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NEWS - Burma's SPDC is Interfering



Subject: NEWS - Burma's SPDC is Interfering with the Internal Affairs of Thailand

Burma's SPDC is Interfering with the Internal Affairs of Thailand

The Rangoon Post - 13 October, 1999

  The actions of the SPDC junta after the recent embassy siege in 
Bangkok shows growing evidence of the SPDC to manipulate and interfere 
with the laws and actions of the Thai government. 
  Demands were made to kill the members of the group by the SPDC
military.  Now the military is stifling Thai buiness and economy by
halting fishing and and closing the border areas.  Isn't bad enough that
the border posts extort fees from business people, tourists and regular
people in the area.
  In the past, only a few months ago, an SPDC military group crossed the
border into Thailand and attacked and destroyed a Police Station.
Another time, they attacked a Karen refugee camps and burned it to the
ground. Now they are building a military force of about 30,000 near the
Thai border in an effort to bring continued fear to Thai people and
likely invade the refugee camps again.

   On a similar issue, the SPDC had hired agencies in or near
Washington, D.C. to manipulate the "internal affairs" of the U.S., the
sanction laws and public opinion. Just as China did, so did Burma.

  ASEAN won't speak up about this and remains silent. Should or will the
world stand by and let this murdering regime get away with anything the
general's wish?  Or will it be another East Timor and Yugoslavia?
-------------------------------------------------
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - Wednesday, October 13, 1999

Asean silence allows junta to punish Bangkok

CURRENTS by HOWARD WINN

Thailand gained considerable kudos from the peaceful outcome to the
siege of
the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.
But after the celebratory back-slapping a sour note has crept into its
dealings with the Burmese dissidents currently in Thailand.

The secretary-general of the National Security Council, Kachadapai
Burusapatan, is urging the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
to
send all exiled Burmese students under its care in Thailand to a third
country.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra said any repatriation
would be voluntary.

Whether Mr Kachadapai's remarks should be taken at face value is unclear
as
they may have been made to pressure the international community or to
appease the Burmese Government.

The Burmese junta is clearly displeased with the Thais for what it
considers
to be the soft treatment of the student hostage-takers. It has closed
the
border and suspended fishing licences, resulting in the loss of millions
of
dollars worth of business.

Thai Commerce Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi says Thai traders stand to
lose
their market dominance in Burma if the border stays closed for another
week
as Rangoon importers turn to other sources.

So Thailand ends up getting punished for its peaceful handling of the
dissidents and for looking after refugees on humanitarian grounds.

The root problem is that the junta is an oppressive regime that
overturned
an election result and maintains power by force.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations' policy of constructive
engagement with Burma has achieved nothing. In fact, by allowing Burma
to
become a member of an international body it has given it a veneer of
legitimacy. How long is Asean prepared to sit back and do nothing?

Meanwhile, because of the lack of a co-ordinated approach to Burma, the
junta plays one member country off against the other with ease. By in
effect
imposing trade sanctions on Thailand, it opens the door to Singaporean
and
Malaysian traders.

Thailand, which has carried the brunt of the human consequences of its
unsavoury neighbour, will always be vulnerable until Asean adopts a more
creative policy towards Burma.

It is difficult to hold out much hope, given Asean's silence while the
army
of one of its members slaughtered thousands of unarmed civilians in East
Timor. What kind of crisis, what atrocity, is necessary to get this body
to
recognise its responsibilities?