BurmaNet News: December 12, 2000

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
________December 12, 2000   Issue # 1682_________

NOTED IN PASSING:  Regime calls for censorship in Thailand--``It is high 
time for Thai authorities to take action against those who wrote wrong 
stories in Thai papers?

Editorial in Kyemon and Myanma Alin calling on Thai government to punish 
The Bangkok Post and The Nation.  See Reuters: Myanmar hits out at Thai 
papers over drug reports


INSIDE BURMA _______
*United Press International: Burma junta allows Aung San Suu Kyi to have 
visitor
*The New York Times: Burmese Junta May Be Ready To Release Top Opponent 
*AP: Myanmar rejects talks unless Suu Kyi ends confrontation 
*Reuters: Myanmar hits out at Thai papers over drug reports
*SSArmy News: Dire Situation of the Northern Ceasefire Groups

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Agence France Presse: EU looks to calm ASEAN anger after winning key 
Myanmar concessions 
*AP: Refugees protest ambassador's Fort Wayne visit 
*Shan Herald Agency for News:  Oversea Shans Protest Building of Salween 
Dam

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in Eight Months 
*The Nation (Thailand): Burma gas a windfall for PTT 


The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________


United Press International: Burma junta allows Aung San Suu Kyi to have 
visitor


December 12, 2000, Tuesday 06:31 AM Eastern Time 

RANGOON, Burma, Dec. 12 


In an apparent softening of a crackdown on pro-democracy forces, Burma's 
opposition leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, was allowed to 
receive her first visitor since she was placed under house arrest on 
Sept. 22, opposition sources in the capital said on Tuesday. 

U Lwin, secretary of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), was 
allowed to leave his own home and visited Suu Kyi at her lakeside 
Rangoon home on Monday afternoon, the sources said. 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi and U Lwin, who is also a member of the 
NLD's executive committee, were among eight senior NLD leaders who were 
confined to their homes on Sept. 22. 

The action was taken by the country's military junta after the NLD 
leaders tried to board a train to the northern city of Mandalay in 
defiance of a military order barring them from engaging in political 
work outside Rangoon. 

Analysts said the apparent relaxation of the junta's crackdown on the 
NLD may be connected to a meeting in Vientiane, Laos, this week of 
ministers representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and 
the European Union. During the meeting, Burma was condemned by European 
ministers for its poor human rights record. 

European nations, along with the United States, regard the Burmese junta 
as a pariah because of domestic repression and its refusal to recognize 
the election of 1990, in which Suu Kyi's NLD won an overwhelming 
victory. 




____________________________________________________


The New York Times: Burmese Junta May Be Ready To Release Top Opponent 

Dec. 12, 2000

By BLAINE HARDEN 


The military dictatorship in Myanmar signaled yesterday that it might 
soon release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the country's 
democratic opposition and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize who has been 
under house arrest since September. 

The junta that rules Myanmar, formerly Burma, has been bombarded in 
recent weeks by criticism from the United Nations, human rights groups 
and Thailand. It has been accused of torturing political opponents, 
using forced labor and condoning an illegal drug industry that is 
spreading addiction across Southeast Asia. 

Amnesty International will release a report today that charges the 
Burmese government with using torture as an "institution" of state 
repression. The report says torture is used routinely "as a means of 
instilling fear in anyone critical of the military government." 

In what may be an attempt to defang these critics, Burmese officials 
attending a meeting in Vientiane, Laos, told European Union officials 
that they would allow a four-member European delegation to visit Myanmar 
next month. 

Its members would be free to talk to opposition leaders, including Mrs. 
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is likely to be released from house arrest before 
the visit, said Charles Josselin, a French official who attended the 
meeting. 

Early this month, the government released six other prominent opposition 
leaders. They were detained, along with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, when she 
tried to travel outside Yangon, the capital, on Sept. 21 to meet with 
other members of her party. The government has all but banned the party, 
the National League for Democracy, in recent months, locking up nearly 
all of its leaders in the capital and around the country. 

President Clinton last week awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
the highest American civilian honor, to Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Since her party won the national election held in 1990, which the 
generals in power ignored, she has spent most of the last decade 
confined to her house in Yangon, formerly Rangoon. 

At the meeting in Laos, Foreign Minister Win Aung of Myanmar reportedly 
did not mention Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi by name. But he led European Union 
officials attending a meeting with foreign ministers from the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations to believe that she and two other 
opposition leaders would be released soon, Mr. Josselin told reporters. 

"It's hard to imagine that a lifting of the restrictions would not 
happen before the visit," Mr. Josselin said. 

The government of Myanmar has been singled out in the last month for an 
exceptionally scathing round of condemnation from the United Nations 
General Assembly, international trade unions, human rights groups and 
military leaders in Thailand. 

The General Assembly last week accused the government of condoning the 
use of rape, torture, mass arrests, forced labor and summary executions 
to suppress dissent. 

The International Labor Organization, an agency associated with the 
United Nations, recommended that member nations consider sanctions 
against Myanmar for its continued use of forced labor. In support, the 
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, with members in 148 
countries, announced that it would demand the withdrawal of foreign 
investors who aided or abetted forced labor in the country. 

The chief of Thailand's armed forces said he planned to use a visit to 
Myanmar this week to warn the government that the widespread production 
of heroin and amphetamines there was a threat to regional stability, as 
well as a cause of drug addiction in Southeast Asia. 

Of all the criticism in recent weeks, the most detailed is Amnesty 
International's report, "Myanmar: The Institution of Torture." It says 
political prisoners, believed to number about 1,700, are routinely 
tortured. 

Drawing on interviews with former political prisoners who escaped from 
Myanmar this year, Ms. Guest said Amnesty had established that the junta 
consistently used the same torture techniques during interrogations. 
They include near-suffocation, electric shocks to various parts of the 
body and the "iron road," a technique that involves rolling an iron bar 
up and down the shins of a prisoner until the skin peels off. 

"At least 43 political prisoners have died in custody since the 
military's violent suppression of the democracy movement in 1988, 
although the true number is believed to be much higher," the report 
said. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross last year was granted 
access to Myanmar's prison system. Conditions have reportedly improved 
since then. But the Amnesty report said Red Cross officials still did 
not have access to detention centers, where torture during interrogation 
most commonly took place.         

http://www.nytimes.com 



____________________________________________________


AP: Myanmar rejects talks unless Suu Kyi ends confrontation 

Dec. 12, 2000

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) _ A top Myanmar official Tuesday ruled out 
reconciliation talks with Aung San Suu Kyi's party unless it stopped 
behaving like the opposition and started supporting the country's 
military junta. 

 The hard-line comments by Foreign Minister Win Aung dashed hopes of 
``an early dialogue'' between the junta and the opposition, which was 
emphasized in a joint statement issued earlier Tuesday by Southeast 
Asian and European countries at a landmark ministerial meeting. 

 In an interview afterward, Win Aung said a dialogue can start only when 
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party drops its hostile 
attitude. 

 ``If they want genuine dialogue they should abandon their 
confrontational approach and their ... threatening words,'' he told The 
Associated Press. 

 ``When the confrontation and also the threat of international pressure 
is no more (then) it will create a common ground where both sides can 
stand together,'' he said. 

 He accused the NLD of taking help from foreign governments and 
voluntary organizations to carry out a vilification campaign against the 
Myanmar government. 

 ``The NLD has been trying to paint the picture that this government is 
evil, and is creating an atmosphere of confrontation and condemnation,'' 
he said. The NLD's criticism of the government and its frequent pleas to 
other countries to boycott the military government amounted to 
confrontation, he said. 

 But Win Aung confirmed that a European Union team would be allowed to 
visit Myanmar in January and meet with Suu Kyi, the 1990 Nobel peace 
laureate who is currently under virtual house arrest. 

 He said she would be released at ``an appropriate time.'' He refused to 
elaborate on whether she will be freed before the European visit. 

 Win Aung's words indicated that Myanmar is not willing to make great 
concessions despite the two-day meeting between the European Union and 
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that ended here Tuesday. 

 In their joint statement, the two sides expressed the hope that the 
efforts of Razali Ismail, a special U.N. envoy on Myanmar, would 
contribute to ``a positive development in the process of national 
reconciliation in Myanmar, including an early dialogue'' between the 
junta and the NLD. 

 European delegates had indicated that they were pleased with the joint 
declaration as well as the discussions at the meeting, which were 
dominated by the human rights situation in Myanmar, also known as Burma. 


 ``There is much to be done, but I am encouraged by their response,'' 
said John Battle, the British minister of state for Commonwealth. 

 Myanmar's military rulers face widespread criticism from the West for 
refusing to hand over power to the NLD, which won the elections in 1990. 
It is also criticized for harassing NLD leaders and for alleged human 
rights violations and using forced labor. ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a 
member, refuses to criticize it, saying human rights is an internal 
matter. 

 The European concerns are likely to carry forward to the next ASEAN-EU 
meeting, which must be held in Europe. No time frame or location has 
been decided. 

 Charles Josselin, France's minister responsible for cooperation and 
Francophonie, said the next conference would take place only if 
improvements in human rights allowed the EU to lift a visa ban on 
Myanmar leaders. 

 ``We hope that between now and the next conference the situation in 
Myanmar with regards to democracy and human rights would significantly 
improve which would enable Europe to host the conference,'' he told a 
news conference. 

 Myanmar's image as a pariah state was reinforced by a report issued 
Tuesday by the London-based human rights organization Amnesty 
International, which charged that torture and ill-treatment have become 
institutionalized in Myanmar. 

 Win Aung rejected the report as ``wrong.'' 

 ``As far as I know there are no rampant human rights violations,'' he 
said. ``The accusations are emanating from sources which are not 
credible at all.'' 

 He said Myanmar is a Buddhist country where ``we have not just 
tolerance but we have love and kindness'' for all human beings.



____________________________________________________



Reuters: Myanmar hits out at Thai papers over drug reports

YANGON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Myanmar urged Thailand on Monday to stop 
using drugs as a political weapon, and accused Thai newspaper reports of 
frustrating some of its anti-drug efforts. 

 A commentary in both of Myanmar's official newspapers, Kyemon and 
Myanma Alin, said Thailand's Bangkok Post and the Nation had hobbled 
Myanmar's efforts. 

 ``Bangkok Post and the Nation, the two Thai dailies, have been 
hampering the momentum of the success in the Thai-Myanmar cooperation in 
fighting drugs by irresponsibly and one-sidedly putting a blame on 
Myanmar on the issue,'' the commentary said. 

 It said stories in the Thai papers accused Myanmar of turning a blind 
eye to the smuggling of narcotics by armed ethnic groups and said drugs 
were carried by Myanmar's state-owned airline. 

 ``It is high time for Thai authorities to take action against those who 
wrote wrong stories in Thai papers, and find the right ways to address 
the problem,'' the commentary said. 

 Myanmar, the world's biggest producer of opium, has in the past been 
accused by Thailand of turning a blind eye to the drug trade and posing 
a threat to the region. 

 ``Will Thai authorities keep taking advantage of this problem by using 
it as a political ploy? Or will they try to eradicate it in cooperation 
with the entire world ?'' the commentary said. 





____________________________________________________

SSArmy News: Dire Situation of the Northern Ceasefire Groups

Shan State Army

11 December 2000



As there were some internal problems within the MDA (Mongko Defence 
Army), one of the cease fire groups based near the Sino-Burmese border, 
the SPDC and their Military Intelligence took advantage and used very 
means to suppress all cease-fire groups in these areas. 
After rumors spread that there would be a coup among the MDA, their 
current leader "Mong Sala" called for a meeting at Mongko on 24th 
November 2000. At this meeting there were fierce arguments and 
accusation against each others, which finally broke out into a quarrel, 
where the close attendants of "Mong Sala" shot "Lin Min" (a prominent 
military commander, and suppose to be the coup leader) and his men to 
dead on the spot. At least 70 people were killed in this quarrel, since 
then MDA has disintegrated. 

Taking advantage of these conditions SPDC sent troops in and occupied 
the area which was once recognized as Mongko's area. Men from MDA's rank 
and file had to hide for their safety and some joined the UWSA. "Mong 
Sala" himself was captured and sent to prison by the SPDC. Clearly, the 
SPDC's encroachment has led to the abrupt disintegration of MDA. 

During this time, the Commander-in-Chief of the North-Eastern Command 
(NEC) issued an order for every cease fire groups to surrender their 
arms to the nearest Military Intellengence Service (MIS) or military 
camp before 29th November 2000. After this target date,  whoever is 
found to be in possession of arms would face severe punishment, in 
accordance with the existing law. 

The SPDC authorities and the MIS's middle level officers also ordered 
the ceasefire liaison office or trading office within these areas, not 
to bear arms. "If the offices could not be operated without arms, then 
closed it down. We have not ordered or encourage you to establish such 
offices" said the SPDC authorities and the MIS. 

After the warning, SPDC troops, MIS and police have made many supprise 
search on the SSA-N ceasefire group and others. On 6th December 2000,  4 
SSA-N members including Major Pern Mao were arrested with some small 
arms and were sent for trial, with no sign that they will be released 
anytime soon. The SPDC authorities accused them of unofficial possession 
of fire arms and warned those who do not surrender their arms will face 
the same fate. 

Meanwhile, it was said that the ceasefire SSA-N leaders are trying to 
make some consultation on this recent issue with the Commander-in-Chief 
of North-Eastern Command at Lashio. 












___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				

Agence France Presse: EU looks to calm ASEAN anger after winning key 
Myanmar concessions 

Steve Kirby 

VIENTIANE, Dec 12 


European Union and Association of South East Asian Nations ministers 
wrapped up their first meeting in three years Tuesday with the EU 
hailing concessions on Myanmar but moving to calm Asian anger over how 
they had been achieved. 

The wrangling continued into the final session as European Union (EU) 
ministers sought to justify ending the boycott on talks with the 
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), adopted when the 
military junta in Yangon was admitted in 1997. 

But with its key demands from the junta already in the bag, EU 
delegations looked set to compromise on remaining sticking points to 
calm jangled ASEAN nerves. 

In two sessions of acrimonious talks Monday ASEAN secretary general 
Rodolfo Severino had accused European ministers of posturing for their 
domestic audiences. 

However EU delegations had nonetheless extracted two key pledges from 
Myanmar representatives. 

The junta undertook to allow an EU troika mission to visit Yangon in 
January and speak freely with everyone it had talked to during its last 
mission in 1999. 

It also undertook to lift restrictions on the three opposition leaders 
still under effective house arrest, including Nobel Peace price winner 
Aung Sung Suu Kyi, "at the appropriate time," a Myanmar official said. 

France, which co-chaired the meeting as current holders of the EU's 
rotating presidency, said they took that to mean the restrictions would 
be lifted before the troika's visit next month. 

But as ministers went into their final session Tuesday morning, there 
was still no agreement between the two sides on whether a joint 
statement from the meeting should refer explicitly to the troika's 
visit. 

In a face-saving move after the previous day's concessions, Myanmar was 
insisting it be left out, delegates said. 

French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin said he still expected the 
final statement to include the undertaking. 

But the Dutch, who had taken a strong line on issue in the previous 
day's talks, said a specific reference was not essential. 

The visit was essentially a bilateral issue between the EU and Myanamar 
and the resumption of talks with ASEAN had been geared towards trying to 
"de-link" its ties with the bloc from its troubled relations with 
Yangon, he said. 

After the acrimony of the previous day, EU ministers also prepared to 
give way on another last minute sticking point between the two sides. 

This was a demand by Islamic states within ASEAN for a reference in the 
final statement to the use of "excessive force" in the Middle East. 

After overnight consultations with their governments, European ministers 
finally agreed to include it, a Malaysian delegate told AFP. 

However the green light from London only came though at 2.45 a.m. (1945 
GMT), a British delegate told AFP. 

EU delegations had held out against the reference because it was not 
included in a statement on the Middle East put out by an EU summit just 
days before in Nice. 

But the Malaysian delegate said Kuala Lumpur had insisted on the clause 
because it named neither Israel nor the Palestinians and the bloodshed 
in the Middle East was an area where the two blocs could and should 
cooperate. 

"There has been a lot of talk about human rights (in Myanmar) and here 
you find on a daily basis people being killed, regardless of whether 
they are Muslims or Christians or Israelis," he said. 

Both sides appeared anxious to lighten the atmosphere after the tensions 
over Mynamar as they moved to put relations on a new footing after the 
three-year hiatus in talks. 

At a dinner on Monday evening, the meeting's two co-chairs, Lao Foreign 
Minister Somsavat Lengsavad and Josselin, both broke into song after the 
toasts, delegates said. 






___________________________________________________


AP: Refugees protest ambassador's Fort Wayne visit 

Dec. 12, 2000

FORT WAYNE, Ind. 


Members of a refugee group are protesting a visit to Fort Wayne by the 
ambassador from Myanmar. 

About 25 members of the Burmese Democratic Society rallied at the 
City-County Building on Monday after a similar protest Sunday at 
Freimann Square. Myanmar is also known as Burma. 

Tin Win, the ambassador, is in Fort Wayne this week to discuss trade 
relations with elected officials on a trip sponsored by U.S. Sen. 
Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind. 

"We're against the Burmese ambassador coming to Fort Wayne," said Maung 
Win, secretary general of the BDS. "We want America to cut off trade to 
Burma until we can make Burma a democratic country." 

Myanmar is ruled by a military government. 

Fort Wayne is believed to have the largest Burmese community in the 
United States, with more than 1,000 refugees.




_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in Eight Months 

YANGON, December 12 


Electric power generated by the state-run Myanma Electric Power 
Enterprise (MEPE), the main electricity supplier of the country, totaled 
3.292 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) in the first eight months of this 
year, 573 million kwh more than the same period of 1999, said the latest 
issue of the government Economic Indicators. 

Of the electric power generated in the period, 51.7 percent was produced 
by natural gas, 33 percent by hydropower and the rest by steam and 
diesel. 

In 1999, the MEPE generated a total of 4.309 billion kwh of electricity. 


Meanwhile, the installed generating capacity of the MEPE reached 1,172 
megawatts (mw) at the end of August this year. 

According to official statistics, there are nine natural-gas power 
stations in Myanmar. The present government has built 26 hydroelectric 
plants since late 1988 and construction of eight others is underway. 

Of them, two hydroelectric power plants were newly completed and 
launched in March of this year. The two power plants are the 12-mw 
Zawgyi and the 20-mw Zaungtu hydroelectric power stations in Myanmar's 
Shan state and Bago division respectively. 


____________________________________________________


The Nation (Thailand): Burma gas a windfall for PTT 


December 12, 2000, Tuesday 


THE recent sharp hike in oil prices has become a blessing in disguise 
for the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), which is reaping benefits 
from its long-term contract to purchase natural gas from Burma at a 
price level pegged to the US$10-a-barrel crude price. 

PTT simply needs to boost the import of gas from Burma. This has been 
made possible by the recent completion of a new gas pipeline system that 
helps integrate the Burmese network with the PTT's main network. 

According to Anon Sirisaengtaksin, a senior vice president of PTT Gas, 
the group is now taking delivery of 200 million cubic feet per day 
(mmcfd) of Burmese gas. This is almost double the daily purchase of 104 
million cubic feet in the first seven months of this year and about 70 
times the three million mmcfd average for the whole of last year. 

The losers in this scene are the domestic gas suppliers. Unocal Thailand 
Ltd has seen a cut in its gas sale to PTT, which according to industry 
sources has reduced its purchase of Unocal gas close to the minimum 
volume of 905 million cubic feet per day allowed under their four gas 
supply contracts. 

PTT is increasing its gas imports from Burma to make up for past 
shortfalls in uptake. The contract allows PTT to buy up to 525 million 
cubic feet per day. Until recently, PTT stood to face a big loss when it 
was expected to pay cash in advance for the contracted amount of gas 
although it had not taken delivery. 

PTT then also had to shoulder the interest cost for the advanced 
payments of the gas since it had purchased the Burmese gas significantly 
below the contractual amount. 

But PTT governor Viset Choopiban said the situation has been reversed 
due to the cheapness of Burmese gas in relation to world prices. 

Effectively, PTT is buying the Burmese gas at a rate pegged to a crude 
price of US$10 (Bt432.69) a barrel. So it stands to make huge profits 
given the recent big jump in the domestic gas price, which is linked to 
current crude prices of about $30 a barrel. 

Initially, concerned by PTT's huge losses over its failure to fully 
honour the purchase contract for Burmese gas, the Thai Cabinet approved 
the use of state funds to relieve the petroleum authority's financial 
burden. But this should no longer be necessary. 

Instead, heavy losses will go to the domestic gas suppliers. Anon of PTT 
Gas said gas purchase from the Gulf of Thailand would be cut by about 
around 150-200 mmcfd next year. 

"But this effect [on domestic gas suppliers] should fall quickly in 
successive years due to the increase of gas consumption," he said. 

The completion of the Ratchaburi-Wangnoi gas pipeline last month has 
given a big boost to imports of Burmese gas. The new pipeline connects 
the Burmese pipeline to Thailand's national grid, enabling supply to 
central and eastern Thailand instead of only the Ratchaburi power plant 
in the west. 

"Today it (Ratchaburi-Wangnoi pipeline) takes more than 200 mmcfd of 
Burmese gas. We expect to reach the maximum for Wangnoi at 300 mmcfd by 
early next year," said Anon. 

He said that despite the increase in consumption of Burmese gas, it 
would take four to five years to utilise the entire amount that PTT has 
contracted to buy. 

He said PTT would consider reducing supply under contracts where it is 
currently lifting more than its minimum obligation, such as Unocal. 

Until last month, PTT had bought more than 1,000 mmcfd of gas from 
Unocal. 



____________________________________________________



Shan Herald Agency for News:  Oversea Shans Protest Building of Salween 
Dam

Dec. 11, 2000

The Overseas-Shan Organization yesterday sent a letter to Japan's 
ministry  of finance requesting to reconsider financing the Tasang Dam 
Project on the  Salween.

The letter, dated 11 November, and signed by Sao Noan Oo of Lawkzawk, 
who  resides in the United Kingdom, appealed to Mr. Miichi Miyazawa of 
the  Ministry of Finance, "to refrain from supporting and giving aid to 
the  Burmese military regime, particularly in financing the Tasang Dam 
Project." 

Since the project came into being, she said, "the area around the site 
has  been increasingly militarized, resulting in increased forced labour 
and  force relocation... The dam will not only have a devastating social 
and  environmental impacts: large area of farmlands will be inundated 
and  countless more people will be displaced with little hope of 
compensation.  Even if not submerged, forcests in the area will 
inevitably be depleted,  when logging companies move in to use the 
infrastructure built to serve the  dam."

Sao Noan Oo, a scion of one of the former princely states of Shan State, 
 previously known as the Shan States before the formation of a union 
with  Burma "proper" in 1947, maintained that the people of Shan State 
"are  resolutely opposed to the building of the dam on the Salween. The 
fear that  if the river ceases to flow the Shan State as we know will be 
lost forever.  The Salween or Nham Khong River is as important 
symbolically to the Shan as  Mount Fuji is to the Japanese people."

She also stated that since joining Burma, the people of Shan State "have 
 lost all the human rights taken away from them: the right not to be  
massacred, the right not to be raped and the right to refuse to work 
like  draught animals."

The International Labour Organization on 16 November passed a resolution 
 urging members to re-evaluate their relations with the military regime 
in  Rangoon.

The Salween flows down from the foothills of the Himalayas, rushes down  
from north the south along the whole length of the Shan State before  
flowing through the Karenni, Karen and Mon states into the Indian Ocean 
at  Moulmein.

The GMS Power, a subsidiary of the MDX company from Thailand, has been  
conducting studies since 1997. Human Rights watchers have reported that 
at  least 300,000 people from the area have been forced relocated since. 


A Shan academic in North America also commented the Japanese were making 
a  seemingly needless mystery out of the project.

"The Japanese are up to their eyebrows in it, but very cagey about - 
like  they are committing a crime..."

He said reasons being given: to supply Thailand with electricity and to  
bring water down to supply dams "all these seems like a big smoke screen 
 (because) Thai experts say there is enough water and that the decrease 
of  water in Thai dams is seasonal. As for electricity, Thailand now has 
gas  from the junta which it now doesn't want and can't use...." 

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