BurmaNet News: November 30, 1994

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

************************** BurmaNet ************************** 
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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BurmaNet News: Wednesday, November 30 1994
Issue #74

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Contents:

1 BKK POST & NATION: BURMA AGAIN TO BE THAILAND'S GUEST AT ASEAN 
2 BKK POST: THAIS TABLE PLAN FOR DAM ON SALWEEN IN BURMA
3 BKK POST: MYANMAR AIRWAYS SEES 10% INCEASE IN PROFITS
4 REG.BURMA: HARDCOPY REQUESTS
5 BI: STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

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     Attention to BurmaNet, care of Burma Issues       
                              
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************************************************************** 
BKK POST & NATION: BURMA AGAIN TO BE THAILAND'S GUEST AT ASEAN 
29 November 1994

"BURMA will be invited to next year's Asean meeting in Brunei, but
the country's status will depend on its development and the
opinions of the other Asean members, according to a senior Foreign
Ministry official. Saroj Chavanavirat, deputy permanent  secretary
for foreign affairs, yesterday said  Burma's status for the Brunei
meeting will not be lower than this year, when it was invited to
Bangkok as the guest of host Thailand. Saroj was speaking on the
first day of the Thai-Burma Joint Commissio n meeting in Bangkok. 

 Senior officials of both countries are scheduled to meet today to
conclued the agenda, with a meeting between Foreign Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and his Burmese counterpart U Ong Gyaw set for
Dec 1-2 to officially complete the sec ond meeting and sign the
minutes. We will invite Burma to the Asean Meeting in Brunei, Saroj
said. We will consider certain factors, such as Burma's development
in several areas and the opinions of other Asean members before
deciding under what status Ran goon will attend the forum. Thailand
drew strong criticism from Western countries and human rights
groups for inviting Burma to this year's Asean summit because Burma
is still ruled by a military junta that seized power from an
elected political party.  

Bu rma's relations with other countries will be taken into
consideration, Saroj said, adding that Thailand expects to see more
development in Burma although it believes the country has gradually
improved in several areas, including democracy and human  rights.
Saroj said that at the meeting the Thai side proposed opening four
border passes_ connecting Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district with Tha
Kiler of Kientung; Tak's Mae Sot district with Myawaddy; and Ranong
province with Burma's Victoria Point. The Burme se side agreed in
principle to the proposal and will forward it to rangoon for
consideration. However, the decision-making will certainly take
time, said Saroj, who hads the Thai side at meetings. Both
countries endorsed the importance of the border demarcation process
which has also taken some time, agreeing that the process should be
implemented rapidly, as it was when Burma and laos under went the
same process. The groups also discussed Thai aid to Burma,
emphasizing technical cooperation in three areas_agriculture,
public health and education. The setting up of consular offices in
each country has not yet been discussed, but Thailand is
considering opening an office in Kientung if Burma agrees,
according to Saroj. (BP&TN) 

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BKK POST: THAIS TABLE PLAN FOR DAM ON SALWEEN IN BURMA
November 29 

"THAILAND proposed a construction plan for a dam on the Salween
River in Burma yesterday in a bid to speed up a decision from
Rangoon on the project. Senior officials said the plan was among a
number of issues discussed by senior officials from the two co
untries in preparation for a ministerial meeting of the
Thai-Burmese Joint Commission Thursday and Friday. Foreign Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and Burmese counterpart Ohn Gyaw are scheduled
to co-chair the second meeting of the joint commission. Deputy Fo
reign Permanent Secretary Saroj Chavanaviraj said Thailand had
submitted a memorandum of understanding on the Salween dam project
more than a year ago and was still waiting on a decision from
Rangoon. Thailand will not force the issue as the Goverment has 
not set a timetable for the proposed dam construction, he said. The
issue is opened for discussion, he added.  

Mr Saroj, who heads the Thai delegation to the two day senior
officials meeting, expressed disappointment with the absence of
representati ves from Burma's Energy Ministry, which has a main
role in such matters. The absence indicates Rangoon is far from
decided on the proposed project, sources said. Thailand proposed
the construction of the Salween dam and said it would buy any
electrici ty the dam produces. Construction of the dam, with the
proposed generation of 4,540 megawatts of electricity, is estimated
to cost 100 million baht. Rangoon has told Thailand the project
will be discussed after the two countries reach a deal on gas 
purchases. Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding to buy
natural gas from the Gulf of Matarban in September and a full
agreement is expected to be signed soon. Other cooperation
discussed at the meeting included a soft loan for a ring-road under
th e quadrangle development scheme, progress on opening
checkpoints, border demarcation, fishries and academic cooperation. 

 Burma asked Thailand to cut the interest rate on a 300 million
baht soft loan from three to 1.5 per cent. Rangoon plans to use the
money to improve the road from Tha Chilek opposite Chiang Rai's Mae
Sai District to Keng Tung some 160 kilometres further north. The
road will link with the road from the Chinese border to Keng Tung.
When completed, it will connect Chiang Rai Province with China's
Yunnan.(BP)" 


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BKK POST: MYANMAR AIRWAYS SEES 10% INCEASE IN PROFITS

November 29 

"MYANMAR Airways International forecast a 10% increase in profits
after the introduction of two leased Boeing 737-400 aircraft and
will fly more routes next year, according to its country manger for
Thailand Joseph Hooi. Mr Hooi said the company leased  the new
aircraft from Malaysia Airlines to replace the seven-year-old
757-200ER leased from Brunei. With 12 business-class seats and 134
economy-class seats, the new aircraft are expected to increase  the
airline's profit by 10%. Its old 757-200ER provi ded only 29
business-class seats and 150 economy-class seats. Previously wholly
owned by the Burmese Government, in August last year, Singapore
businessmen took up a 60% share in the carrier and upgraded it to
a regional carrier. Initially, it provi ded flights between Rangoon
and Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok, but now also files to Ducca
and Kuala Lumpur. With the new aircraft, the company plans to
expand its services to cover the entire region by increasing
flights between Rangoon and Bang kok from  seven to ten per week on
December 11,1994.  

Morning and evening flights will be included to conveniently serve
businessmen, he sid. Mr Hooi said Myanmar Airways International
planned to expand its services to such large markets as Australia",
" Korea and Japan. The company is considering more long-range
aircraft to strengthen its service, with Airbus being considered,
he said. Visit Myanmar Year 1996 is an ideal opportunity for the
airline to expand services, because the Burmese Governme nt will be
promoting the country and developing its infrastructure,
transportation and accommodation, as well as new airport in Rangoon
and Mandalay for wide-body aircraft. To compete with other regional
airlines, Myanmar Airways International will  strive to improve its
services, specially on the ground, to strengthen traffic and
passenger flows. Presently, it takes only two minutes to check in
each passenger. To This end, the company has increased this year's
training budget by 50% and all  staff will attend service training
programmes at the company's Singapore headquarters. Furthermore, to
capture sales, the company will increase its promotion budget by
punctual and reliable airline. Mr Hooi said currently, Myanmar
Airways Internatio nal had no real competitors, although four other
carriers are flying to Burma: Silk Air, Myanmar Airways, Air
Mandalay and Thai Airways International. Myanmar Airways operates
only domestic flights with Air Mandalay concentrating on chartered
flights. 

 Although THAI and Myanmar Airways compete on the Bangkok-Rangoon
route, the company has no competitors on other routes from
Rangoon.(BP)   

************************************************************** 
REG.BURMA: HARDCOPY REQUESTS
Date: 28 Nov 1994 23:03:10

>To: Recipients of conference <reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: Hardcopy requests
>From: tun@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Coban Tun)
>
>Dear reader(s),
>
>I begun to receive request for hardcopy as far away as
>Au(stralia). At times, requests go way way back and I can't dig
>them out. Is there any archive sites on the net on Burma news?
>
>Ct


Yes, all Burma news is archived in a couple of different places. 
First, there is the soc.culture.burma archives which is sitting on
a machine in Thailand (NECTEC I believe).  Everything which has
been on the soc.culture.burma newsgroup since February 94 is there
and it is searchable by keyword using a WAIS-based search.  Give me
a couple of days to dig up the instructions on how to do this.  I
will start reposting them regularly because of the increasing
number of "can-you-send-me-everything-about-Burma-in-the-last
millenium-requests."  BurmaNet will make every effort to help
people find the information they are looking for but simply due to
time constraints, extremely broad requests are beyond BurmaNet's
resources to answer.  If you can first narrow your question or find
general information yourself using a search of the
soc.culture.burma archives, then your chances of getting an
intelligible answer to an information request goes way up.

For people who get their e-mail access through Peacenet, Greennet
or any of the APC networks, every Burma-related article since
January 1993 is sitting in the reg.burma newsgroup.  There are no
search tools available that I know of but if you know the date of
the article you are looking for, it is a good place to start.

Finally, for those of you interested in searching for information
about Burma, Burma Issues has developed a database of articles on
Burma which is far more extensive than anything else in existance. 
The  database is built on a FoxPro for Windows platform and is a
nice piece of work.  The two disadvantages of it are that it is not
reachable via the net (you have to install it on your home
computer) and it contains summaries of articles rather than the
full text.  If there is strong interest in this product, it may be 
possible to share it with people who have a research interest in
Burma.  Please contact BurmaNet if you might be interested in this
product and any further information on it will be posted in the
BurmaNet News.

   Strider



************************************************************** 
BI: STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

 B U R M A   I S S U E S       

Burma Issues is a private, non-profit organization devoted to
peaceful resolution of Burma's struggle for human rights and
democratic rule. Our organization is committed to the proinciples
of nonviolent resistance to social oppression. Originally called
the Burma Rights Movement for Action (B.U.R.M.A.), we were founded
in 1990 by a small group of concerned citizens of Burma and the
United States. 

Although Burma Issues focuses on the Burmaes people's suffering and
dissatisfaaction under Burma's present military regime, our
organization is essentially non-partisan. We do not advocate,
campaign for or represent any leader, political parties or
ideologies as solutions to Burma's civil strife. 

Instead, we advocate the use of an inclusive, transparent process
for addressing Burma's social problems, one that uses a democratic
philosophy to invite participation from all sectors of society.
Burma Issues pursues its vision of nonviolent resistance and
popular participation by: 

  1. advocatiog genuine respect for international human rights
standards on   all sides of Burma's conflicts, and 

  2. encouraging and supporting a nonviolent grassroots movement
for human   rights and social justice within Burma. 

Burma Issues does not see democracy as an end in itself, but as
presently the best possible means to achieve a greater end, that
being the elimination of human rights abuese , discrimination of
any race, religion or class, and full participation by all members
within the country. 

Peace is also not simply viewed as an end to the present physical
violence against various sectors of Burma's people which could
posssibly be achieved through cease fires, but rather as the
identification of the root cauese of war and conflict within the
country and solution to those root cauese which allow all parties
and groups to live in harmony and mutual respect and dignity. 

To reach these goals, Burma Isssues is committed to building a
long-term people-based movement which places a priority on
village-level wisdom, experience, culture and needs. We firmly
believe that such a movement must be started with the most marginal
of the country's people and thatn expanded to higher levels of
society until all are able to participate to their fullest ability
and capacity. The building of a truly just and peaceful society is
not a top-down process, but rather a movement from the grassroots
up. 

Therefore, Burma Issues concentrates on the building of a
grass-roots-based movement rather than reaching to the myriad
immediate problems facing the country. With limited personnel and
funds, we know that we can not deal effectively and efficiently
with every problem faacing Burma today. VArious other NGOs have
taken on the task of assisting refugees at the border, providing
council and aid to Burmaes students in Bangkok, helping exiles
resettle in third countries, etc. Knowing this, Burma Issues can
focus more specifically on the tasks of movement-building,
grassroots education , and community organizing. 

In oru efforts to realize this vision, we define and develop our
activities according to three basic categories: 

  1. Grassroots Organizing: Mobilizing under-represented people to
develop   the courage and confidence to express their concerns and
ideas, and to   participate effectively in th decision-making
processes which affect   their lives. 

  2. Information for Action: Supporting activities inside and
outside Burma   by supplying and helping to develop  information,
especially as it   relates to oppression, human rights and peace. 

  3. CAmpaigns for Peace: Advocating , publicizing and
participating in   international dialogue and action concerning
human fights and peace in   Burma. 

Each objectives relies heavily on the creative use of information,
and our projects reflect this focus. IN addition to ongoing
documentation and our monthly newsletter, we have undertaken a
variety of public education projects. 1993 saw the completion of a
cocumentary film on foreign investments and displaced people in
Burma, as well as the creation of a audio visual exhibition kit for
public education. We also produce and distribute special reports
analysing and exposing events, policies and issues of Burma's civil
war and social crisis. 

The same information and media focus found in our international
activities also characterizes our grassroots work. Training in
human rights information collecting, interpretation and reporting,
as well as photography and (on a very limited scale) videography
are methods we use to put the power of information directly into
the hands of people suffering under oppression. 

Burma Issues also designs its projects to be interdependent. Thus,
our BAngkok-based Burma documentation center relies in part on
materials developed by our trainees. The independent Karen
newspaper publishes human rights information developed by field
volunteers trained by our staff. Our adult literacy program uses
staff photographs to stimulate siscussion, and will eventually
encourage people to use literacy to record and share their own
experiences -- information which can be used at the grassroots and
international levels. 

Burma Issues solicits and receives contributions from a variety of
sources, including secular, religious, governmental and private
donors. The number and scope of the projects we underrtake is
partly limited by the amount of funding we receive. This
limitation, however, does not lessen our vision of helping all the
people of Burma, regardless of ethnic background, geographic
location or social status. It does, however, require our programs
to develop gradually. 

Burma Issues' human resources is the organization's most valuable
asset. We rely on the dedication of committed individuals, who
essentially work as volunteers -- both in our Bangkok office and
our various projects within Burma itself. For this reason, we try
only to take on new projects when we know we already have dedicated
volunteers to manage and implement them. In addition to funding,
this natural limitation to the number and scope of our projects
keeps our organization small. 

Burma Issues makes every effort to be an inclusive, conscientious
organization. We have no preferences or biases concerning either
the many ethnic groups within Burma or the variety of foreign
supporters for Burma's peace movement. 

Burma Issues' projects include: 

  1) A documentation center where a computerized data base is kept
of   documents releted to Burma. The documantation center is used
for research   by journalists, academics and Burma support groups. 

  2) A monthly news bulletin called "Burma Issues" which provides 
 information on politics, economics, human rights and civil war in
Burma   to a diverse international readership. 

  3) A literacy project to encourage village people to read and
write, to   become more aware of human rights, and to participate
more effectively in   decision- making processses. 

  4) A training program in human rights awareness and community
organizing   which focuses on village people who are the most
important participants   in changes which will bring a true and
long-lasting peace to Burma. 



 
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NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 AW: ASIAWEEK
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt.=US$1 (APPROX), 
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
 BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
 CPPSM: C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND 
 FEER: FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW
 IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 JIR: JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
 KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
 Kt. BURMESE KYAT; 150 KYAT=US$1 BLACK MARKET
                   100 KYAT=US$1 SEMI-OFFICIAL
                   6 KYAT=US$1 OFFICIAL
 MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-OWNED NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
 S.C.B.:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP 
 S.C.T.:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
 SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
 USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
 XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY 
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