From DAWN April/May 1995

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Burmese Relief Center--Japan
DATE:June 21, 1995
TIME: 8:04PM JST

>From DAWN, 
All Burma Students' Democratic Front
ABSDF (Dawn Gwin)
Vol. 4, No. 2
April/May 1995

1) Editorial
2) DKBO Continues to Challenge the Sovereignty of
Thailand
3) A Few Observations on A Brief Tourist Trip to Burma
CAN ASEAN AFFORD TO INCLUDE THE SLORC?

Two country share a long and difficult to control border. 
They are officially at peace and are gradually deepening
economic and political ties.  Due to several complex and
long-standing internal problems, one is at war and one is at
peace.  The country at war sends troops into the country at
peace, villages are burned, civilians, soldiers and civilian
police are killed, refugees displaced, local economics
disrupted.  This threat to regional stability is the
Thai/Burmese border, and the country at war is, of course,
Burma.  What NGOs, democratic forces, and political
analysts have long feared has begun to happen; the civil war
in Burma is beginning to involve her ASEAN neighbours.

It does not take very much to see this widening of the
conflicts is the result of the ASEAN policy of constructive
engagement.  This policy, which has a more appealing name
than appeasement, is appeasement nonetheless.  The concept
was that by offering the Generals in Rangoon economic
carrots instead of sticks, they would move gradually toward
the rule of law, and join the community of ASEAN nations. 
But what was left out of this optimistic scenario was the
reality of the war in Burma, the crude and naked aggression
of the Slorc, and the inability of the junta to deliver what the
ASEAN nations hoped for, prosperity without peace.

Constructive engagement has failed.  Anyone who doubts
this should take a walk on the Thai-Burmese border and ask
the terrified civilians there, the small businessmen whose
trade is now moribund, and the widows of Thai policemen
killed by Slorc backed terrorists, what they think of engaging
the junta.  Given the patent failure of this policy, what is
ASEAN to do?  Further appeasement would only lead the
Slorc to the obvious conclusion that ASEAN will tolerate
military conflict across national boundaries as long as
business deals go through.  This, however, would be terribly
short-sighted.  Because businesses will not prosper, and
investment will not be secure, as long as political instability
remains the reality in Burma.

What ASEAN could do is to pull back its carrots until the
Slorc cease hostilities against an ASEAN member state. 
Thailand should reconsider its initiative to invite Burma to
Brunei.  The time of war, civil strife, and international
aggression has thankfully passed for most ASEAN member
states.  It would be unwise for any of them to include an
explosive, unpredictable, and lawless regime in their
community.  To do so might drag the ASEAN to the era of
conflict and it would also prolong the suffering of the
Burmese people, and of the Thai people along Burma's
borders.

ASEAN must not invite the Slorc to Brunei.  That will have
more effect on stopping the border conflict than any military
solution.  Not including Slorc in the ASEAN means
"constructive" to the people of Burma.

Editorial from DAWN 
Published by the All Burma Students' Democratic Front,
ABSDF (DAWN GWIN)  
Vol. 4 No. 2, April/May 1995

DKBO CONTINUES TO CHALLENGE THE
SOVEREIGNTY OF THAILAND

The Slorc resumed its military offensives against the KNU
and ABSDF in early December 1994.  Slorc capitalized on
the dispute between the Buddhist and Christian factions in
the KNU.  Two key KNU strongholds, Manerplaw and
Kawmoora (Wankha) fell into the hands of the Slorc with the
military support of the Buddhist Karens early this year. 
Since then, Slorc backed Buddhist Karen troops in the name
of Democratic Buddhist Karen Army (DKBA) have fre-
quently raided Thailand and attacked and harassed Karen
refugees along the Thai-Burma border.  These repeated
violations of Thailand's sovereignty by the DKBA have also
left thousands of Karen refugees homeless on Thai soil. 
Their future remains uncertain.

On March 10, DKBA irregulars invaded a Karen refugee
camp on Thai soil and seized 9 civilian Karen refugees.

On March 14, one Thai paramilitary ranger was killed and
one was seriously wounded in the left arm and shoulder by
foreign troops, later identified as DKBA, near Ban Tinmorta. 
The wounded ranger was Uthai Rokprai, 38, and the
murdered man Saeng Chaiya, aged 37.  The rangers were
from Mae Sam Lab in Mae Sariang District.  On the same
day, DKBA irregulars also attacked a refugee camp in Ban
Huey Manok, and tried to capture camp leaders.  But their
attempt failed.  Two days later, about 8,000 refugees
abandoned their refugee camps and left for another camp in
Tak province, fearing that they might be attacked again.

On March 31, a Thai man working for an unidentified
nongovernmental organization was shot dead while was
transporting rice sacks for refugees, on the Mae Sakerb-Mae
Sariang highway.  It is believed that this NGO worker was
killed by DKBA gunmen using the code name "black arrow."
These black arrow terrorists also left a note saying all road
users must pay protection fees.

On April 7,1995, about 30 combined troops of the Slorc and
DKBA crossed the Salween near Mae Sam Lab, a Thai
border village, and entered a nearby Karen refugee camp,
Khee Law Thee, at midnight.  They burnt down five houses. 
An elderly Karen woman was killed on the spot.

On April 9, about 100 DKBA irregulars intruded into
Thailand near Mae Ye Hta refugee camp, situated between
Mae Sariang and Saung Hein.  The invaders were blocked by
Thai Army forces before they could get closer to the camp. 
A clash broke out between the two groups.  Thai troops said
that the bodies of two Karen were found after the fighting.

On April 19, A group of 30 armed DKBA irregulars crossed
the border into Thailand and captured 10 Karens, who were
taking refuge in a refugee camp in Tha Song Yang District in
Tak Province.  The invaders also set ablaze the camp and
took away the belongings of the refugees.

On April 24, about 400 DKBA irregulars crossed the border
into Thailand and threatened to attack a Karen refugee camp
within five days if the refugees did not return to Burma.  In
the morning of the same day, some DKBA forces raided a
Karen refugee camp in Tha Song Yang District of Tak
Province.  The heavily-armed renegade Karen troops
sneaked into Thailand near Ban Mae Por, Mae Woei and
Mae Lor and blocked the road for a short while.  They then
took three Karens and six Thais hostage and seized a pick-up
truck which was heading towards the three villages.  The
leader of the intruders announced that they wanted Pa Doh
Aung San, KNU Forest Minister, who had taken refuge in
Ban Mae Woel camp together with 1,500 other Karens.  The
intruders even threatened a Thai commander to pull his 30
troops away from the refugee camp or they would come un-
der attack.

On April 28, about 800 shelters in a refugee camp at Ban
Huay Manoke were set on fire by 300 heavily-armed DKBA
invaders, causing one Karen refugee to be burnt alive and
injuring seven others.  The intruders also attacked and set
ablaze a police check point before they retreated back to
Burma, taking one Thai soldier hostage as they left.  The
clash between Thai police and the intruding Karen took
about 20 minutes and caused slight damage to a Thai
armoured personal carrier.

As of April 30, more than 6,500 Karen refugees have lost
their temporary shelters on Thai soil.  On May 3, an
unknown number of DKBA forces attacked a Thai police
outpost at Ban Mae Ngao.  After about 30 minutes, three
Thai police had been injured by rifle fire, of five who had
tried to resist the attack.  The three injured policeman were
later executed by the intruders.  On the same day, about 20
armed intruders crossed the Salween River, at Mae Sam Lab,
and robbed Thai villagers.

(Editors Note: The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, as it
calls itself, should not be considered an "Army" at all, unless
terrorizing civilians, theft, extortion, and murder can be
called functions of a proper army.  It is for this reason that
we have referred to this group as irregulars and intruders. 
They are also not in any sense "democratic," having no
respect for either the rule of law or the sovereignty of
Thailand.  Their actions cannot be called "Buddhist "  as
Buddhism specifically prohibits both the taking of life and
theft.  Lastly, they are clearly not "Karen" as the hand of the
junta in Rangoon is undoubtedly behind their actions, and is
their principal source of arms and supplies.)



A FEW OBSERVATIONS ON A BRIEF TOURIST TRIP
TO BURMA

by Hnin Hlaing Oo

I had travelled to Burma in the early 80's and had fallen in
love with a country of breathtaking beauty, and some of the
friendliest and most hospitable people in Asia.  During and
following this trip, I  learnt about the extent of Burma's
political problems.

When I heard that the Burmese military regime, the Slorc,
had declared 1996 as "Year of the Tourist" or "Visit
Myanmar Year", I was curious to see if this was possible in a
country that I thought was racked with political strife, and
had only an underdeveloped infrastructure.  I along with a
friend, Luke, who had business contacts in Rangoon, but
little knowledge of the sociopolitical situation, chose a
guided tour as our means to travel.  We arrived at
Mingaladon Airport and expected to have exchange US$300
into Foreign Exchange Currency (FEC) certificates, but
fortunately, we walk straight past the exchange counter and
found that we were not forced to exchange our money at the
official rate of 6 kyat to I U.S. dollar.  The black market rate
was I 00 kyat to one U.S. Dollar!

As we were driven to our hotel by our guide Wilson, and his
associates, and I noticed that Rangoon was different from the
city I had visited 10 years ago.  The wonderful colonial and
Burmese architecture was being replaced by modern western
and Chinese style hotels.  Everywhere I turned there were
Burmese people at work on construction sites.  The streets
were cleaner, but seemed emptier.  There were Burmese
soldiers stationed all over town; they were discretely hidden
amongst trees and behind fences of official buildings, in parks
and on street corners.

On our arrival at our hotel, the manager offered us dinner
and joined us for a chat after the meal.  He proudly
announced that five hundred thousand tourists were expected
for 1996. 1 asked if such a high number was possible.  He
then reluctantly told me that the Slorc were counting people
who crossed the border at Tachilek, Three Pagoda Pass,
Ruili, and Victoria Point, each day.  He said that he had
heard that these "tourists" had accounted for about 25% of
the total number of tourists for 1995 so far.  He also echoed
the minister for Hotels and Tourism, Lt.  Gen.  Kyaw Ba,
when he stated that only "wealthy tourists" were welcomed,
and that back-packers and shoe-string travellers were not.

Luke and I laugh about this later, as the hotel we were
staying in would find itself listed in the 'Accommodation'
section of the Lonely Planet guide under "Bottom End"! 
"Wealthy tourists" would have to stay at joint venture hotels,
owned by the Burmese and foreign business partners, like
The Strand Hotel at US$280 per night.

Luke then met with some business associates of his who
were involved in the construction of the Novotel hotel being
built in Rangoon.  When he arrived back at the hotel, he told
me that company staff were not impressed about having to
pay a flat fee of US$ 1.5 million to Lt.  Gen.  Kyaw Ba, who
headed the Ministry for Hotel and Tourism, in order to
complete the deal.  Lt.  Gen.  Kyaw Ba has a colourful
history in Burma's military.  He was the Commander of the
Southern Division for the Slorc, and had been disgraced due
to an attack by the anti-Slorc Karens (Karen National Union)
in the Delta area.  He personally ordered that hundreds of
villagers be arrested and many leaders and pastors be
executed.  He then was given his current lucrative position. 
Novotel's company were advised that it should budget a 15%
contingency, on top of the budget of the construction, to
cover pay-offs to officials.  Novotel must have decided that
their profits will cover these "expenses." Later I read that
companies like Liz Claiboume and Macy's had stopped doing
business with the junta due to problems like corruption and
in protest of the human rights abuses of the Burmese
Military.

After a few days in Rangoon, we travelled to Mandalay by
train. We visited Mandalay Hill, and the Shweyattaw
Buddha.  The guide Wilson proudly pointed at a spot at the
base of the peak, and said it was Mandalay Jail.  The jail was
a fan shaped compound, clearly visible from the top of the
hill.  We asked why there was a large white stupa in the jail. 
Was it for the prisoners?  He replied: "There are many
monks in that jail.  In 1991 some monks made problems for
the military and were arrested." He then pointed out the
center of the moat which he said was now being used as a
military barracks.  Great tourist attraction of Burma!

We walked around the Mandalay moat the next day.  Luke
could not believe the signboards hung up on the sides of each
gate entrance into the moat.  He thought that they were
something out of the Eastern Block ten years ago.  They
were written in English and Burmese on big white and red
signboards.  The more we travelled we noticed more and
more signboards, most in Burmese.  We started to ask
Wilson to translate the Burmese signs, and he came up with a
list of our favourites: "Anyone who tries to break up the
Tatmadaw is our enemy."  "We reject any scheme to break
up the Tatmadaw." "No matter who tries to divide us, we
will always remain united." Luke commented that the
Generals must be in fear that the Army (Tatmadaw) would
collapse, and it must have internal problems within itself, a
kind of "Power struggle."  Luke asked Wilson, after he had
translated a signboard on the streets in Rangoon which read:
"Love your motherland," "Does your government think that
you might forget that you love your country?  Is that why
they put up all these signboards?"  Wilson laughed, and said
"Yes, they think we are stupid." Luke told Wilson that he
should tell his government that this was not an appropriate
"look " for tourists for Visit Myamnar Year, unless the
military wanted to project the image of Burma as the place
where Orwell's 1984 was set.  Wilson laughed again and
agreed.

In Mandalay, we stayed at a Chinese owned hotel.  All
around the town we could see evidence of the influx of
Chinese businessmen and their families.  We saw women and
men adorned with bright green jade rings or necklaces and
heard their language being spoken.  One Burmese we met
told us that many of the Burmese businesses in Mandalay had
been brought out by Chinese entrepreneurs.  The shops in
Mandalay were full of Chinese retail goods.

We tried to make an international call, and sent some faxes
from Mandalay.  It took a long time as there were still very
few international telephone lines out of Burma, so we had to
wait.  It was expensive as we had to pay in US dollars (due
to our lack of FEC), and lines were poor.  We wondered if
the tourists and businessmen that Lt. Gen. Kyaw Ba hoped
to attract, would complain about this slow and costly
communication system.

>From Mandalay we travelled to Inle Lake by car.  We had
been advised by travel agents in our country not to fly inside
Burma due to poor safety records of the local airlines.  On
the way, we stopped at a small food shop in a village, where
a young boy ran out with a can of petrol and a siphon, and
proceeded to fill the tank.  We asked Wilson why we had
stopped here and not larger petrol stations.  He explained the
petrol-rationing system in Burma, and that we were buying
the petrol required for this trip on the black market.

Luke said to him: "Surely you must get some kind of
exemption, being travel agents?" Apparently not.  Wilson
explained that seamen who were working outside the
country, had their rations collected and sold on the black
market, while they were at sea.  People scratched out a
frugal living for middle-men.  It seemed ridiculous that the
country's trade and tourism industry, and some poorer
Burmese people, were blatantly reliant on black market
petrol supplies in order to function.

On the way to Shwenyaung, we passed hundreds of people
repairing the twisting road by hand.  The adults were moving
the stones and the children were patting down tar to hold the
stones in place.  We asked why there were so many people at
work, and Wilson cheerfully answered that they were
preparing the road for Visit Myanmar Year.  We asked if
they were paid for this work, and Wilson said that he thought
it was volunteer labour.  Later, when travelling by car to
Meik Htila, we passed a field with something written on a
rise in large white stones.  Wilson explained that the center
was a prison work camp, where prisoners broke rocks while
under incarceration.  The Burmese writing stated: "We
prisoners are sacrificing our blood and sweat for the nation."
Luke thought it was incredible that they advertised the fact
that even the prisoners of Burma were working to build
Myanmar's infrastructure for 1996.

At our hotel in Shwenyaung that night some British and
French tourists were complaining about being unable to tour
the entire length of Inle Lake that day.  We were sitting near
by them, and asked them why.  They suggested that we ask
Wilson or the owners of the hotel which we did.  They
hesitantly explained to us that we could not go to the
southern end of the lake, as the military forbade it. We asked
why, and were told that there was still rebel activity in that
area.  Of course we asked what rebel activity, to which
nobody seemed to want to respond.  Finally we were told it
was Khun Sa and the Communist Party of Burma (CPB)
insurgents.  Later I told Luke that the CPB had officially
disbanded in 1989.  Luke sarcastically commented that this
safety factor would make the "wealthy tourists" feel really
comfortable!

In fact safety was proving to be an interesting consideration
in Burma.  The BBC carried news of the battle situation for
ethnic armies fighting against the Slorc in Shan, Karenni and
Karen States, while the Myanmar TV English language news
reported capturing some three Khun Sa soldiers and having
"crushed" them.  In fact all we really saw on the television
were endless military parades, movies and heavily censored
news reports, if in fact what we were hearing from the BBC
was correct.  Luke asked Wilson what "crushed" meant in
this sense, and Wilson smiled and said: "it means you will
never see or hear of them again."

Then there was the safety problems with the local airlines, a
few aeroplanes had fallen out of the sky in last year.  Even
the trains were not safe.  In January, I read that a passenger
train had de-railed, and plummeted into a ravine, killing over
one hundred passengers.  The BBC then reported an attack
on the Slorc by the Karens on a proposed gas pipeline area in
the South, in which some westerners were killed.  How safe
was Burma?  Guidebooks warned about a lack of safety
standard concerning food preparation, and a lack of medical
facilities in the country.  We already knew of one Australian
who had to be evacuated by private plane to Singapore after
a car accident, at great expense, as the hospital in Rangoon
was not equipped to cope with his injuries.  Surely there
would have to be major improvements in infrastructure to
match the major influx of tourists.

After travelling around the incredible Inle Lake, we drove to
Pagan.  I was reading aloud from the guide book as we
drove into the town, and realized why the place seemed so
empty.  In April 1990, Pagan have been emptied of over five
thousand people, who had been living around the temples for
generations.  Last time I had been in Burma I had seen
people living around the temples.  Now the area had been
cleared of everything except pagodas.  The guide book even
went on to suggest that the people had been relocated by the
military.  Because of the 1990 elections, they had much
contact with the international tourists and spoke a little too
freely about "democracy." According to some people who
had been relocated that we met later, they were forced to
move at very short notice, and many  lost their houses and
belongings for failing to move fast enough.  Now few
tourists visit the area that the people have been relocated to,
which makes life very difficult for them.  These people were
reliant on the steady trickle of tourists through the area for
their livelihoods.  I was told that the same had happened in
Rangoon.  Hundreds of thousands of people had been
"cleaned up" off the streets and moved to satellite towns
around the city.  We saw some of these areas on the train to
Rangoon.

The Slorc was going to extraordinary lengths to make Visit
Myanmar Year as pleasant for tourists as possible, but we
wondered what it was doing for its own people.

The sights and countryside we visited in Burma were
fantastic and beautiful.  The people we met were friendly,
kind and almost always smiling.  It is wonderful to travel
Burma while reading about her incredible history.  We
wonder though, if the Slorc should have waited a few years
before these massive preparations for 1996.  Perhaps concen-
trating on developing a better social infrastructure for it's
own people, and then building a tourist industry, would reap
more benefits for the country.  We wondered how much
voluntary participation, and benefits, there are for the
average Burmese person who is not a member of the
privileged military.  Would a trickle down effect bring about
prosperity for those at the bottom of the ladder, which
seemed to be a majority in Burma?

Before we left Burma we went to a park in Rangoon to take
some photos.  Luke was focusing his camera trying to get a
decent shot of the Shwedagon from U Wissara Road, when
he zoomed in on a Slorc soldier in the bushes.  The soldier
started screaming at him aggressively, and gesturing at him
to put his camera down.  Luke put the camera away and
smiled at the soldier who just glared back at him angrily. 
Luke found it difficult to believe that he had done something
wrong in taking a photo of the Shwedagon.  I wondered
what would have happened to a Burmese national caught
doing the same thing?

As we left the country we went to the airport bar on the top
floor of Mingaladon Airport, to have a drink.  A sign above
the bar told us that only FEC and US dollars were acceptable
at this establishment.  We had managed to survive without
parting with any FEC and few US dollars so we were quite
disappointed to pay full fare at the last minute.  We sat down
for two hours waiting for our plane and watching tourists
enter, price the drinks, argue with the waitress and walk out
complaining.  That was my last memory of Burma.