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BurmaNet News 1st April
**************************BurmaNet***************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News:29 March 1995
Issue #134
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NOTED IN PASSING:
Contents:
***********************IRRAWADDY*************************
*************************THAILAND************************
BKK POST: UNOCAL CONDEMNS BURMA ARMY VIOLENCE TO DEFEND GAS
PIPELINE
BKK POST: NEPO: REROUTING BURMA GAS PIPELINE IMPRACTICAL
*************************KAREN*****************************
THE NATION:KAREN GUERRILLA LEADER CALLS HALT TO MILITARY
OPERATIONS
THE NATION:A HOLIDAY IN HELL
***********************INSIDE BURMA*************************
BKK POST: BURMA HINTS AT JULY RELEASE FOR SUU KYI
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BURMA HINTS AT JULY RELEASE FOR SUU KYI
29 JULY 1995
A Senior Burmese official said yesterday the military government
would not hold Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under
house arrest permanently, and hinted she might be released by July.
Colonel Kyaw Win, a member of the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc) information committee, would not give a
specific date for Suu Kyi's release but did not deny it might be in
July, as apparently stipulated in Burmese law. "It is not the
intention of the Myanmar (Burmese) government to retrain her
permanently," Kyaw Wiin, who is also deputy director of the
directorate of Defence Services Intelligence, told a rare news
conference with foreign journalists.
"I understand that she will be released in accordance with the law,
but I do not know when this will occur." When pressed by a journalist
who said he understood the Burmese law to mean Suu Kyi should be
released by July, Kyaw Win answered: "My understanding is the as same
as yours, that is to say she will be released in accordance with what
is stipulated by the law".
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the architect of Burma's independence from
Britain, General Aung San, has been detained in her Rangoon home
since July 1989 for "endangering the state". The previous year she
had emerged as the hungely popular leader of a pro-democracy uprising
which was finally put down when the military killed and imprisoned
thousands.
According to Burmese law, a person can only be held under house
arrest for five years. But Kyaw Win said last year that Suu Kyi's
first year in detention was an "arrest period" and her term did not
begin until July 1990.
Despite two highly publicised meetings with t Slorc officials late
last year, she has not been released. Kyaw Win said yester- day she
has not made any renewed requests for further talks. "Any time she
wishes to have talks a request can be made," he said.
Suu Kyi said through a message delived by her husband in January that
she would not make any secret deals with the Slorc to secure her
freedom and wanted to consult her political colleagues. Burma has
been under intense international pressure to release Suu Kyi, who was
awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1991.Rangoon-based diplomats said
they do not expect to see her re- leased any time soon, despite
recent romours that she might be set free as a gesture to mark
Burma's 50th Armed Forces Day on Monday.
After a visit to Burma earlier this year, then Thai foreign min-
ister Thaksin Shinawatra said Slorc officials told him Suu Kyi would
not be released until the government had writen its new constitution.
A new plenary session of the constitutional convention, which began
its task in January 1993, will begin in Rangoon today. Diplomats and
other observers say, judging by the peace of the proceedings so far,
they do not expect to see a conclusion in the near future. (BP)
UNOCAL CONDEMNS BURMA ARMY VIOLENCE TO DEFEND GAS PIPELINE
Unocal which is involved in the project to supply natural gas from
Burma to Thailand yeasterday condemned the violence being perpetrated
against innocent villagers in the gas pipeline zone. According to a
statement released by the Burma Forum in Los An- geles yesterday, an
official of Unocal said "We deplore the kill- ing of innocent people"
when questioned about Burmese army vio- lence to safeguard its
proposed $1 billion gas pipeline. The statement was made by Barry
Lane, public relations manager of Unocal, at a demonstration outside
the company's Los Angeles headquarters on Tuesday where the firm's
board of directors were meeting.
In January, Unocal President John Imle warned there would be violevt
retaliation against anyone who tried to stop the project. Mr Imle
said: "If you threaten the pipeline there's gonna be more military.
If forced labour goes hand and glove with the military, yes, there
will be more forced labour; for every threat to the pipeline there
will be a reaction."
Thai and Burmese officials singed an agreement in September last year
under which Burma for the first time would pump natural gas to its
neighbour from its huge Yadana field in the Gulf of Marta-ban via a
controversial pipeline.
Burmese Energy Minister Khin Maung Thein and Industry Minister Sanan
Kachornprasart signed the basic agreement, while represen- tatives of
the French oil company Total and its US partner Unocal signed a
memorandum of understanding to operate the system for 30 years.
The gas will start flowing through the 260-kilometre (150-mile)
pipeline, which crosses the narrowest part of the southern Bur- mese
panhandle, when it is completed in mid-1998.
Un Special Repporteur Yozo Yokota of Japan, reporting on condi- tions
in Burma, said in February that "forced labour, forced relocation,
arbitrary killings, beatings, rapes and confiscation of property by
the Slorc are most commonly occurring in the bor- der areas where the
Army is engaged in military operations or regional development
projects."
US State Department Burma Desk Officer John Lyle reports that
"repeated, unquestionable accurate reports of human reports ofhuman
rights violations" come from southern Burma where the Unoc- al
pipeline is located. Activists, including Nobel Peace laureates
Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams, have been calling for an
anti-violence statement from Unocal for several weeks.
"Unless fundamental changes occur in the way this project is being
implemented, people in the pipeline area will continue to be
victimised and brutalised, and Unocal will have to accept its share
of responsibility", said Maguire on Monday. "Today Unocal took the
first atep towards accepting that."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Southeast Asian Information
Network said that while it welcomes the (late) admission from Unocal
that Slorc forces are involved in the killing of innocent people, the
fact remains that their continued involvoment in a billion dollar
joint project with the Burmese military is nothing less than
collaboration with an outlaw regime. Said Faith Doherty: "To admit
that one's business partner is involved in systematic human rights
abuses is laudable, to con- tinue such a partnership is criminal."
In a related report earlier this month, the State Department
threatened to downgrade relations with Burma due to a lack of
progress on democratication, human rights and narcotics suppres-
sion.
The US has refused to appoint an ambassador to Burma since the
Burmese military massacred thousands of unarmed pro-democracy
demonstrators in 1988. (BP)
NEPO: REROUTING BURMA GAS PIPELINE IMPRACTICAL
Any plan to reroute Burma's Yadana gas pipeline throuth southern
Thailand to bypass the rebel-controlled area opposite Kanchanaburi
would make Burmese gas prices uncompetitive, a senior Thai energy
planner says.
Dr Piyasvasti Amrranand, secretary-general of the National Energy
Policy Office, told a conference yesterday that new pipeline routes
had been suggested after five members of a pipeline survey team were
recently killed by armed attackers. The attack took place in
sutheastern Burma where ethnic Karen and Mon guerrillas have
repeatedly threatened to obstruct and destroy the pipeline which will
transport gas from Burma's largest known gas field, some 320 km south
of Rangoon in the Gulf of Martaban, to Thailand.
"We should allow the Burmese Government time to solve this secu rity
problem by itself," Dr Piyasvasti said. the pipeline on the Burmese
side is the responsibility of the
Yadana production-sharing contractors and the Burmese military junta.
The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) buys the gas at the
Kanchanaburi border. Dr Piyasvasti said since Thailand had already
struck a deal to import the gas from the pipeline route through the
troubled area, it should stick to the agreement. Moving the route
south would mean the two countries would have to renegotiate the
deal, he warned.
The present contract establishes penalties if the Yadana gas
developers nd Burma fail to deliver the gas to Thailand at the volume
and in the timeframe spelt out in the gas sale accord. Dr piyavasti
said the penalty called for compensation equivalent to the price of
fuel oil.
The prodiction-sharing contractors _ Total of France, Unocal of the
US and PTT Exploration & Production - are obliged to delivery 130
million cubic feet of natural gas per day to the PTT by mid- 1998.
That volume will be increased to more than 525 million cubic feet per
day in the 15 months thereafter. He said the security concerns of
laying the pipeline through the rebel-controlled areas, a stretch of
about 40km, were dealt with by the Thai and Burmese sides during the
negotiations. (BP)
KAREN GUERRILLA LEADER CALLS HALT TO MILITARY OPERATIONS
Mae Sai, Chiang Rai - Karen guerrilla leader Gen Bo Mya has or dered
his frontline troops to cease all military operations against the
Burmese Army, except in cases of self-defence. The unilateral
ceasefire order, which was issued on March 24 by Bo Mya, as defence
minister of the Karen National Union (KNU), became effective the next
day and was meant to test the Burmese junta's reaction as to whether
both sides could enter into a peace dialogue.
KNU officials said in separate interviews yesterday that the
unilateral ceasefire would take effect in all KNU-controlled
territory, including the 4th and 6th brigades, the border strip along
the coastal Tenessarim peninsula. The officials, who asked not be
named, said the order came from Bo Mya, who stepped down about two
weeks ago as KNU commander- in-chief. Although Bo Myahas been
replaced by Lt Gen Tamalabaw, he still holds the defence minister's
post and the KNU presiden cy.
The order instructed all KNU troops not to launch any military
operations or attacks against Burmese Military outposts", said one
official.
The KNU forces, however, "can defend themselves if their military
positions are compromised", he added.
The official said the ceasefire was to test the reaction and response
of the Burmesejunta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (Slorc), towards the KNU initiative and whet her both sides
could engage in peace talks. Accusing the KNU of being intransigent
towards peace negotia tions, Slorc had in December broken its
unilateral ceasefire against the ethnic guerrillas and launched
massive military at tacks which resulted in the capture of the KNU
headquarters at Manerplaw and Kawmoora, another strategic stronghold.
Slorc, which was accused of creating a split within the KNU, which
resulted in the birth of a breakaway buddhist karen fac tion, has
defied the guerrillas and an international outcry against its
operations and said it was determined to wipe out the KNU by force.
KNU officials said his group has never rejected the idea of peace
talks and that it was Slorc which had curtailed the first meet ing,
scheduled for late last year, by starting the offensive against
Manerplaw.
The officials said the KNU and Gen Bo Mya welcomed the offer of Thai
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai to mediate peace talks between the two
sides.
Meanwhile, the recent attacks by Burmese troops against karen rebels
have affected tourism and car rental businesses along the
Thai-Burmese border in the province. Wirun Khamphilai, managing
director of Northern Star Group Ltd, said yesterday the company has
indefinitely cancelled its tour programmes to Chiang Tung and Chiang
Rung due to the fighting. But he believed business would return to
normal soon. He said if the fighting continued, the joint economic
cooperation between Thailand, Laos, Butma and China would be greatly
affect ed.
Narong Iamsa-art, assistant manager of Fareast North Tour, said car
rentals in the province have been aversely affected by the continuous
conflict. He said most tour companies had encouraged tourists to
avoidtravelling to the province due to concern for their safety. He
expected the situation to be back to normal within two or three
months. (TN)
A holiday in hell
29 March 1995
Following the fall of the Karen National Union's stronghold Mane
rplaw last January, an "outrage observer" expressed in a letter tThe
Nation, what many felt: "The tragedy is not confined to the karen
National Union but also to all who have been duped into believing
that the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slor c) had a
humanface. Goodbye to 'constructive engagement,' goodbye to Aung San
Suu Kyi' release. Forget 'Visit Burma year'!" Apart from having
hastily entered joint ventures with multina tional corporations for
the extraction and sale of abundant natu ral resources such as oil,
natural gas, minerals, gems and tim ber, Slorc has launched an
aggressive public relations campaign to promote 1996 as the "Visit
Myanmar Year" (Myanmar is the new name Slorc has given the country),
aiming to attract one million tourists that year.
Despite lacking even the most basic tourist infrastructure in the
country, Slorc's Minister of Hotels and Tourism Lt Gen Hyaw Ba
presented some fantastic ideas, including the promotion of is
land-hopping, golfing and even skiing holidays. Among other pro
jects, he announced plans to build a full-fledged ski resort at the
Khahabo Razi mountain in Northern Kachin State near the Chi nese
border which is more than 5,800 metres high and snow-capped all year
round.
Lt Gen Kyaw Ba is also Vice chairman of the so-called Development
Management committee, comprising members of 11 ministries and set up
to develop infrastructure and facilitate visit by government guests
as well as foreign investors. "We want them to come and see for
themselves the vast investment opportunities in Myanmar," he said in
an interview with the Hotel & Travel International Magazine.
Encouraged by the controversial "constructive engagement" poli cies
of the Asean states, and the increasing willingness of the US,
Japanese governments and the European Community to abandon their
hitherto hard line of human rights condemnation in favour of a
"critical dialogue" with Slorc, private foreign investors have rushed
to strike up business deals in Burma. In terms of tourism, companies
from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong have been the most
active.
One of the first large tourism schemes announced was the Golden
Paradise Resort by the Thai PP Group on 320 hectares of land in the
Golden Triangle. This project under construction includes a luxury
500-room hotel, a casino a golf course, a shopping centre and a
sanatorium. The Hong Kong-based New World group, in cooper ation with
the Myanmar Hotel International Ltd, has completed the renovation of
the legendary Strand Hotel, apart from operating two other hotels in
Rangoon. the Bayoke hotel Group, run by for mer Burmese national
Robert Thien Phe now living in Thailand, manages two hotels in the
capital and has proposed to build more hotels in Pagan, Mandalay,
Inle Lake and on the Andama coast. Another Thai company, the Central
Plaza Group, opened a four-star Floating hotel in Rangoon last year.
International hotel chains such as Sofitel, Novotel and Shangri-La
are also now represented in the Burmese capital.
In addition foreign developers are planning to establish a number of
resorts, including casinos golf courses, along the coastline and on
islands in the Andaman Sea, which will be easily accessible by
cruising and yachting tourists from Ranong and Phuket in Thailand,
Langkawi and Penang in Malaysia and Singapore.
Burmese pro-democracy groups and international human rights advo
cates are generally opposed to foreign investments, arguing that the
profits from these deals go to military-sponsored business, whereas
common people benefit little, if at all. They also warn that each
dollar spent by a tourist represents additional money for Slorc to
sustain its suppression apparatus and military oper ations against
ethnic resistance groups.
In an interview with the nation in February 1994, a Rangoon Uni
versity student noted, " What we demand is a free democratic country
but what Slorc is giving us instead is Karaoke, night clubs, floating
hotels, sports races and road construction." The doors have been
flung wide open for both business and leisure travellers. Whereas
foreigners, entry was formerly permitted only via flights to
Rangoon, new air routes have been opened to Pagan and Mandalay, and
tourists are now allowed to travel overland from Thailand to certain
places such as Bamaw in Kachin State, Lashio and Kengtung in the Shan
State and three Pagoda Pass in Kayin State.
In April 1994, the Minister fro Forestry Lt Gen Chit Shwe report edly
toured central Burma with representatives of the US enter prise Lost
Frontier and Tribal and Ethnic Tours to investigate the prospects of
"eco-tourism". The Minister for Transport Lt Gen Thein Win was quoted
in the Burmese daily The New Light of Myanm ar on October 10 as
saying: "We have every hope that the tourists will view our culture,
history and rich natural resources and beauty of our land...and when
they leave they will have happy life-long memories of the country and
its people."
Contrary to these enthusiastic views, evidence is mounting that the
national tourism campaign has made life miserable for local people
Foreigners mostly visit the urban centres with their white-washed
landmarks and mushrooming entertainment facilities to comfort the
tourists. They rarely learn about the fate of hundreds of thousands
of residents who have been forcefully re moved from their homes in
Rangoon, Pagan and Mandalay, for exam ple.
In 1989, the eviction of the entire population of Pagan caused an
uproar. Some 10,000 people had to move to an arid area without
adequate water supplies because Slorc had decided to turn the ancient
town into a "history park" for tourism purposes. Shortly after the
announcement of "Visit Burma Year 1996", the Rangoon mayor's office
ordered the planting of 30,000 trees and the demo lition of old and
"ugly" houses as part of a facelift for the capital.
Martin Smith, author of the book Burma: Insurgency and the Poli tics
of Ethnicity, reported that significant cultural buildings have been
replaced by Singaporean and Thai-backed skyscraper hotels. "Many
monks and community leaders privately complain that the historic
shape of Rangoon is being irrevocably changed with out any
consultation with the local people," he said. "Nervous residents are
also fearful that they could be next to lose their homes and be
forced to join the over 200,000 citizens already relocated from
Rangoon sinceged into slave labour on highways, railways and tourist
attractions. The film showed, for example, scenes of unpaid labourers
working on the 180-km long Ye-Tavoy railway route and the Bassein
Airport where working conditions have reportedly been so inhumane
that workers have contracted diseases such as cholera.
These construction works are among the projects mentioned in a report
on human rights abuses in Burma which have been presented to the
United Nations. The BBC correspondent commented: "Giant schemes like
this are found throughout the country turning Burma into one vast
slave labour camp ... The government calls (the labour armies)
voluntary workers, yet every group is accompanied by a soldier with a
gun." She said the goal was to get travel facilities in shape for the
big tourist push in 1996.
The many indigenous people in Burma not only have to suffer from
sudden military attacks and being forced to serve as porters or
unpaid labourers, their culture, too, has come under attack. There
have been deliberate attempts to eliminate ethnic languages, culture
and traditions. One notable example was the destruction on the
Kengtung Royal Palace in the eastern Shan State by Burmese military
forces in 1993. The reason given for the demolition of the Shan
palace was that a five-star hotel was to be built in its place, but
there are no signs that this plan will ever be realized.
Moreover, women and human rights groups world-wide have condemned the
recruitment and trade of tens of thousands of women from Burma, many
of them from ethnic groups, for prostitution in Thailand, allegedly
facilitate by Burmese and Thai officials. In the context of the
"Visit Burma Year" campaign, the New light of Mnmar has repeatedly
published photos of ethnic women along with suggestive captions such
as "the Akha maidan awaits your visit" or "a Wa belle in her national
dress is as winsome as any other".
Burmese authorities have made tremendous public relations efforts to
palliate negative reports and instead attempt to project a clean and
beautiful image of Burma as the "Golden Land". By doing so, they have
received substantial help, particularly from the official and private
tourism sector in Thailand which is promoting trvel to Burma for its
own purposes.
At the forefront is the glossy hotel & Travel magazine, published by
Bangkok-based Magic Productions Co Ltd, which announced in the
editorial of its October 1994 issue: "it is especially for Myanmar
that Hotel & Travel Magazine functions as part of the official
publicity for the Hotel and Tourism Ministry of Myanmar, which is
just opening its doors to tourists, and what it has to offer to
tourists, Myanmar's Hotels and Tourism Ministry, in face, is
preparing for the "Visit Myanmar Year 996', and we will carry regular
reports of the efforts of the ministry to develop Myanmar to its full
potential as a tourist destination."
The Thailand Traveller magazine, a joint publication by the Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Thai Hotels Association (THA)
also highlighted the "positive changes" in Burma and the growth of
the tourist industry and reported on Rangoon: "It is easy to forget
that this is the Burma that has been subject of so much criticism for
its repressive, closed-door polices . . . There are smiles on all
faces; the ladies in lungis move gracefully."
A number of Thai and international organizations have become more
active in relation to Burmese tourism over the past year. For
instance, several universities in Thailand as well as the wild life
Fund Thailand (WFT) have organized so-called research or cultural
tours to the country. A former student activist in Bangkok, who
requested not to be named, told this writer: "It is quite disturbing
that even some [people] who participated in the 1970s and '80s in the
struggle for more democracy in Thailand now go on tours to Burma,
apparently with little thought for the plight of our neighbours."
Peter Holden on the Thailand-based Ecumencial Coalition of Third Word
Tourism (ECTWT) stated after a short visit to Rangoon in Contours of
March 1994 that "the total political scene in Burma has changed"
since 1988 and stated: "Now is a good time for the Ecumencial
coalition to work with local people (in Burma) in seeking to respond
to what could be a continuing trend," meaning tourism.
Holding the view that Burma is still a repressive military
dictatorship, Burmese opposition groups and human rights activists
however warn that any activities by outsiders will probably be
closely watched by Slorc's extensive military intelligence network
and any communication with Burmese people, considered as critical to
Slorc and the State, might endanger locals' well-being and lives.
Deees, which restrict contacts between Burmese citizens and
foreigners, continue to exist.
In cooperation with the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission
(AHRC), Burma Issues in Bangkok and other support groups from the US
in particular, have been campaigning for a ban on economic
investments, including tourism, to increase the pressure for justice
and peace in Burma.
Since 1992, the European-Burmese Association, based in Hamburg,
Germany, has distributed information brochures "Myanmar - The Golden
Land?" in order to raise awareness on the problematic situation in
Burma among travellers and the public.
The Burmese Relief Center-Japan (BRCJ) last year launched a "Shoot
the Dictatorship" photo competition, asking travellers to Burma to
take pictures of anything that exposes what is "behind the
whitewash". Other international groups such as the UK-based Burma
action Group (Bag) joined this campaign.
Lately, calls for a tourism boycott have intensified. "In Burma,
misery does not love company. Come back when we're FREE!" says a BRCJ
leaflet which suggests "Don't Visit Myanmar year 1996". BAG has
launched a new booklet "Burma - the alter-native guide", including
reports on forced labour and forced relocations in relation to
Slorc's rigorous tourism promotion. It concludes, "You should not go
to Burma on holidays whilst Slorc continues to deny basic human
rights to its people," and urges those who still want to travel to be
especially sensitive to the realities of the country.
"The enthusiasm and perception of great changes in Myanmar made by
visitors miss the point that with the dollars received from direct
foreign investment and tourists, 'the happy junta' has been getting
away with arrest, murder, rape, torture, and forced labour as
documented by the US, the UN, Amnesty International and other human
rights groups, and continues to avert international sanctions," said
Mya Maung, a professor of finance at Botson College in a Nation
article in January. he added: "With the supply of arms from China, it
has successfully and systematically subdued most pro-democracy forces
in central Burma and at the borders. Presently, the Burmese army is
mounting an assault to wipe out the last remnants of pro-democracy
rebels, the Karen, Mon and student rebels at the Thai-Burmese
border".
It is interesting to note that it was the Tourism Minister Lt Gen
Kyaw Ba who immediately after the fall of the KNU Manerplaw
headquarters was quoted in the press, announcing this successful
capture and the forthcoming take-over of the second KNU stronghold,
Kawmoora. (Kawmoora actually fell on 21 February). This has given
rise to the sarcastic question whether the Hotels and Tourism
Ministry has turned into a "tourism and war" ministry.
So what exactly does the military regime expect to gain by the launch
of "Visit Burma Year": the hearts and souls of the people, or savaged
and empty lands for foreign developers to put in hotels, casinos and
golf course?
Anti Pleumarom is an independent writer resercher who focuses on
tourism, development and enveironment issues. (TN)
*************************************************************
The BurmaNet News:31 March 1995
Issue #136
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTED IN PASSING:
Contents:
********************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI********************
*************************MON STATE/***************************
BPP POST: BURMA BANS MUSLIM MEETINGS
***************************INSIDEBURMA************************
THE NATION: AFTER 10 YEARS IN INSEIN, RELEASED TO AN IMPRISONED
LAND
****************************THAILNAD**************************
BPP POST: THAIS, BURMESE TO SURVEY MOEI RIVER, HILL 491
BKK POST: 38 KARENS ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY IN NORTH
BKK POST :BORDER BATTLE MAY AFFECT THAI VILLAGERS
BKK POST :SUPACHAI TO HOLD REGIONAL TALKS
**************************************************************
THAIS, BURMESE TO SURVEY MOEI RIVER, HILL 491
31 March 1995
Thailand and Burma agreed to start sending technical teams to survey
Hill 491 in Chumphon, the Moei River and three islands in Ranong,
Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday. They also
agreed to repair border makers on the Mae Sai-Nam Ruak rivers damaged
by water currents.
Mr Surin yesterday attended the second meeting of the Thai-Burmese
Joint Border Committee of which he is co-chairman with his Burmese
counterpart, Nyunt Swe.
Both technical teams are expected to begin operations on Hill 491 and
to repair makers on the Mae Sai-Nam Ruak rivers in Chiang Rai this
year, a senior Foreign Ministry source said. Disputes over Hill 491
in Chumphon's Tha Sae District erupted in December, 1992 after Burma
sent troops to seize the strategic point.
Burmese soldiers later agreed to withdraw from Hill 491. Both sides
have agreed to demarcate this border area as soon as possible.
The 492 makers in the Mae Sai-Nam Ruak rivers, meanwhile, were
jointly erected by Thailand and Burma in 1991. Strong currents,
however, have damaged the makers and now only 70 are in good
condition.
In his opening speech, Mr Surin called on both countries to have
confidence in settling any conflict before it develops into
confrontation.
"I must admit that trying to achieve resolutions which are acceptable
to either side on any border issues is not easy since both parties
have to protect their national interests," Mr Surin said.
U Nyunt Swe said the two countries agreed at the first meeting of the
JBC in Rangoon in February, 1993, to jointly survey and demarcate the
entire common border. "The task will be successful and results will
benefit people of both countries," he said.
Mr Surin said both technical teams would also survey the Moei River
to settle problems concerning changes of the river's course.
The Moei River, which is nearly 400 kilometres long, changed course
during the rainy season last September. That caused Thailand to lose
about 400 rai of its land. During the meeting, the Thai side
exchanged a historical ducument on three islands_Larm, Kan and Kinok
in the southern province of Ranong Province, with Burma. The source
said Burma has sent its document on the three islands to Thailand
since 1985. Each country is claiming the three islands. The JBC
agreed both sides would work together in settling the legal owner of
the three islands. (BP)
38 KARENS ARRESTED FOR ILLEGAL ENTRY IN NORTH
31 March 1995
Chiang Mai Immigration Police yesterday arrested 38 Karens on charges
of illegally entring the country for undetermined reasons which might
destory Thailand's international reputation, according to Immigration
police chief Pairoth Phraesakul.
The arrests took place at about 11.30 a.m. at the Chiang Mai Garden
Hotel where the Karens claimed they were attending a training course
being hosted by a Thai citizen identified as Mr Suthipong
Kanlayanamee, 42, who will be charged with aiding and sheltering
illegal immigrants.
The group was brought in for questioning at the Chang Phueak Police
Station and will be detained there for a week while awaiting the
verdict, before being sent back home. Most of the group were young
men and only five were women.
Mr Suthipong was not available for an interview as he was being
investigated separately by police. Three Filipinos were also hired as
special lecturers.
Police identified most members of the group as Karens whose homes had
recently been overrun by Burmese government troops. Most of them
were well educated and spoke English. They may have come to Thailand
to reunite their forces.
"We have to be careful about this because there has been unrest in
Burma and it is their own business to deal with. We are in the middle
and it is difficult and sensitive situation because we might be
looked upon as supporting only one side," said a police source.
According to one arrested Karen man, he has been arrested by Thai
police on three previous occasions on charges of illegally entering
Thailand. The first two took place at Mae Sot in Tak Province. "This
was my first journey to Chaing Mai, and to be arrested here. I think
I am becoming used to staying in the police station," he said.
He said he did not follow the correct procedure even though he knew
how to enter the country legally because he had hoped to stay at a
certain place for only twelve days until the training course had been
complected. But he understood it was the duty of the Thai police to
do their job. (BP)
BORDER BATTLE MAY AFFECT THAI VILLAGERS
31 March 1995
Thai officials are worried local villagers could be affected if the
confrontation between Mong Tai Army forces and Rangoon troops in the
area of Ban Hua Muang within Burma erupts into large-scale fighting.
Deputy Governor for Military Affiairs Col Tossaporn Niyomkla said the
area of confrontation was only 43 kilometres from the Thai border and
he was worried it might escalate.
Continued fighting between government troops and Khun Sa's Mong Tai
Army in Tachilek has forced Rangoon to close the temporary border
pass at Huay Ton Noon. The closure of the pass at Tambon Mae Ngao in
Khun Yuam District was made known to Mae Hong Song provincial
officials on Wednesday.
Sources at the pass additional Burmese troops had been sent to the
area around the border pass. The also said the closure might affect a
Thai logging concessionaire expecting to transport 400,000 cubic
metres of processed teak from Burma.
Mae Hong Song Governor Somjet Viriyadamrong briefed the House
Committee for Foreign Affairs on Wednesday about the situation and
the assistance being given to Burmese refugees.
He told the committee Thailand should help Thai villagers affected by
the fighting as there was no private organisation lending assistance.
Mr Somjet said a relocation of refugees should be carried out by Thai
officials. (BP)
BURMA BANS MUSLIM MEETINGS
31 March 1995
Members of the Muslim community at Three-Pagoda Pass and nearby
villages inside Burma opposite Sangkhlaburi District have been banned
from staging gatherings of more than five people for religious
services.
The ban was ordered by the local military. There are a few hundred
Muslims at Three-Pagoda Pass and nearby villages. The aim of the
move was described by a senior Muslim source in the area as stopping
Muslims from gathering for political purposes.
Burmese soldiers did not issue a formal or writtenorder banning
gatherings, but the ban was announced verbally at every mosque, the
source said.
The Three-Pagoda Pass, the main border pass between Kanchanaburi in
Thailand and Burma, was closed a month ago by the Burmese. The
cross-border trade has been completely halted.
Burma has banned people from gathering for political purposes but
this is the first time such a small number of Muslims have been
banned from gathering for religious purposes. (BP)
SUPACHAI TO HOLD REGIONAL TALKS
31 March 1995
Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi will hold talks in Burma
next month on economic cooperation between Thailand, Laos, Burma,
China and India. Mr Supachai, who met with Burmese Deputy Foreign
Minister Nyunt Swe Wednesday, said Thailand's role in developing the
Mekong River as a transport route between Bma and Thailand would also
be raised at the meeting. The aim of the project is primarily to
benefit the Burmese prople, he said.
Mr Supachai dismissed reports that Thai businessmen were actively
involved in illegal logging over extensive areas of Burma. He said
the report had been misleading and would lead to world condemnation
of Thailand.
The Thai Government does not encourage such illegal activity, he
said, and Burmese authorities would accompany him on a visit to those
areas believed to have been encached upon by Thai logging companies.
Mr Supachai also said Burma supported the plan to open border passes
with Thailand because of the benefits its people stood to gain from
trade. (BP)
AFTER 10 YEARS IN INSEIN, RELEASED TO AN IMPRISONED LAND
31 March 1995
We were kept in the special compound, separate from the main area.
They wanted to prevent foreigners from seeing us. Inside our compound
there were political prisoners, criminals from military families and
Thai fishermen."
Since the beginning of the this year, Burma's ruling State Law and
Order Restoration Council (Slorc) has released more than one hundreds
political prisoners as well as 120 Thai fishermen from its infamous
jails. Many of those released have come from the largest prison,
Insein, which is located just outside Rangoon. The most prominent of
those freed are U Tin Oo and U Kyi Maung, both former leaders of the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
Among the other political prisoners to be set free was U Aung Lwin
(not his real name), who had spent more than 10 years behind Insein's
walls until he was released a few months ago. "We lived in 6' by 7'
concrete cells. There were no windows, although we could see the hall
through the bars of the iron door. We had one electric light and a
bamboo mat to sleep on. There were also two wooden buckets we could
use as the toilet. As there were six or seven people to each room, we
could do little but sit or lie down. If we moved at all, it would
disturb the others," he recalled.
According to Aung Lwin, the jail is divided into two compounds. The
main compound houses common criminal as well as higher profile
political prisoners. Both Tin Oo and Kyi Maung were held in a special
room in the main compound.
Aung Lwin said the main difference between the two holding areas is
that only immediate family members are allowed to go inside the
special compound. "We know that the Slorc doesn't want the outside
world to come there because when Prof Yakota came to visit (NLD MP)
Dr Aung Khin Sint in 1993, he was transferred from his little cell in
the special compound to a large room in the main compound. Prof
Yakota was allowed to meet Tin Oo and Dr Aung khin Sint, but he
couldn't even come never the hundreds of other political prisoners in
our section."
The entire population of of Insein is estimated at 5,000 with about
1,250 prisoners kept in five two-storey cell blocks in the special
compound. Of this number, about 200 are political prisoners, 500 to
600 are Thai fishermen and the remainder are common criminals.
Another reason why the Slorc may not want foreigners to visit the
special compound may be that it would be too embarrassing to explain
why some prisoners were living in relatively luxurious conditions.
"For just a 20,000 kyat bribe," laughs Aung Lwin, "a common prisoner
can be transferred to the special compound. Once there, they can live
in comfortable rooms on the 2nd floor of the cell block whereas the
political prisoners live on the ground floor. On the 2nd floor it is
possible to get special food and treatment if they pay more money to
the guards. It is only the very rich or prisoners connected to the
Slorc who can stay there." Aung Lwin said most of the torture that
prisoners undergo occurs before they reach Insein. Political
prisoners are first taken to Military Intelligence (MI) jails where
they are interrogated and torture if necessary. Only after all
possible information has been obtained and open wounds are healed,
are the prisoners transferred to Insein.
"I know many prisoners who died after arriving here as a result of
theibeating by the MI. Some of the students I saw starting coughing
blood as a result of the concrete blocks placed on their chests at
the MI jail. Most of the new arrivals received, but many died from
internal injuries after a few days. It was the students who the MI
tortured the worst."
Medical treatment is practically non-existent at Insein prison. It
was reported that U khin Sein, the vice-chairman of the People's
Progressive Party who was arrested in 1990, was not allowed to
receive any medical treatment for his tuberlosis. Finally in December
1994, after collapsing in his cell, he was transported in chains to
Rangoon hospital where he died three days later. He was 58 years old.
Aung Lwin said the Thai fishermen were the most susceptible to
malnutrition and starvation as they had no family to support them. "I
always felt sorry for the Thais. When they arrived at Insein they
were stripped of all valuable belongings. After a few months, many of
them died of starvation. Since there were so many , they had to cell
blocks all to themselves.
"The prison authorities let them out of their cells during the day to
do work around the prison. They would would fetch us water, wash our
clothes and give us massages in exchange for receiving some medicines
or a few biscuits. Most were dressed inn rags."
According to Aung Lwin the Thai fishermen caught in Burmese waters
are usually given a one year jail sentence, although captains or
officers are often given 5-20 years. "There were always about 500 or
600 Thai fishermen in our compound. Whenever some were released, they
were quickly replaced by other who were transferred in from
provincial jails. I think the Slorc is trying to hide just how many
Thais it has in prison," (TN)
**************************BurmaNet***************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
*************************************************************
The BurmaNet News:1 APRIL 1995
Issue #137
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTED IN PASSING:
Contents:
********************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI********************
BKK POST: GUERRILLAS KILL NGO EMPLOYEE NEAR BORDER
*************************THAILAND******************************
BKK POST:BURMESE ALIENS FIENDS, TO BE SENT BACK HOME
BKK POST: TWO REBEL GROUPS SEEK TRUCE TALKS WITH BURMA JUNTA
***********************INSIDE BURMA*************************
BKK POST: KOREAN JOINT VENTURE SEEKS BURMESE BANKING LICENCE
BKK POST: BURMESE DEBATE ETHNIC POLICIES
****************************SHAN*****************************
THE NATION:MAE SAI NIGHT BAZAAR CASHING IN
**************************************************************
BURMESE ALIENS FIENDS, TO BE SENT BACK HOME
1 April 1995
The three dozen aliens from Burma arrested for illegal entry but
suspected of being members of minority rebel groups were fined 2,000
baht each yesterday and will be sent back across the border within a
few days, according to a district court officer.
The aliens identified by police as Kachins, Karens, and Thai Yai
appeared at the district court after one night detention at the Phu
Phing Police Station.
They will be sent back home through the same channels where they
entered Thailand_ Mae Sot and Mae Hong Son provinces_in accordance
with the immigration law, but there are no measures to prevent them
returning to Thailand, he said.
The group was reportedly invited to attend a twelve-day training
course at Chaing Mai Garden Hotel co-organised by Mr Sithipong
Kalayanee and three Filipino lecturers. They denied any political aim
was involved.
"This was the first training course called Development Manager
Programme that aims to help them develop agriculture and health
care," Mr Sithipong said.
The authorities suspected the 36 aliens had an ulterior motive of
organising minority group resistance to Rangoon and did not want
Thailand to be accused of helping them.
Mr Sithipong said he tried to contact concerned organisations to
solve the problem when he learned that the people had entered the
country illegally. But the immigration police arrested them before
the problem could be solved. (BP)
TWO REBEL GROUPS SEEK TRUCE TALKS WITH BURMA JUNTA
1 April 1995
Two rebel groups in Burma, the Karen National Union (KNU) and the New
Mon State Party (NMSP), are ready to hold ceasefire negotiations with
the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), informed
sources from the two rebel groups said. The two rebel groups, which
are waiting for Slorc to set dates for negotiations, have already
issued announcements to their armed rebel units to avoid launching
armed attacks against Burmese troops, the sources said.
No major military operation was conducted by the two rebel groups
last week. Only some small skirmishes were reported, said sources.
KNU president Gen Bo Mya, who is also the KNU Defence Minister, on
March 24 issued an announcement to his armed units to avoid armed
clashes with Slorc to wait for it to set dates for negotiations.
It is expected the ceasefire negotiations between the KNU, the
largest rebel group, and the Slorc will be held soon. The NMSP, which
makes the decision to hold talks with Slorc at its congress in
mid-March, also said the group has already appointed a five-man team
from its central executive members, headed by the NMSP Secretary
General Nai Rodsa, to be their delegate to talk with Slorc, the
sources said.
One of the topics the two groups will discuss with Slorc is the
construction of the natural gas pipeline from the Andaman sea to
Thailand through areas controlled by the two rebel groups, said the
sources.
Meanwhile, a National Security Council official said the Rangoon
regime's move against Karen rebels showed that it did not want to
hold further peace talks to end the fighting. Instead, the regime is
stressing the need to suppress the KNU which it claimed had
threatened national peace and order, the official source said.
Most of the Karen people living along the Thai-Burmese border have
lost faith in the KNU and no longer accepted the group as their
leader, the source added.
KNU President Bo Mya has repeatedly sought to negotiate with leaders
of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) in the hope of
ending the war but his overtures have been rejected. The Burmese
authorities reportedly rejected the KNU's latest peace proposal,
saying it did not agree with the group's idea to hold peace talks in
a third country under the aegis of the Democratic Alliance of Burma
and in the presence of the mass media. The DAB comprises many
anti-government minority groups. The Burmese Government stood firm on
its earlier decision to hold the talks with the various minority
groups individually and insisted the dispute in the country was
confined to domestic affairs which must not be interfered with by "a
third hand". A meeting attended by the KNU president and
representatives of the Burmese Government two years ago failed to
yield constructive results.
The NSC source said KNU president later asked the Thai authorities to
contact the Burmese Government to say his group was ready for another
round of negotiations. But Bo Mya slipped out of Burma through
Thailand before the dialogue began.
The formation of the Burmese Government supported Democratic Karen
Buddhist Organisation (DKBO) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
led to disunity within the KNU group, said a border source.
The internal conflict provided Rangoon troops with the opportunity to
seize the KNU's headquarters at Manerplaw and Kawmoora camps. (BP)
KOREAN JOINT VENTURE SEEKS BURMESE BANKING LICENCE
1 April 1995
A Singaporean and Korean bank are applying for joint-venture banking
licences in Burma. If approved, they would be the first such
operations in the country, according to Soe Win, general manager of
the state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFDB). The prospective
Burmese partners of the two foreign applicant have not been
identified. In Burma's banking sector, Singapore is the second player
behind Thailand, with four representative offices the Development
Bank of Singapore Ltd, United Overseas Bank Ltd, Keppel Bank of
Singapore and Overseas Chinese Banking Corp Ltd.
Singapore's Overseas Union Bank Ltd has also been granted a
representative office licence but it is not yet operating. If the
Korean joint-venture proposal is approved it would be that country's
first entry into banking in Burma. To date the Burmese government has
had a policy of granting only representative office licences to
foreign banks. It has granted 24 since August 1992.
Joint-venture licences would complement the activities of
representative offices which are not allowed to up-grade into bank
branches. Soe Win said local banks in Burma lack expertise because
they have been operating in a closed economy for a long time. The
Burmese government expects foreign banks to have joint ventures with
local banks to help the latter gain expertise and technology.
However, the government has not decided when foreign banks will be
allowed to operate a full range of banking activities. Soe Win merely
said that the Ministry of Finance and the MFTB were considering the
two joint-venture proposals, and regulations governing such
activities should be worked out soon. "As Burma is in the process of
liberalisation, foreign banks thus can choose whether they would like
to join the domestic commercial banks or the state-owned banks."
A joint-venture bank licence would allow foreign banks to undertake
specific activities such as trade financing, cheque collection or the
general practice of full branch activities. However, some banks'
representative offices in Rangoon are considering an alternative
proposal. They have held discussions and concluded that a so-called
restricted branch licence would be preferable to a joint-venture
licence.
They cited the high differences between the real exchange rate and
the official rate: joint-venture banks must observe the official rate
of six kyat to one US dollar, while local banks can use the market
rate of about 100 kyat to the dollar. Holders of restricted branch
licences can receive deposits and lend money to specific customers.
However, they cannot operate full banking activities including
foreign-exchange trading, explained and industry source.
The foreign banks plan to propose the idea to the Central Bank of
Myanmar in the near future, the source said. Soe Win said he found
the idea of a restricted branch licence quite interesting and
believed the Ministry of Finance would seriously consider it soon.
(BP)
GUERRILLAS KILL NGO EMPLOYEE NEAR BORDER
1 April 1995
A group of foreign guerrillas robbed and killed a Thai man who was
hired by a non-governmental organisation to deliver relief food to
Christian Karen refugees yesterday.
Somporn Kanthasong, 42, was shot in the head. His pick up truck was
torched and the rice and salt he was taking to the refugees at the
Thai-Burmese border was stolen.
Police have not yet been able to locate Somporn's passenger,
indentified only as Thong-in.
They said the guerrillas may have taken him hostage. At the murder
scene on the Mae Sariang Mae Sakerb Highway, authorities also found
a note, signed Thanoo Dam (Black Arrow), demanding all road users pay
protection fees. Thanoo Dam demanded protection money of a million
baht from Mae Sariang District Chief Sanong Srinuan before. (BP)
BURMESE DEBATE ETHNIC POLICIES
1 April 1995
Delegates to Burma's national Convention yesterday discussed ways to
accommodate the interests of the country's divers ethnic groups in
the new constitution.
The convention, which resumed on Wednesday after a recess of more
than six months, heard reports from various regions. (BP)
MAE SAI NIGHT BAZAAR CASHING IN
1 April 1995
The new Mae Sai district night bazaar, now in operation for three
days, is steadily growing as more retailers arrive daily to sell
their wares to increasing numbers of tourists and shoppers.
The night market was created due to the ongoing clashes along
Thai-Burmese border between the Burmese government and troops of drug
warlord Khun Sa, and is intended as an alternative to Burma's
Tachilek district market directly across the border from Mae Sai,
Provincial Governor Khamron Boonchert said. Khamron said the armed
struggle in Burma has forced the authorities to close the border
indefinitely.
The Mae Sai market was launched under a project nicknamed "Carry
[Burma's] Tachilek market to [Chiang Rai's] Mae Sai project," he
said, adding that Burma's closure of the border provided the first
opportunity to implement the plan which was conceived some time ago.
All merchandise, even goods which have been smuggled across the
border from Burma, can be freely marketed at the night bazaar.
Authorities, eager to promote the Mae Sai venture, are encouraging
tourists to buy without fear of penalties. (TN)
**************************************************************
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
ABSDF: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT
AMNESTY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AW: ASIAWEEK
Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX),
BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
BF: BURMA FORUM
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
GOA: GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA
IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION
Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET
106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL
6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL
MOA: MIRR OF ARAKAN
MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC)
THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK
NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON)
NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY
RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT
SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
UPI: UNITED PRESS TERNATIONAL
USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
**************************************************************