The BurmaNet News: October 7, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: October 7, 1999
Issue #1374

HEADLINES:
==========
AUNG SAN SUU KYI: BURMA - EAST TIMOR
THE HINDU: MYANMAR WILL BE A "DEMOCRACY"
ASIAN AGE: ACT BEFORE IMPATIENT BURMA TURNS TO GUNS
NATION: HIJACKER NOT AMONG EMBASSY RAIDERS
NATION: EMBASSY RAIDERS REMAIN ELUSIVE
SCMP: HELL CAMP BRED HOSTAGE PLOT
NATION: ENVOYS GIVE THUMBS UP TO "BANGKOK SOLUTION"
BKK POST: SANAN DISMISSES CONSPIRACY THEORIES
*****************************************************

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: BURMA - EAST TIMOR
7 October, 1999 from Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean)

In her latest interview, NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi voiced strong support
and empathy for the people of East Timor.

Here is the transcript of the East Timor section of her interview. In other
sections of the interview, Daw Suu covers:

* The Burmese Embassy Seizure

* Concerns about the possibility of violence in Burma

* The US loan write-off

* The imprisonment of activists who wore yellow on 9999

These sections will be released in stages over the next few days.

" ...WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN BURMA IS NO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN
EAST TIMOR"

Q: What are your concerns about the situation in East Timor?

A: First of all, there are humanitarian concerns. We feel great sympathy for
the people of East Timor and their suffering. And secondly there are
political concerns. Political concerns in relation not just to East Timor
but to our country, to the whole region and to the whole world.

What happened in East Timor is very similar to what happened in Burma in
1990. World leaders have been talking about the way in which the
democratically expressed will of the people of East Timor has been
overturned by violence and intimidation. This is what happened in Burma. We
had free and fair elections in 1990 and the people voted for our party, the
National League for Democracy. But because the military regime did not want
to accept the results, they overturned it or they have been trying to
overturn. We have not allowed (them) to overturn it. They have been trying
to overturn it through violence and intimidation.

They have arrested MPs, have forced them to resign, some have gone into
exile, there are MPs still in prison, huge batch of MPs were been taken into
detention last year because we formed the Committee Representing People's
Parliament.

"USING SALAMI TACTICS"

In fact they are using "salami tactics", trying to slice away bit by bit the
results of the 1990 elections. Now in East Timor of course, the people's
militia and those who are against independence of East Timor have tried to
overturn the results of the elections and one fell swoop, and the world
became aware of it and would not stand for it. I think they should
understand that what has happened in Burma is no different from what has
happened in East Timor, only it has been implemented in a rather different
way so that it is less noticeable. So we feel a great sense of empathy for
the people of East Timor because we have suffered the same kind of wrongs
and also because as fellow human beings we don't like to see people to be so
ill-treated and so unjustly crushed in their own land.

Q: Do you see any similarities between the human rights crisis in East Timor
and Burma?

A: As I said earlier, great similarities indeed!

Q: East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao has publicly supported you and the
cause of democracy in Burma; would the NLD welcome an opportunity to work
with the East Timorese people?

"I FEEL AS THOUGH HE WERE A PERSONAL FRIEND"

A: Yes of course, we would welcome an opportunity to work with all those who
are fighting for freedom and for justice. And I have a great personal
admiration for Xanana Gusmao ... I think he's a very fine leader and it is
touching to see what great understanding there is between his people and
himself. ...I feel as though he were a personal friend, although of course
we've never met. We're very, very grateful for his words of support and I
hope that the time would come when we can all work together promote
democracy in Asia and the rest of the world.

Q: Any specific way or method which you and Xanana may meet and come up with
something?

A: I think he'll have to come to visit me in Burma, he seems to be freer
than I am!

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

THE HINDU: MYANMAR WILL BE A DEMOCRACY
4 October, 1999 by P.S. Suryanarayana

JUNTA SPELLS OUT STAND / NLD'S WEAKNESS EXPOSED, SAYS MINISTER

SINGAPORE, OCT. 3. Noting sarcastically that "the Gig Bang" of a push for
democracy in Myanmar on September 9, a planned campaign which made
international news, "didn't materialise," a top Myanmarese Minister, Brig,
Gen. David O. Abel, has described it as "a sign of weakness" of the
protagonists for an immediate political change.

In an interview with The Hindu here, Brig. Gen. Abel, an influential
Minister in the Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), said: "We won't say that the NLD (The National League for
Democracy led by Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi) is already finished."

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference of the Economic Ministers of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the related meetings
which concluded here yesterday, Brig. Gen. Abel Said, "We did say we are
going to be democracy. But it is going to be (a democracy) with Myanmar
norms, Myanmar style."

Without explicitly referring to the issues raised by the pro-democracy
Myanmarese gunmen who seized Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok last Friday,
Brig.. Gen. Abel, speaking before the crisis was resolved, said: "The
election (held in 1990) by the military rulers) was not to hand over
government (to the poll winner). The election was to have a formal
Constituent Assembly (set up)." The NLD today condemned the seizure of the
embassy.

Reminded of the line adopted by the NLD and its supporters in the West and
also elsewhere that the military junta could have given the green signal in
the early 1990s for the drafting of Constitution under the aegis of and
elected government headed by Ms. Suu Kyi who had won the poll, he repeatedly
asked, "How can (that be a solution)?" The prime point, in his view, was
that the poll, kept in international focus to this day by the NLD, was not a
government-ushering exercise.

Noting that the Constitution-making National Convention was presently
working apace on organising its fourth session, the Minister said: "Once
that (fourth session) goes off OK, the (new) Constitution would have been
already spelt out. .... The majority of the people want a new Constitution.
 .... They want their rights, not promised by (word of) mouth, but in the
Constitution."

About the prospects of Ms. Suu Kyi and the NLD being allowed to contest the
elections under such a new Constitution, he said: "I don't know. That will
depend on what is written in Constitution and what the National Convention
feels about them. They were represented by the largest number of people.
They walked out, thinking that the rest of the groups will follow. .... They
thought if they walked out the whole thing (the Constitution-making
exercise) will collapse. But it didn't."

Ties with India improved

"Myanmar's relations with India have (recently) improved a lot after some
turbulence in 1988," Brig. Gen. Abel said, referring to the alleged
activities of the Myanmarese" dissidents" on the Indian soil in the late
1980s and to the latest meetings between the Foreign Ministers of the two
countries as also the visit to Yangon by the Indian Foreign Secretary.

Expressing deep satisfaction over India's latest offers of economic help to
Myanmar regarding information technology and other spheres, Brig. Gen. Abel,
however, said: "your Defence Minister, Mr. Fernandes, spoke of Myanmar
giving territory to the Chinese to build a naval base. We invited him to
come, have a look. He didn't. .... Our relationships both with China and
India have been very proper. We have not overstepped our limits."

Discounting the chances of a marginal cordiality in the ties with the U.S.,
he said: "We have not mended our fences with the U.S. [ ... ]showing
hostility towards us. That is a very big difference. .... The single
superpower should not be making statements at random and criticising
countries in their own internal policies."

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

ASIAN AGE: ACT BEFORE IMPATIENT BURMA TURNS TO GUNS
6 October, 1999 by Anna Husarska

It was an agitated weekend in Bangkok. Now it is and smoothest embassy
occupation in recent history ended peacefully. All hostages were freed, and
the Thai authorities gave safe passage out of the country to the five armed
hostage-takers.

The Thai interior minister, Sanan Kajornprasart, had this to say afterward:
"We do no consider them to be terrorists. They are student activists
struggling for democracy."

But growling came from Rangoon: "The peace-loving people of the world
community will not tolerate the criminal and terrorist activities the
(hostage-takers) have committed," said a statement from the Burmese junta.

Washington took a similar approach. Using the "terrorist" label, it "sharply
condemned" the hostage taking.

Two years ago a US state department envoy branded as "terrorist" an armed
group in Kosovo. Last month the political leader of that group -- the Kosovo
Liberation Army - was received by the secretary of state. The parallel is
worth examining.

The internal Burmese opposition, led since 1988 by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
chose the non-violent forms of struggle. The Nobel Committee in Oslo
recognised the value of her efforts and awarded her the Peace Prize in 1991.
The Rangoon authorities also admit the importance of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
by making her the main target of their propaganda attacks.

Outside Burma, mostly in Thailand, the struggle is led by the All Burma
Students' Democratic Front, a group that is also non-violent but is more
active than Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, simply
because it can be more active.

Sometimes foreign activists come to stage civil disobedience acts inside
Burma and get quickly jailed or expelled. Journalists also often get into
trouble. I was myself detained and deported less than a year ago.

But non-violent acts and even sympathetic press articles bring little
attention from the powerful people in the international community on whose
support the fighters for democracy count. Even a long report is not
comparable to the 26-hour publicity stunt by the hitherto unknown "Vigorous
Burmese Student Warriors" who wielded Kalashnikovs and Grenades around the
Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.

This is not proof of the superiority of violence. This is a sad comment on
the attention span of today's media and politicians.

Non-violent activities are rendered less effective because it is easier to
turn away from them then from the violent acts.

Back to Kosovo, where in 1989, at about the same time as Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, the ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova was choosing the non-violent
form of struggle for his people's independence.

Personally, Mr Rugova does not stand comparison with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
but the two were pursuing their struggles simultaneously. The patience of
the Kosovo Albanians gave out earlier. (Perhaps Balkan character plus Islam
is a more volatile mix than Asian character plus Buddhism?) A year ago,
young people across Kosovo more or less dumped Mr Rugova and turned to guns.

Thus the violent, provocative actions of the Kosovo Liberation Army -
followed by the predictably barbarous response from the Serbian security
forces - brought the group and the cause of Kosovo independence to the
world's attention.

One may agree or disagree with the ethnic Albanians' methods and goals. The
Western powers, led by the United States, are confused on that score. But
there is no denying that by grabbing the Kalashnikovs, the fighter from
Kosovo got the whole world to pay attention to them and their struggle.
Otherwise, the NATO intervention would have never happened.

When I spoke with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last December, I brought up the
Kosovo example and asked her about the danger that young Burmese might grow
impatient and switch to violent forms of action. She pooh-poohed this
prospect.

At that time, the only place on Burmese soil where the fighting peacock flag
of the pro-democracy movement could be flown was inside her party's
headquarters. This past weekend, that flag was raised in the Burmese Embassy
in Bangkok.

It was stuff like this that made young followers of pacifism in Kosovo don
uniforms and become combatants. They now fly their double-headed eagle flag
every five metres along the streets of Pristina.

The Burmese Embassy incident is a warning to the international community to
apply pressure to the junta in Rangoon and give support to the pro-democracy
efforts of the opposition before all the pacifists in Burma learn how to
handle Kalashnikovs.

[ANNA HUSARSKA is an associate researcher at the Centre d'Etudes et de
Recherches Internationals in Paris]

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

THE NATION: HIJACKER NOT AMONG EMBASSY RAIDERS
6 October, 1999

EMERGING security reports and witness accounts yesterday confirmed two of
the five men who raided Rangoon's embassy last week were Burmese students at
Maneeloy holding centre in Ratchaburi, and not the hijacker of a Burmese
domestic flight which was forced to land in Thailand in 1989.

Government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchart dismissed reports that one of the
students was involved in the hijacking. He said the hijacker was older than
any of the gunmen who occupied the embassy last Friday.

Among the armed group, which called itself the Vigorous Burmese Student
Warriors, were Kyaw Ni or ''Johnny'' and ''Preeda''. Earlier information
indicated San Naign, one of the two radical students involved in the 1989
hijacking, was among the group.

But the identity of the other three remained shrouded in mystery and the
Interior Ministry's report on the 25-hour siege submitted to Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai yesterday added to the confusion.

The report said the other three activists could be Burmese students under
the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In the report, Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said two of them were
Aung Gyi and Win Aung while the third man's name was still not known.

''The three were not students from the Maneeloy holding centre so they were
possibly granted UNHCR protection,'' the report said.

The UNHCR has been taking care of Burmese students who escaped suppression
in their country. Thailand has participated in helping the students by
setting up the Maneeloy holding centre and UNHCR has urged students to stay
there.

Conflicting information have been circulating regarding the five who took
over the embassy and escaped to the border in a helicopter last Saturday.

A report from one security agency claimed that three were Karen.

Sanan's report also identified Kyaw Ni (''Johnny'') and Myint Thien
(''Preeda''). Preeda was also identified in earlier reports as San Naign,
the hijacker.

In his report, Sanan blamed the media for airing the movement of police and
soldiers assigned to the scene, which enabled the captors to keep track of
security measures during the siege.

The minister added that an 800-strong team had been deployed to investigate
the siege, comprising police, army officers, officials from foreign and
interior ministries, the National Security Council and the National
Intelligence Agency.

Akapol said charges against the five could possibly include unlawful
detention, possession of war weapons and robbery.

He denied an allegation by an opposition party that the government gave a
large sum of money to the gunmen before releasing them at the border, when a
negotiator was seen handing over a briefcase.

Akapol claimed that the students asked for the briefcase which belonged to a
Burmese national arrested outside the embassy while the raid was in
progress. The gang told negotiators they wanted a list of telephone numbers
inside the briefcase.

Before handing it over, officials checked the case and found the list and
some clothes, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Chaiyapreuk Sawaengcharoen, the former chief of the Maneeloy
holding centre who was summoned as a negotiator for the siege, said he knew
only two of five militants: ''Johnny and Preeda''.

He asked Johnny why he had led the group to seize the embassy and said he
believed his answer.

''Johnny said he was fed up with passive resistance and wanted the world to
pay attention to the problems in Burma. He did not demand money. He just
asked for a helicopter to go back,'' he said.

He said he had good relationship with both Johnny and Preeda since the two
lived at the Maneeloy centre, otherwise he would not have accepted the
request to act as a negotiator and flown in the helicopter as a hostage
along with Deputy Finance Minister M R Sukhumbhand Paribatra.

''I admit that I was also afraid because I did not know the other three
men,'' he said.

He denied that he handed a bag of dollars to the militants.

Chaiyapreuk was summoned to help relieve the tension one day after he left
his post at Maneeloy centre, where he had worked since 1992.

He has already accepted a new post at the Correction Department and reported
himself to the Interior Ministry.

Chaiyapreuk said he believed the seven Asian and Western hostages who were
seen waving and shouting support for the activists did so because they
sympathized with the gunmen and understood the motive behind their act.

The seven hostages had earlier been suspected of ''collaborating'' with the
Burmese gunmen by the ruling junta in Rangoon.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan down-played criticism by Rangoon
that Thailand glorified the gunmen by letting them walk away scot free and
labelling them as pro-democracy activists.

''Yes, there is some negative feeling emanating from Rangoon as the incident
is still fresh, but that feeling will eventually evaporate,'' Surin said.

"The long-standing and close relations between our two countries will not be
affected by the incident and all aspects of cooperation will continue as
usual,'' he said.

''Maintaining confidence is the top priority for the time being,'' Surin
said, adding that Thailand had increased the number of security personnel at
the Burmese embassy since the attack.

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

THE NATION: EMBASSY RAIDERS REMAIN ELUSIVE
6 October, 1999

THREE days after the dramatic 25-hour hostage crisis at the Burmese Embassy,
Thai authorities are still at a loss in their efforts to establish the
identities of the five armed Burmese militants who were given safe passage
last Saturday in exchange for the release of 89 Burmese diplomats and
foreigners.

They were also trying to establish the assailants' connection with an
unidentified armed group which had cheerfully greeted them when a Thai
helicopter dropped them some 500 metres inside Burma at an area known as
Kamaplaw. Kamaplaw is over the border from Thailand's Suan Phung district in
western Ratchaburi province.

According to a well-informed source who is familiar with western border
activities, two small armed groups, the God Army and the Karen National
Union Youth (KNU-Youth), are active in the Kamaplaw area. Although another
small group known as the Karen Solidarity Organization (KSO), led by Mahn
Robert Ba Zan, who is the son of the late Karen leader Mahn Ba Zan, has had
a presence in the jungle neighbourhood, the source ruled out KSO involvement
in the embassy attack.

Mahn Robert Ba Zan left the Karen National Union, the armed guerrilla
movement which has been fighting for greater autonomy from Rangoon since
Burma's independence from Britain in 1948, after a high-level clash over the
policy of negotiations with the Burmese junta. The KSO is not known to be
active in guerrilla operations.

The source said he had heard that the hostage-takers, who called themselves
the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, had contacted the KSO but that the
KSO was unable to help because it did not have any armed forces. [BurmaNet
Editor's Note: Mahn Robert Ba Zan was not contacted for comment before this
article was written, and therefore KSO's response to this source's
characterization of events is not available.  BurmaNet will publish KSO's
response when it becomes available.]

The source added that it was not yet known whether either of the two other
groups, the KNU-Youth and the God Army, had given the hostage-takers a warm
welcome when they were set free in the Kamaplaw area.

The KNU-Youth is a Buddhist-dominated organization. The God Army was formed
by a group of disgruntled Karen villagers seeking revenge for the Burmese
Army's major attack and capture of the KNU's 4th Brigade headquarters in
early 1997. The Burmese military offensive displaced the whole Karen
population living in the rugged border terrain opposite Kanchanaburi
province.

Many of the refugees who fled to Thailand were later repatriated and
resettled in another border area opposite Ratchaburi province, far south of
their traditional homes, which were in the way of major economic development
projects, including the multi-billion dollar Yadana gas pipeline and the
highway between western Thailand and the Burmese port of Tavoy.

Following the fall of the KNU's 4th Brigade headquarters and the failure of
the KNU forces to protect the civilian population, the villagers decided to
arm themselves to protect their own interests and for safety from Burmese
troops, said the source. The Christian-dominated God Army is thought to have
150 to 200 armed men. ''They are very simple villagers who decided to take
up arms and fight the Burmese,'' said the source.

Thai authorities are trying to establish contact with the groups to find out
if the five Burmese assailants are living with either of them. Thai police
plan to issue arrest warrants for the hostage-takers.

Yesterday the authorities were able to establish the identities of only two
Burmese hostage-takers, Gyaw Ni or San Gyaw Gyaw Oo and Prida or Myint
Thein. The three other collaborators were believed to be young ethnic Karen
from the border area.

Chaiyapreuk Sawaengcharoen, a senior official of the Correction Department
and a former chief of the Maneeloy holding centre for Burmese asylum-seekers
in Ratchaburi, who flew with the hostage-takers to the border, recognized
both Gyaw Ni and Prida, both of whom had at one time lived in Maneeloy camp.

In a statement dated Aug 29, 1999 announcing the establishment of the
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, Gyaw Ni and Myint Thein are identified as
among the 18 founding members. The statement, which gave the group's
intention as joining forces to establish democracy in Burma, also included
the names of three members living outside both Thailand and Burma, Ye Thu
Naing (Australia), Tin Khaik (Japan), and Than Htay (Canada).

The name San Naing is also mentioned in the list of committee members. It is
not yet known if it is the same San Naing, or Ye Thi Ha, who along with
fellow student Ye Yint hijacked a Burmese domestic flight to Thailand in
October 1989.

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

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: HELL CAMP BRED HOSTAGE PLOT
6 October, 1999 by William Barnes

The seizure of Burma's Bangkok embassy was a plot hatched by frustrated and
bloody-minded young exiles in the "Honey Garden" district two hours' drive
from the Thai capital.

The gang leader was Ye Thi Ha, also known as San Naing, who 10 years ago
hijacked a domestic Burmese flight to Thailand. [BurmaNet Editor's Note: see
above article for the identity of this leader, which is under dispute.]

After serving six years in prison he went in 1993 to the Ratchaburi holding
camp for student exiles.

Established in 1992, this camp had already attracted the attention of
organisations like Amnesty International and the US Committee for Refugees.

It was an unhappy camp full of unhappy people, but it offered a haven of
sorts.

It also allowed Ye Thi Ha to make, or cement, friendships with the four
other exiles who would help him run the traditional Fighting Peacock flag of
Burmese opposition up his country's flagpole in the Thai capital six years
later.

One of the these young men was Johnny, or Kyaw Oo, who became something of a
celebrity over the weekend after giving polite Thai-language interviews to a
local radio station.

But in the camp his reputation was rather different. "He was very difficult.
Always getting into fights. Quite aggressive," said someone who knew him.

One hostage, who cannot be identified, said four of the hostage-takers were
quite calm during the siege -- or at least until the tense final two hours.

But one member of the gang was quite jumpy and, as far as this hostage could
see, was responsible for the gunfire heard on Friday and Saturday. "That'll
be Johnny. That's him alright," said his former colleague.

Johnny, and others like him, may have reason to be nervous.

The great majority of residents in the Ratchaburi camp were students - often
a euphemism for anyone between 15 and 30 - who had fled murderous repression
at home in 1988.

The mostly urban, often middle-class youths had had a torrid time stumbling
through malarial jungles only to find that dubious sanctuary lay either with
suspicious ethnic rebels or unwelcoming Thailand.

In the early days the main rebel group - the Karen National Union -
sometimes used the raw and inexperienced youths as cannon fodder, claim some
exiles.

The Thais initially provided equally uncertain shelter: a business-oriented
government kicked many of the students back across the border to appease
Rangoon.

If it was a desperate time it was also a time of hope. Burma was a pariah
nation and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been elevated to the
status of international heroine.

When Ye Thi Ha hijacked a Burmese plane, he probably assumed he was jumping
in the same direction as history.

But 11 long years have passed since the students struggled into exile,
without a sign the regime is willing to countenance even the mildest easing
of military control.

Insiders say that ferment in the dwindling community of a few hundred
Thai-based activists appeared to boil over a year ago after scores of them
demonstrated from the 3rd to the 24th of August 1998 to commemorate 8-8-88 -
a symbolic day of mass protest in Burma - outside the city-centre embassy.

Mysterious motorcyclists threw bottles at the demonstrators during the
night. Later, 32 of them were dragged off by the Thai police to Bang Kheng
special detention centre, typically for spells of six months. Two of the
protesters remain in detention.

"Many people said another tactic was needed. Protesting like that didn't
work," said a source.

This year's numerically significant day of protest on 9-9-99 proved a damp
squib in the face of the junta's sharp repression.

That was probably the final turning point. Ye Thi Ha's little band of
followers started moving into action.

The attack team eventually included Myint Thein, alias Bada, the former
secretary for news and information in Ratchaburi camp's Burmese Students
Association.

The others were Min Nyo or Ni Ni and someone called Jimmy.

Where are they now? About three days' walk from Ratchaburi camp near jungle
where in 1992 five members of a nine-man police commando unit went missing
for a month. When the unit finally emerged it was minus four members who had
been killed by drug traffickers.

Thailand's deputy foreign minister, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, acted as a proxy
hostage during the helicopter ride to the border on Saturday. In 1992, Mr
Sukhumbhand, in academic guise, argued that in their hour of need the
Burmese people should be supported by Thailand.

"They need us, they need our moral support," he said.

Many members of the exile community are praying this week that, even after
last weekend's shenanigans, that generous thought will still hold true.

However, Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said yesterday regulations
confining exiled students to the Ratchaburi camp would from now on be
strictly enforced. "Students will not be allowed to roam free any more," he
said.

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

THE NATION: ENVOYS GIVE THUMBS UP TO "BANGKOK SOLUTION"
6 October, 1999

FOREIGN diplomats based in Bangkok yesterday praised the Thai government's
handling of the Burmese embassy siege last week which saw 38 hostages freed
unharmed by heavily-armed Burmese student dissidents.

One Western diplomat said while the ''Bangkok Solution'', which allowed safe
passage to the Burmese border for the five hostage-takers, could set a
precedent for similar acts in the future, it was more important that the
crisis ended quickly and the hostages released.

But he added: ''Thailand sent a strong message to the Burmese government
that it remains committed to freedom and liberty even though there maybe a
price to pay for that.''

An Asian diplomat who has served in Thailand for many years said: ''A lot of
people in Bangkok are sympathetic to the aspirations of the exiled Burmese
student movement.

''And I think the fact that the Thai authorities knew the nature and the
mentality of those students helped ward off violence.''

''If this happened in another country, then things could have been
different. This was a very Asian way of dealing with a crisis,'' he said.

The diplomats were attending the farewell party for the out-going Japanese
Ambassador to Thailand, Hiroshi Ota, at a Bangkok hotel on Monday evening.

Ota had been in Thailand for three years.

He said he had followed the siege closely and was relieved that it ended the
way it did, even though it was unexpected.

He said it was one of the most exciting moments he would remember during his
time in Bangkok. One Japanese national was among the hostages.

''It's very fortunate that the crisis ended very quickly and with no loss of
life.'' The siege, he said, reminded him how similar situations can end in
loss of life, like the hostage crisis at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru
two years ago which ended in bloodshed.

This was the second time this year that security at embassies in Bangkok has
been breached.

On March 13, a Bangkok-based North Korean diplomat and his family were
abducted by 13 people including embassy staff and North Korean government
agents sent from Pyongyang.

The month-long crisis ended without any criminal charges being laid. The
North Korean diplomats return to Pyongyang after the incident.

But the North Korean incident allowed much more time for negotiations as it
was conducted exclusively through diplomatic channels.

Another incident in 1971 had a similar ending to last week's embassy siege.

It involved the late Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan, who was then
deputy foreign minister.

Chatichai offered himself as hostage to fly a group of Arab terrorists out
of Thailand after the group agreed to release hostages they were holding.

Those at Ota's farewell party could not help but notice the increase in
security obviously inspired by the Burmese embassy siege.

There was a metal detector in the corridor leading to the function room at
the hotel and a throng of security men.

''I have never seen this much security at a diplomatic function in
Bangkok.'' said one guest.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of police had been dispatched to provide
security when the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration arranged a trial ride
on the new sky train for Bangkok-based diplomats.

''It was a good and comfortable ride except when the train ran passed the
Burmese Embassy on Sathorn Rd,'' said one Western diplomat.

''There was a bit of a commotion as everyone turned their attention to the
embassy and started to chat about the incident.''

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THE BANGKOK POST: SANAN DISMISSES CONSPIRACY THEORIES
6 October, 1999

Government vows to step up security

The government has pledged to step up protection at all foreign missions to
allay security fears in the wake of the Burmese embassy siege.

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said Burma's call for reinforced security
surveillance was being attended to and that extra protection would be
mounted at other foreign missions as well.

Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said police would increase their
presence outside the embassies while inside the individual missions were
responsible for arranging their own safety measures.

Mr Surin denied Rangoon had expressed displeasure at the government's
decision to provide free passage for the hostage-takers as a way to resolve
the crisis.

Mr Surin said his Burmese counterpart Win Aung who inspected the embassy on
Monday, was glad the incident was resolved peacefully.

Win Aung, however, urged the Thai government to tighten security at the
Burmese embassy and said the incidence had hurt the morale of his country's
diplomats here.

The Interior Ministry would now review security procedures at Maneeloy
Holding Centre for Burmese refugees in Ratchaburi, said to be a shelter for
anti-Rangoon elements.

Maj-Gen Sanan said two of the hostage-takers were from the Maneeloy centre
while the rest were outsiders. Movements of Burmese students at the centre
and their visitors would be monitored, he said.

Maj-Gen Sanan said students who illegally entered the country would face a
crackdown and deported while asylum seekers would be housed at the centre,
where authorities could keep a close watch.

The interior minister bluntly dismissed the New Aspiration Party's
accusation that the government had paid the gunmen $1 million (40 million
baht) to abort the siege.

The briefcase seen being handed over to the hostage-takers at the embassy
gate contained nothing but a mobile phone, a phone directory, and some
clothes, and was being returned to them after it was earlier seized by the
authorities.

He also denied the "conspiracy theory" that students had colluded with
foreigners in taking control of the embassy.

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