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The BurmaNet News: October 25, 1999



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 Catch the latest news on Burma at www.burmanet.org
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The BurmaNet News: October 25, 1999
Issue #1386

Noted in Passing: "We have to pay more bribes to the Burmese army officers
now that the border is closed " - Aung Win, Burmese Trader (see FEER:
Rangoon's Border Closure Has Hurt Burmese Traders Most)

HEADLINES:
==========
SHAN: TRUCE BRINGS ONLY GRIEF, SAYS CEASEFIRE LEADER
BKK POST: BURMA ANGRY AT FORAY ONTO ITS SOIL
AFP: MORE ELEPHANTS TO BE USED TO REVIVE ECONOMY
BKK POST: TACHILEK GOVERNOR DISMISSED
BKK POST: HOSTAGE-TAKERS ON THE MOVE ACROSS BORDER
NATION: THAI GAMBLERS MAY FACE PRISON TERMS
FEER: BORDER CLOSURE HAS HURT BURMESE TRADERS MOST
BKK POST: ONLY THE JUNTA CAN SOLVE THINGS
NATION: PRESSURE INCREASES ON REFUGEE STUDENTS
BKK POST: APOLOGY FOR SEIZURE OF EMBASSY
*****************************************************

SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: TRUCE BRINGS ONLY GRIEF, SAYS CEASEFIRE LEADER
21 October, 1999

Ten years after signing truce with Burmese Junta, conditions have worsened
for both his group and the local people, reads a report from a Shan
commander of the Shan States Army North, a copy of which S.H.A.N. received
recently.

In his letter written to Sao Loimao, Chairman of the SSA-North, dated 24
June, Ltc. Saimo, Commander of the Third Brigade, reported that his unit's
"feet are shackled" and that its movements had been confined to a small area
in northern Shan State.

Before 1989, the year the SSA-N, along with other groups like Kokang and Wa,
signed a truce with the Burmese Army, the Third Brigade's operational zone,
he said, stretched as far as Namhsan in the north, Mongmit and Mongkut
(Mogok in Burmese) in the west, the foothills of Burma, Nawngkheo and
Thabeikkyin in the south and Namtu and Lashio in the east (about 5,000
square miles).

The unit is now wedged inside a small strip of land bordered by Namhsan,
Namtu, Hsipaw and Kyaukme, no more than a tenth of its former area.

According to ceasefire terms, he could no longer operate inside five miles
of each side of the motor roads.

"Worse, we were barred from carrying arms, when we have to move our troops
across towns since mid-1997", he said.

Another grievance was that the Third Brigade were stopped by the SPDC from
the logging business. "Some might say 'what's wrong with that? The
government is only trying to conserve the forest, isn't it?'" said DIN,
S.H.A.N.'s northern reporter. "What's wrong is that trees are being felled
in large numbers in the other parts of the Shan State, in some cases, by the
Burmese troops themselves".

The rice supplies from the Burma Army also ceased about the same time (i.e.
mid-1997), Col. Saimo said.

The worst thing was that while the SSA was being prohibited from recruiting,
local people were being forced to serve as militia men, known as
Anti-Insurgency Units, he said. "The rural areas nowadays are no longer
different from the period while we were still fighting".

According to his detailed report, a militia force had been formed in each of
the 12 villages around his area, comprising 377 men with 412 small arms,
most of them M-21 and M-22 automatic rifles. "Each village has to be
responsible for the arms and the upkeep of the militiamen", said Saimo. "K.
4,500 for each piece of arms and K. 10,000 monthly pay for each militiaman,
he said. Also another batch of militia, totalling 600 men, has been forcibly
formed recently in 12 other villages".

DIN added that so far the Third Brigade's grievances were yet to be
addressed.

[S.H.A.N. is a non-profit making, independent Shan media group. It is not
affiliated to any political or armed organization.]

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

THE BANGKOK POST: BURMA ANGRY AT FORAY ONTO ITS SOIL
24 October, 1999

MAE HONG SON - Burma has made a formal protest to Thailand after a group of
armed men attacked a camp on its soil, 'wounding five Burmese soldiers and
damaging several buildings and other properties costing over US $500,000.

A protest letter submitted by Lt-Col Ta Khu, chairman of the local
Thai-Burmese Border Committee, said that on October 14 a group of 50 armed
men launched an attack on a Burmese military camp.

The attack, on Na Mon Luang village in Shan State, was launched from the
Thai border and lasted 30 minutes, the letter said.

Five Burmese soldiers were wounded and several buildings, including a food
storage centre, were burnt down.

Lt-Col Ta Khu accused Thai authorities of allowing the intruders to use Thai
soil as their sanctuary.

On May 1, the Thai side lodged a similar protest with Burma demanding
230,000 baht compensation after Burmese soldiers crossed the border and
attacked a police station in Mae Hong Son.

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

AFP: MYANMAR SAYS MORE ELEPHANTS TO BE USED TO REVIVE ECONOMY
24 October, 1999

AFP Bangkok, 24 October 1999. Myanmar said Sunday it was encouraging greater
use of animals such as elephants, horses and cattle to help boost the
country's economy.

"Reliance is to be put on elephants, horses and cattle in agricultural
undertakings, timber extraction and transport services in rural areas of
Myanmar," said a junta statement received here.

It said the raising of poultry, sheep, goats and pigs was improving "from a
manageable scale to a commercial scale."

The junta has long boasted of the country's abundance of natural resources,
which not only make it self-sufficient but could allow it to act as the
"rice bowl" for the region.

But experts say the picture was not so rosy, with production stagnating and
agricultural growth lagging behind other Asian nations.

The junta said it was also focusing on improving the livestock industry by
boosting the number of qualified veterinarians and animal husbandry experts.

It said the meat industry generated 3,564 million kip (594 million dollars
at the official rate), accounting for 12.9 percent of the country's gross
domestic product in 1998-99.

The official exchange rate is six [kyat] to the dollar, but the currency
trades on the blackmarket at about 330 to the dollar.

Earlier this month Myanmar predicted it would have the fastest-growing
economy in Southeast Asia this year despite being slapped with Western trade
and investment sanctions.

Senior junta minister Brigadier General David Abel said Myanmar was
confident its economy would expand by 6.4 percent in 1999.

The sanctions were designed to punish what critics say is the junta's
appalling human rights record.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: TACHILEK GOVERNOR DISMISSED
24 October, 1999 by Theerawat Khamthita

Chiang Rai - The governor of Tachilek in Burma has been sacked in connection
with unconfirmed reports that Thai traders tried to bribe him to persuade
Rangoon to reopen the border.

Pol Col Panuwat Meepien, Mae Sai police chief, said he heard Lt-Col Ko Ko
Teh had been sacked by Gen Maung Aye, the Burmese army commander.

Burma had not informed Thai authorities of such action, but he believed it
may have stemmed from the Burmese government's dissatisfaction over reports
in Thai newspapers of massive goods smuggling across the Thai-Burmese border
despite Rangoon's decision to close it.

Sarnrerng Boonyopakorn, the Chiang Rai governor, said he learned Lt-Col Ko
Ko Teh had been recalled to Rangoon but did not know whether he had been
sacked.

The governor declined to confirm if Thai traders had collected money among
themselves to bribe Tachilek authorities. He said even if the report were
true the method was unlikely to be effective as the power to reopen the
border rested with the central government.

But a trader, who asked not to be identified, said it was true because he
himself had made a contribution.

He said the amount collected from Mae Sai traders was probably about 10
million baht and part of it could have been given to the Burmese last week
at a golf course in Tachilek.

The bribe might not lead to an immediate re-opening of the border, but it
was local leaders who would advise the central government when to do so, he
said.

Apart from the Thai traders, merchants in Tachilek might have also paid
money to the Burmese authorities.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: STUDENT HOSTAGE-TAKERS ON THE MOVE ACROSS BORDER
23 October, 1999

HOISTING OF FIGHTING PEACOCK FLAG HAILED

AFP - The five pro-democracy gunmen who stormed the Burmese embassy in
Bangkok early this month are not in Thailand but on the run inside Burma,
informed sources said.

A senior member of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW), who claimed
responsibility for the 25-hour embassy drama, told AFP the group was moving
between villages on the Burmese side of the border.

He said the group felt it had achieved its objectives in storming the
embassy. "Our flying the fighting peacock flag (of the
democracy movement) for 24 hours from the embassy was a tremendous victory
for our movement," the source told AFP in an interview on the border.

"It was a historic event," he said adding the group now felt more confident
than ever.

The gunmen stormed the embassy on Oct 1, holding 38 people hostage for more
than 24 hours and initially demanding the ruling military open talks with
the democratic opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

On Oct 2, Thai negotiators bowed to the gunmen's demands for an escape
helicopter to the jungled Thai-Burmese border.

The Burmese junta, which closed the border with Thailand after the incident,
has been critical of the Democrat-led government's handling of the crisis,
and has demanded it track down and arrest the gunmen.

Thailand has issued arrest warrants for two of the gunmen it says can be
identified, but has said it remains unclear if they are
still in Thailand.

Another VBSW member told AFP one of the main goals of the embassy hostage
drama codenamed "G", was to grab international attention and send a wake-up
message to pro-democracy activists and fellow students inside Burma.

He said that operation "G" was also designed to send a message to the junta,
showing them just how much student activists were capable of.

He said that although the VBSW had close ties with a number of rebel groups
active on the Thai-Burmese border, including the Karen National Union and
the splinter Karen group God's Army, it was an independent movement.

He said that the VBSW was formed shortly before the planned 9/9/99 uprising,
or "Four Nines Movement," last month in which exiled dissidents encouraged
those inside Burma to replicate a mass uprising on Aug 8, 1988, or 8/8/88.

The VBSW member also denied junta claims that the group had received help
from foreign elements in executing the hostage
drama.

"If they had received that kind of assistance, the hostage-taking would have
been better executed and more systematic."

He also denied claims the hostage-takers had stolen money from the embassy,
but said that they had taken a number of important documents with them.

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

THE NATION: THAI GAMBLERS MAY FACE PRISON TERMS
24 October, 1999

STILL NO OFFICIAL RANGOON EXPLANATION FOR ARRESTS

AFP - DOZENS of Thai gamblers arrested by Burmese troops on Friday in Koh
Song, opposite Thailand s Ranong province, may face up to nine years in
prison and a fine of US$1,000 each, Ranong provincial governor Thawat Hantra
said yesterday.

While there has still been no official explanation from Rangoon about the
arrests, several Thai government officials yesterday assumed the gamblers
had been arrested because they had illegally crossed into Burma despite the
closure of the checkpoint following the Bangkok hostage crisis earlier this
month.

The officials said they were in contact with the Burmese authorities through
all available channels to learn more about the incident and to secure the
release of the Thais but needed to tread carefully to prevent the matter
from further complicating the already strained relations between the two
countries.

While the exact number of Thais arrested has yet to be verified, Thawat put
it at 32. At around 6.15 pm yesterday the group was escorted from Taling
Chant port, opposite Ban Tap Li in Kraburi district of Ranong province, to
Koh Songh town to face legal proceedings, according to an informed border
source. "There are still 32 Thais detained by local Burmese authorities, and
so far we have not been able to get any information about them," Thawat
said.

"We would like to know what charges they are facing and why they were
arrested," he said, adding that the group was likely to have been detained
for crossing the border illegally.

Other border sources, as well as accounts from local traders who had been
freed from Koh Song over the last two days, confirmed the gamblers would
face trial in court.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday admitted that those who had illegally
entered Burma must naturally face legal action, despite the fact that
previous illegal crossings had not always resulted in arrests.

Chuan warned local villagers against taking such matters as casually as they
had done before, as uncertainty currently
prevailed over when the Burmese authorities would enforce their laws.

Burma closed its border with Thailand on Oct 2, when the Thai government
provided an escape helicopter for five anti-junta gunmen who had been
holding 38 people hostage at Rangoon's embassy in Bangkok.

The ruling Burmese military regime was angered by Thailand's handling of the
hostage crisis and comments from a senior Thai government minister who
described the gunmen as "not terrorists but student activists fighting for
democracy".

The closure of the border is costing Thai fishermen and traders millions of
dollars a day, but Rangoon has indicated it will only reopen entry points
when Bangkok arrests the gunmen of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors
organisation.

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan warned that while the reason for the arrest
of the gamblers could be linked to their illegal
border crossing, one should not jump to the conclusion that the latest
incident was a spin-off from the strained Thai Burmese relations over the
hostage crisis.

"We must try to separate the fresh incident from the previous ones. We are
trying to solve the problems one by one, and the
indications we are getting from Rangoon so far are increasingly positive,"
Surin said.

He said his ministry's initial contact with the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok
to ask for an explanation of the latest incident had not yet borne fruit as
it had fallen over the weekend.

Surin downplayed the incident, saying there had been illegal crossings in
the past that had eluded public attention whereas
the current incident was in the public spotlight because it involved a large
number of people, and more over any incident related to Burma was currently
under close scrutiny from many sides.

Reports of the number of Thais originally detained vary greatly, with some
stating that the Burmese authorities initially detained 80 Thais believed to
have crossed illegally into southern Burma to gamble at a casino just 100
metres from the border.

Some 50 of those detained have been gradually released since on Friday,
including the wives and children of the gamblers.

Accounts given by those released said that troops from the Burmese 288th
Battalion stormed the casino on Friday afternoon and rounded up about 200
Thai gamblers, including the owner, Prawat Ongsomwang.

However, they added that the Burmese authorities only wanted to take legal
action against 35 gamblers and the rest would soon be released. According to
them, the 35 gamblers were tied with rope to prevent their escape. Prawat
was reportedly freed after agreeing to pay concession fees requested by the
local authorities.

Meanwhile former prime minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and former
commander of Army Pourth Region Gen Kitti Ratanachaya, who have close
personal ties with Rangoon, suggested the government should negotiate with
Rangoon.

New Aspiration Party leader Chavalit proposed that the government nominate a
third party capable of talking in a
friendly way with Rangoon as a means of ending the strained ties between the
two countries. Kitti, Chavalit's deputy, said the government had to
compromise on some of its interests through  negotiation, which had
previously been a common but effective practice in solving border conflicts.

He blamed the present government for turning a deaf ear to some good
suggestions to improve bilateral relations. "The present government keeps on
talking, which is tantamount to doing nothing," he said. He said the
government should not seek to maintain its own stability at the expense of
ordinary people's troubles.

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

FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW: RANGOON'S BORDER CLOSURE HAS HURT BURMESE
TRADERS MOST
28 October, 1999 by Bertil Lintner in Mai Sai and Rodney Tasker in Bangkok

Aung Win, a young Burmese trader in the Thai border town of Mae Sai, has
found making a living harder in recent weeks. But he still manages. On a
balmy morning, he folds a bundle of bank notes inside a handkerchief,
secures his little package with rubber bands, and hurls it across the narrow
river that separates Mae Sai from Tachilek in Burma. A few minutes later, in
full view of the Burmese border guards, his companion on the other side
tosses back two cartons of brand name American cigarettes that Aung Win's
Thai customer has ordered.

His problem is that he has to pack in more money than he used to for the
smuggled cigarettes. Burmese authorities closed the border on October 2,
after Thailand released five exiled Burmese student activists who had
protested against the Burmese regime by seizing its embassy in Bangkok. And
that has hit Aung Win directly. "We have to pay more bribes to the Burmese
army officers now that the border is closed," he laments.

Although both governments deny it, foreign diplomats in Bangkok say the
Burmese wanted to punish the Thais for their handling of the embassy drama.
But it's becoming increasingly clear that the border closure has backfired
badly on the Burmese. Apart from the occasional cross-river cigarette
dealer -- and fee-collecting army officers -- few people in Tachilek now
make any money at all. "Tachilek has become a ghost town," says a Thai
trader in Mae Sai. "All the shops are closed because no one from this side
is allowed across. Previously, hundreds of Thais crossed the border every
day to go shopping in Tachilek."

Trade across the border is fairly small-scale stuff: Thai traders in Mae Sai
estimate the closure has caused total daily losses along the border of 26
million - 30 million baht ($663,000 - 765,000) -- a blow for them, but not
much for the Thai economy. But in Burma, where the situation in Tachilek is
probably mirrored in towns all along the border, it's a bigger problem.

Burma is much more dependent on Thailand than it was the last time Rangoon
sealed the border at Mae Sai, which it did for more than a year in 1995-96.
"Then, goods imported from Singapore were transported up to Tachilek and
other border towns," a Mae Sai trader explains. "They were expensive, but at
least there was something to buy and sell." But the Burmese kyat has dropped
by more than half since early 1997, making Singaporean goods much more
expensive. Imports from Singapore are now down to a trickle. By contrast,
trade continued with Thailand until the border was closed.  Thai goods
remained affordable because the baht has also fallen over the past two
years.

Now, both Thai merchants and government officials seem to be running out of
patience with what they see as erratic behaviour on the part of the Burmese.
"We're in no hurry to see the border reopen, because we feel that the
Burmese have no justification for closing it," Thai Deputy Foreign Minister
Sukhumbhand Paribatra says. Suchit Boonbongkarn, head of Chulalongkorn
University's Institute of Security and International Studies, is even more
outspoken: "I don't think we should do anything to appease Burma."

Tachilek and other Burmese border towns are now also running dangerously
short of food, petrol and other essentials that used to come from Thailand.
Traders in Mae Sai say shortages can be felt as far as Kengtung, 165
kilometres north of Tachilek and the main city in easternmost Burma. The
country's poor infrastructure makes it time consuming and expensive to
transport goods from Mandalay, Rangoon and other cities.

The strains are immediately apparent on the border. Burmese army commanders
are charging 200 baht to let Tachilek traders cross the river to the Thai
side and 400 baht to let them back in again. A few hundred metres upstream
from the closed border bridge, small boats ferry Burmese locals to Mae Sai.
"It can't go on like this. It's ridiculous," says a Mae Sai travel agent.

In an interview with the REVIEW, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan seems
relaxed about the situation: "My hope is that within a month a level of
trust can be restored -- a slow process of normalization." But given the
differences in the way the Thais and the Burmese perceive the situation --
and their vastly divergent approaches to politics and business -- it remains
to be seen how well relations can be patched up. Says a veteran Thai-based
Western intelligence officer: "For the first time, the Thais are playing
hardball with the Burmese."

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

THE BANGKOK POST: ONLY THE JUNTA CAN SOLVE THINGS
22 October, 1999

OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Burmese students housed at the holding camp in Ratchaburi have not helped
their cause by holding UN staff hostage for several hours. But equally
damaging to any attempt to settle the whole question of these refugees would
be for the Thai authorities to overact.

The Burmese students housed at the Maneeloy refugee camp have done
themselves a great disservice by taking United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees staff hostage last Monday. The patience of the Thai government and
the sympathy of the Thai public have already been sorely tested by the
seizure of the Burmese Embassy earlier this month, and things have
definitely not been helped by these students.

Taking the UNHCR staff captive after they refused to pay the 800 baht
monthly allowance to a number of students who had breached the camp's
conditions risks a backlash that could make life at the camp even more
unpleasant for all 2,700 residents. Senior Thai officials who are trying to
send the students to third countries were clearly angry and threatened to
implement a tougher regime for the students. The Thai public also might feel
that the hospitality and privileges they have extended the students have
been abused and so back any attempt by the authorities to make life more
unpleasant for them.

Amid all this carrying on, there is the danger that the fact that the
students are not the real problem behind the souring of Thai-Burmese
relations could be forgotten. The students now are paying for the actions of
their hot-headed colleagues who founded the Vigorous Burmese Students
Warriors and took the embassy by force of arms. Getting rid of the remaining
Burmese students and dissidents in Thailand is at best wishful thinking. And
even if this were possible, the security problems facing Thailand and Burma
would not be resolved.

For a start, there is no such thing as forced resettlement in third
countries. Though the United States and Canada have pledged to take up to
2,000 of the Maneeloy residents, the students themselves must want to go. If
they do not, and a significant number don't, no one can force them. The
Western recipient countries certainly won't become involved in any type of
involuntary action. And with 700 students still to find a country willing to
take them, and many of them only wanting to return to a democratic Burma and
others who simply will not meet resettlement conditions, Thailand could
still be left with quiet a sizeable population of these dissidents.

The Thai authorities appear to be confused about the proper Burma policy.
After expressing sympathy for the students' predicament and cause, Thailand
now wants to rid itself of the burden of caring for them. But is this
realistic? The repression inside Burma will keep creating refugees. Some
will resort to taking up arms to fight the Rangoon junta. The best that
Thailand can do, and has been doing, the paranoia of Burmese generals
notwithstanding, is not to allow her territory to be used for the training
of militias or for the staging of acts of sabotage against Burma.

The security problems which plague Thai-Burmese relations are largely the
consequence of the Burmese junta's refusal to allow a democratic system
which could provide the basis for the peaceful settlement of political
conflicts. Both the students and the 150,000 Burmese refugees who are
members of ethnic minorities now sheltering inside Thailand are here because
of a military dictatorship that refuses to deal with conflicts itself. It is
not a problem of our making, and by taking care of her people, Thailand is
doing what Burma herself should have done.

As long as the Rangoon junta cannot recognise this, and that Thailand is its
bridge to the outside world, as long as it doesn't move towards democracy,
then there is very little hope of an improvement in relations. There is
nothing the Thai government can do. Doing anything other than make sure the
Burmese students do not resort to violence to press their cause will serve
no purpose; it will only create more problems. Living in a refugee camp for
a decade with no alternative in sight is enough of a frustration.
Heavy-handed treatment by the Thai authorities will only help make radicals
of all of them.

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

THE NATION: PRESSURE INCREASES ON BURMESE REFUGEE STUDENTS
22 October, 1999

AP - THE Thai government yesterday stepped up pressure on exiled Burmese
students, giving them until next month to register their names with the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or face charges of
illegal entry.

The secretary-general of the National Security Council Khachadpai
Burusapatana said every Burmese student residing in Bangkok and has
registered with the UNHCR but subsequently lost contact, must report to
authorities at the Maneeloy holding centre in  Ratchaburi province no later
than Nov 21.

Only those registered with the UNHCR will be eligible for resettlement.

He was speaking at a press conference after a meeting with relevant
agencies, including the security council, Interior Ministry and Foreign
Ministry.

Khachadpai said the council will coordinate with Immigration Police to seek
out obstinate students who still had not turned up after the deadline.

"If found, they will be arrested and charged with illegal entry," he said.

About 3,000 exiled Burmese students live in Thailand. By official count,
some 2,700 have registered with the UNHCR, but most do not live in the
designated site, Maneeloy holding centre. Until now, the United States,
Canada, Australia and the European Union have expressed willingness to
resettle these students.

Khachadpai said the decision to have students register with the UNHCR will
certainly be welcomed by Burmese who want to get on with their lives, though
it could prove a blow to others struggling to keep up the fight against the
military regime in their homeland.

"I believe most of the Burmese students want to be resettled," Khachadpai
said.

"I just don't understand why Thailand must be the only place for them. In
fact they could continue their struggle in other countries, too. We really
want them to have a better life," he said in response to concern that
students would not be able to stage any more political campaigns if they
were resettled. Normally, the resettlement process is carried out on a
voluntary basis, as the case of Indochinese displaced persons. However, the
security council chief explained that resettlement of Burmese dissident
students will be an exception.

Naing Aung, chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front, the chief
student activist group, acknowledged that many students would like to go to
elsewhere to continue their studies.

But he appealed to Thai authorities to let those who wish to stay in
Thailand to do so. The ABSDF has not been implicated in the hostage-taking
at the Burmese Embassy on Oct 1.

"We want to continue our struggle," Naing Aung said. "The ABSDF doesn't want
to go to a third country. We would like to request more cooperation from the
Thai government on security problems," he said.

Most of the students fled to Thailand in 1988, after nationwide protests
against military rule were crushed in bloodshed.

"These measures are aimed at maintaining security in our country. Burmese
students have violated Thai law several times,"
Khachadpai said.

"We are generous, but after the increasing violence from those students,
especially taking hostages at the Burmese embassy two weeks ago, we have to
make a move," Khachadpai said. "We hope to send all of them to another
country as soon as possible." Moreover, the security council will closely
examine assistance to Burmese students provided by non- governmental
organisations.

Authorities are worried that monetary and other assistance that some
non-governmental groups give students is complicating the already-strained
bilateral ties between Bangkok and Rangoon.

Many activist students who regularly stage protests in Bangkok against the
Burmese junta are encouraged to remain in Thailand and not seek a third
country of asylum because of regular financial support they receive from
non-governmental organisations.

Meanwhile, the chief of Maneeloy holding centre Chaithawat Niamsiri lodged a
complaint with Pak Thor Police Station over the disturbance in the camp on
Monday when several dozen camp students locked UNHCR officials in a room to
protest the officials' refusal to pay stipends to some students. Following
the hostage crisis, the UNHCR has applied more stringent measures on
students, including refusing to pay monthly stipends unless they are on time
to collect it at the Maneeloy centre. The aim is to discourage them from
going out and creating disturbances.

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said his ministry's negotiation with third
countries has been progressing moderately.

Surin, who leaves for Geneva on Oct 26, will urge the UNHCR and nations
ready to accept Burmese students for a time-frame on resettling refugees.

Surin yesterday urged the Thai fishing industry not to take matters into
their hands, saying the authorities are trying to resolve the Burmese issue
and deal with the five gunmen who took hostages in the embassy. Pointing out
that arrest warrants have been issued against the five Burmese, Surin wanted
legal procedures to be adhered to.

"I think the best way is to follow judicial procedures, because if there are
other attempts apart from legal actions, they would
create confusion and lead to future problems," he stated. He said that
though solving the Burmese problem through diplomatic channels by the
Foreign Ministry may be slow, it would nevertheless be best for long-term
interests.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: APOLOGY FOR SEIZURE OF EMBASSY
24 October, 1999

AFP - A prominent group of exiled Burmese students on Friday expressed
regret to the Thai government for the actions of fellow activists in taking
over Rangoon's embassy in Bangkok earlier this month.

The Burmese Students Association (BSA) also expressed regret over an
incident at the Maneeloy refugee camp, where 22 students locked up five
workers from the United Nations refugee agency for several hours in a row
over monthly allowances.

"We would like to express our deepest sorrow to the Thai government and the
Thai people over the two recent incidents," an open letter to the government
said.

The letter came one day after Thai authorities said exiled Burmese students
had one month to sign up for resettlement in a third country or risk jail.

"We also thank and praise the Thai government led by Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai for its handling of the two incidents (and admit it) will serve as
an invaluable lesson for solving long rooted internal political problems in
our country." the BSA said.

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