[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Ceasefire group and SPDC commanders



Subject: Ceasefire group and SPDC commanders share spoils of gambling: 

April 28, 1999

Ceasefire group and SPDC commanders share spoils of gambling

Reports reaching the Thai border from the Shan States say one of the 
ceasefire groups and the local SPDC commanders have opened up several 
gambling dens in the southern township of Mong Pan since March of this year.

>From March 24 to April 20, the Shan Nationalities People's Liberation 
Organisation (SNPLO), a ceasefire group generally known as the Red Pa-O, 
have been setting up gambling dens during the traditional Buddhist 
Novitiation Ceremony in Mong Pan, a town 120 miles from the Thai border. 
The local commanders of SPDC infantry battalions 332 and 520 have 
reportedly received K. 80,000 each per day (K 60,000 for personal use and 
the rest for the battalion) as tax.

The dens have attracted gambling addicts from towns such as Taunggyi, 
Loilem, Panglong, Langkher, Mongnai and Kunhing. Well known drug producers 
just across from the Thai border such as Muling aka Sai Yee aka Liu Zipeng, 
Hla Aung and Yang Erh have also been among the gamblers.

Also seen among the crowds were child beggars and prostitutes from 
surrounding villages such as Nawng Hee, Poongker, Nalaw and Tawngkwai that 
were forcibly relocated to the town's outskirts by the SPDC army in 1997. 

The SNPLO, led by Takley and Saw Hpamu, joined Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army in 
the early 90s. The alliance broke up soon afterwards and the SNPLO signed a 
ceasefire pact with Rangoon on October 9, 1994. Their headquarters is in 
Nawnghtao in Hsiseng Township, 60 miles south of Taunggyi.

It is illegal to engage in gambling activities in Burma. One of the 
accusations directed against the Shan princes before their downfall was 
their policy of tolerance towards gambling which has been a nemesis for the 
Shan population.

/// END \\\
Shan Herald Agency for News 

For further information, please contact 053-807 121 or e-mail
<shan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>