The BurmaNet News - 26 February, 19

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------------------------------ BurmaNet -----------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies
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The BurmaNet News, 26 February, 1998
Issue #944

Noted in passing:

"Normally, the price of rice does not start to rise until June or
July, but because there was less rice last year, rice prices were
already increasing in January, and they still have yet to come down."
-- a Burmese trader
(see THE NATION: TROUBLE AHEAD FOR BURMA)

HEADLINES:
==========
AP: BURMESE GENERAL, WIFE DISOWN SON
BURMANET EDITOR: COMMENT
BKK POST: HUNDREDS FLEE RANGOON-SSA FIGHTING
THE NATION: TROUBLE AHEAD FOR BURMA
AFP: BURMA BOOSTS ARMY DAY
AFP: RANGOON TO HOST ASEAN LEADERS
AFP: BURMA TELLS WEST TO SHARE DRUGS BLAME
AFP: MYANMAR FOREIGN MINISTER INVITED TO MOSCOW
DVB OSLO: KNU'S BO MYA INTERVIEWED ON POSSIBLE TALKS

Yadana Pipeline Special:
AWSJ: CONTROVERSIAL PIPELINE IN THAILAND TO BE
THE NATION: PTT HAS BADLY MISLED THE PUBLIC

Announcements:
RELEASE OF NETWORKING DISSENT REPORT
BURMA.NET WOMEN'S ISSUES DISCUSSION GROUP
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AP: BURMESE GENERAL, WIFE DISOWN SON
26 February, 1998

RANGOON - Gen Khin Nyunt, the head of military intelligence and one
of the four most powerful generals in Burma, has disowned one of his sons.

Khin Nyunt and his wife Dr Daw Kin Win Shwe placed an advertisement 
in yesterday's state-run New Light of Myanmar announcing that there 
son "Dr Ye Naing Win was disowned by the parents for his inexcusable deed".

The advertisement, signed by both parents, did not mention the reason
for disowning their son.  The advertisement requested people not to 
"inquire the parents about the matter."

Dr Ye Naing Win was reported to have married a Singaporean woman 
recently.  Although many diplomats in Rangoon had heard the same 
information, none could confirm it with certainty.

Burma's military government is holding a convention to write a new 
constitution for the country.  Articles already passed stipulate that
Burmese citizens with a foreign spouse are disqualified from holding 
government office.

If a citizen's child marries a foreigner, that also disqualifies 
the parents from participating in government.

Ye Naing Win,like his mother, is a medical doctor. He is also engaged 
in some private businesses.

Khin Nyunt has one other son who is an officer in the army.

*********************************************************

BURMANET EDITOR: COMMENT
26 February, 1998

It is interesting and ironic that the xenophobic and paranoid precepts 
on which the new Burmese constitution is being framed may have hobbled the
future political ambitions of one of the military regime's leading stars.

It seems that a government incapable of looking beyond securing its own 
power base is also at risk of shooting itself in the foot. The
constitutional articles which so obviously prevent NLD Sec-Gen Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi from participating in elected government, also have the potential
to affect the generals who up until now may have thought themselves
omnipotent.

Karma in poetic motion.

**********************************************************

BKK POST: HUNDREDS FLEE RANGOON-SSA FIGHTING
25 February, 1998
by Subin Khuenkaew & Supamart Kasem

REFUGE TAKEN IN AREA OF PANG YON VILLAGE

Over 400 ethnic minority people have fled fighting in Burma
between Rangoon troops and Shan State Army guerrillas to Pang Ma
Pha district, according to Mae Hong Son police.

They took refuge in an area near Pang Yon Village in Tambon Na
Poo Pong, Pang Ma Pha district under escort of some 400 armed SSA
troops who later set up camp in a border area opposite Yon
Village.

The move follows the fighting between Burmese soldiers and SSA
rebels near drug warlord Khun Sa's former stronghold Ho Mong in
Burma and the Burmese troops' operation to push Burmese
minorities living in ten villages of Ho Mong town to other areas.

The SSA rebels, dissatisfied with Khun Sa's surrender to the
Burmese government, are moving against Rangoon opposite Chiang
Mai and Mae Hong Son, and are believed to have joined forces with
another Shan group led by Chao Lern Hoeng to seize Ho Mong from
Burmese troops.

In another development,- Burmese authorities reportedly published
the news that Khun Sa is suffering from high blood pressure and
diabetes and has been admitted to a hospital in Rangoon.

Meanwhile, some 30 armed men, believed to be members of the pro-
Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army forces, robbed a border
market and made off with cash and goods worth more than 500,000
baht yesterday in Tak province.

A border official said the bandits, brandishing M 16 and AK47
rifles, M79 grenade launchers  and RPG rockets, surrounded a
market in Ban Mae Salit of Tambon Mae Salit in Tha Song Yang
district at about 1.45 a.m. and robbed four electric appliance
shops of cash, 200 watches and other merchandise.

The robbers also injured the market's security guard, identified
only as Tapi, before escaping to Burma the source added.

The market is located only 100-200 metres from a checkpoint
manned by local and border patrol police and rangers.

According to the source, the robbers were believed to be DKBA men
led by Capt Maung Tin Aye who had earlier sent threatening
letters to many of the market merchants demanding protection fee.

Last Tuesday, a police officer was killed when at least 20
unidentified bandits set fire to a police checkpoint at kilometre
marker 152 on the Mae Sot-Mae Sariang Highway in Ban Klo Manae in
Tambon Tha Song Yang.

***********************************************************

THE NATION: TROUBLE AHEAD FOR BURMA
25 February, 1998
by Gerald Roberts

BURMA IS NOT IMMUNE TO THE ASIAN MONETARY MELTDOWN THAT OCCURRED 
LAST JULY, AND BY ALL ACCOUNTS IS FACING A FAR WORSE PROBLEM,
REPORTS GERALD ROBERTS.

While most international attention has been concentrated on the
economic crisis in Thailand, Indonesia and Korea, the economic
collapse in Burma has gone almost unnoticed.

This is partly because Burma has a relatively small amount of
foreign debt estimated by the World Bank to be US$5.2 billion -
and so its problems would appear to have little effect on other
countries.

However, the dramatic devaluation of the Burmese kyat has meant
that Burma can now only purchase a fraction of the foreign goods
it once did. This has not only meant reduced exports for other
Asean economies but is now also damaging China's trade in
Southeast Asia as well.

On Jan 10, Chinese-Burmese trade relations hit a new low when the
Burmese military junta banned all trade in "nonessential" goods
with China.

During the early 1990s, Burma enjoyed a mini-economic boom. Its
bubble economy was financed primarily from overseas investment in
such sectors as energy and tourism.

This influx of new investment was mainly the result of the ruling
junta's new open-market economy system in Burma. Hundreds of
millions of dollars poured into projects such as the Yadana gas
pipeline and various hotels and shopping centres in Rangoon.
     
In addition, the junta also relaxed restrictions on foreign
trade, which resulted in a huge influx of foreign imports. Burma
became quickly dependent on such goods as Malaysian cooking oil
and Chinese farm machinery and tools.

Foreign investors soon fount out, however, that little hat
changed in Burma despite the proclamations of the junta. First,
the market was really only open to those Burmese who had 
connections to the military ant this severely restricted the
overall economic growth of the country.  Second, all types of
business had to pay unofficial "fees" to various members of the
Burmese junta.

"When Singaporean investors wanted to set up a new airline in
Burma, they had to pay US$5 million to Gen Thein Win [Air 
Force] to get him to sign the agreement," says a Rangoon
businessman who wished to remain anonymous.

"Also, to export rice, traders had to pay $10 per tonne to Lt Gen
Myint Aung [of the Agriculture Ministry] in order to get an
export permit".

Moreover, political instability also adversely affected foreign
investment projects, especially in the tourism sector. The
junta's  1996 Visit Myanmar Year was by all accounts a disaster,
with only about 100,000 tourists visiting Burma when one million
had been predicted. The result has been that many of the larger hotels 
have had to slash staffing levels by over 50 per cent.

SPENDING SPREE
By 1996, all these factors plus the international economic
sanctions had brought new investment to a trickle. Burma's bubble
economy finally burst, together with that of many other Asean
countries, with t he currency crisis in mid-1997.

Burma was hit especially hard, however, because of its heavy 
reliance on imported goods and its resulting huge trade deficit. 
     
Also, because of Burma's spending spree on foreign goods, it had
virtually no foreign currency reserves with which to protect its
own currency.

According to the World Bank, Burma had less than $156 million in
foreign reserves in June 1997.

When the kyat began to fall last July, the junta reacted
immediately by arresting anyone caught buying or selling US
dollars on the black market.

By eliminating any trade in the dollar, the junta was hoping to
hold the exchange rate to 150 kyat against the dollar from its
previous value of about 100 kyat.

However, in September the kyat slipped again to about 250, and by
December it had sunk to 400. Again, the junta began arresting
black market buyers, including Thein Htun, owner of Myanmar Pepsi
Co, who was sent to Insein prison.

Apparently, some members of the junta blamed Burma's currency
crisis on the lax import policies of the then trade minister Gen
Tun Gyi, which they believed hat led to the huge trade deficit
ant the collapse of the kyat. As a result, import/export policy
control was moved out of the trade ministry ant placed under the
control of a new import/export commission chaired by Gen Maung
Aye in mid-1997.

One of the first actions of the new commission was to change the
system for granting import permits. Previously, importers could
take foreign goods on loan and then repay later by bartering
Burmese goods if possible.

The new system required importers to pay with foreign currency up
front before being granted permission to import.

One result of this new system was the drastic reduction-in the
amount of foreign imports that required payment in dollars such
as those from Malaysia and Singapore. It also led to an even
greater demand for the US dollar on the black market.

At the same time as the demand for US dollars was increasing, its
supply was falling, not only because of the drop in foreign
investment, but also because of the sharp decline of Burma's once
major export - rice. Rice has been in short supply, mainly due to
mismanagement and the export debacle of 1996.

The junta had estimated a total rice harvest of about 8 million
tonnes for 1996 and so made contracts to export one million
tonnes to mostly Asian countries such as Indonesia.

Unfortunately, the rice harvest estimate was based on false field
reports from army commanders who were afraid to displease their
superiors. The result was that the junta was several hundred
thousand tonnes short and had to dip heavily into rice stocks
reserved for civil servants in order to meet the contract.

"Normally, the price of rice does not start to rise until June or
July," said one Burmese trader, "but because there was less rice
last year, rice prices were already increasing in January, and
they still have yet to come down."

In order to prevent massive rice shortages, the junta is now
restricting rice shipments outside of the districts in all
divisions and states of Burma.

CHINESE TRADE FELL
According to several Rangoon-based businessmen, the junta was
hoping that the effect of the Southeast Asian currency crisis
would bypass Burma, as most of its trade was with China and
involved Chinese yuan, not the US dollar. 
     
But the value of the kyat has also fallen dramatically against
the yuan. The exchange rate had been about 20 kyat per yuan for
several years, but in August 1997, the kyat fell to 26 and by
December it stood at 43 kyat per yuan. Not surprisingly, trade
between Burma and its largest trading partner has tumbled.
Although current Burma-China trade figures are not yet available,
one need look no further than the main Burma-China trading gate
at Muse/Ruili in China's Yunnan province to comprehend the
enormous change which has taken place over the last six months. 
     
Before July last year, there used to be at least 200 trucks full
of Chinese goods crossing this border every day," lamented a
Muse-based trader. "This year there are only 30 to 40. Now all
the restaurants and hotels in Muse are nearly empty."

The same trader said the economy on the Chinese side has also
been hit.

"There used to be at least 2,000 Burmese living in Ruili working
in restaurants, selling jade or as working as prostitutes. Now
there are less than 700 left because of f ewer jobs and so little
money being spent by the Chinese."

Most of Burma's trade with China involves exports of agricultural
products and fish products and imports of agricultural machinery,
tools and electrical goods. According to a Burmese machinery
importer interviewed in Ruili, trade began to decline when the
kyat fell in August 1997.

"Most Burmese traders get paid in kyat their exports and have to
pay in yuan for imports. The demand for Chinese goods is still
there, but we just cannot afford to buy the same amount any
more."

COUNTERFEIT MONEY
Another problem which may be affecting the value of the kyat is
the amount of : counterfeit Burmese currency in the area. Most of
the counterfeit currency is made in China, and a 500-kyat note
can be purchased for as little as five yuan, less than half the
price for the real Burmese currency.

"The fake kyat is no problem because the quality is so good you
can hardly notice. Anyway, when we make deals, we just count the
bundles of kyat because we do not have time to count every note,"
said an Indian-Burmese trader based in Muse.

In any case, Burmese authorities appear to be taking the problem
seriously. In October 1997, they arrested a Chinese businessman
in Muse attempting to pass off over 1.5 million counterfeit kyat
as real currency. Burmese traders in Muse said most of the counterfeit 
money is sent to mining areas deep inside Burma to be used for 
purchasing gems and jade.
     
The latest blow to Chinese-Burmese trade was the implementation
of. the junta's trade ban in January. This order banned all
imports and exports at Burmese-Chinese trading gates for 26
"non-essential" goods including rice, sugar, metal, jade, teak,
fruit ant petrol. Businessmen based in Ruili see the ban as an
attempt by the junta to shore up the value of the kyat. It is
believed that if Chinese imports can be substantially reduced,
the trade deficit with China can be balanced, which will lead to
lower demand for yuan and thus a higher value for the kyat.

The Chinese trade ban also appears to be aimed at restricting
illegal exports and shifting legal exports through trade centres
in Mandalay and Rangoon. This would improve tax collection on
exports and increase export prices by allowing competitive
bidding by foreign businessman.

Previously, many of the exports of jade and teak were shipped
through areas controlled by ethnic ceasefire groups who do not
pay export tax to the junta. In addition, exports to China are
usually not open to competitive bidding, which allows Chinese
businesses to buy Burmese products cheaply and ply report them
for higher profits to overseas markets. The theory may be sound,
but according to those in the field, implementation is another
story.

"I think this ban is only temporary,' said one Mandalay-based
trader.  "The Burmese economy cannot survive very' long without
these Chinese goods. Anyway, I do not think that China will allow
it to continue much longer. It is not only about selling Chinese
goods in Burma, but more importantly Burma is the main transit
point for Chinese goods going to Thailand, Bangladesh and India.
This ban is really hurting the Chinese."

Although other countries in Southeast Asia also face severe
economic 'difficulties, the difference in Burma is that there is
still a civil war, and the junta has yet to solve the political
stalemate with the opposition National League for Democracy
(NLD).

Many analysts predict that as long as this political situation
remains, it seems unlikely Burma can carry out the sweeping
economic reforms necessary to stabilise its economy.

The priority for political reform in Burma was emphasised by an
event that took place just after the currency crisis began last
July. At that point, the Burmese junta had done everything it'
could to stop the fall of the kyat, but it was to no avail.

However, on the day when the junta announced it had held a secret 
meeting with some leaders of the NLD, against all economic trends 
and expectations the value of the kyat rose against both the
dollar and the yuan.

************************************************************

AFP: BURMA BOOSTS ARMY DAY
25 February, 1998

RANGOON -- Burma's government is laying plan for an 
expanded annual celebration of the country's armed forces, which
swept to power here more than three decades ago, the official press 
said yesterday. 

Amid stepped up security the junta has been preparing for an
expanded commemoration of "Armed Forces Day" on March 27, which
has come to be viewed by authorities here as one of the country's
major calendar events. 
     
According to the official press in Rangoon, celebrations this
year will include not only the military but also "reserve forces"
such  as police units, the Red Cross and the fire brigade.

Security  has been stepped up around the venue, a military park
just north of the capitals Shwe Dagon Buddhist shrine where Prime
Minister and defence chief Than Shwe is scheduled to give his
annual speech.  

********************************************************

AFP: RANGOON TO HOST ASEAN LEADERS
25 February, 1998

RANGOON - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and the
Sultan of Brunei will both pay visits to military run Burma next
month, sources said yesterday.

Mahathir is scheduled to arrive in the capital on March 7 and
leave the next day and will be followed by Brunei's Sultan
Hassanal Bolkiah, for whose visit no official date has been
announced, the sources said. 

********************************************************

AFP: BURMA TELLS WEST TO SHARE DRUGS BLAME
25 February, 1998

Rangoon - Burma called for foreign powers to share some of the
blame for its narcotics problem, amid  accusations that the
country remains at the heart of Asia's drugs scourge.

A senior official hit out at the country's former colonial
master, Britain, and the United States as countries which should
share responsibility for the drugs trade.

"Putting the blame solely on a country that had been victimised
by powers such as the UK and USA, which originally created the
opium and heroin problems in the region, is unfair," he said
yesterday. 

************************************************************

AFP: MYANMAR FOREIGN MINISTER INVITED TO MOSCOW
18 February, 1998
 
YANGON -- Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov has invited his 
Myanmar counterpart Ohn Gyaw to visit Moscow, according to a letter 
published Wednesday in an official newspaper. 
 
The official daily New Light of Myanmar published the invitation letter 
marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and 
Myanmar,  formerly  Burma.  

Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw was invited to pay an official visit to the 
Russian capital at a date to be coordinated through diplomatic channels. 
 
***********************************************************

DVB OSLO: KNU'S BO MYA INTERVIEWED ON POSSIBLE TALKS WITH RANGOON
19 February, 1998 [translated from Burmese]

[Unidentified DVB correspondent's 19 Feb telephone interview
with Karen National Union leader Gen. Saw Bo Mya]

[DVB Correspondent]  Today Reuter reports that you will be going to
Rangoon.  Is that true?

[Gen. Mya]  Well, if they want to hold talks and if events warrants
it, then I will have to go.  If there is a need I will go, otherwise 
I won't.

[DVB Correspondent]  Are there any prospect for holding talks?

[Gen. Mya]  I cannot say definitely.

[DVB Correspondent]  Are the KNU [Karen National Union] and the SPDC
[State Peace and Development Council] currently engaged in talks?

[Gen. Mya]  Well, there are no talks between the KNU and the SPDC now,
but the KNU has always kept the door open for peace talks.

[DVB Correspondent]  If the KNU and the SPDC hold talks, on what will
the talks be based?

[Gen. Mya]  We will base our talks on the establishment of a justified
Karen State.

[DVB Correspondent]  In past talks, the SPDC wanted the KNU to
surrender their weapons unconditionally.  What is your view on that?

[Gen. Mya]  In the past talks the SLORC [State Law and Order Restoration 
Council] wanted us to lay down our weapons. We refused. They wanted us to
return to the legal fold and reject our policy of armed conflict. We were 
unable to comply with their demands. That's true.

[DVB Correspondent]  Then what are your demands?

[Gen. Mya]  We demand that political problems should be solved
politically.  The problem between us and the SPDC is a political one.  
That is why it should be solved politically.

[DVB Correspondent]  Another thing I want to know is about your recent
plan to launch an offensive against the SPDC forces together with the 
Shan ethnic groups.  Can you elaborate on that?

[Gen. Mya]  There is no way we are collaborating with the Shan groups.
They are opposed to the SPDC and we are also opposed to the SPDC. In 
that sense we are the same but there is no combined effort.  Because we 
live very far apart we have been unable to combine our forces so far.

[DVB Correspondent]  Can you explain to me the current situation of
the KNU?

[Gen. Mya]  At present the KNU continues to pursue its own strategy. 
The KNU will continue to fight until it get its full rights.

[DVB Correspondent]  Yes.  One final question.  What is your assessment 
of the current political, economic, and social situation in Burma?

[Gen. Mya]  The current situation in Burma is not good.  Under the
SPDC Government nothing is beneficial for Burma, nothing is good. 
Furthermore, the Burmese people are faced with many difficulties, 
they are being oppressed, and the whole country is in trouble.

[DVB Correspondent]  What is your opinion on the NLD [National League
for Democracy], which is currently very active in democratic activities?
[Gen. Mya]  It is good that the NLD is striving for democracy because
we believe that democracy is beneficial for everyone.

[Democratic Voice of Burma--anti-government radio run by the National 
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma]

*************************************************************
     
AWSJ: CONTROVERSIAL PIPELINE IN THAILAND TO BE COMPLETED DESPITE PROTESTS
24 February, 1998
by Sinfah Tttnsarawuth (Dow Jones Newswires)

BANGKOK -- Despite public protests, it's now likely that state-owned
Petroleum Authority of Thailand, or PTT, will complete the construction of
the controversial 16,5 billion baht ($370.8 million) 260-kilometer Yadana
pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Burma to western Thailand.

As a five-day hearing on the project ended last week, opponents of the
project said they would stop trying to block construction if Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai decided to press ahead. The project's backers, for their part,
said the project is so close to completion that it would be
counter-productive to stop now.

The Yadana pipeline is Southeast Asia's first major, cross-border energy
project. It will deliver 525 million cubic feet a day of natural gas from
the Yadana field off the coast of Burma to a power plant in Ratchaburi
province in Thailand, about 95 kilometers west of Bangkok. The Electricity
Generating Authority of Thailand has said the country's power reserves
could suffer if the project isn't completed by August. Meanwhile, Mitsui
and Co., leading contractor for the 1,800megawatt combined-cycle plant, has
had trouble meeting the original construction schedule because of material
delivery delays.

PTT said the Yadana pipeline is essential for Thailand's power-generation
needs since it will be a reliable source of clean natural gas as electricity
demand expands. But environmentalists and social activist have claimed that
the laying of the pipeline as destroyed forested areas and disrupted animal
habitats.

Earlier this month, Thailand's prime minter ordered construction halted for
10 days after residents of rural Kanchanaburi province camped out on the
construction site, locking its progress. He appointed a respected former
prime minister, Anand Panyarachun, to hold public hearings on the project
and to report on what came out of them. 

The government said the hearings, broadcast live on state-run Radio
Thailand, were meant to ensure that rural Thais, who rarely get the chance
to air their views in public, would have their voices heard. But the
hearings proceeded, the rural dwellers seemed to be at a disadvantage at a
forum dominated by the urban educated middle class.

Both proponents and opponents now say the project is likely to be finished
on schedule to permit deliveries of gas by Aug. 1.

Public opposition nevertheless has hurt PTT. During the 10 days in which
the government suspended construction, PTT had to pay its contractors five
million baht a day to remain idle, Mr. Piti said. PTT's costs on the
project, he said, have risen even without delays. The latest cost estimate
is 40% above the 16.5 billion baht initially estimated because of a fall in
the value of the baht, he said.

******************************************************

THE NATION: PTT HAS BADLY MISLED THE PUBLIC
24 February, 1998
by Pennapa Hongthong & James Fahn

THE STATE ENTERPRISE'S DECEPTIONS CONCERNING THE YADANA GAS PIPELINE 
SHOWS THAT IT IS ONLY CONCERNED WITH ITS OWN INTERESTS, NOT THE NATION'S.
PENNAPA HONGTHONG AND JAMES FAHN REPORT

During the hearings held last week by the national committee set
up to review the Yadana gas pipeline project, chairman Anand
Panyarachun chastised one project opponent for calling the
Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) a liar, claiming the
accusations went against a much-sought spirit of compromise.

In the interests of decorum, therefore, let it merely be said
that the deceptions, misleading statements and bare-faced 
misrepresentations of the PTT in support of its own agenda keep
piling up.

The latest revelation of the state oil company's duplicity came
in its reaction to the news that the Electricity Generating
Authority of Thailand (Egat) would be delayed in completing the
Ratchaburi power plant, which will use the gas being transported
from Burma's Yadana field.

The PTT has for years argued that Thailand would lose face in the
international arena if the pipeline was not completed in time to
start receiving gas by July 1, 1998. More to the point, the firm
claimed it would also lose a lot of money, as much as Bt100
million per day: Bt40 million per day in fines paid to the
Burmese gas consortium and Bt60 million per day to buy bunker oil
as a replacement fuel for the Ratchaburi power plant.

It used the fines written into the contract it signed as a stick
to beat back the arguments of conservationists, who had sought a
delay and review of the project to lessen its impact on sensitive
forests along the border. However, despite repeated demands, the
PTT never allowed the public to see the contract itself.

Now we know why. After Egat announced during the hearings that
the power plant would be delayed, perhaps for several months, PTT
officials reported that it would, not lose that much money after
all: the Bt40 million it must pay to Burma would go toward future
gas purchases. "The only money we will lose will be the
interest," the PTT's Jira Chomhimvet declared.

There was no comment on what loss of face Thailand would suffer
as a result of Egat's delays, or of the need for Egat and PTT
officials to fly to Rangoon and beg for lenience. 
     
The implication is clear the PTT apparently believes that a delay
caused by Egat's construction woes is more acceptable than a
delay aimed at trying to protect one of Thailand's few remaining
forests.

Earlier this year, news was also leaked that the contract allows
the PTT an escape from its payments the project was halted by
force majeure, for instance by government decree. The state
enterprise, however, maintains that a stoppage carried out for
environmental reasons does not constitute sufficient cause.

To prove its point, if rather bizarrely, the PTT actually
insisted on paying  fines to its contractor when the government
temporarily suspended work to give a legal committee a chance to
examine the contracts.

There are plenty of other instances where the PTT has misled the
public:

**The PTT has often claimed that the pipeline's entry point into
Thailand at Ban I-Tong village in Kanchanaburi was agreed upon by
both Thai and Burmese officials, implying that it is the best
route for both sides. But at the hearings last week, the state
oil company conceded that it was Burma which insisted on selling
the gas at Ban I-Tong  thus forcing the pipeline to pass through
Thailand's Huay Khayeng forest, a 1A watershed reserve - or not
selling it to Thailand at all.

**The PTT claimed that it would take special care when working in
forest areas, limiting the track to a width of 12 metres instead
of the normal 20 metres. But a video taken of the logging in Huay
Khayeng forest in January, and presented by Kanchanaburi
conservationist Phinan  Chotirosseranee at the hearing last 
week, showed that the operations were carried out carelessly. As
some of the bigger trees were felled, they carved out a wide
swathe of damage, knocking down other  trees beyond even the
20-metre limit. PTT and Forest Industry Organisation officials
reportedly stood and watched it all happen.

**The PTT has claimed that once the pipeline is laid underground,
the forest above it would be replanted and returned to its
natural state. But at the hearing last week, it was revealed that
trees with deep roots could not be allowed above the pipeline,
lest the roots damage the pipe itself. Farmers growing crops over
the pipeline will only be allowed to plant shallow-rooted crops
like bananas or sugar cane, according to the PTT. Forest areas
will also have to be monitored and pruned, and so will never be
pristine.

**The legal  committee earlier this year found that the PTT will
not actually receive the gas on July 1, 1998, but rather on-Aug
1. It wants to finish the pipeline by the earlier date in order
to carry out tests.

The PTT's approach seems to be to say whatever it thinks is
necessary in support of the project, no matter how economical it
is with the truth. Faced with questions over the pipeline's
safety and compensation handed out by the firm, Piti Yimprasert,
president of the PTT's natural gas business, stated bluntly that,
"the pipeline is 100 per cent secure" and "the PTT has the best
compensation system in the world".

It is absurd to claim that arty project is completely secure,
much less a gas pipeline running along an active fault line and a
civil war zone. If he had simply stated what the threats were and
what had been done to counter them, most observers would have
been satisfied. But Piti apparently saw the TV cameras staring at
him and went into' propaganda mode, showing his contempt for the
public's intelligence in the process.

Piti's most telling statement, however, was one that not many
would quarrel with. Explaining why the PTT hired a consultant to
carry out the  pipeline's environmental impact assessment (EIA),
he admitted that, "the PTT is not an expert in the environment".

While it is of course perfectly acceptable to hire an outside
company to do an EIA, like every industrial firm, the PTT must
work harder to improve its environmental expertise.

Its reforestation campaign is commendable, but protecting the
environment is not just a matter of planting trees or donating
money to fix problems. It must raise awareness about
environmental effects at every level of its operations in order
to minimise problems in the first place.

Looking at the whole pipeline debate, the conservationists have
also made errors in judgement, for instance, by starting their
protests too late. Phinan admitted she had thought the pipeline
was going through Ratchaburi, suggesting that the Kanchanaburi
opponents were largely concerned with protecting "their own 
backyard".

But unlike the PTT, these opponents were not using millions of
baht in state funds to carry out their public relations campaign.
Following the pipeline debacle, the government must privatise the
state enterprise in a fair and transparent manner so that it can
no longer suckle on the public's teats. In short, the PTT can no
longer be allowed to pretend that it is acting in the national
interest when in fact it is only acting in its own. 

CHRONOLOGY OF A PIPELINE

* Oct 5, 1993: The Chuan Cabinet approves Egat's
electricity-generating development plan and urges the PTT to sign
the Yadana gas-sales agreement with Rangoon to supply Egat's
Power Plant in Ratchaburi.

* Feb 2,1996: Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai signs Gas Sales
Agreement with Burma's Energy Minister at Government House.

* June-Oct: The PTT hires Team Consulting Engineers Co Ltd to
conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment . (EIA).

* June 23, 1996 The PTT submits the EIA to the Office of
Environment Policy and Planning (OEPP). 

* May 7: The Chavalit Cabinet approves the project in principle
and allows the PTT to build the pipeline in the Huay Khayeng
forest reserve, 1A watershed area. Conservation groups and
human-rights NGOs protest against the Cabinet's resolution.

* May 21, 1996: The OEPPs infrastructure expert committee rejects
the EIA, orders the PTT to study further the project's impact on
wildlife and the forest and orders a public hearing. 

* Feb 10-12, 1997: The PIT holds a technical hearing in
Kanchanaburi, but it fails to assuage villagers' anxiety about
earthquakes and sabotage.

* Mar 11: The OEPP expert committee finally approves the EIA on
the condition further studies are carried out while the project
is being built. Environmentalists call on the m to reroute the
pipeline outside the forest.

* Mar 24, 1997: The National Environment Board approves the EIA
and sets up a provincial committee to monitor the impacts of the
project.

* June: Environmentalists call on PM  Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to
cancel the project and ask him to order the PTT to make public
all contracts related to it.

* Oct 21: The Chavalit Cabinet orders the Royal Forestry
Department to revoke park status for a section of the Sai Yoke
National Park through which the pipeline will be built.

* Dec 27: Environmentalists and students set up camp in the Huay
Khayeng forest along the pipeline route.

* Jan 8: Disturbed by construction work, an elephant herd living
in the Huay Khayeng forest encroaches on a villager's farm, and a
baby elephant falls into a trap dug by villagers.

* Jan 9-12: Prime Minister Chuan sets up the legal committee to
study the project's contract.

* Jan 22: Village headmen in Kanchanaburi mobilise more than
15,000 villagers to support the project in front of the
Provincial Hall. 

* Feb 12: Chuan establishes a neutral committee chaired by former
prime minister Anand Panyarachun to review the project.

* Feb  13 -18 The committee invites all people concerned in the
project to attend hearings and provide relevant information. 

* Feb 25, 1998: The committee  submits a recommendation to the
premier and then to the public at Government House:

**************************************************

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

RELEASE OF NETWORKING DISSENT REPORT
24 February, 1998

"Burmese Cyberactivists Promote Nonviolent Struggle Using the Internet"

A substantive and illuminating study on how activists have used the
Internet for nonviolent change in Burma, particularly in the case of
PepsiCo and the Massachusetts selective purchasing law, is now available
for review and/or download at the following location:

http://members.aol.com/burmabills/

The study was conducted under a grant from the U.S. Institute of
Peace, and with assistance from Nonviolence International.
Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed by the authors,
Washington journalists Tiffany Danitz and Warren P. Strobel.

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