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Bkk articles 12 sept



 
THE NATION I Monday September 12, 1994
Suu Kyi 'hopeful' Burmese junta may introduce reforms  
Agence France-Presse
 
TOKYO-Dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi is guardedly optimistic 
about the chances of reform in Burma but will not give in to demands 
from the military junta to leave the country, an associate said.  
 
Rewata Dhamma, an expatriate Burmese Buddhist priest, told the Yomiuri 
newspaper that Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest since 1989, had 
not recognized the junta's legitimacy but backed its moves to democracy.  
 
"She wants to encourage them to meet democracy. She wants tto talk to 
them, to carry out democracy, not work against them but together with 
them," said Dhamma.  
 
The priest was allowed to meet Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon on Aug 7 
and 10.  
 
"She regards reforms of the economy and education as very important, 
as without them there is no democracy,'' the human rights campaigner 
was quoted by the newspaper as saying in Birmingham, England. where 
he lives.  
 
"She thinks building the economic process is vital. Myanmar [Burma] has 
good resources."  
 
But Dhamma said Suu Kyi had brushed aside suggestions by the junta 
that she leaves the country for five years.  
 
"I will not leave Myanmar for five minutes, let alone five years,'' Suu Kyi 
was quoted by Dhamma as telling him.  
 
Dhamma said, ''She is so strong. She likes to do things steadily, just like 
her father [the founder of Burma's independence movement].  
 
''She is cheerful and healthy. Some people said she is thin but she was 
always thin."  
 
Dhamma, 62, who has lived away from Burma for 40 years and in Britain 
since 1975, has known Suu Kyi since she was  11.  
 
He commands deep respect from the top ranks of the military regime and 
has been chosen as an unofficial UN intermediary in solving human 
rights problems involving Aung San Suu Kyi, the newspaper said. 
 
 
 
 
 LETTERS  to editor
 
 
Slorc's nasty secret
 
Tourists wonder why certain parts of the Thai-Burmese border smell so 
much. The heavy monsoon rain has washed away the earth along jungle 
tracks and dead bodies buried in shallow graves have surfaced. These 
are the remains of porters who tried to escape the Burmese soldiers under 
Slorc's direction. Porters were forced to acts as land mine sacrificials. 
They were forced to carry heavy ammunition boxes etc. and when they 
became too weak and ill and no longer useful to the soldiers, they were 
shot along the roadside and buried in shallow graves.  
 
Slorc is still blatantly forcing people; The railway project in the country 
town near the border is another example. The people are forced to labour 
and bear all personal costs, to do municipal work, construct pavements 
and roads etc. in front of their homes in the cities. Every free person in 
this world understands that it is the government's responsibility to 
perform such work and provide the people with such  
 
Mr Editor the world communities are not fools. Slorc cannot pull the rug 
over their faces any more. 
They will soon have to answer to all these atrocities.  
 
San Maung,   W. Australia  
 
 
 
Bangkok Post Monday September 12, 1994
Thailand, Burma dispute islet formed by overflowing  river  
 
AN islet created by the overflow of the Moei River has sparked a conflict 
between Thailand and Burma after the Burmese authorities warned 
Thailand to remove its national flag and began moving troops to guard 
the area.  
 
Task Force 34 Commander Maj-Gen Bunlue Jittavikul said heavy rain in 
the past two months caused the river to overflow and changed the water 
course, leaving a 1,100-rai island in the middle of the river in Mae Sot 
district.  
 
More than 100 farmers have reportedly lost a total of 400 rai of 
agricultural land and have been unable to reclaim their property.  
 
Maj-Gen Bunlue, chairman of the Local Thai-Burmese Border Committee, 
has officially told the Burmese that the island is part of Thailand.
 
He earlier  ordered that  Thai national flags be planted on the island and 
border patrol police be stationed to ensure safety for some of the farmers 
who tried to slip into the area.
 
 Burmese forces from Palu Camp then insisted that Thai citizens and 
police personnel must leave the island immediately to prevent conflict 
which could lead to bitter military clashes, Maj-Gen Banlue said  
 
He said a meeting between Thai and Burmese authorities On August 24 
proved unsuccessful after the Burmese refused to acknowledge that the 
island belonged to Thailand 
 
 They cited an agreement on Thai-Burmese borderline signed in 1868 
indicating that  land created by the river must be regarded as a natural 
border shared by the two countries.  
 
Third Army Region Commander Lt-Gen Yingyod Chotipimai  believes the 
problem will be settled peacefully through compromise after a meeting 
with the Burmese authorities next month in Taunggyi, Shan state.  
 
Officials have been told to prepare land ownership documents on the 
island and other information to substantiate Thailand's claim over the 
"floating" territory.