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The BurmaNet News: August 10, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: August 10, 1999
Issue #1333

Noted in Passing: "Every August 8, I walk along the street in front of the
City Hall where my son was killed. The worst thing is that although I know
my son was killed there, I never saw his body." - Mother of 8888 protestor
(see THE NATION: REMEMBERING THE MARTYRS OF 8888) 

HEADLINES:
==========
THE NATION: GENERALS GEAR FOR UNREST 
THE NATION: REMEMBERING THE MARTYRS OF 8888 
AFP: MYANMAR REELS UNDER HUGE ELECTRICITY PRICE HIKE 
DPA: MYANMAR COMPUTER HOROSCOPE SERVICE UPCOUNTRY 
TIME: WHERE SPEED REALLY KILLS 
THE NATION: ASEAN ROOM WITH A BETTER VIEW 
BERNAMA: MYANMAR GETS US$844 MILLION IN CUSTOMS 
XINHUA: BURMA-CHINA TRADE UP 25.14 PERCENT 
ANNOUNCEMENT: ORCHESTRA BURMA WEBSITE 
*****************************************************

THE NATION: GENERALS GEAR FOR UNREST 
9 August, 1999 

Agence France-Presse

Rangoon -- The streets of the Burma capital were quiet yesterday, the 11th
anniversary of a bloody student uprising, but observers said the junta
remain concerned about plans by dissidents to stir up unrest next month.

Residents in Rangoon said night-time security had been stepped up over the
week, but that there were no apparent signs of unusual activity or
increased security during the day.

"According to most officials, the vast majority of citizens don't want a
repeat of 8/8/88, and are more concerned with economic issues," one
observer in the capital said.

"The general feeling is that this is a non-event.  Even Aung San Suu Kyi
and the National League for Democracy (NLD) have remained quiet," he said,
adding that authorities appeared more concerned about dissident threats to
incite unrest on September 9, or 9/9/99.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of an uprising in the military-ruled
country on August 8, 1988, in which hundreds of democracy demonstrators
were gunned down and a junta took power from along-time military dictator,
Ne Win.

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front, based in neighboring Thailand,
earlier issued a statement warning that conditions in Burma were worsening
and were ripe for another 1988-style uprising.

Exiled activists last week also called for a campaign of civil disobedience
and revealed detailed plans to incite unrest on September 9, a date
believed to be numerologically significant.

State-run newspapers ran a speech yesterday by Lieutenant General Khin
Nyunt, the powerful chief of military intelligence and junta first
secretary, warning "destructive elements" against inciting unrest next month.

"Those wishing to take power by shortcut means are spreading rumours
designed to destablise the prevailing peace here by coming up with
something called 9/9/99," he said.

"This is obviously to recreate the 88 incident, spearheaded by some
new0colonialist nations and their lackeys here and abroad," he said.

He urged people to be alert to "this despicable plan which must be squashed
and defeated."

The junta last week stepped up its rhetoric against the opposition as
authorities tried to smother memories of the bloody student uprising 11
years ago.

Khin Nyunt at the time accused the NLD of conspiring with foreign
"superpowers" to overthrow the junta.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads the NLD, called for reconciliation on the eve
of the anniversary, saying soldiers need not fear retribution from a
civilian government.

She urged the ruling army and the people "to work hand in hand to achieve
democracy, where the people govern the country."

"There is no question that the people's government will honour the role of
the Tatmadaw (military)," said a transcript of the message distributed by
the Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean), which said it was
broadcast on Burmese-language radio.

Altsean is a Southeast Asian network of academics, non-governmental
organisations, and dissidents.

The NLD under Aung San Suu Kyi won an easy victory in 1990 elections but
the military refuses to recognise the result and keeps the Nobel peace
laureate under constant military surveillance at her Rangoon home.

Exiled students and monks in the capital of neighbouring Thailand yesterday
marked the anniversary with a noisy but peaceful demonstration outside
their embassy.

About 150 students and monks gathered in front of the Burma embassy,
carrying banners calling for democracy and the release of all political
prisoners.

A statement issued by the Burmese Students Association railed against the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for its "constructive
engagement" policy toward the junta.

The statement said human rights violations were worse than ever despite the
policy.

The statement said that Asean, which Burma joined in 1997, ignored the
people's "anti-military dictatorship struggle, (and) continues calls for
democracy and human rights."

"The (Asean) policy encourages the junta to commit more human rights
abuses," it said.

Dissidents and politicians exiled in Thailand said expectations were high
that civil unrest would break out on September 9.  Monks and students said
they were planning acts of disobedience to encourage "revolution."

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

THE NATION: REMEMBERING THE MARTYRS OF 8888
9 August, 1999 by Moe Aye 

Eleven years after the Aug 8, 1988, uprising in Burma, Moe Aye discusses
what the democracy movement has achieved and where it has failed. 

Last year on June 24, rumours were afoot in Rangoon that the ghost of a
person killed during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising was terrorising an
apartment block. It was here that student protesters were gunned down by
the riot police. [See The Nation: Elusive Ghost Haunts Rangoon in The
BurmaNet News, Issue #1036, 29 June, 1999.]

The rumours had led many people to brave heavy rain to gather outside the
apartment block in the hope of getting news about their relatives who had
died during the uprising. 

It is now 11 years since the popular uprising. Although it resulted in the
downfall of the then ruling party, those responsible for the shooting of
innocent people remain untouchable. They enjoy comfortable lives, protected
by the ruling military regime. 

Worse, Gen Tin Hla, who led and commanded the notorious military division
No 22 that systematically mowed down protesters, has become the minister
responsible for the military. Dictator Ne Win, who vowed that the army
would not shoot over the demonstrators' heads, and Sein Lwin, who was known
as the ''Butcher of Rangoon'', can still be seen playing golf or travel
abroad for medical treatment. 

Many people were killed during the uprising, and many disappeared. The
military regime claims, however, that only 15 people died. While people
around the world called the 1988 incident a ''nationwide popular
uprising'', the regime refers to it as ''nationwide anarchy'' created by
communists and neo-colonialists. 

Moe Thee Zun, a former prominent student who led the 8888 uprising, said:
''Not only did the military junta refuse to accept the May 1990 election
result, it is reluctant to even recognise the popular uprising. There are
many families whose loved ones were killed, and they do not even know where
they are buried.'' 

A women whose son was killed at midnight on that fateful day, said: ''I
always wonder whether the soul of my son is still on the streets, and I
always pray that he may some day reach heaven. Although they [the military]
can forget about it, I will never forget my son. Every Aug 8, I walk along
the street in front of the City Hall where my son was killed. The worst
thing is that although I know my son was killed there, I never saw his
body.'' 

There are many parents with similar stories. 

But had the 8888 movement completely destroyed the system during the
uprising -- as happened in Romania -- or had the military joined the
demonstrators -- as in the Philippines -- it would have fulfilled the
people's desire. So far it is only a distant dream. 

The uprising did not establish a democratic country, which was one of its
prime objectives. However, it did pave the way for the people of Burma to
connect with the outside world. The uprising also led to the May 1990
multi-party elections and to the emergence of the first Burmese Nobel peace
laureate. But in achieving these, many people had paid with their lives.
Many are still in the jungles, and have died there. Many political
prisoners are still in prison, and some, too, have died there. 

The question remains as to why Burma cannot achieve even a semi-democracy
after these 11 years. Is it because the military regime is too clever at
cheating the world and in oppressing its people? Or the lack of unity of
the opposition? Perhaps the lack of international support or Asean's
constructive engagement policy? Maybe it is the strong support for the
regime by Japan and China, or that of Unocal and Total? 

The answer may be all of the above. One exiled student, who refused to be
named said: ''Someone may argue that 11 years is too short a time to change
the political system. But during these 11 years, many changes have happened
around the world.'' 

He may be right that there have been many changes around the world, but the
feelings of those whose loved ones were killed in the 8888 uprising will
never change. They are still suffering.

Moe Aye is a journalist with the Democratic Voice of Burma radio station 

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

AFP: MYANMAR REELS UNDER HUGE ELECTRICITY PRICE HIKE
3 August, 1999 

Myanmar is reeling under a 1,000 percent power price rise imposed in recent
months which has forced people back to coal stoves even as the ruling junta
tries to modernise the country, residents said Tuesday.

Residents are expressing horror at the soaring price of electricity, which
has jumped from 2.5 kyats (0.42 dollars at the official exchange rate) per
unit to 25 kyats in the past two months.

The price hike aims to encourage thrifty use of the crumbling electricity
grid, which is plagued by daily blackouts affecting thousands of homes.

The price rise has hit low-paid public servants the hardest.

One public employee was presented with an electricity bill worth his entire
annual salary of 12,000 kyats.

One kyat is worth around six dollars at official rates, but on the thriving
black market the currency changes hands at more than 350 to the greenback.

"We are totally dependant on cheap locally made electric stoves, but now we
discover that they consume huge amounts of electricity," one housewife told
AFP.

"We've thrown away the electric hotplate and have gone back to
wood-charcoal cooking, which is time-consuming," she said.

The cost of wood-charcoal and gas has skyrocketed as residents search for
cheaper alternatives to electricity.

Many businesses and shops have tried to sidestep the price rises by turning
to small diesel generators, which belch fumes and smoke into the city streets.

Electricity has been subsidised by the military government at a huge loss,
which the junta can ill afford as it struggles to revive the economy.

Diplomats say Myanmar's economy has descended into a crisis brought on by
an investment drought triggered by Asia's financial turmoil and Western
sanctions imposed to punish alleged human rights abuses.

The investment shortage means there is little cash for desperately needed
spending on antiquated infrastructure. 

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

DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR: MYANMAR COMPUTER HOROSCOPE SERVICE GOES UPCOUNTRY 
1 August, 1999 

Computerized horoscope services will be available in the provincial
townships of Myanmar (Burma) shortly after the country's leading astrology
software producer intends to expand its operations upcountry, it was
announced Sunday.

Aung Than Nyunt, the managing director of Soft Guide Computer Centre,
Sunday announced plans to open sub-centres for training in computer
horoscope telling in townships at a ceremony in Yangon where he passed out
course-completion certificates to some 200 trainees in various computer
skills.

Soft Guide Computer Centre, a private firm, developed Myanmar's first
horoscope software in 1997. The software has compiled astrological data and
provides horoscopes according to Myanmar, Hindu and Western methods,
depending on the customers preference.

Telling horoscopes in a popular pastime in Myanmar, and a significant
money-earner for many. 

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

TIME: WHERE SPEED REALLY KILLS 
26 July, 1999 by Nisid Hajari, Reported by Kim Gooi/Mae Sai and Robert
Horn/Bangkok

Big brother Por doesn't hide the source of his riches. On the third floor
of the spanking new building he owns in the red-light district of Mae Sai,
he pulls a beautifully carved opium pipe from a drawer and heats a bowl,
inhaling deeply. Bittersweet smoke fills the room. "I know all the top
police officers here," boasts the ethnic Chinese "entrepreneur," one of the
most powerful figures in the lawless Thai border town. "They come to this
house for dinner." But ask Por about yaba -- Thai for speed -- and his
bravado quickly cools. "I know all the suppliers over there," he says,
pointing across the Mae Sai River to Burma. "I will place the order for
you. But the goods will never be delivered here. If I am caught with yaba,
there is nothing top officers can do to help."

Por isn't the only one cowed by yaba, literally "crazy medicine." In the
past decade the drug has rampaged through Thailand's once-booming cities:
since 1993 amphetamine use -- once the province of truck drivers and other
workers who had to keep exhausting hours -- has exploded, making its
greatest inroads among the country's urban youth. The Public Health
Ministry says that the number of students entering rehab to deal with yaba
has increased 970%, and 1 million Thais are now believed to be using the
drug. An estimated 200 million pills entered Thailand last year, most
across the border from Burma into towns like Mae Sai. And there, on the
edges of the infamous Golden Triangle, even one of the most
rough-and-tumble regions of Southeast Asia has been taken aback by the
violence of the onslaught.

The jungle around Mae Sai is thick, creeping just to the edge of the steep
riverbank. One road leads across a two-lane bridge to the Burmese bazaar
town of Tachilek; another follows the river for about a kilometer before
narrowing into a bush path. Here tinfoil, matchsticks and burnt shreds of
paper litter the ground; thin, zombie-like figures stumble slowly through
the vegetation. A pair of hollow-eyed addicts squat in the bushes beside
the trail, inhaling yaba through bamboo pipes. A third man perches on the
low branches of a tree. Another kilometer into Burma, the path bends
sharply to the left and enters a clearing where, locals say, one can buy
the cheapest dope in the world.

"Yaba is 20 baht [about 50 cents] a pill; No. 4 [heroin] is 100 baht a
vial," says a young man wearing camouflage fatigues. He is doing brisk
business. Elsewhere in the jungle, small mobile labs churn out the
amphetamines for the equivalent of 10 cents apiece; in Bangkok, though, the
pills can be marked up as much as 400%.

Those sky-high profit margins have drawn Thais of all stripes to the yaba
business. On July 8 police in Ban Tham, 12 km south of Mae Sai, snared the
village's headman and three accomplices in a sting operation, seizing more
than 1 million pills. Yet, for every pill found, nine more make their way
to the Thai market. Many of those are smuggled by small-time dealers, often
with the aid of local authorities. Says one police sergeant assigned to the
town of Huay Pheng, 30 km southwest of Mae Sai: "We know every village
headman along the border is involved in the yaba trade. They know the
producers, even all the officials on both sides of the river." He laughs:
"The Mae Sai is so narrow they can just throw the drugs across."

The ballooning trade has produced an equal explosion in violence. A decade
ago, heroin was king, and Burmese warlords like Khun Sa fielded private
armies against one another in bloody turf battles. These days shootouts
have spread across the Thai border and into ordinary society. Five past
village headmen of Huay Pheng have been gunned down by assassins. Dozens of
thugs in army-style uniforms swagger through the border region in broad
daylight. Last September Huay Pheng's serving headman was shot along with
four friends as they sat on the front porch of a village house; gunmen held
back traffic and onlookers by brandishing AK-47 rifles. In April, nine
villagers in Fang district were bound and shot by gunmen who then fled
across the Burmese border. "In the old days, you didn't see this kind of
gold-rush fever," says David Youngman, a Christian missionary who has spent
his entire life in the region. "At least one villager is killed every other
day."

In many ways, the bloodletting is a function of how widespread the illicit
trade has become, and how inexperienced those involved are. "It's simple
mathematics," Youngman says. "So many people want to get rich -- headmen,
small farmers, tobacco growers -- and they don't understand the drug
dealers' code. There are fights over territory, over unpaid debts. Add the
informers and the undercover agents, and it's mayhem out there."
Ironically, many villagers look back nostalgically to the days when heroin
fueled the economy of the region: at that time Khun Sa cultivated Thai
support to defend him against Burmese troops, and locals say he kept the
border quiet.

Rangoon may have unwittingly contributed to the current problem by
enlisting another separatist group to root out Khun Sa. In 1989 the United
Wa State Army -- the remnants of the Burmese Communist Party and what the
U.S. State Department calls the world's largest, armed drug-dealing
organization -- signed a ceasefire agreement with the government that
implicitly allows them to continue growing and selling opium. The Wa took
over Khun Sa's territory after he surrendered to the government in 1996,
and branched out into the more lucrative yaba business, which they now
dominate. Once known as headhunters, the feared Wa tribals boast 20,000
battle-hardened troops, who control an estimated 14 amphetamine labs. The
U.S. has offered $ 2 million for the capture of their leader, Wei Hsueh
Kang, and Thai officials say they have proof that the gunmen who killed the
nine villagers in April were Wa fighters. (Indeed, locals claim that most
of the gunmen trolling the border are Wa thugs.) But, the same ceasefire
agreement also forbids the Burmese Army from even entering Wa territory
without permission.

Thailand's tolerance for such deal-making has begun to wane. According to
some estimates, two-thirds of all crime in Bangkok may now be related to
amphetamines. "Yaba is affecting every stratum of Thai society, from
fashionable city kids, to laborers and truck drivers, to housewives and
schoolchildren," says Rotsukhon Suwannarat, deputy head of the Ban Tawan
Mai Rehab Center, near Bangkok. "It is tearing Thai society apart." In
crystalline form (called shabu), methamphetamines have become the most
widely abused drug in the Philippines; in Japan, some 90% of drug
violations now involve speed. In Thailand, yaba has become a national
obsession that fills the front pages and drives pundits to bemoan the
collapse of traditional values. Last week a top security official
threatened to impose a shoot-to-kill policy along the border; 29 suspected
dealers have reportedly been shot by Thai police in the past three months.

Burmese aren't the only ones to blame: several Thai military and police
officers have also been linked to the amphetamine trade. "The area can't be
policed because the bordering states cannot agree on any joint action,"
says Josef Silverstein, a Burma expert at Rutgers University in the U.S.
"All are benefiting from the trade financially and therefore will not allow
the others to enter their space and police it." That may be changing. Last
week, a Thai force of 800 troops reportedly received the green light to
sweep clean a 40-km stretch of the border near Wei's jungle headquarters,
even to enter Burmese territory to pursue suspected drug smugglers.

The operation may only portend more violence, however -- something even the
Golden Triangle's more hardened denizens have begun to dread. "There are
250 police officers in Mae Sai, but only 50 are in uniform," Big Brother
Por says darkly, wagging his opium pipe. "Betrayals, police shootouts --
these happen every day." That kind of bounty both he and his less fortunate
neighbors could do without.

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

THE NATION: ASEAN SHOULD HAVE A ROOM WITH  BETTER VIEW 
6 August, 1999 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In the July 7 article, "Burma Needs Time (The Nation), Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai suggests Asean is like a window or door for Burma and the outside
world to look at each other -- a curious analogy.  Asean's policy of
engagement, be it constructive or flexible, has provided very little in
terms of a "view" of Burma, a peek through a keyhole, at best.  Occasional
complaints by Thailand about bearing the burden of 100,000-plus refugees
and other Asean countries' concerns about economic investments amid the
disastrous Burmese economy are quite limited views.

Recently, the International Labour Organisation and Amnesty International,
both broadly respected agencies, issued thorough reports of the situation
in Burma -- picture window views, if you will.  The ILO found forced labour
so widespread that Burma was de facto kicked out of the organisation.
Similarly, Amnesty reported that Shan, Karen, and Karenni civilians suffer
forced relocations, forced labour, extrajudicial killings, and many other
human rights abuses.

An honest look from the SPDC would lead them to accept the legitimacy of
the reports and understand the international community's objection to the
abuses.  Instead, the military regime responded with blustering denials and
Orwellian doublespeak -- the poor people cited in the ILD and Amnesty
reports who were forced off their land and pushed into slave-like labour
conditions were, in the junta's eyes, lackeys of the election-winning
National League for Democracy and of Western colonialists; the ILO and
Amnesty, mere dupes.

In the same article, Chuan also suggests, "if anyone is going to develop
democracy, it's going to need both learning and experience."  He should
have added that political will is also essential to the true development of
democracy.  The view from here suggests that most of the 48 million Burmese
have that will, but it is sorely lacking among the ruling SPDC.  But then
they have the guns.

If Asean is to provide a window or door, as Chuan suggests, it need to
become a room with a better view.

Observer

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

BERNAMA: MYANMAR GETS US$844 MILLION IN CUSTOMS DUTIES IN 1998-99 
3 August, 1999 

[Malaysian National News Agency]

Myanmar gained a total of US$844 million in customs duties in fiscal
1998-99, according to the latest data published by the country's Central
Statistical Organisation.

Of the total, import and export duties obtained through normal trade were
US$686 million, accounting for 81.27 percent of the total customs duties,
while those received through border trade were US$158 million, or 18.73
percent of the total. The figures also show that the total customs duties
gained in 1998-99 fell by US$585 million as compared with the previous
fiscal year. In recent years, Myanmar has made some adjustments in the rate
of customs duties in an effort to boost agriculture.

The country exempted import duties on agricultural implements including
related machinery, pesticide and fertilizer, while restricting the import
of luxury goods.

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

XINHUA: BURMA-PRC TRADE UP 25.14 PERCENT DURING '98-'99 
3 August, 1999 

Yangon, August 3 (XINHUA) -- Myanmar-China bilateral trade in the 1998-1999
fiscal year increased 25.14 percent from the previous year, to reach 418
million US dollars, official figures showed Tuesday. 

Myanmar's imports of Chinese commodities were valued at 287 million
dollars, while its exports to China were worth 131 million dollars in the
fiscal year ending on March 31, according to figures released by the
Myanmar statistics authority. 

The bilateral trade volume accounted for 10.46 percent of Myanmar's total
foreign trade in the said year, ranking third after those with Singapore
and Thailand. 

Myanmar imports from China mainly machinery and spare parts and consumer
goods, while exports timber and marine products to China. With six trading
points already opened along its border with China, border trade plays an
important role in the bilateral trade.

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

ANNOUNCEMENT: ORCHESTRA BURMA WEBSITE 
9 August, 1999 from lokanat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Orchestra Burma (lokanat) is a web-site dedicated to representing both
political and non-political organizations working for democracy and human
rights inside Burma. 

http://www.freeburma.org/lokanat/index.html 

We invite you to visit our site regularly as new information is added
daily. If you have any questions or comments, or you are an organization
that would like to be represented, please contact us at:
lokanat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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