
Many of the Myanmar students who took hostages at the Myanmar embassy in
Bangkok in November 1999 and at a Thai hospital in January 2000 were one-time
residents of the camp.
The embassy siege ended with no casualties, but Thai commandos stormed the
hospital in Ratchaburi province killing about 12 students who had taken about
1,000 patients and medical staff hostage. Maneeloy is in Ratchaburi
province.
It was after the sieges that the Thai government decided to close all camps
for Myanmar refugees and illegal immigrants, mainly grouped along the border
with Myanmar.
"After the embassy incident, the Thai government had to tighten its
security measures to prevent terrorism," said an interior ministry statement
released for the closure of Maneeloy.
Maneeloy is the first Myanmar camp in Thailand to officially close,
although others on the border have been merged. Thai officials said the
screening of asylum seekers would be finished at Tham Hin.
Although all are meant to be students, many Maneeloy residents are
middle-aged and have children.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been working with the
authorities and an agency official was at the centre early Thursday even though
the UNCHR close its Maneeloy office in August.
The Burmese Students Association had asked the authorities to keep the camp
open for another six months, but interior ministry officials said the
authorities had set a deadline to close Maneeloy by the end of the year.
The Thai Interior Ministry's deputy secretary for security, Pairoj
Promsarn, said the evacuation had gone smoothly despite the residents'
reluctance.
"It is going well," he said. "There's no problem, they just feel they will
miss the place where they have stayed for a long time."
"They asked to keep the camp open for another six months, but we explained
that the decision is made by high ranking officials and we can't do that for
them."
With the assistance of the UNHCR, nearly 4,000 students from Maneeloy have
been resettled in third countries since it opened, the Thai government
said.
Nearly 2,000 of those had been resettled in the United States, it added in
a statement.
The UNHCR said earlier this month the agency had resettled nearly all 2,200
refugees at the camp since October 1999 in 10 different countries.
BSA general secretary Maung Maung Oo said about 30 students would be
deported and added "there will be danger for sure" for those people.
"I don't want to go to the border camp but that is the government's
decision. It is the games of the Thai government. We obey Thai law, we will go
to the new camp," he told AFP.
The government said most of the 197 recognised students at Maneeloy were
"in the process of resettlement."
But it added "there are 300 illegal migrants from Myanmar at Maneeloy" of
whom only 170 are recognised by the UNHCR as "persons of concern".
"Thailand has no budget for those illegal residents in the center while the
number of registered students is steadily decreasing," it said.
"Resettlement to third countries of the the students is expected to be
completed in early 2002 while resettlement of the persons of concern will be
arranged on a case by case basis."
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday December 27, 2:09 PM
Thailand seizes properties of Myanmar drug baron BANGKOK, Dec 27 (AFP) - Thai authorities have seized property reportedly worth more than two million dollars from an on-the-run Myanmar drug baron, officials said Thursday. Police raided nine homes and businesses belonging to Wei Xieu-kang, a
warlord also wanted by the United States, which has put a two-million-dollar
reward on his head, officials said.
The properties targeted Wednesday included a home and jewellery shop in
Bangkok and other homes and businesses in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai
and Chiang Rai, which border Myanmar.
Anti-Money Laundering Commission secretary general, police colonel Pirapan
Premputi, said authorities took control of about 100 bank accounts containing 33
million baht (750,000 dollars).
They also seized 10 safety boxes containing jewellery, seven cars and
papers and computer records.
Pirapan did not give a total value for the property seized but Thai
newspapers said it came to more than 100 million baht.
He said authorities would investigate whether the assets were linked to
drug trafficking. He said the owner had 90 days to claim the assets otherwise
they would be forfeited.
"If no one shows up, it will belong to the country because we have evidence
and we believe it is involved with the drugs business," he said.
Wei Xieu-kang, who has his own army, is reportedly now in Myanmar, over the
border from Chiang Mai province, after jumping bail in Thailand in 1990. Wei is
believed to be a major dealer in amphetamines sent to Western markets.
A Thai court sentenced him to life jail in absentia in 1994 for helping to
smuggle 615 kilogrammes (1,356 pounds) of heroin out of Thailand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Dec 27,
2001.
B100m in assets seized from fugitive
drug lord
Wife, relatives face laundering charges
Post reporters
Drug warlord Wei Hsueh-kang is 100 million baht poorer after heavily-armed
police seized assets in eight raids in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai
yesterday.
Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun said the assets impounded in Bangkok
included three luxury houses worth more than 50 million baht, jewellery, several
land deeds, 15 million baht in 90 bank accounts, 500,000 baht in cash and 12
safes. In Chiang Rai, six vehicles, 10 land deeds and valuables including gold
and diamond necklaces, bracelets and rings were taken while in Chiang Mai
authorities took seven bank accounts, three cars and several computers from a
computer shop run by a man believed to be a son of Wei.
No arrests were made.
Mr Purachai said the assets were all held by Wei's relatives and
mistresses. Four places in Bangkok, three in Chiang Rai and one in Chiang Mai
were searched.
Mr Purachai said the effort was the result of a 10-year investigation into
a complex money-laundering network run by Wei, his friends and relatives.
``This operation is to cut off his money and weaken his activities.''
Wei, 55, an ethnic Chinese, allegedly tried to send 600 kilogrammes of
heroin to the United States in 1987.
He was granted Thai citizenship and changed his name to Prasit or Charnchai
Cheewin-nitipanya.
His Thai nationality, granted in 1985, was revoked a few months ago.
In 1994, Wei was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He was granted bail during his appeal and fled to Burma. Wei is also wanted
by the United States which offered US$2 million as a reward for his
arrest.
He has three wives, Monthathip or Lai Yisaeng, 51; Hathaiwan or Surawee or
Warin Worawatwichai, 45; and Sirinrat or Arin Chantaraprapaporn, 47.
Authorities believe Wei is now a drugs boss on the Thai-Burmese
border.
He is widely known as the commander of the United Wa State Army's southern
military command.
Pol Col Peeraphan Premputi, the Money Laundering Commission
secretary-general, said he began a probe into Wei's illegal money activities in
October on Mr Purachai's order.
His staff suspected Ploy Daeng jewellery shop at the World Trade Centre,
run by Ms Warin, was used as a front to launder drug money.
Heavily-armed Crime Suppression Division police and money-laundering
authorities searched Ms Warin's houses in soi Sua Yai Uthit on Ratchadapisek
road on suspicion they were acquired through money laundering. Ms Warin was not
home.
The police took her mother, Wilai Chaiworasilp, for questioning but she
denied knowing Wei.
Mrs Wilai was later taken to Ploy Daeng jewellery shop where the police
seized 10 safes, jewellery and documents.
Pol Col Peeraphan said he had enough evidence to charge Ms Warin and her
relatives with laundering drug money.
He said they had 90 days to prove their assets were obtained through legal
means.
A civil court order would then be sought to seize any assets whose origins
were unclear.
Assets were also taken from a petrol station and flower shop owned by two
couples, Sopon and Sirinthip Kradumporn and Surachai and Jinda Chantaraprapa, in
Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district.
They also had 90 days to prove the assets were acquired legally, Pol Col
Peeraphan said.
Ms Sirinthip is a younger sister of Ms Warin. Wei's son, Charas
Jirasaptrakul, 25, fled before police searched his Colour computer shop in
Chiang Mai.
Deputy Finance Minister Suchart Jaovisidha said the ministry would look
into suspects' tax payment records.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
EDITORIAL : Shutting camps is morally wrong Published on Dec 28, 2001 The government's decision to close down the Maneeloy holding centre in
Ratchaburi province, as well as to forcibly return to Burma some 130 people
considered illegal immigrants who used to live in the centre, is a great cause
for concern as it will put hundreds of lives in grave danger. Far from being the
durable solution to the plight of hundreds of thousands of Burmese and other
ethnic minorities who had fled persecution in Burma, the policy to close down
the centre, as well as a dozen other refugee camps along the border, also shows
a total shift away from a humanitarian basis in the government's policy towards
refugees.
Particularly worrying is the fate of some 130 people who were not
classified as people of concern according to the criteria of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Instead, they have been classified as
"illegal immigrants", meaning they will be deported. This is despite the fact
that the situation that made them flee Burma was no different from those others
who are considered as legitimate asylum seekers.
Given the present policy of the military junta in Burma toward these
refugees, it is not that difficult to imagine what will happen to them once they
are repatriated. It's true that a country that shelters people seeking refugee
status is not obliged to give them permanent accommodation, and that voluntarily
repatriation is, in most cases, the preferred solution to the refugee problem.
Yet, in the case of the Burmese refugees, it is obvious that the basis for their
refugee status has not yet ceased to exist. Moreover, the political, as well as
social and economic conditions in that country have not provided any guarantee
at all for their safe return.
Insisting on a policy to repatriate refugees under these circumstances
would be against the internationally recognised standard of non-refoulement,
well-established as a rule of customary law.
Whether or not they are signatory states of the 1951 Convention relating to
the status of refugees, countries are obliged to respect the rule of customary
law. Thailand, which has not yet ratified the refugee convention, is no
exception.
Another cause for concern is the warning by Interior Minister Purachai
Piumsombun that Thailand may not accommodate any more displaced Burmese unless
the recent decision to close camps be accepted and respected by those who reside
in the centre and the refugee camps.
It's true that refugees are obliged to respect the policy and laws of the
country in which they are given shelter, either permanent or temporary. However,
in the case of the Thai government's shutting down of the refugee camps, the
decision itself was problematic.
Authorities say the closing of Maneeloy is in line with government policy
to shut down all Burmese shelters, including about a dozen refugee camps along
the border where over 100,000 displaced people, mostly ethnic Karen, reside.
They often cite as a reason for the closures crime or disturbances in
neighbouring communities, allegedly caused by those living in the holding centre
or in refugee camps. What they have never mentioned is how the communities have
developed social and economic relationships with those residing in the camps.
There are children of those refugees who were born in Thailand and who are
socially and culturally attached to the country. These children would find
themselves alien in their parents' homes, if their parents were lucky enough to
survive harsh treatment upon return.
For decades, Thailand has shown to the international community how
countries can developed a positive policy towards refugees, even though not
members to the refugee convention. This kind of policy has benefited millions of
people. It should be continued instead of being revised. From a humanitarian
point of view, can Thailand afford to implement policies and measures while
ignoring their foreseeable adverse consequences?
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
WA KINGPIN: Drug lord's assets seized
Published on Dec 27, 2001
Authorities yesterday raided homes and businesses thought to be linked to
drug warlord Wei Xieu-kang and seized more than Bt100 million worth of
assets.
The raids occurred simultaneously in Bangkok and the northern provinces of
Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, nestled against the Burmese border.
No one was arrested.
Wei himself is wanted by the United States and has a US$2 million (Bt88
million) bounty on his head. He is reportedly based in Burma, and is a senior
commander of the pro-Rangoon United Wa State Army, the group thought responsible
for producing most of the methamphetamine, or ya ba, that plagues
Thailand.
The shady ethnic-Chinese drug kingpin was sentenced to life imprisonment by
a Thai court in 1987, but jumped bail while appealing his conviction. The
Interior Ministry revoked his Thai citizenship this year. Wei is also known by
his Thai name, Prasit Cheewinnitipanya.
He is thought to have amassed a fortune from large-scale drug trafficking,
allegedly with the complicity of Burma's ruling military junta.
The Crime Suppression Division police, cooperating with the Anti Money
Laundering Commission, yesterday dispatched nine teams to raid nine locations
where Wei is believed to have been channelling funds to legitimise his
wealth.
At a house belonging to one of Wei's Thai mistresses in Lat Phrao, police
found passbooks to 90 bank accounts containing Bt14 million and valuable
information stored in seven safety boxes and on two computer hard drives.
The authorities also cleaned out a jewellery store in the World Trade
Centre.
In Chiang Mai, police seized computers and business documents of computer
vendor Waranyu Jirasaptrakul, Wei's son, who police claim used his business as a
front to launder money. Waranyu was said to be in Rangoon yesterday.
In Chiang Rai police seized houses, land, jewellery and vehicles thought to
belong to Wei, but held in associates' names.
Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun said authorities would now begin
legal proceedings to confiscate Bt100 million in cash and property that police
claim Wei accumulated while presiding over the world's largest drug army.
Wei was sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with the 1987
discovery of 615kg of heroin hidden in a trawler in Thai waters.
Before he jumped bail, US authorities had made it clear they wanted him to
face court in the US. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said authorities were
trying to crack down on Wei's network of accomplices - those who allegedly
helped him launder his drug money.
The government is also desperate to suppress the flood of illicit drugs
from Burma.
Under Thailand's money-laundering law, the defendants must now prove that
the assets seized yesterday were acquired legitimately.
Separately yesterday, PM's Office Minister Thamarak Isarangkura na Ayuthaya
yesterday reviewed the achievements of the government's antidrug effort, saying
it had been unable to eradicate the social and economic scourge of drugs from
the country.
The drugfree school programme, launched in October, has as yet to achieve
what it set out to do, he said.
Thamarak attributed the lack of progress to those at the operational level
either lacking enthusiasm or simply being deprived of the necessary support
needed to do their job effectively.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Governor gets power to close Maneeloy
Published on Dec 27, 2001
The governor of Ratchaburi province would have full power from today to
carry out necessary measures to close down the Maneeloy Holding Centre where
hundreds of Burmese refugees are based, National Security Council chief
Kachadpai Burusapatana said yesterday.
The closure of the Maneeloy centre was in line with the government's policy
of closing down all Burmese shelters, including about a dozen refugee camps
along the border where well over 100,000 Burmese, mostly ethnic Karen, reside,
Kachadpai said.
Kachadpai said 197 Burmese people had been confirmed as "asylum seekers"
and would be relocated to third countries. Another 170 individuals who had been
granted the status of "people of concern" by the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees would be relocated to the Tham Hin refugee camp about 10 kilometres
from the Burmese border until their screening was completed.
The third group of Burmese students - a total of 130 people - had been
classified as "illegal aliens" and would be handed over to the Immigration
Police, Kachadpai said.
The decision to treat the 130 as illegal immigrants has drawn a major
protests from human-rights organisations and muted objections from various
foreign embassies in Bangkok.
Fellow detainees maintain that the 130 are legitimate political-asylum
seekers and that they will be persecuted by the military government once
repatriated.
Kachadpai said repatriation would be high on the agenda at the upcoming
Thai-Burma Joint Commission in Phuket when foreign ministers from the two
countries are due to meet.
Meanwhile, two Burmese villagers were killed and another two injured
yesterday when Burmese troops and allied soldiers attacked a rebel base near the
border, Agence France-Presse quoted a Thai military source as saying.
Some 400 Burmese villagers fled the early morning clash and crossed the
border into Thailand, the source added.
About 100 Burmese troops and members of the Rangoon-allied Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (DKBA) opened fire with mortars and machine guns on a base
belonging to the rebel Karen National Union (KNU).
The siege at the base, located in Burma some 500 metres from the Thai
border opposite western Ta Song Yang district, lasted about an hour.
The KNU has fought a 51-year battle for greater autonomy against the
central government in Rangoon and is one of the last major insurgent groups
fighting the junta.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- 500 Myanmar Refugees Removed to
New Refugee Camp
Xinhuanet 2001-12-27 18:03:39 BANGKOK, December 27 (Xinhuanet) -- About 500 Myanmar refugees including
students who lived in Maneeloy refugee camp in the RachaBuri, a central province
of Thailand, were removed Thursday to a new temporary refugee camp in the same
province, local source told Xinhua.
Watching by 500 security forces, those Myanmar refugees were loaded to five
trucks and were sent to new site in the morning.
Before this, Myanmar students living there issued an statement demanding
security measures guaranteed by Thai authorities and their postal rights to
communicate with outside.
The statement mentioned that the new temporary refugee camp was situated
near Thai-Myanmar border, so all refugees were uncertain on their
security.
Pairoj Promsan, deputy permanent secretary of Thai interior ministry, who
presided over the closure, accepted the demands of the refugees and said that
Thai policemen and soldiers had kept on a close-watch on security to the new
refugee camp.
Till now, about 100,000 Myanmar refugees live in separated refugee camps in
Thailand, most of which situated along the border between the two
countries.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Network Media Group
Fire broke out at Lashio Market Hundreds of Million Kyats worth properties lost Mae Hong Son, December 27, 2001 A fire was broke out at Myoma market of Lashio in northern Shan State
around 10 PM on Christmas, December 25 night and hundreds of million kyats worth
properties were destroyed in the fire, a source on Sino-Burma border
reported.
Fire started from a shop at Ganggaw market building, where the groceries
and food was sold. The fire spread after the explosion of the eating oil barrels
in the shops and was subsided only at 6 AM next morning on December 26.
About 350 shops at Ganggaw building both down stairs and up stairs were
burnt down in the fire. Ganggaw market building is two stories building and
there are altogether 680 shops.
"Even only for more than 300 shops are worth about 100 million kyats, the
value of the groceries and money in the shops may worth more than 200 million
kyats", said a merchant from Lashio said on telephone interview.
Shan Herald Agency for News also confirmed about the fire in Lashio when
NMG contacted to SHAN.
Two fire brigades from Lashio central fire brigade station arrived after
the fire alert from the market since the fire started. The fire brigades from
Hsipaw and Kyaukmae also came and help to control the fire.
No one was hurt or killed in the fire as the fire broke out in the
nighttime and the marketers were not in the market.
Myoma market of Lashio is composed of four main building namely Ganggaw,
Cherry, Aungthapyay and Padauk.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Shan Herald Agency for News
27 December 2001 No: 12 - 20: - Thailand's drug project in Shan State in Wei Hsiaokang's beat, says Lahu source Following police raids of drug-lord Wei Hsiaokang's suspected possessions
in Bangkok, Chiangmai and Chiangrai yesterday, a border-based Lahu news source
has questioned the validity of the planned crop substitution project in Wei's
alleged domain in Shan State this morning.
Jakwee, secretary of the Lahu National Development Organization, said, "The
proposed project appears to be out of place with the action taken
yesterday."
Jakwee, who is also known as Yaphet, claimed that the project site in
Mongtoom in Monghsat township, across Chiangrai province, was under Wei's direct
control.
"Wei was ordered to move out of Mongyawn by Wei Hsaitang (not a relative),
the UWSA's commander south of Panghsang, (the Wa capital near the Chinese
border)by February 2002," he said.
Thailand , during the September visit of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the ruling
junta's No-3 man, had proposed to assist in the development of Mongyawn,
opposite Chiangmai province and reputed to be the center of drugs that has for
years been overwhelming Thailand. Rangoon later counter-proposed that the
project site be Mongtoom, northeast of Mongyawn. The exact location chosen by
the Wa was Nayao, roughly 7 miles south of Mongtoom and 7 miles north of
Pangnoon in Mae Fa Luang District, Chiangrai Province, according to another
source.
"Mongtoom, Mongkarn and Htalang in Monghsat Township and Monghpong, Paliao
and Kenglarp in Tachilek Township all are within Wei's sphere of influence," he
maintained.
Wei, according to Jakwee, was born of a Chinese father and Wa mother. His
family left China when he was still young and settled in Nammusay, Tangyan
township, Lashio District, northern Shan State, where he went to school. He
later joined former drug-lord Khun Sa's Shanland United Army but fell out with
him in 1985. Together with Ai Hsiao Hseu, another Wa chieftain, he set up the Wa
National Council that merged with the United Wa State Army in 1989.
"It was because of Khun Sa's threat that he joined the UWSA," said Jakwee.
"But he was a very difficult subordinate, the fact that culminated in his
expulsion from Mongyawn. Only his close relations with Gen Khin Nyunt made him
nearly untouchable."
Wei has 7 brothers, he added, but only two are well-known: Wei Hsiaolong
and Wei Hsiaoying.
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