The BurmaNet News: October 15, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: October 15, 1999
Issue #1380

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: UN OFFICIAL ARRIVES IN MYANMAR
THE NATION: THAI-BURMESE TENSIONS KICK START-CLASH IN PARLIAMENT
BKK POST: US PLEDGES TO RESETTLE 2,700 STUDENTS EXILES
BKK POST: RULES WAIVED FOR GAMBLERS
BKK POST: MELTDOWN AS FISHERMEN PLEAD FOR RELIEF FUND
BKK POST: SUE THE BURMESE OVER FISHING BAN
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REUTERS: UN OFFICIAL ARRIVES IN MYANMAR FOR TALKS
14 October, 1999 by By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - A senior U.N. official arrived in Myanmar on
Thursday on a delicate mission to promote dialogue between Yangon's ruling
military and the opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Accompanied by World Bank and International Monetary Fund representatives,
assistant U.N. secretary-general for political affairs Alvaro de Soto held
meetings with Foreign Minister Win Aung and his officials in Yangon.

``He will meet government officials as well as political parties,'' a
government spokesman told Reuters. He declined to give details of de Soto's
visit which ends on Monday.

De Soto is also set to meet top leaders of the military government,
including the powerful intelligence chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, and
Suu Kyi and other political party heads during his visit.

The official's visit follows a request by the U.N. Assembly to Annan to try
and end Myanmar's isolation by persuading the government to negotiate with
the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Suu Kyi.

De Soto, who has visited the country about five times, is an emissary of
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and will submit a report to the U.N. General
Assembly after his trip.

The U.N. assembly, as well as Western countries led by the United States and
the European Union, has condemned Myanmar, formerly Burma, for severe human
rights violations ranging from forced labour to torture of prisoners, mainly
students, professionals and academics.

Yangon earlier this year postponed a visit by De Soto but gave no reason for
it. New arrangements were worked out last month when Myanmar's foreign
minister attended the annual General Assembly debate.

De Soto last visited Myanmar a year ago at which time he raised the
possibility of World Bank development aid if the government initiated a
dialogue with the opposition.

So far the military has refused to negotiate with Suu Kyi's party unless she
disbands a committee designed to represent parliament, a challenge to its
rule.

The NLD won the country's last election in 1990 but the military ignored the
results and has since tried to silence the party through arrests and
intimidation.

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THE NATION: THAI-BURMESE TENSIONS KICK-START CLASH IN PARLIAMENT
15 October, 1999

THE growing tensions between Thailand and Burma were taken to the
Parliamentary floor yesterday as opposition lawmakers accused the government
of not being competent enough to bring the bilateral dispute to an end.

Opposition MPs from the New Aspiration Party slammed Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai and Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, accusing them of mishandling
the dispute, but they offered no real solution of their own.

The fact that Thai fishermen were still being kept out of Burmese waters was
testimony to the government's failure to solve the problem, the lawmakers
said.

They criticised Surin, who cited diplomatic sensitivity for conducting the
session behind the closed doors, for not allowing the debate to be broadcast
so the public could decide for themselves.

Tension between Thailand and Burma erupted in the past week with the latter
accusing Thai authorities of handling the recent hostage crisis at the
Burmese Embassy with ''kid gloves''.

Moreover, Burma's generals were irked by the statement by Interior Minister
Sanan Kachornprasart that the five hostage-takers were just ''students
fighting for democracy''. Rangoon ordered its border with Thailand shut and
cancelled all fishing concessions given to Thai fishermen. Cross-border
trade and fisheries industry had been at a standstill since then.

Yesterday's debate strayed off at a tangent with opposition accusing Surin
of lacking vision and following the footsteps of big powerful countries.
They said he had been using his position to promote himself at an
international forum, citing a report saying Surin was aiming for the seat of
UN secretary-general.

Surin dismissed the allegations and took a jab at an NAP member whose wife
exploited her husband's position for financial gains. He did not reveal the
MP's name.

''My Khunying [wife] doesn't go abroad looking for logging concessions and I
have never travelled abroad to request for any kind of concessions for
myself or for her,'' Surin said.

Though Surin did not name names, it was understood that he was referring to
the wife of Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, leader of the NAP. She allegedly was
linked to attempts to seek a number of logging and fisheries concessions by
the Burmese military government during Chavalit's various stints in the army
and afterwards. Chavalit has close personal connections with the Burmese
military junta.

Surin's statement infuriated the opposition, whose members demanded that the
foreign minister retract his statement.

Speaking on his way back to Nakhon Phanom, Chavalit urged Thailand to
understand the feelings of the Burmese, who had been hurt by the incident,
and not to call them dictators every time a dispute surfaced.

Chavalit blamed Rangoon's anger on the Thai government's inconsistency in
the handling of the hostage crisis. ''You can not call them [the captors]
democratic student activists, after all, the circumstances already pointed
to them as terrorists,'' he said.

The Nap leader said the government had to do its utmost to restore bilateral
ties since being Thailand's neighbour was a permanent, not temporary,
arrangement with Burma.

He said Thailand's chronic problems with Burma had resulted from the
government's lack of understanding of its neighbour. ''I don't understand
why we had so many problems with Burma, unlike China or India, who also
share long borders with Burma but still manage to maintain good relations
with it,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Gen Mongkhol Ampornpisit, supreme commander of the armed forces,
ordered all troops along the border to keep an eye out for the five
dissidents who had stormed the Burmese Embassy early this month, and arrest
them on sight.

Mongkhol said he had told troops stationed along the border to seek
information on the whereabouts of the five.

The Army's 1st and 3rd Regions, as well as Navy's 4th and 9th Fleets, have
been ordered to sharpen surveillance efforts amid reports that Burma had
dispatched army units to the border areas following the hostage crisis,
which ended after Thailand agreed to provide a safe passage for the armed
men.

Recalling the 25-hour ordeal, police chief Gen Pracha Promnok revealed to
reporters that he had been caught in a tight situation -- he had to find
ways to end the siege as soon as possible, without risking the lives of the
Burmese diplomats who were being held against their will.

Pracha said he had received a fax from the Burmese police chief asking Thai
authorities to ensure the safety of the diplomats.

He showed it to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who made it clear that the
crisis should be solved through negotiations that had to be conducted in a
calm manner, he said.

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

BANGKOK POST: US PLEDGES TO RESETTLE 2,700 STUDENT EXILES
15 October, 1999 by Yuwadee Tunyasiri

The United States has pledged full support for the planned third-country
resettlement of about 2,700 Burmese student exiles now in Thailand, the
National Security Council secretary-general said yesterday.

Kachadpai Burusphat said Washington would raise the matter with Canada,
Australia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and work to
have a resettlement programme implemented as soon as possible.

The issue was raised during a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State
Julia Taft on Tuesday.

He told Mrs Taft that resettlement was in the best interests of the exiled
students, since they would be able to further their education.

"I told her that the Burmese students have no future here. In the future
maybe they could return home and help develop the country," said Mr
Kachadpai.

The Burmese students targeted for resettlement were those under the care of
the UNHCR and those living in the Maneeloy holding centre in Ratchaburi, he
said.
An additional 1,000 dissident students who had lost contact with the UNHCR
would also be urged to report to the authorities for resettlement.

Mrs Taft had thanked Thailand for resolving the Burmese embassy crisis
without bloodshed and providing assistance to the asylum seekers, he said.

"I also told her that we could not be sure that it would not happen again,
as long as Burmese students still live here," the NSC secretary-general
said.

He had also brought up the security problem caused by ethnic people who fled
fighting in Burma and asked Washington to discuss sending them back with the
UNHCR.

The US had promised to give financial assistance and seek the co-operation
of the UNHCR and other international aid organizations, he said.

Mr Kachadpai also gave an assurance there was no need for concern over
Rangoon's troop deployment along the border, and said Thai units had been
placed on full alert.

"The authorities have a plan and procedures to follow. There is nothing to
worry about," he said.

The estimated 7,000 Karen refugees at Ban Tham Hin would also be encouraged
to return home when the situation was back to normal.

He said the UNHCR must adopt an aggressive approach in dealing with the
refugees as the increasing number posed a security problem for Thailand.

"The UNHCR has to co-operate with the Burmese government in solving the
problem. These people should be sent back home as soon as possible to
alleviate the burden on us and clear up any suspicions Rangoon has that we
are supporting them," he said.

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

BANGKOK POST: RULES WAIVED FOR GAMBLERS
15 October, 1999

The only crossing point to Burma still open facilitates the passage of
visitors to a casino.

The Ranong-Kawthaung pass provides visitors, 85% of them Thai, access to the
Koh Song casino where at least 10 million baht changes hands daily.

Sources said the temporary pass, where each visitor is charged 250 baht, had
until recently operated from 6.30am-6.30pm but is now open all day.

Rangoon unilaterally closed its land and sea borders with Thailand last week
after five armed dissidents stormed its embassy on Sathorn road. In Chiang
Rai, a local business leader told traders there was no point in letting
Burma know how badly their operations had been affected.

Anan Laothammarat, president of the provincial chamber of commerce, said
Burma was also being affected and would relax the ban when it realized how
bad matters were.

"I think Burma will let us do some business even if it does not reopen the
border," said Mr Anan, who urged the government to handle the issue with
dignity and in the national interest.

Mr Anan said matters were not as bad as they seemed as Laos remained a
promising market.

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

BANGKOK POST: MELTDOWN AS FISHERMEN PLEAD FOR RELIEF FUND
15 October, 1999 by Onnucha Hutasingh and Achatthaya Chuenniran

Ranong

The fishing industry faces a crisis unless the government steps in to help
firms hit by Rangoon's decision to suspend concessions to Thai boats.
Business operators told the provincial joint public and private sector
consultative committee yesterday that 109 fish markets and many animal feed
and ice factories would be in crisis within seven days because supplies of
raw materials had already run out.

With no output, each factory still had daily operating costs of about one
million baht a day. Many were being forced to seek high-interest loans.
Total losses were running at about 30 million baht per day.

The Fisheries Association of Ranong urged the government to negotiate with
Rangoon for a resolution of the problem and a 400,000-500,000 baht refund
for each Thai concessionaire.

The association also demanded the setting up of a 500-million-baht fund from
which hard-hit trawler operators could borrow up to one million baht
interest free.

Sutha Peripas, chief of the provincial fishery office, said about 400
fishing boats had been affected by Burma's decision to close its waters to
Thais.
He said 130 dual-nationality fishing boats could not leave Ranong and 70
others with 140 Thai crewmen on board were stranded in Rangoon.

Although hundreds of Thai trawlers had turned to fish off Surin island,
Phuket island and coastal waters near India and Bangladesh, the catch had
been small.
Ranong governor Thawat Hantra said exporters planned to send goods worth
nine million baht to Burma each day under old purchasing orders until the
end of the month, but were reluctant to proceed with new orders for fear
they would not be paid.

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

BANGKOK POST: SUE THE BURMESE OVER FISHING BAN
14 October, 1999

Postbag

Asean as a grouping has always maintained that politics and economics are
different issues.

What happened at the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok was politics and the closing
of borders and the driving out of Thai fishing boats from Burmese waters is
economics.

This is proof that in spite of all pretences, the Burmese regime still will
not accept the fact that all things in life cannot be sorted out by brute
strength.

At the same time, both Thailand and Burma are members of the WTO, which was
created to encourage fair trade.

The fishing companies of Thailand should not just wait for the Burmese
regime to re-open the fishing.

We are sure that all have legal contracts with the Burma officials. The Thai
companies also should not be afraid of other nationals taking their place as
their contracts remain in effect and the Burmese regime knows that no other
nation or national will tolerate them as much as the Thais.

As the Thai companies did not violate any part of the contracts, they should
take the breaching of the contract by the Burmese regime to the WTO and sue
Burma in a Thai court, and impound all the regime's property to cover all
the expenses incurred.

While waiting for government solutions, that is the alternative the Thai
fishing companies should take to show Rangoon that violations of legal
contracts cannot be done in an off-hand manner.

Pyi Thit Nyunt Wai, Washington DC
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