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BurmaNet News Supplement; Part II;
- Subject: BurmaNet News Supplement; Part II;
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 05:34:00
Subject: BurmaNet News Supplement; Part II; October 12
************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
**************************************************************
BurmaNet News
Wednesday, October 12, 1994
Supplement to #32
BURMA SURVERY: PART II
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THE NATION: CLINTON PLEDGES TO END TRADE THREAT
Saturday, October 8, 1994
Chuan wins watchlist promise as Senate passes long-awaited bill on
copyright
[Photo caption: CEMENTING TIES: President Clinton meets Prime
Minister Chuan Leekpai in the Oval Office of the White House on
Thursday. During the 30-minute meeting, Chuan explained to the US
president what the Thai government had done to improve intellectual
property protection.]
THE Senate yesterday passed the long-awaited Copyright Bill into law, as
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai won President Bill .Clinton's promise in
Washington DC that the United States would soon withdraw Thailand
from the US trade watchlist.
"The US president assured the prime minister that as soon as the
Copyright Bill is passed by the Thai parliament, the US government will
remove Thailand from the watchlist," government spokesman Abhisit
Vejjajiva told reporters in Washington. He added that Clinton also
"accepted in principle" Chuan's invitation to visit Thailand.
Chuan explained in a 35-minute meeting with the US president in the Oval
Office what the Thai government had done to improve intellectual
property protection in this country.
The US Trade Representative has, from the beginning, cited two points for
putting Thailand on its trade watchlist: inadequate protection on
intellectual property, and human rights, specifically relating to a ban on
state enterprise workers forming unions.
Chuan informed Clinton on the developments concerning copyright and
labour rights, according to Abhisit. "The president thanked Thailand for
paying serious attention to the matters," the spokesman said.
According to a statement from the Thai Embassy in Washington DC,
Clinton promised to look into the issue and said Washington would be
ready to take Thailand from the watchlist.
Prior to the Apec summit in Seattle last year, Chuan raised the issue of the
US priority watchlist during a bilateral meeting with Clinton.
The United States removed Thailand from its Priority Foreign Country
(PFC) watchlist classification last year, to a less serious status -- a so-
called Priority Watchlist (PWL) country -- pending the passage of the new
Copyright Bill.
The US Trade Representative also made it clear that it would consider
extending tax concessions under the Generalized System of Preferences
(GSP) programme to Thailand, pending the passage of the amended labour
law.
Chuan was visiting Washington after a week-long visit to Canada. Chuan
and his delegation are due back in Bangkok on Sunday.
Business issues dominated the discussions of the two leaders yesterday.
According to the statement released by the Thai Embassy, Chuan also
told Clinton that the Thai House of Representatives had approved a bill to
allow state enterprise workers to set up labour unions.
The bill is yet to be endorsed by the Senate.
On security matters, Chuan has asked Clinton to clarify to some US
Congressmen that the Thai government did not give any support to the
Khmer Rouge, the embassy statement said. The prime minister confirmed
to President Clinton that his administration would not support any illegal
political faction in Cambodia, making the point that Chuan was appointed
through a democratic electoral system.
In response to Chuan's request, Clinton expressed his sympathy on the
Thai government, and he said that he would explain the truth to the US
congress.
Chuan expressed a readiness to work with the United States and the
United Nations in sending peacekeeping forces to help restore democracy
in Haiti. He also briefed Clinton on the "improving" situation in Burma, the
statement from the Thai ambassador added.
Reuters quoted a white House spokesman as saying that President Clinton
also agreed that trade liberalization in the Pacific Rim should be a priority
at a forthcoming summit of Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec)
leaders in Jakarta.
Chuan and Clinton will represent their countries at the mid-November
summit.
"Both leaders emphasized the importance of the upcoming Apec meeting
in November and agreed that a commitment to regional trade liberalization
should be a priority objective at that meeting," said White House
spokeswoman Dee Dee Myers.
The 17 members of Apec are the United States, Canada, Japan, South
Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines Brunei, Indonesia,
Singapore, Malaysia Thailand, Australia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and
New Zealand.
Myers said that during the meeting Clinton reaffirmed the importance the
United States attaches to its long-standing relationship with Thailand, one
of five treaty allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
***************************************************************
BKK POST: DEMOCRATIC REFORM EFFORT IN HONG KONG TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Saturday October 8, 1994
by Ethan Casey
I was in Hong Kong on September 18, when elections were held for the
colony's district boards, or local government units. The polls were being
billed in official circles as the first "fully democratic" polls ever in Hong
Kong -- a polite way of saying that they are the latest installment in the
British attempt to save face as they withdraw more or less gracefully from
the city that already is only ostensibly their last remaining significant
colonial possession.
"What today reflects is that Hong Kong is a grown-up community,"
Governor Chris Patten said on election day. The next day's South China
Morning Post described Mr Patten as "elated", though the paper took
note that he "would not say whether the 33.1 per cent (turnout) could
prove his political reform had been a success." Some observers describable
either as skeptics or realists took pains to note that while it was quite
true that 61 per cent more people had voted than in the 1991 elections, the
figure described an increase in the absolute number of people voting,
inflated by 100,000 newly-eligible 18-to-20-year-olds, as well as by an
assortment of ineligible and in some cases nonexistent people. As the
Morning Post explained in its September 20 leader: "There was a 61 per
cent increase in the overall number of voters. If that was not reflected as
a proportion of the electoral roll, it was because the register is stuffed
with the names of emigrants, residents who have changed their address and
substantial numbers of the dear departed."
In other words, the district board election, and attempts at massaging the
numbers to support claims of "democracy" triumphant, were an exercise in
political theatre and/or self-serving British public relations. The hulking
reality is that China will have none of any of it, as it officially announced
at the end of August.
In any case, Britain's much-vaunted efforts at democratic reform -- led
quite valiantly by Mr Patten, it must be said -- evidently are too little too
late. This much seems certain, and will be borne out in the months and
years following June 30, 1997: many in Hong Kong just sort of wish the
British would go away now, or at least smell the geo-political coffee.
Noting the Clinton administration's half-hearted attempt to coerce China
into respecting the human rights of its own citizens, columnist David Chu
wrote in the Morning Post of September 20: "If a power as great as the US
cannot budge China, no other can, however hard it tries and however wily
it may be. The Germans, French, Japanese and others realise this as they
queue up for business in China. The Americans have also learned this
lesson. The ones who do not seem to understand this are the British."
Many Hong Kongers know that they must deal with China, and they seem
ready to do so -- on China's terms.
Which raises a matter that those of us who believe vaguely in something
we call liberal democracy would prefer not to discuss: democracy is
besieged everywhere these days, not only by military juntas like Burma's
SLORC and the Haitian generals, but by the sheer dead weight of history
and culture.
So long as the United States remained a factor to be reckoned with,
governments everywhere tripped over each other to declare themselves
democracies. But after what Americans should consider their humiliation
at the hands of China, many in Asia are looking at globes and realising
that China is a lot nearer to them than America, and that the US
government cannot be expected to stand on principle. Sad but true.
Columnist Chu caught the mood: "Like a body-builder's bulging biceps,
American muscles -- military, economic, political, social and cultural --
appear at times more decorative than useful."
[some material deleted]
The author also claims that China -- the whole seething, multi-lingual,
multi-ethnic mass of 1.1 billion (some now say 1.2 billion) people -- may be
in for a political sea change. He draws ominous parallels between the
present situation, as all await the demise of nonagenarian leader Deng
Xiaoping, and the Qing dynasty that collapsed, exhausted, in 1911, to be
replaced by the short-lived non-communist Republic.
"By now the problems of the political system are hideously apparent, as
the bright young regime that was going to overturn the old world and
build a brave new China looks old, shabby, oppressive and irrelevant to
China's needs," argues Jenner. "Like the Qing dynasty in its final years, it
seems to be ultimately unreformable: it will allow you a little freedom, but
if you try to go further, it shoots you. Indeed, it is apparent that it is in
many ways a reinvention of the bureaucratic monarchy.
"It now looks as though the problem of what should succeed the Qing
dynasty has yet to be solved."
When I was in Hong Kong my attention was much less urgently riveted to
the polls than to the bizarre slow-motion American occupation of Haiti
that was then unfolding. The elections certainly did not seem to be
understood to have the life-and-death significance of elections in, say,
Haiti.
Hong Kong residents know that China is a big, well-armed, autocratic
country. They also know the history of Chinese tyranny: dissent or rival
governments with competing mandates (eg, Taiwan) are anathema in
Chinese civilisation, going back some two millennia. The tentative wishful
tone of Morning Post political editor Chris Yeung's post-poll analysis
seems apt: "Clearly, the new band of district board members can convince
the voters -- even through their deeds and words -- that their votes in a
blossoming democratic process have mattered."
*************************************************************
BURMA/S.E.ASIA
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NATION: MEKONG NATIONS AGREE TO BAN ON HAZARDOUS WASTE ON RIVER
October 9, 1994
by Marisa Chimprabha
VIENTIANE -- Representatives from the four countries bordering the
Mekong river met in the Laotian capital yesterday and adopted a proposal
put forward by the Thai delegation to prohibit the river being used to
transport shipments of hazardous waste.
The meeting, called to discuss transportation and tourism issues was
attended by delegates from Burma, Laos, China and Thailand. A joint
committee has been set up to work out the details of the Thai proposal.
Discussion at yesterday's meeting focussed on a 24-article draft
agreement covering commercial shipping along the Mekong river,
submitted by the Chinese delegation.
Delegates decided to delete article 18 of the agreement which proposed
that shipping companies carrying goods for export be exempted from all
taxes, duties and other levies.
Xay Phabxasoum, permanent secretary at the Laotian Ministry of
Transport, Post and Construction, told reporters that it was decided to
delete the article as delegates felt that the issue should first be examined
by tax experts to ensure accuracy and fairness.
Meanwhile, Chiang Rai governor Kamron Booncherd who attended the
meeting, said it would not be possible to extend exemptions on all taxes
and levies. "What needs to be considered is exactly how much each
nation would need to collect to fund development projects along the
Mekong river," Governor Kamron said yesterday.
The Chinese delegation agreed to draft the agreement after the four-nation
group had it's second meeting in China's Kunming province in January
this year.
At the Kunming meeting it was agreed to allow vessels to use the river
route from China's Simao province to Chiang Kong province in Laos.
However, the draft agreement presented to yesterday's meeting stated that
ships using the river for commercial or tourist purposes should be allowed
to use docks in the Laotian province of Luang Prabang.
Xay, speaking on behalf of the Laotian delegation, agreed to the change
saying it would benefit trade and tourism in all four countries but
especially in Laos itself.
"Anyway, each of the four governments will have the final say on whether
or not to approve the change. After that, the four nations will meet and
discuss the matter again," Xay told our reporter.
The Beijing government is reported to be considering the use of explosive
charges to remove rapids and rocky outcrops along the Lancang, a
tributary of the Mekong which flows through Chinese territory. However
other countries with land bordering on the Mekong, particularly Cambodia
and Vietnam, have expressed opposition to the Chinese proposal. They
fear that removing the rapids to improve navigation on the river may result
in changes in water flow which could also affect boundary markers which
delineate national frontiers.
An informed source said that this matter was not raised at the meeting
although delegates said they were not in favour of opening up any new
navigation channels along the river.
At yesterday's meeting, the Laotian delegation insisted that the agreement
should be implemented for a three-year trial period after it was signed by
representatives from the four countries. Other delegates suggested that
the trial period be extended to five years.
The meeting, which was chaired by Xay later decided to review article 5 of
the agreement. This states that each country should agree to grant
vessels from each of the other three, special customs and other
clearances.
Xay commented that normally this type of "most-favoured-nation" status
was only conducted between two countries.
The six-day meeting, which started Thursday, will wind up on Wednesday
with the signing of the agreement.
******************************************************
BKK POST: LAOTIAN FM LAUDS BURMA FOR RECONCILIATION
EFFORTS
Thursday, October 6, 1994
by Saritdet Marukatat New York
LAOTIAN Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad lauded Burma
yesterday for its success in solving its political problems and opening up
to the outside world.
Mr Somsavat told the 49th session of the United Nations General Assem-
bly: "In Myanmar (Burma) a new important event has taken place.
"Efforts towards national reconciliation and the opening up of economic
cooperation with the outside world have been fruitful and this will
consolidate the stability of the country "
Mr Somsavat did not elaborate on the "important event" but it was taken
as a reference to talks last month between leaders of the State Law and
Order Restoration Council and dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi who
has been under house arrest for more than five years.
Laos rarely discloses its stance towards Burma to the world.
Laos is one of the few close friends of Burma. Their friendship was
underlined when SLORC chairman Gen Than Shwe picked Vientiane for his
first official foreign visit.
A visit to Rangoon' in 1992 by Laotian Prime Minister Khamtay Siphan-
done made him the first government leader to hold talks with the ruling
junta.
Mr Somsavat pledged to cooperate in all areas with the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations as "a new era of cooperation" is gaining
momentum in the region since the opening of the Friendship Bridge with
Thailand.
"In April the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge was opened with the financial
cooperation of the Government of Australia, marking a special event for
Laos, Thailand and Australia and countries in the region in our effort to
further strengthen regional cooperation in different areas," he said.
"Our participation in the ASEAN meeting in Bangkok once again demonstrated
our sincere desire to cooperate in all areas with the countries of
ASEAN."
******************************************************
BKK POST: LAOS HOSTING SUB-REGIONAL MEET ON TOURISM, TRANSPORT
Saturday, October 8, 1994
by Nusara Thaitawat
Vientiane
THE third meeting on sub-regional transport and tourism opened here
yesterday with strong commitments from the four participating countries
to facilitate the movement of goods and people across their borders.
On top of the agenda is an agreement on merchant shipping on the
Lancang and Mekong rivers between Burma, China, Laos and Thailand.
The 24-article agreement covers issues from the definition of a "vessel",
"crew member", "passenger" and "merchant goods" to insurance cover,
accident and rescue operations, and use of ports.
The four countries are expected to adopt the draft agreement at the close
of the meeting on October l3.
The timing for the agreement to come into effect is to be negotiated at the
meeting but, according to the draft agreement, it comes into force three
years from the signing date.
Each delegation will bring the draft agreement back to seek endorsement
from their governments.
The meeting was opened by Laotian Minister for Communications,
Transport, Post and Construction Bouathong Vonglokham.
Mr Bouathong said the Laotian government had outlined a policy giving
top priority to developing the region covered by the four countries.
He said the region boasted abundant natural resources, manpower and
natural beauty.
Millions of tourists visit each year, and the peoples of the four countries
have similar traditions, values, languages, beliefs and cultural heritage.
Mr Bouathong said communications and transport were the two main
"bottlenecks" hampering the development o the region during the current
period of international economic development cooperation.
Apart from the navigation agreement on the Lancang and Mekong rivers,
the four countries will also discuss regional tourism and road links.
Also on the agenda is the proposed railway link from Yunnan to Thailand,
the opening of an international airport at Kunming, and the launch of i
flights between Luang Prabang, Chiang Mai, Mandalay, Jinghong and
Kunming.
The meeting is expected to announce another rally, from Chiang Rai to
Houaysay, Luang Namtha and Kunming, in 1994-1995.
Burma was proposed as the venue for the next meeting.
*************************************************************
FEER: TAIWANESE TAKEOVER [WAGE RATES IN S.E.ASIA] [abridged]
Island's entrepreneurs are leading the way
FEER (Cover Story). September 22, 1994, p.77+
By Julian Baum in Taipei
[Graph: Export Platform
Vietnamese wages are low . . . but so is buying power
Country Min. mo. wage Per-capita GNP [Both in US$]
________ ____________ ____________
Burma 60+* 750
Indonesia 60+ 600 [almost]
Malaysia 300+ 3,300 [almost]
Philippines 110+ 900 [almost]
Thailand 120 2,400
Vietnam 35 20+
*Using official exchange rate; US$4.50 at blackmarket rate.
Source: Review Data]
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BURMA/THAI RELATIONS
*************************************************************
NATION: FESTERING COUP ALLEGATIONS HURTING THAILAND
Saturday, October 8, 1994
New evidence pointing to Thai involvement in the failed Cambodian
power grab, is causing suspicion among Thailand's neighbours, The
Nation's Yindee Lertcharoenchok writes.
[Photos: ADUL, CHARAN]
MORE than three months have elapsed but the mystery of who was
behind the failed coup attempt in Cambodia remains unresolved. Worst of
all, the allegations of Thai complicity have not been cleared and emerging
evidence is likely to cause great embarrassment to the Kingdom and its
people.
Although the Thai government and military have strongly denied any
official blessing or involvement in the putsch and demanded that Phnom
Penh release the remaining nine Thai suspects, they are finding it
increasingly difficult to maintain their position that no Thais, be they
officials or businessmen, were involved in the affair.
The Cambodian government, which is playing its cards very close to its
chest, is believed to have evidence to back up its accusations. One card is
the Thais being detained in near incommunicado in Phnom Penh since the
failed coup attempt in early July. Cambodian authorities claim that two of
the detainees have confessed and revealed some disturbing information.
Other evidence is the names of certain Thai officials and businessmen
who are alleged to have a hand in the affair. Phnom Penh claims to have
obtained a full list of the Thais, including military officers who were
accomplices in the failed power grab.
The officers are said to have travelled regularly between the two capitals
and were in Cambodia at the time of the coup. When the plot failed they
sneaked out of the country. The businessmen are suspected of having
financially supported the putsch to gain revenge after Phnom Penh
revised "unfair" business contracts they had struck with the previous
Cambodian administration
Among the list of 14 Thais whom the Cambodian government has sought
permission to interview are former New Aspiration Party MP Pol Lt Col
Adul Boonset and two military officers, who are close aides of General
Charan Kullavanijaya, secretary general of the National Security Council
(NSC).
The list was "verbally" conveyed last month from Phnom Penh to the Thai
Foreign Ministry which subsequently gave it to the media.
Phnom Penh also wants to interview another of Gen Charan's aides, a
colonel who was recently promoted to a major general. The colonel is said
to have picked up coup leader Cambodian Prince Norodom Chakrapong at
Bangkok Don Muang Airport when he flew in from Malaysia where he had
taken temporary refuge since the putsch. He happened to use Gen
Charan's Jaguar limousine to collect the prince.
In an interview early this week with The Nation, two NSC officers, whose
names were made public by Phnom Penh, accepted that they were in
Phnom Penh at the time of the failed coup attempt. But both denied any
involvement in the event.
Supong Srichamnong, an officer who has overseen Cambodian affairs for
more than 10 years, said he had flown into Phnom Penh, with a valid
Cambodian visa, on July 1 to visit Cambodian friends and left on July 5.
Col Vivat Vissanuvimol claimed that his direct superior, General Charan,
and Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai had been informed of his regular visits
to Cambodia and of his latest controversial trip.
Vivat said Thai security authorities had learned about the coup bid several
months in advance but could not specify the exact date. He claimed that
both Chuan and Charan were kept abreast of the information.
Thai authorities, he said, had passed on the information to the
Cambodians but that they did not pay attention to it. "We tipped off the
Cambodian authorities about the coup plot, but it seemed they paid no
attention to it," he said.
Vivat claimed that he and three other friends, also military officers,
travelled to Phnom Penh a few days before the attempted coup to observe
the general situation which he described as "ripe for a coup bid at any
moment".
According to the colonel, he met Pol Lt Col Adul for the first time in
Phnom Penh as they were staying in the same hotel. He claimed that he
and his friends were caught off guard when the coup took place, returned
to the hotel and decided that they should proceed with an overland
journey back to Thailand.
They returned to Thailand in a Mercedes-Benz through a Khmer Rouge-
controlled section of the border area, they said.
Vivat has offered to travel to Phnom Penh to "give the account of my trip
and the events leading up to the coup attempt". He believed that the visit
could help clear his name as well as General Charan and the National
Security Council who have been implicated in the scandal. Cambodian
authorities, however, have not yet responded to his overture, he said.
Long Sarin, minister of the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok, publically
defended Vivat earlier this week. He said Vivat was neither involved in the
coup attempt nor was the colonel wanted for questioning in Phnom Penh.
He, however, declined to name the Thai colonel.
In contrast to the two NSC officers who have come out to answer the
allegations, General Charan, has chosen to remain quiet throughout the
building controversy. Charan has also come under criticism recently from
some sections of the Thai press for his policy towards Burma.
Perhaps, the most damaging repercussions of the coup conspiracy is
Thailand's image and its credibility in the eyes of its neighbours. Like it
or not, suspicion and mistrust are growing in the minds of the leaders in
neighbouring states, as Phnom Penh has fully briefed them of the putsch
and the alleged Thai complicity.
Some Bangkok-based envoys have raised the issue with senior Thai Army
officers and government officials for clarification, but big question marks
remain in their hearts. They are closely observing the fall out from the
coup with interest and inquisitive eyes.
The diplomats are particularly disturbed and concerned that similar Thai
interference could take place in their countries. They are well aware that
the same group of suspected Thai businessmen has also knocked on their
doors in search of economic opportunities and some have already
invested in their homelands.
The diplomats see a real threat to their country's peace, stability and
security, especially if those accused officers are responsible in formulating
and implementing Thai foreign policy towards its neighbours.
Thailand will pay a high price to redeem its sagging reputation. No longer
can the Thai government or the military stay idle or silent, hoping that the
Cambodian and Thai people will soon forget about the attempted power
seizure.
Neither can they afford to sacrifice the nine Thai detainees, whether
innocent or guilty, as convenient scapegoats for a few Thai officers who
are accused of being the real culprits.
The allegations against Thailand represent a pressing agenda to be
addressed and only thorough a transparent investigation will a solution
found. The innocent have to be released and the culprits be brought to
Justice.
To help the Thai investigation, the Cambodian government has to provide
whatever information about the Thai abetment that it claims to possess.
Also, it should not play up or exploit the issue of the Thai suspects while
deliberately ignoring the complicity of Cambodian authorities in the coup
attempt.
Finally, Phnom Penh has no right to detain the Thai suspects without
charging them. Its attempts to prolong their detention through legal means
in the court are inhumane and a clear violation of basic human rights as
the suspects, already under three months of confinement, are still being
denied contact with professional lawyers and their families.
***************************************************************
NATION: NSC CHIEF DENIES THAI HAND IN JULY'S FAILED CAMBODIA COUP
Saturday, October 8, 1994
[Photo caption: CHARAN: Press blamed.]
NATIONAL Security Council chief Gen Charan Kullavanijaya yesterday
denied any Thai complicity in July's failed coup in Cambodia and accused
the local press of misleading the public by carrying reports of unfounded
Cambodian allegations.
Charan said he did lot know how "Thai citizens in Thailand'' could be
involved in the affairs of other countries, which have their own
responsible authorities.
"I appeal to people to use their powers of reasoning,'' he said, and not be
misguided by news reports of Thai involvement in the failed putsch.
Phnom Penh has advised the government of the names of 14 Thais they
suspect of involvement in the abortive power seizure and wish to
question. Two of them are colonels who work as Charan's aides.
Charan was speaking on his return from Canada, where he accompanied
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai on an official visit. It was his first comment
on the subject since the Cambodian allegations became public.
The NSC chief said those who report about the Cambodian coup should
show "wisdom" and bear in mind the positive and negative impacts of
their articles on the country.
"The NSC has never used any office personnel for any operation because
that is not their job," he said.
He said he did not know where the allegations of Thai involvement
originated.
In an interview with The Nation earlier this week, the two colonels denied
any involvement in the abortive coup, but they agreed they were in
Phnom Penh at the time.
The Cambodian government also suspects that a third officer who works
for Charan in the NSC was involved. The former colonel, who has just
been promoted to major general, is said to have picked up the coup leader,
Cambodian Prince Norodom Chakrapong, at Bangkok's Don Muang
Airport when he flew in from Malaysia where he had taken temporary
refuge. He happened to use Charan's Jaguar limousine to collect the
prince.
Charan said he has never been contacted by Phnom Penh for information
about alleged Thai complicity in the coup bid.
He said he was prepared to testify before the Parliament, but had not been
requested to do so. He said he learned that former prime minister and Chat
Pattana Party leader Gen Chatichai Choonhavan had some doubts about
the coup.
"[If any MPs] are doubtful they should inquire through the proper
channel, that is from the Parliament to the administration. It is a good
thing
that MPs are interested in the affairs of the country." he added
Agence France-Presse adds from Phnom Penh. A member of parliament
was investigating allegations that the Cambodian government had ordered
a local television station to stop broadcasting controversial news, a report
said yesterday.
Kem Sohka, chairman of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, told
the bi-weekly English-language Phnom Penh Post that if the allegations
proved true, he would protest to co-premiers Prince Norodom Ranariddh
and Hun Sen.
Threats designed to stop the broadcasting of material critical of the
government were illegal, Kem Sokha said.
The private Thai-owned International Broadcasting Co (IBC) recently said
it would no longer cover the activities or statements of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) which were critical of the government.
******************************************************
BKK POST: MAE SAI-TACHILEK BORDER HOURS EXTENDED
Thursday, October 6, 1994
Chiang Rai
THOUSANDS of people were gathered along the Mae Sai-Tachilek road
last Friday night to witness the opening ceremony of the official extension
of hours of the Mae SaiTachilek border checkpoint.
The new closing hours will be extended from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays,
Saturdays and annual holidays.
It is the first Thai border checkpoint to allow border crossings at night.
The extra period will be extended on Friday and Saturday nights and on
annual holidays, according to Phakdhi Rattanapol, county
magistrate of Mae Sai.
"It is an historic night for Thailand and Burma. People from both sides will
be able to get in touch at night time, but they have to carry two border
passes on both sides including a passage fee," he noted.
He said it took both sides more than five months to reach the resolution as
previously Burma vowed to open the checking point until midnight but
the Thai Interior Ministry agreed the checkpoint should be closed at 9
p.m.
"Possibly within three months, it may be extended everyday if the results
of the trial period are satisfactory," he added.
The Joint Public and Private Sectors Consultative Committee of Chiang
Rai province consisting of the private sector, Immigration, Customs
Department, Police Department and the Department of Local
Administration has screened the project and realised it would benefit the
growing economies in the provinces and neighbouring countries
following the policy of the project of regional economic cooperation.
Presiding over the ceremony were Chiang Rai Governor Kamron
Booncherd and Lieutenant General Kim Mong Yee of Tachilek of Chiang
Tung.
"I would say it is an historic event showing a good sign of a strong
relationship between Thailand and Burma. It assures tourists and
investors that they are visiting or investing in safe places," the governor
said.
He added that the project is aimed not only to meet the growing economy
along the border but also to promote tourism as the province is stepping
up infrastructure development to provide new tourist destinations.
Mae Sai district has requested supporting funds from TAT to promote
tourism activities in the area and also to upgrade roads leading to several
natural tourism destinations in Mae Sai such as Khun Na Nang Non,
Tham Luang Cave and Wat Dai Wao.
The governor said the checkpoint might extend its official hours to
midnight in the future and allow foreign tourists to cross the border at
night by using border passes instead of passports.
He said foreign tourists ar allowed to stay over in Tachilek for three nights
by passport.
To more effectively manage traffic, main roads in Mae Sai will be improved
and expanded to cope with people travelling to the checkpoint.
Meanwhile, people in colourful clothes travelling from both sides of the
checkpoint were enjoying the entertainment programmes saying they have
never seen nightlife at Mae Sai before.
*********************************************************
NATION: BRIDGE TO LINK WITH BURMA
Sunday, October 9, 1994
An agreement was signed to build a bridge across the Moei river at Mae
Sot, linking Thailand and Burma. Thailand will pay the whole cost of tho
Bt79.2 million bridge. Construction is expected to take one and a half
years.
*********************************************************
BKK POST: RUMOURS ON PRASONG'S OUSTER
Thursday, October 6, 1994
BANGKOK diplomatic circles have been jumping with speculation
recently as to whether Foreign Minister Prasong Soonsiri would soon lose
his job.
"Last week I was told that Khun Prasong was definitely going to be
replaced. But just yesterday I was told that he will stay where he is," a
Western diplomat said recently.
Others questioned whether Chamlong Srimuang would act against Prime
Minister Chuan Leekpai's wishes by kicking out Prasong. "The latest I
have heard is that Prime Minister Chuan wants Prasong to stay on,"
another diplomat said.
However, there is one factor that many believe will have a strong influence
on the decision over Prasong's fate.
"Could [former prime minister] Gen Prem Tinsulanonda stand seeing
Prasong sacked?" an ambassador asked.
*********************************************************
SEASIA-L: "GEN. WIMOL & BURMANET NEWS"
/* Written 2:06 AM Sep 17, 1994
by peckg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:bitl.seasia */
BurmaNet News for Sept. 15 reprinted an article from the Nation quoting
Thai Army Commander Wimol commenting on the Mon and planned gas pipeline
from Burma. My office had the occasion to call the Army spokesman about
this article, and was told, with a laugh, that it was overblown. To be
precise, we were told, and have little reason to doubt, that it was the
usual matter of reporters mobbing Wimol (as they do to all public figure
in Thailand) and offering up a provocative question to which the general
felt compelled to reply.
I have no idea what Gen. Wimol really thinks of the pipeline or
the Mon or most anything else. But I thought it worth reminding people
that news reports, even from the most reliable newspapers in the country,
can be misleading and sometimes dead wrong. Wimol is no fire-breather,
contrary to the impression one might get from the article.
That said, I should also note that the Burma postings here are
just about the most useful thing I can get on the Internet, and I thank
[message cut off here].
*********************************************************
NATION: NO INTERFERENCE IN POLITICS, SAYS NEW SUPREME COMMANDER
Friday, October 7, 1994
NEW Supreme Commander Gen Vatanachai Vuthisiri yesterday met 240
senior military officers and heads of agencies under his control and
reaffirmed major policies, confirming the military fully supports democracy
and will not interfere in politics.
Vatanachai said these policies formed the basis of a sound and efficient
working relationship.
The policies he outlined:
* The military will remain united and always serve the nation and the
public.
* The military will ensure national security and protect the country's
interests.
* The military will not interfere in politics or government affairs. It
will act in accordance with government policies and support the
democratic system.
* The military will collaborate with the government and private sectors to
develop the country, and help with disaster relief.
* The military will promote military relationships with foreign countries,
especially neighbouring nations in Southeast Asia, to ensure better
mutual understanding and the ability to resolve any problems which
arise.
He said if problems occur with Cambodia or Malaysia, the military will
attempt to settle them by negotiation. It will seek help from the government
if agreement cannot be reached.
Officers should strive to the best of their abilities to ensure the public
feel at ease and the government is free to run the country without hindrance.
He said politics was thriving under the democratic system, but he did not
believe that politicians would interfere in military affairs. Politicians and
the military would focus on their respective jobs.
Amending the Constitution was the responsibility of Parliament and would
not lead to chaos or violence, he said.
The new supreme commander said training and discipline within the military
should be improved and reinforced. However, no problems concerning the
"class" of officers would arise and nothing needed to be corrected because
all officers lived and worked like brothers.
He added he and Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Wimol Wongwanich were
good friends and played golf together. He did not believe there were any
problems between the various branches of the armed forces. If any arose,
he was confident he would be able to settle them.
*************************************************************
DRUGS
*************************************************************
NATION: OPIUM SEIZED IN BURMA
Sunday, October 9, 1994
Burmese military intelligence officers posing as drug dealers seized more
than 70 kg of raw opium and arrested three people on drug charges after
an undercover operation in southern Shan state.
*************************************************************
REUTERS: CHINA EXECUTES BURMESE TRAFFICKER
Sunday, October 9, 1994
BEIJING -- Chinese authorities have executed a Burmese drug smuggler in
the southwestern province of Yunnan bordering Burma, official media said
yesterday.
Yang Maoxian, 48, was put to death on Friday for conspiring with Chinese
drug traffickers to smuggle a total of 212 kilograms of heroin from Burma
on nine occasions between July 1990 and 1994, the People's Daily and
Xinhua news agency said.
Executions in China are usually carried out with a bullet to the back of the
head.
Chinese police arrested Yang in May after he entered China. The Supreme
Court upheld his death sentence on Sept 23.
Other suspects in the case are also subject to legal punishment, court
officials were quoted as saying.
*************************************************************
REFUGEES
*************************************************************
REUTERS: BURMA SUSPENDS REFUGEES' RETURN FROM BANGLADESH
DHAKA, Oct 7 (Reuter) - Burma has temporarily halted the return of
Moslem refugees from Bangladesh, citing efforts to keep the country free
from plague as the reason, government officials said on Friday.
``Burmese authorities told us on Thursday they believed the returning
Rohingya citizens might be carrying plague or by any means help spread of
the disease,'' said Deputy Relief and Repatriation Commissioner,
Raqibuddin Ahmed.
``We are trying to convince them that the fears are unfounded because
no one in Bangladesh proved to have contracted plague,'' he told reporters
at his office in Cox's Bazar. ``But the Burmese side is adamant about
enforcing a temporary shut down on the repatriation process.''
Officials said more than 81,000 Rohingyas, who fled to southeastern
Bangladesh in early 1992 to escape alleged military persecution in west
Burma's Moslem-dominated Arakan state, have returned home so far. Nearly
170,000 more were still waiting to go back when Rangoon disrupted the
process.
Bangladesh has closed all but seven border transit points with India,
where plague has killed at least 52 people. Flights from India, except for
a few operated under special agreements, have been cancelled. Indian ships
have been barred from entering Bangladesh ports and the Bangladesh Shipping
Corporation has asked its vessels to avoid India.
``I suppose the plague has caused a scare far more extensive than the
disease itself,'' said a doctor at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
His comments followed a sudden decision on Thursday by some 12,000
doctors in government hospitals to call off a 16-day-old strike.
The high court had earlier ordered a return to work but the Bangladesh
Medical Association (BMA), which organised the strike to press for higher
wages, promotions and new jobs, initially said the doctors would ignore
it.
``Yes, we were worried. People were already suffering and they could
be fiercely angry at the striking doctors if plague had actually broken
out.''
Conditions in the hospitals were returning to normal on Friday with a
majority of doctors having returned to work.
Government sources claimed more than 300 patients had died as a result
of lack of care, and thousands fled hospitals during the strike, which
began on September 11.
*************************************************************
SEASIA-L: BURMA REFUGEES DEPORTED FROM MIZORAM, INDIA
>Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
>Date: Thu, 29 Sep 1994 10:44:44 -1812
>Sender: Southeast Asia Discussion List <SEASIA-L@xxxxxxx>
>From: "F. K. Lehman" <flehman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Burma refugees deported from Mizoram, India
>Lines: 39
A FAX, early this morning, US time, from Aizawl, capital of Mizoram
State, India, to Lian Uk, elected parliamentarian from Burma's Chin State,
bordering Mizoram, now in asylum in the US, reports that some thousands of
people from Burma were rounded up suddenly in Aizawl and Mizoram generally,
arrested, and handed over to Burma (SLORC/Army) authorities over the
border, who promptly jailed them. The scene was shown on India television
(at least the Eastern Service).
The Chin are close cultural and linguistic relatives of the Mizo
themselves, and the majority of those living in Mizoram, where they had
sought refuge from Burma, are Chin, but there are also a number of Burmans
and other nationalities from Burma that were taken in this round-up and
deportation. It was reportedly sudden and without warning, and it is said
that many were weeping and begging to be let go, and some tried to flee,
but were subsequently caught. They all had to leave any homes, property and
so on that they had there, and were sent off back to Burma with nothing.
India, it should be understood, has never granted refugee status to those
who have fled Burma, and has long insisted that they stay in Mizoram,
preferably in a stockaded camp on the very border, at Champhai, but it has
at least let many of them stay more or less unofficially up until now.
This, therefore, is a new and very disturbing development.
One hears continually, certainly on this List, about the way
Thailand has mishandled refugees from Burma and undertaken forced
repatriation of them, but I feel it is time to make it well known and well
publicised that the situation, on the Western border with India is quite
dreadful, too, even if perhaps on a smaller scale and having less to do
with organised insurgency against SLORC and even though India is less
concerned, at least publicly, to co-operate formally with SLORC along the
lines of Thailand's 'constructive engagement'.
It is quite unclear as of this posting what has brought about this
action, or even to what extent is the result of Indian Central Government
initiative as against Mizoram State Government initiative, but it may be
worthy of consideration that in the forthcoming elections there, the Mizo
National Front (MNF) is conyesting strongly with the Congress, which is
currently in power in Mizoram. The MNF is known to be narrowly
nationalistic, even as against the Chin in Mizoram (the reasons are
complicated beyond the capacity of this List to encompass them), and it is
not unimaginable that the development under consideration here may have
been a co-operative venture between the State Government and the Central
Government in New Delhi, also Congress dominated, to counter the MNF
campaign.
*************************************************************
NATION: OFFICIALS TO FACE WRATH OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Sunday, October 9, 1994
THE Interior Ministry will charge local officials with negligence of duty if
illegal immigrants and unlawful employment of aliens are found in areas
under their supervision, a ministry source said yesterday.
The source said stringent action is part of a package of measures drafted
by the Interior Ministry to fight the growing number of illegal immigrants
in Thailand.
Another measure calls for the setting up of a task force to deal specifically
with illegal entry and immigrants.
The source said the Interior Ministry will also order immigration police and
the Corrections and Public Welfare departments to detain illegal
immigrants whose family is arrested and cannot pay fines.
They would be taken to a central detention centre in Pathum Thani's
Thanya Buri District and other centres of the Public Welfare Department.
The Corrections Department's detention centres in Kanchanaburi,
Ranong, Chiang Rai, Nong Khai, Sa Kaew and Songkhla will also be
expanded in the next two years to detain illegal immigrants.
People giving assistance to immigrants or their employers will also be
arrested, he said.
According to the source, the issue of "visa on arrival" for citizens of
certain countries will also be cancelled.
These measures have been worked out following a meeting of the Interior
Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Labour and Social Welfare Ministry,
the National Security Council, the Police Department and the Local
Administration Department on September 12.
The package will be submitted to an Interior Ministry meeting tomorrow
for approval.
The ministry earlier reported there were nearly 600,000 illegal immigrants in
Thailand.
END OF PART II