The BurmaNet News: April 15, 1998

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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"   
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The BurmaNet News: April 15, 1998
Issue #983

HEADLINES:
===========
BKK POST: AI DETAILS RANGOON'S WAR ON ETHNIC SHANS
BKK POST: PTT WILL ADHERE TO CONTRACT
THE NATION: REINVENTING TIES WITH BURMA
IRRAWADDY: A MAN WHO WOULD CONQUER KINGS
IRRAWADDY: SANCTIONS IMPACT
ANNOUNCEMENT:  PICTURES FROM HUAY KALOK ON THE WEB
===========

BANGKOK POST: RIGHTS GROUP DETAILS RANGOON'S WAR ON ETHNIC SHAN
15 April, 1998

At Least 300 Killed In One Month

Burma's army has tortured hundreds of people from the Shan ethnic minority
and forced at least 300,000 of them to flee their homes over the past two
years, Amnesty International reported on Monday.

A statement issued by the London based human rights group quoted an Amnesty
International delegate who visited the region as saying: "The vast majority
of people we interviewed in Thailand lost relatives or friends who were
killed by the Tatmadaw [Burmese army]."

Donna Guest, Amnesty's International Researcher on Myanmar (Burma), said
the victims included women, children, the elderly and Buddhist monks.

She added: "Witnesses described the most horrific methods of killing,
including beating and kicking to death, stabbing, smashing heads in, being
burnt alive, pouring water over the victim's body and shooting."

According to Amnesty, in March 1996, the Burmese authorities began massive
relocations of Shan civilians to stop alleged support for the Shan States
Army, an opposition group fighting the government.

The population of Shan State the largest of the seven ethnic minority
states in Burma, is approximately eight million people. Of these, some four
million are Shan, ethnically related to Thais. They have a similar language
and also live in southern China and northern Thailand. 
     
Monday's statement reported 1,400 villages were destroyed and at least
300,000 people lost their homes as a result.

It added some people had been relocated three or four times and more than
80,000 people had fled across the border to Thailand.

Between mid-June and mid-July last year along, the Tatmadaw killed at least
300 people, Amnesty said.

The human rights organisation said that most of the victims were desperate,
relocated villagers who returned to their homes to look for food.

It added that women captured and interrogated by the military were raped,
sometimes over a period of days, and some died as a result.

Amnesty called on the United Nations to pressure the military, government
to grant unrestricted access to the special rapporteur on Burma.

The organisation said it was also calling on the regime to halt forced
relocation on ethnic grounds and "issue clear orders to the army to halt
extrajudicial executions".

In a separate development yesterday, Rangoon's ruling junta turned on
Western powers and the media for belittling its efforts to clamp down on
the drugs trade.

Government strongman Khin Nyunt said Rangoon would collect its own data to
underscore its anti-narcotics efforts in light of "bias" from abroad.

The first secretary of the State Peace and Development Council said in
yesterday's New Light of Myanmar newspaper that many Western powers had
hampered Burma's drive to combat the opium and heroin trade.

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BANGKOK POST: PTT WILL ADHERE TO CONTRACT
15 April, 1998
By Boonsong Kositchotethana

PALA DENIES ANY CHANGES IN LIGHT OF LOWER DEMAND

The head of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand has pledged to honour the
30-year gas purchase contract made with the Yadana consortium, ruling out
any lowering of the agreed gas delivery volume and the price.

"We cannot change the established deal [for the Yadana gas supply from
Burma]," PTT governor Pala Sookawesh said, countering suggestions that the
Thai state oil company was moving to amend the contract because of lower
gas demand in Thailand and the country's economic crisis.. 
     
The contract signed in 1995 committed the PTT to taking an average of 525
million cubic feet per day (MMcfd) of gas from the group led by Total of
France starting in July this year at the base price of US$3 per one million
British thermal unit (BTU).

Piti Yimprasert, president of PTT Gas, part of the PTT, was quoted as
saying earlier that the delay in the construction of the Ratchaburi power
house, which would use much of the Yadana gas, as well as the slower growth
in the country's electricity consumption, might reduce immediate demand for
Yadana gas to
325400 MMcfd.

At least for the time being, it is clear that construction of the first two
units of the Ratchaburi power plant will not be ready to take the Yadana
gas in July as planned. This may also prompt the PTT to ask the Yadana
developing group to delay in start-up of gas delivery beyond July may be by
one or two months, senior PTT officials said.

Discussions are expected to be held with the Yadana group consisting of
Total (holding a 31.24% stake in Yadana), the US energy firm Unocal Corp
(28.26%), PTT Exploration & Production Plc of Thailand (25.5%) and Burmese
state-owned Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise (15%) about delaying gas delivery. 

However, under the accord with the Total alliance, PTT needs to gradually
raise its offtake of Yadana gas to the plateau level of 525 MMcfd only 15
months after the production start-up in August this year. There is an
option for a 15% "swing" increase in the plateau level if PTT so required. 

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand has deliberately delayed
the construction of 4,600km Ratchaburi power station in anticipation of the
delay in the completion of the Thai section of the Yadana gas line,
stretching 260 km from the Thai-Burmese border at Ban I Tong, Kanchanaburi,
to the plant.

The commissioning of the first two 200-megawatt gas turbines of the
Ratchaburi plant is now expected to come on line in September and October
this year.

Protests by environmentalists and non-government organisations in Thailand
against PTT's Yadana gas line have delayed pipe-laying.

The Kanchanaburi-Ratchaburi pipeline has faced opposition because a six-km
section of the line will be laid through the fertile forest in
Kanchanaburi. Opponents had in the past few months camped out at the
forest, specifically at pipeline kilometre posts 27 to 29, to obstruct the
pipe-laying.

The pipe laying contractor - the Thai-German joint venture of Tasco
Mannessmann - has now claimed an additional payment of US$40 million from
PTT since it failed to make the arrangement for it to complete the works as
scheduled. The claim would push the pipeline project cost beyond the budget
of 16.5 billion baht.

On Marc 6, Thai police led by Kanchanaburi governor Direk Uthaiphol
arrested anti-pipeline campaigner Sulak Sivaraksa and about 50
demonstrators, mostly students, who were blocking the pipeline construction
staging a sit-in at the affected forest at KP 28.

The protesters were dispersed and local authorities moved in to secure the
site. Mr Sulak started his sit-in protest shortly after Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai on February 29 gave a verdict that laying of the pipeline
must continue and other conservationists be moved out from the protest site.

With the site cleared, the PTT's pipe-laying contractor is now catching up
with the lost time and the state enterprise says it is reasonably confident
of completing pipe-laying in July.

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THE NATION: REINVENTING TIES WITH BURMA
13 April, 1998
By Kave Chongkittavorn

When Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, along with Cabinet ministers, including
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand
Pharibatra, attended the national day reception hosted by the Burmese
embassy in Bangkok in early January at a five-star hotel, no one at that
time new their motive
     
Four months have elapsed and it has become increasingly clear that the
Chuan government is taking confidence-building measures with its western
neighbour. The reception was the first step in a time consuming and
delicate process to win the confidence and eventual rapprochement with the
Burmese leaders after a long history of hostilities and bilateral suspicion.

After all, it was during the first Chuan government (1992-95) that the
leaders of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), formerly known
as the State Law and Order Restoration Council were left bruised after a
group of Nobel Peace Prize laureates were allowed to use Thailand as a base
to attack the regime for the house arrest of opposition leader, and fellow
Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.

But it was not all bad news, as Thailand's invitation for Burma to attend
the Asean ministerial meeting in 1994 as a guest gave the country its first
official contact with the grouping, which it joined three years later.

When Sukhumbhand led a delegation to Rangoon last week, the air was thick
with the anxiety of the Burmese leaders. Bangkok-based diplomats also know
full well that the Burmese embassy was highly suspicious of the
Democrat-led government.

In addition, they did not know how to deal with the outspoken and sharp
tongued academic-turned-politician, who has been on the record with
criticism of the Burmese' leaders since 1988. The SPDC top echelons were
well aware of those harsh words, and according to those who accompanied
Sukhumbhand on the two-day trip, the Thais were made fully aware that their
counterparts had not forgotten.

Strange as it may seem, it turned out that his meeting with the powerful
Burmese leader Khin Nyunt, SPDC first secretary, which lasted for 90
minutes unusually long for a guest with a hostile attitude toward the
regime - was the most productive. Wearing a different hat, Sukhumbhand
approached the SPDC leaders the way he would with Thai counterparts. Being
modest and showing respect to the older generation are both in keeping with
Thai and Burmese traditions. Apart from his opposite number U Nyunt Swe,
Sukhumbhand also met Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw.

Visiting Burma at this crucial time, the Thais were well prepared.
Sukhumbhand flew to Rangoon in an Army aircraft accompanied by five senior
armed forces officials. Unmistakably, the deputy foreign minister, as chief
of the delegation was personally in charge of the visit and spoke on behalf
of Thais to all his Burmese counterparts. That was something new.

In modern Thai-Burmese history, Burma had been accustomed to dealing with a
fragmented Thai government, torn by different vested interests between the
civilian and security officials. It had been symptomatic that the Thai
Foreign Ministry and Army had different views over ties with Burma.
Obviously, this trip was also aimed at quelling this discrepancy that there
was no dichotomy between the civilian and Army leaders.

With the Democrats controlling the major foreign policy-related government
bureaucracies, solidarity among Thai policy makers is easier to attain than
in previous governments, with the exception of the period under the first
Anand administration in 1991-92 which was installed by the now defunct
National Peace-Keeping Council.

During the discussion, which focused on the state of Thai-Burmese ties, the
Thai delegation made three main points: one, the Thais understand and have
a historical viewpoint on Thai-Burmese relations; two, Thailand will accept
international law and practice, and three, the military forces from both
sides must not misunderstand each other's intention.

Having said that, for the first time Thailand has shown willingness that
the demarcation line will proceed under the framework of the Anglo-Siamese
treaty.

As in the Thai-Lao border dispute in the 1980s, part of the dispute
resulted from the Thai side using the wrong map.

The Burmese side accepts the Thai proposal to prioritise the demarcation of
the Thai-Burmese border at Doi Lang in addition to the previously agreed
upon location at Ban I-Tong, Kok Chan Puak and Mae Khon Khaen.

Due to the demarcation disputes in these areas, there are currently
thousands of combat-ready troops from both sides positioned face-to-face at
the troubled border. The situation remains very tense and skirmishes could
break at any time. The latest intelligence report said that Burma has
installed air-to-air missiles at the border, visible from the Thai side.

To top it all, there is a huge financial constraint on the Thai side. To
keep a full-combat battalion ready for war along the border is costly. One
estimate put it at Bt5 million a day. It is hoped that in the weeks ahead,
both sides would reduce their military presence and bring tension down a
few notches.

With the border tension easing, both sides can begin the long-delayed
demarcation. Thailand shares its longest border with Burma. While the
length of the border is more than 2,400 kilometres, less than 50 kms have
been successfully demarcated.  Of late, the Thai government has moved to
resolve boundary conflicts with Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia. Thailand and
Vietnam also managed to settle maritime territorial disputes last year and
will cooperate to develop marine resources together.

The Thai side also informed Burma that the United Nations High Commission
for Refugees will be given a greater role in June to take care of the
estimated 95,000 Karen refugees to ensure that there are no armed elements
among the civilians. In return, Burma will accept the Burmese who
voluntarily want to be repatriated.

If there is considerable progress at the Thai-Burmese border, it is
possible that there will be an exchange of visits at the highest level with
Chuan visiting Rangoon soon. The only way to do that is through increased
dialogue between both sides through their various committees at town,
regional and national levels.

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THE IRRAWADDY: A MAN WHO WOULD CONQUER KINGS
15 April, 1998
Vol 6 No 2

Recently, the Democratic Party for a New Society [DPNS] in exile launched a
poster  campaign calling for the release of a prominent student leader: Min
Ko Naing.  Min Ko Naing is the nom de guerre of Burma's most prominent
student leader. It means "conqueror of kings".

Ten years ago, anti-government leaflets and revolutionary poems signed by
Min Ko Naing started appearing throughout Rangoon.  Min Ko Naing's letters,
poems and statements influenced students and the people of Burma to
challenge the country's dictators. The 1988 movement, led by activist
students, toppled the so-called socialist regime of Gen Ne Win.  After a
brutal massacre in August of that year, the army withdrew to the barracks.
Many activists, including students who had gone underground, started to
resurface.

One prominent student activist in 1988 recalled: "A young, dark and lanky
man in his twenties appeared at rallies throughout Rangoon. The first time
we saw him was at a mass student meeting at Rangoon University."

It was the first time people saw Min Ko Naing.

"Min Ko Naing opened the eyes of the Burmese people to the injustice and
suffering that was being unleashed upon them. The name spoke of courage,
commitment and hope," says Moe Thee Zun, one of the prominent student
leaders during the 1988 uprising. Moe Thee Zun is a close friend of Min Ko
Naing.  Min Ko Naing's real name is Paw Oo Htun. He was a popular student at
Thengangyun State Middle School No 2.

"He was the jolly type and was loved by his friends," recalled Moe Thee
Zun. Min Ko Naing was popular at school festivals, debates and singing
contests. And he loved writing poems and drawing cartoons, especially
satirical cartoons.  At Rangoon University, he studied zoology and resumed
contact with Moe Thee Zun who was a year ahead of him.

But things had changed. When the two went to the university in the 1980s
"our conversations went beyond the usual topics of poems and cartoons, and
we began to talk about politics," says Moe Thee Zun.

The reason? The worsening economic situation in the country. "Families were
finding it extremely hard to cope as prices increased, while their incomes
barely changed," Moe Thee Zun added. But having a family member in the
military made a difference. "This [military] is the closest thing we have
to an elite in Burma," says Moe Thee Zun.

In addition, says Moe Thee Zun, "There wasn't even a student union where we
could express our grievances. Our students did not know what a union was."
The students' union was outlawed by Ne Win's regime in 1962.

Then Min Ko Naing, Moe Thee Zun and other students began talking about  the
current affairs in Burma as well as its future.

"We began to organize study groups to arm ourselves with knowledge and to
be prepared for a possible turn around in our history." Four years before
the mass uprising in 1988, Min Ko Naing became an active member of an
underground student group.  Under the watchful eyes of Burma's notorious
military intelligence, the study group managed to hold several clandestine
meetings. No one learned about their activities until 1988.

During Thingyan, or the water festival, many religious ceremonies are held
as well as other performances and entertainment numbers. One is called Than
Gyat, a contest wherein troupes sing and perform both traditional and
modern dances. Satirical plays that criticize and mock corrupt government
officials and depict the country's social and political problems are also
staged.

The Than Gyat tradition has been maintained but criticism and satirical
plays were not tolerated after Gen Ne Win took power. Despite this, every
Thingyan night sees many troupes roaming the city, with members wearing
colorful outfits dancing and singing.  Min Ko Naing and his troupe did the
same. But when they performed, they reminded people about the existing
political and social problems of Burma.

"The group highlighted the lack of freedom and democracy [in the country]
as well as the country's corrupt officials and dictators," said one man who
saw Min Ko Naing's troupe, known as "Goat-Mouth and Spirit-Eye."

Soon after Thingyan, Min Ko Naing noticed military intelligence personnel
following him.  But the study group continued their informal discussions,
Moe Thee Zun saying that, "When the iron is hot, we are ready to strike."

In 1987, Burma was accorded the status of Least Developed Country. In the
same year 25, 35 and 75 kyat notes were cancelled abruptly with little
compensation offered. It was the third and worst demonetization in 26
years. Shortly after the announcement, students took to the streets. Later,
nationwide protests against the Ne Win government began. From then on many
students including Min Ko Naing, organised peaceful rallies. He later
became the chairman of the All Burma Federation of Students' Union (ABFSU).

Despite the bloody coup in 1988 the pair continued the struggle.

"We traveled to different towns and cities and held rallies in an attempt
to show our opposition to the coup. We were supported warmly by the people
everywhere we went," recalled Moe Thee Zun.

In late 1988, Min Ko Naing met a reporter from Hong Kong-based Asiaweek. He
said the obstacles to democracy in his country were the military and the
man who headed it.

"That person is U Ne Win. If I met Ne Win and if I was not impatient, I
would ask him to leave the country. If I was in a bad mood, I might do
something to him." 

He went on to say that he'll always be with the people. "I'll never die.
Physically, I might be dead, but many more Min Ko Naings would be appear to
take my place."

The Rangoon regime continues to hold Burma's most prominent student leader.
Perhaps they are aware of the warnings he made in 1988. "As you know, Min
Ko Naing can only conquer a bad king. If the ruler is good, we carry him on
our shoulders. Surely, 'bad kings' do not like conquerors of kings."

Min Ko Naing was arrested on March 23, 1989 while waiting to catch a bus
and shortly after visiting Suu Kyi's house. A military spokesman said Min
Ko Naing and his group violated the ban on public gatherings. Just before
the arrest, Min Ko Naing had organised a rally. He was later sentenced to
20 years in prison.

There are reports that during his incarceration he has been tortured both
physically and mentally.  International human rights organizations,
including Amnesty International, consider him a prisoner of conscience.

In 1994, professor Yozo Yokota, a special rapporteur of the United Nations,
met him inside Insein prison in Rangoon. Although Yokota was not allowed to
enter the cell where Min Ko Naing was detained, he was able to speak with
the student leader through the cell door.

According to Yokota's reports, many guards, prison wardens and
photographers recorded the conversation and took pictures. The interview
was short and the inmate, according to Yokota, was nervous and thin but
otherwise in good health.

Min Ko Naing told Yokota that he had been transferred to that particular
cell for the meeting. He added that he was bored and, with nothing to do,
all he wished was that he be allowed to read religious books.

A few years ago, a US congressman went to see him in prison. The
congressman later said that Min Ko Naing's health was deteriorating.

Through the congressman, Min Ko Naing sent a short message to his friends,
"Don't give up."			 

Source: The Nation

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THE IRRAWADDY: SANCTIONS IMPACT
15 April, 1998
Vol 6 No 2

It is hard to measure the direct economic impact of the U.S. investment
ban. Apart from some natural gas ventures and a few high profile
manufacturers, the country has not attracted many U.S. businesses. For one
thing, Burma's consumers earn on average less than $300 per year and pay
with a currency that is not easily convertible.

More damaging to the economy than the actual sanctions, analysts say, are
parallel efforts, such as laws that several American cities  and  the state
of Massachusetts have passed barring purchases from companies doing
business in Burma.

Massachusetts recently sent letters warning companies in Rangoon that they
cannot bid for state contracts.  Fear that such letters are a precursor to
protests has prompted European and American companies to withdraw or to
conceal their presence here.

In the months before the United States passed its investment ban,
investment in Burma originating from offshore corporate havens like the
British Virgin Islands soared, and obscure appellations replaced familiar
company names.  Many businesses operating in Burma have scaled back
operations to minimize publicity.

"There used to be a ritual photograph with ministers and businessmen in The
New Light of Myanmar newspaper whenever a deal was struck," one diplomat in
Rangoon said. "Now fear of retribution from activists has forced people to
hide what they are doing here. It makes it much harder to figure out what
is really going on here."

For all the anxiety the activists create, the strongest brakes now being
applied to Burma's economy come from the economic crisis in East Asia.
About half of Burma's foreign investment and trade come from its Southeast
Asian neighbors, which have seen the value of their currencies against the
U.S. dollar plummet since July. The plunges have meant that Southeast Asian
companies that had opened branches here have had to pull out. 

Source:  International Herald Tribune

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ANNOUNCEMENT:  PICTURES FROM HUAY KALOK CAMP AVAILABLE ON THE WEB
14 April, 1998

Some pictures of the aftermath of the attack on the Huay Kalok refugee camp
by the SLORC Allies have been posted at BurmaSong:

<http://users.imagiware.com/wtongue>

The pictures are fully captioned and download rapidly. My thanks to the
Hsaw Wah Deh group (FTUB) for making these photos available.

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