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BurmaNet News: January 27, 1995
- Subject: BurmaNet News: January 27, 1995
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 20:09:00
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Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 20:09:17 -0800
************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: Friday, January 27, 1995
Issue #101
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Contents:
*****************KAREN STATE/KOWTHOOLEI***********************
NATION: BURMESE BORDER FIGHTING INTENSIFIES
BKK POST: KAREN FLEE TO THAILAND AS BURMESE ARMY CLOSES IN
*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
BKK POST: LATE NEWS--SON OF BA MAW SURRENDERS
**************************SHAN STATE**************************
BURMANET: AKHA HERITAGE FOUNDATION
BURMANET: LETTER--NORTH TO KENGTUNG
***************************THAILAND***************************
BKK POST: PROSECUTORS TO RECOMMEND EXTRADITION [OF THAI DRUG MP]
****************************REGION****************************
BURMANET: LETTER CONCERING CARTER CENTER STATEMENT
***********************VISIT MYANMAR 96***********************
COLUMBUS DISPATCH: ATROCITIES MAKE BURMA BAD PLACE TO
VACATION
**************************************************************
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*****************KAREN STATE/KOWTHOOLEI***********************
NATION: BURMESE BORDER FIGHTING INTENSIFIES
26 January 1995
Army rangers and border patrol police have been moved in to the
northern provinces of Mae Hong Son and Tak to reinforce a long
stretch of the Thai-Burmese border and deter any
spillover fighting from a massive offensive by Burmese Army
troops against the head-quarters of Karen guerrillas.
The presence of military and police units, whose strength
senior Thai authorities have refused to disclose, is aimed at
deterring any territorial transgression as a result of the
fighting which has been continuing since Jan 20.
The offensive has forced large numbers, estimated in the
thousands, ofKaren refugees across the Moei and Salween rivers
into Thailand.The officials said Thai forces will not get
involved in the conflict but will disarm any troops crossing into
the kingdom.
Karen and dissident Burmese students sources yesterday
described the Burmese military operation as "very heavy" and the
situation as "very tense and very serious."
The sources said at least nine Burmese battalions numbering
2,700-3,600 troops are being deployed. The KNU headquarters on
the banks of the Moei River is being defended by some 1,000
ethnic Karen troops.
Burmese government units are trying to cut off the KNU
Manerplaw headquarter's communications and transport links by
blocking access to the town.
As of yesterday, the Burmese Army continued its artillery
bombardment and ground-level attacks on the Karen headquarters
and frontline outposts.
According to Karen and students sources, three battalions from
the Burmese Army's 44th Light Infantry Division were yesterday
engaged in an all out offensive, shelling positions in
Manerplaw from the frontline at Nawta, some 30 km to the
South. They added that more troops and war meteriel - some 100
trucks and 50 tanks - have been moved into the area from the
strategic Burmese town of Tingannyinaung.
Advancing from the North, three battalions from the Burmese 66th
Light Infantry Division have combined with a group of about 50
KNU mutineers to launch an attacks on Haw Ma Daw, some 10 km from
the Salween River. The sources said the Burmese are trying to
capture They Law Tha on the Salween, and Tu Mae Tha located on
the confluences of the Moei and Salween rivers, in order to gain
control off all transport and communications links to Manerplaw,
some 20 km to the south. On the western front, troops from the
Burmese 33rd Light Infantry Division are positioned on Sleeping
Dog Hill and shelling Manerplaw, some 15 km away.
The sources said that on Jan 24 at least two companies of
about 150 troops managed to cross the Salween River to the KNU
frontlines located near Naw Day Hill and White Elephant Hill,
only seven km from Manerplaw.
However the Burmese troops have been completely surrounded by
Karen forces, the sources added. (TN)
*****************KAREN STATE/KOWTHOOLEI***********************
BKK POST: KAREN FLEE TO THAILAND AS BURMESE ARMY CLOSES IN
26 January 1995
Several thousand karen civilians from Burma have fled to
Thailand as Rangoon government forces closed in on the
minority group's guerrilla headquarters and Thai military
sources said yesterday.
A Thai officer monitoring the situation said Burmese
government troops were continuing a heavy artillery
bombardment of Karen positions around their Manerplaw
headquarters.
Burmese troops have cross the Salween River, Manerplaw's last
major line of defence to the west,and fighting was taking
place along a ridgeline above the rebel headquarters, a senior
guerrilla sources said.
Government forces had also made significant advances from both
the south and the north towards the Karen National Union
(KNU)headquarters, the sources said.
More than 2,000 civilians and wounded guerrillas have crossed the
border River Moei to Thailand last week when Burmese
troops began what may be their final push on Manerplaw.
"The situation is getting bad. We have been forced to relocate a
field hospital to the Thai side of the river," said a karen
guerrilla source who asked not to be identified.
The KNU, in a statement dated Tuesday, confirmed that the
government troops had attacked and seized important positions
around their headquarters.
"The military situations to become more tense...In recent days
the Slorc troops have occupied key positions along the Salween
River," the KNU said, referring to the Rangoon junta.
The KNU is the strongest guerrilla army still fighting the
Burmese government for greater autonomy.
As well as the headquarters of the KNU, which has been
fighting since 1949, Manerplaw is also headquarters for an
opposition alliance grouping other autonomy-seeking minority
groups and democracy-seeking guerrillas from the majority
Burman community.
There has been sporadic fighting in the area since the middle of
December when Burmese troops, taking advantage of an
unprecedented mutiny within the KNU, launched what were then the
heaviest attacks on the guerrillas in more than two years. One
guerrilla source said yesterday that some of the Karen mutineers
had joined Burmese government forces and were
guiding them through the rugged ridgelines and valleys towards
Manerplaw.
Preliminary moves to open ceasefire negotiations between the KNU
and the Slorc were under way last year but became bogged down
over agreeing on a venue for the talks. (BP)
*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
BKK POST: LATE NEWS--SON OF BA MAW SURRENDERS
26 January
A leading self-exiled Burmese dissident has surrendered to the
military regime in Rangoon, state-run Radio Rangoon reported in a
dispatch monitored here yesterday.
Zarli Maw, the vice chairman of anti-government organisation, the
Alliance for Democratic Solidarity Union of Burma, gave himself
up to military authorities on January 13, the radio said.
Maw, son of Burma's former head of state Ba Maw, 'went
underground for the first in 1965. (BP)
************************SHAN STATE/AKHA***********************
BURMANET: AKHA HERITAGE FOUNDATION
January 27, 1995
The following appeal was sent by Richard A. Crooker:
<crooker@xxxxxxxxxxxx>.
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995
Subject: Akha Heritage Foundation
I returned from Mae Sai, where I met a very sincere fellow who is
trying to help improve living conditions in the Akha villages of
the Thailand-Burma border region. His name is Matthew McDaniel.
He has established the Akha Heritage Foundation. He wants to
extend his operation to more villages, particularly in Burma. As
readers of BurmaNet News are aware, these villages are among the
poorest villages of the border region. Mr. McDaniel seeks
donations of medicine and medical supplies, as well as financial
contributors.
He has provided the following information: "At present there is a
need to get into as many villages as possible and establish a
medical contact with these people, supplying them with the basic
things that they are in need of for life preservation. I have
listed below some of the major illnesses encountered, but the
actual need is complex and large."
"The first need the villagers have is to know that someone is
working on their behalf. My work requires that I enter the
villages with medical supplies as often as possible. Secondly, a
lot of ailments require lab support, so it is inefficient for me
to travel to a series a villages, return to a central lab, then
go back to my patients with the necessary medicines. As Akha
villages are spread over a vast region, I accrue relatively high
transport and travel expenses."
Mr. McDaniel's list of needed medicine and medical supplies are
for the following illnesses: malaria, TB, head lice, sexually
trnsmitted diseases other than HIV, eye injuires and infections,
dysentery, typhoid, scabies, ear infections, fungus infections
and tooth abscesses. His list of equipment needs is extensive,
but his immediate needs include an infant incubator and monitor,
a culture incubator, a centrifuge, an auto clave, a system for
preparing vacuum tubes for taking blood samples, a sterilizer for
boiling hand instruments, and a portable battery-operated fetal
doppler.
I spoke with Mr. McDaniels at length and visited his office. He
seems sincere and could certainly use some assistance. If you are
interested, if you know someone who might be interested, or if
you can provide him with some ideas regarding fund-raising,
please contact him at The Akha Heritage Foundation, c/o PO Box
40, Maesai, Chiangrai, Thailand 57130 (FAX 66-53-733-055).
*****
BurmaNet adds:
I've recently had discussions with Claes Bratt, a Swedish
journalist who has just completed a short film on the Akha.
Bratt's story bears out Mr. McDaniel's assessment of the needs in
the Akha area. According to Bratt, the Akha look set to become
the first ethnic group in history to become extinct because of
the AIDS virus. It isn't that they will all die of AIDS, but the
HIV-positive rates are so high that there will not be enough of
them alive in a few years to constitute a distinct human culture.
The reasons they are getting hit so hard by AIDS are threefold.
First, they are on the edge of the Golden Triangle and for years,
most of the world's heroin has gone by or through their villages.
Use of I.V. drugs is epidemic and they are extremely poor, which
leads to further problems of lack of education and inability to
afford clean needles. The second factor is that relatively large
numbers of young Akha women are drawn into, or sold into,
Thailand's sex trade. These women work in brothels downcountry
and then return to their villages. Among the Akha, promiscuity
seems to be culturally accepted, which also serves to accelerate
the spread of the disease.
**************************SHAN STATE**************************
BURMANET: LETTER--NORTH TO KENGTUNG
January 27, 1995
Richard Crooker has asked that the following message be forwarded
to BurmaNet readers:
>From crooker@xxxxxxxxxxxx Thu Jan 26 13:52:23 1995
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 16:48:49 -0500 (EST)
Subject: North to Kengtung
To: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
I recently travelled to Kengtung via the Mae Sai-Kengtung road.
My guide was excellent, and I highly recommend him. His name and
the necessary contact information are as follows:
Joe Esparzo, King Kobra Maesai Guest House, 135/5 Sailom Joi Rd.,
Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, Thailand 57130. Telephone/FAX 66-53-733055.
I plan to return to the Kengtung area during my fall semester
sabbatical. Contact me <crooker@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, if you are
interested in conducting a joint travel\research experience. I
will also gladly share insights regarding travel in this part of
Burma.
***************************THAILAND***************************
BKK POST: PROSECUTORS TO RECOMMEND EXTRADITION [OF THAI DRUG MP]
26 January 1995
The office of the Supreme Attorney-General will tomorrow ask the
Criminal Court to order former Chart Thai MP for Nakhon Phanon
Thanong Siripreechapong extradited to the United States to stand
trial on drug charges.
Chaikasem Nitisiri, special prosecutor assisting the Interna-
tional Cooperation Division, said a working group under his
chairmanship has finished examination of evidence provided by the
US and will recommend the extradition.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration last year subsmitted a
request through the Foreign Ministry for Thailand to extradite Mr
Thanong to stand trial on charges of smuggling 49 tons of
marijuana there between 1977-1987.
The Government decided to ask the Office of the Supreme Attor-
ney-General to consider the US request and empowered it to
recommend whether to extradite Mr Thanong. The courts would have
the final say.
Mr Chaikasem said his working group had examined the US
indictment against Mr Thanong and an arrest warrant. It found Mr
Thanong's alleged offences involved the Thai courts and were
committed in both Thailand and the US.
It also said the case was not political.
Mr Chikasem said the court will also be asked to issue a war-
rant to arrest Mr Thanong.
If found guilty,Mr Thanong faces life imprisonment under US law,
he said. If the court ordered the extradition, Mr Thanong would
be sent to a US court in California, he added.
"ON receiving our request, the court may or may not conduct an
examination of the request before issuing an arrest warrant. It
depends on the court to decided whether or not to extradite Mr
Thanong," mr Chaikasem said.
In a separate case, the International Cooperation Division of the
Office of the Supreme Attorney-General asked the Criminal Court
to order 10 alleged lieutenants to the US.
The 10, arrest in November in separate raids in Bangkok,
Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son, are among 20 suspects
the US has asked Thailand to arrest and extradite under an
extradition treaty.
Mrs Piyaphan Udomsilpa of the International Cooperation
division said her office had examined the US indictments
against the 10 and decided to recommend their extradition. The
court set January 30 for examination of the case. (BP)
****************************REGION****************************
BURMANET: LETTER CONCERING CARTER CENTER STATEMENT
January 27, 1995
BurmaNet received the following letter in response to the
statement from the Carter Center on the continued detention of
Aung San Suu Kyi:
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 95 14:35:52 -0800
To: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Carter Center Statement on Aung San Suu Kyi
DEAR SIR,
HOW ABOUT LAOS ? MY FATHER WAS POLITICAL PRISONNER WHEN THE
LAOS'COMMUNIST TOOK OVER. HE WAS IN PRISON AT VIENG-XAY SAM-NEUA.
MY BROTHER LT.GENERAL CHAOSINH SAYSANA 2ND IN COMMAND OF THE
FIRST MILITARY REGION (NORTH OF LAOS) IS STILL HELD PROSONER IN
SECRET DEAD CAMP OF LAOS'COMMUNIST. HAVE YOU FORGOT THIS AREA,
ANY COMMENT PLEASE.
THANK YOU
CHAOSINH SAYSANOM
sayc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*******
In reply
*******
Sir,
BurmaNet was created to gather and distribute information about
Burma. Laos is another mostly forgotten human rights basket case
but BurmaNet doesn't have the resources to address more than one
country at a time. Perhaps after democracy is reestablished in
Burma, BurmaNet can change to LaosNet. In the meantime, there is
no monopoly on the BurmaNet model. Perhaps you could seek out
like-minded people on the Internet and begin sharing information
on Laos with them?. If you decide to do this, BurmaNet would be
happy to share our experiences with setting up such a project.
Regards,
Strider
***********************VISIT MYANMAR 96***********************
COLUMBUS DISPATCH: ATROCITIES MAKE BURMA BAD PLACE TO
VACATION
Columbus, Ohio USA
January 22, 1995
Editorial and Comment
I appreciate The Dispatch running the Jan. 8 article on tourism
in Burma in the face of a military dictatorship.
The sad reality is that many of the world's governments brutally
oppress their citizens and ravage the environment. Indeed, Burma
is no exotic vacationland for the adventurous, upscale traveler.
It is a land of unspeakable atrocities.
Perhaps some day humans everywhere will stop abusing each other.
Perhaps, some day, those of us who are not oppressed will do more
to look out for those who are.
Even if we do not ever completely eradicate misery and blight,
however, then if nothing else, we must at least recognize that
the site of human suffering should not serve as a playground for
the privileged.
Andrew M. Kercher
Westerville Social Action
Columbus
**************************************************************
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AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AW: ASIAWEEK
AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt.3 DUS$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 EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
JIR: JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
Kt. BURMESE KYAT; 150 KYAT3DUS$1 BLACK MARKET
100 KYAT3DUS$1 SEMI-OFFICIAL
6 KYAT3DUS$1 OFFICIAL
MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
R.T.A.:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
S.C.B.:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
S.C.T.:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
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