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Ceasefire group and SPDC commanders
- Subject: Ceasefire group and SPDC commanders
- From: shan@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 05:55:00
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
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