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BurmaNet News: March 16, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: March 16, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 13:31:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
March 16, 2001 Issue # 1757
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*Asiaweek: from Our Correspondent: Those Rowdy Neighbors
*DVB: SSA heavy artillery fire kills 5, wounds 8 Rangoon troops in Mong
To
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: Malaysia detains 16 Myanmar illegal immigrants near Thai border
*Xinhua: Thai PM Downplays Concerns Over Exacerbated Thai-Myanmar Ties
*Xinhua: Myanmar-Malaysia Bilateral Ties Strengthened
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Bangkok Post: Pagoda Pass Checkpoint Closes Down; Rangoon Admits it Is
Feeling Trade Pinch
*AP: Myanmar opens one border crossing with Thailand
*Bangkok Post: House sets up border panel
OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*Asiaweek: Letter?Tourism
*KNPP: Statement on tripartite dialogue
OTHER______
*Radio Free Asia: Internship announcement
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Asiaweek: from Our Correspondent: Those Rowdy Neighbors
The problems of having Myanmar next door
By DOMINIC FAULDER
Wednesday, March 14, 2001
Web posted at 12:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, 12:30 a.m. GMT
My friend could scarcely contain his amusement at the perfect crime,
Thai style. He lives in a pleasant middle-class housing estate in the
eastern suburbs of Bangkok. His neighbor, like many Thais, has an
illegal-immigrant Burmese maid. She seldom ventures out in case the
local police harass her and challenge her to sing the Thai national
anthem. At night, she and other illegal servants emerge like moths to
play badminton beneath the estate's fluorescent street lamps. One day,
with only the maid at home, three "electricians" turned up unexpectedly.
They told the maid to stand by the fuse box with her finger poised over
the master switch ready to throw it in an emergency. As the electricians
moved around the house checking the wiring in every room, they kept
calling down to ensure she was in place and alert. After 15 minutes, the
job was done. The trio bade the maid a cheery farewell and marched off.
The house had, of course, been comprehensively burgled. And the owner
knew full well that this was where the matter ended. He could hardly ask
his illegal maid to make a statement at the local police station.
Burmese maids in Thailand are a phenomenon of the 1990s. They started to
come in when young Thai women from the provinces began to shun
appallingly paid jobs in domestic service in favor of shift work in the
factories, offices and hotels that sprouted during the bubble-economy
years. By some estimates, as many as 700,000 Burmese have worked as
domestics, builders, fishermen, sex workers - indeed in any underpaid
(or unpaid) job that Thais prefer to avoid. Labor regulations have often
been relaxed or openly flouted to accommodate this cheap and exploitable
influx. They don't just come from Myanmar. Child beggars from Bangladesh
occasionally surprise tourists with their impressive English. In
Cambodia, I once met a former Khmer Rouge who had been building Bangkok
skyscrapers until the economy collapsed in 1997. In one luxury Bangkok
housing estate, the only non-Cambodian security guard stands at the
front entrance.
But it is the Burmese who are by far the most numerous. Apart from
"economic migrants," over 120,000 Karen, Mon, Shan and Karenni refugees
shelter in crude camps along the porous 2,000-km border Thailand shares
uncomfortably with Myanmar. These people have fled not for economic gain
but in fear of their lives before brutal dry-season military
pacification campaigns that are often a prelude to forced resettlement.
The junta in Yangon calls these displaced people "alleged refugees" who
support ethnic insurgency. Unfortunately for this claim, the junta also
insists it has signed ceasefire agreements with most of the same ethnic
minorities. Who to believe?
A recent Burmese military push against Shan insurgents spilled into
Thailand. A key border town, Mae Sai, had to be evacuated after two
civilians were killed in shelling. Tachilek, on the Myanmar side, was
also shelled, but most of the casualties there appear to have been
military. It was probably the most serious incident involving the armies
of two ASEAN member states in the regional groupings three-decade-old
history. What did ASEAN have to say? Not a word. Tensions have yet to be
defused.
It isn't only the minorities on the Myanmar-Thai border who are deeply
unhappy and mistrustful. In 1991, a quarter of a million Muslims in
Myanmar's Arakan state fled into Bangladesh in a similar state of
terror. (An almost identical exodus occurred in the late 1970s.) It took
the UNHCR until mid-1997 to repatriate the Rohingyas, as they are
called, though about 20,000 still shelter in Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh.
India, which was deeply critical of the military repression in Myanmar
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, has normalized relations as far as
possible. It decided it simply could not afford to close dialogue
channels with an immediate neighbor.
The flood of Burmese maids is of no concern to most Thais. What does
worry them is the fact that their country is awash with methamphetamine
tablets produced by syndicates protected by the allegedly pro-Yangon
United Wa State Army. The factories in the Mong Yawn area (newly
established as a kind of methamphetamine enterprise zone) are so close
to the Thai border they can be seen from it. Thai authorities estimate
that over 800 million of these speed tablets flow each year into
Thailand to be used by everyone from the lowliest stevedores to the
children of cabinet ministers. It is often said that methamphetamine
addiction is the single most serious social problem facing the country.
Certainly it has become far more serious than traditional narcotic
abuse.
Even so, Myanmar is still the second-largest opium-producing country in
the world, after the so-called Golden Crescent in West Asia/Afghanistan,
generating 80% of Southeast Asia's deadly harvest. "On balance, the
United State's government remains concerned that Burma's efforts are not
commensurate with the extent of the illicit drug problem within its
borders," was the dry assessment of a recent U.S. State Department
report. Money laundering and harboring internationally recognized
criminals were two other gripes about Myanmar that the Americans
repeated.
Where there's drugs, there's usually another misery-seeking missile:
AIDS. China today has an estimated 500,000 HIV-positive citizens. The
lethal contagion spread in large part through Yunnan province, which
borders Myanmar. The AIDS crisis is a worldwide phenomenon in which
apportioning blame is a pretty pointless endeavor. But both Myanmar and
China have suppressed AIDS information and education in the past, living
in a fool's paradise of denial. Had the situation in northeastern
Myanmar been handled differently, it's a fair bet that China today would
have less of an AIDS crisis on its hands.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper has plenty to say about neighborly
relations. The state organ has been sermonizing endlessly on the "Five
Principles of Peaceful Co-Existence" that purportedly govern official
Burmese foreign policy. They are: mutual respect for territorial
integrity and sovereignty; non-aggression; non-interference in one
another's affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and peaceful
co-existence. "Though Myanmar lives in accord with these principles,
Thailand among the neighbors has failed to follow the code of conduct of
a good neighbor," journalist Chit Kyiyay Kyi Nyunt wrote in the New
Light.
If Myanmar seriously imagines its present regional conduct is that of a
good neighbor, try to imagine what it might get up to if it decided to
be a "bad" one. A chilling thought.
___________________________________________________
DVB: SSA heavy artillery fire kills 5, wounds 8 Rangoon troops in Mong
Ton
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that the Shan State
Army--south [SSA] fired several heavy artillery rounds at LIB [Light
Infantry Battalion] No 65 and LIB No 225 stationed near Mong Ton in
southern Shan State at about 2300 on 10 March. Three barracks were
destroyed while five SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] soldiers
were killed and eight were wounded. The townspeople thought the town
would be overrun by the SSA and most evacuated to the suburbs. On the
morning of 11 March, Mong Ton-based SPDC tactical commander held a
meeting on the prevailing situation with the battalion commanders,
township authorities, departmental officials, and responsible personnel.
He ordered security posts to be manned in every ward and village and to
immediately report any important matter. He also ordered them to report
any news related to the SSA. That night Mong Ton-based tactical
commander declared the Mong Ton area as an emergency zone. DVB has
learned that according to latest reports Mong Ton area is still declared
an emergency zone while skirmishes are sporadically occurring near the
vicinity of Mong Ton.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
AFP: Malaysia detains 16 Myanmar illegal immigrants near Thai border
KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (AFP) - Malaysian authorities Friday detained 16
illegal immigrants from Myanmar, including a woman, in the northernmost
state of Perlis, which borders Thailand.
The group, aged between 16 and 28, were arrested by the anti-smuggling
unit while waiting for their agent to send them to other towns such as
Kuala Lumpur and the Penang island, the Bernama news agency said.
The unit's acting commander Abdul Aziz Hassan was quoted as saying that
they would be charged under the Immigration Act for entering the country
illegally.
Out of 1,474 illegals arrested in the state last year, 706 were Myanmar
nationals, he added.
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Thai PM Downplays Concerns Over Exacerbated Thai-Myanmar Ties
BANGKOK, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has
played down mounting concerns over exacerbated relations between
Thailand and Myanmar after a Myanmar patrol boat fired on a Thai trawler
off the Ranong Province coast on Wednesday. The Thai News Agency (TNA)
Friday quoted Thaksin as saying on Thursday that the incident had
regularly occurred when Thai trawlers entered the Myanmar territorial
waters for fishing. However, since the border situation becomes tense
now, many people viewed the latest incident as an example of Myanmar's
hostile attitude toward Thailand, he noted. The ongoing border conflict
between the two neighboring countries should not be seen as a big
problem, he added. He believed the problem would eventually be solved
through talks by officials at different levels and the bilateral
relations would normalize soon. The Thai trawler was chased by the
Myanmar patrol boat before it was shot, injuring a crew member on board.
The injured person was rushed to a hospital in the province by a Thai
marine force, which was sent out to assist the shot boat. Local
authorities said that three similar incidents had occurred this year
when Thai fishing boats were chased by Myanmar patrol boats. Last year,
nearly 50 Thai trawlers were arrested by the Myanmar troops, according
to the report. Enditem
2001-03-16 Fri 00:40
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar-Malaysia Bilateral Ties Strengthened
YANGON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A Malaysian delegation, led by Minister of
Culture, Arts and Tourism Sheikh Fadzir, just ended its eight-day visit
to Myanmar and left Yangon for home on Tuesday. As a follow-up, another
52-member Malaysian delegation, led by Minister of International Trade
and Industry Rafidah Aziz, arrived in Myanmar again on the same day and
will take part in a Myanmar- Malaysia economic seminar here.
In recent years, Myanmar-Malaysia bilateral ties made rapid development
and got continuously strengthened. Myanmar and Malaysia, both located in
Asia, belong to developing countries and are fellow members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The two countries share
a wide range of common views on many major issues such as safeguarding
state sovereignty and opposition to hegemonism and power politics.
The two countries mutually support each other and closely cooperate in
international and regional affairs, becoming trustworthy and cooperative
partners. The mutual trust and political support have laid an important
cornerstone in the friendly and cooperative relations between the two
countries. Malaysia once made major contribution to Myanmar's joining of
ASEAN. In intra-ASEAN, Malaysia agrees to the adoption of the "
constructive engagement" policy towards Myanmar. Besides, Malaysia also
firmly stood on the Myanmar side over issues of human rights and labor
and so on, opposing to the sanctions imposed by western countries and
the International labor Organization.
In the last few years, there were frequent exchange of visits at high
level between the two countries. In August 1996, Chairman of the Myanmar
State Peace and Development Council and Prime Minister Senior-General
Than Shwe paid a state visit to Malaysia. In March 1998, Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad made his first tour to Myanmar since Myanmar
joined ASEAN in July 1997. In January this year, Mahathir visited
Myanmar again.
These exchange of visits at high level has dynamically pushed forward
the development of the two countries' friendly and cooperative
relations. In recent years, Myanmar and Malaysia have signed an
agreement on economic, scientific and technical cooperation; an
agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion;
a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on mutual exemption of visas for
holders of diplomatic and official passports; and an MOU on bilateral
trade promotion, investment and enhancement of cooperation in
agriculture and livestock breeding.
According to official statistics, up to now, Malaysia has injected 587
million U.S. dollars of investment in 25 projects in Myanmar, ranking
the fourth largest foreign investor after Singapore, Britain and
Thailand among the 25 countries and regions investing in Myanmar.
Another official statistics show that in the first ten months of 2000,
bilateral trade between Myanmar and Malaysia reached 214 million
dollars, up 24.7 percent as compared with the same period of 1999.
Myanmar's imports from Malaysia amounted to 159 million dollars, while
its export to Malaysia was valued at 55 million dollars. Malaysia has
become Myanmar's third largest trading partner after Singapore and
Thailand among ASEAN member nations. Their bilateral trade accounted for
6.54 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade. Myanmar and Malaysia
established diplomatic relations in 1958. The already existing friendly
and cooperative relations are bound to reap rich fruits in the new
century.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: House sets up border panel
March 16, 2001
Surasak Tumcharoen
The House yesterday set up a special panel to address Thai-Burmese
border problems with emphasis on drugs, illegal immigration and other
crime.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said local Thai-Burmese border
committees had reached some agreement, while a regional panel was to
discuss problem areas on April 1.
Rangoon, he said, had assured him it would co-operate with the anti-drug
campaign launched by the government.
"The matter of clashes on the border is finally coming to the
negotiating table," Mr Surakiart said.
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the problems could be
solved, and he denied ordering the Third Army to ease off along the
northern border.
Charoen Kanthawong, a Democrat, said Gen Chavalit had confused the Third
Army by planning talks with Rangoon when its forces were launching
attacks on Thai territory.
Gen Chavalit - criticised for making "too friendly" gestures towards
Burma - said local and regional talks between Thai and Burmese
authorities were bearing fruit.
Democrats alleged Gen Chavalit had vested interests in Burma, including
logging, given his close ties with the junta. Gen Chavalit dismissed the
allegations. M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, former deputy foreign minister,
urged the government to speed the process of demarcating the border.
Itthidet Kaewluang, a Thai Rak Thai MP, said Thailand was losing 50
million baht a day from the closure of the Mae Sai pass.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Bangkok Post: Pagoda Pass Checkpoint Closes Down; Rangoon Admits it Is
Feeling Trade Pinch
March 16, 2001
Burma has closed the Three Pagoda Pass border checkpoint in Kanchanaburi
to tourists and commerce.
Only local people are being allowed across the border in Sangkhla Buri
district.
Maj-Gen Mana Prakchakchit, head of the Surasee Task Force, said closure
of the crossing at Phayatongsu town, effective from 10.30am yesterday,
was ordered by Lt-Col Aye Tun, chairman of the township border committee
of Burma.
In Chiang Rai, Thailand has unilaterally opened the crossing at Mae Sai,
but the Burmese checkpoint opposite at Tachilek remains closed.
Army chief Surayud Chulanont said the bilateral Regional Border
Committee meeting scheduled in Kengtung, Burma, on April 1 was expected
to lead to an improvement in relations.
"We must deal with our neighbours with patience since we can't move
away," Gen Surayud said.
Gen Boonrod Somthas, armed forces chief-of-staff, said he did not think
the release of pictures of Mong Yawn at the national drug conference
last weekend was the reason Rangoon was keeping the Tachilek border
shut.
"We talked only about the Red Wa, not Burma. We also did not show the
picture of Khin Nyunt, secretary one of the State Peace and Development
Council, visiting Mong Yawn," he said.
Supreme Commander Sampao Chusri said as long as the relations with Burma
do not improve he would not make a farewell trip to Rangoon before he
retires in September.
Thai ambassador to Rangoon Oum Maolanond reported to the Foreign Affairs
Ministry that Burma did not reopen the Tachilek checkpoint because
officials said they did not have time to prepare.
He was told that senior Burmese leaders in Rangoon were informed in
advance of the opening of Mae Sai.
The ambassador said in a telephone interview yesterday that the general
atmosphere in Rangoon was not good. Prices had soared 20% with some
goods in short supply, especially Thai goods.
LOAD-DATE: March 16, 2001
___________________________________________________
AP: Myanmar opens one border crossing with Thailand
BANGOK, Thailand (AP) _ Myanmar reopened a border crossing with Thailand
on Friday after a daylong closure that officials said may have been a
show of protest against the Thai government's disclosure of widespread
drug trafficking from that country.
All vehicles were stopped Thursday from entering Myanmar at the Three
Pagoda Pass checkpoint, 260 kilometers (158 miles) southwest of Bangkok.
The checkpoint was opened Friday morning.
Myanmar authorities opened the gates after a Thai delegation visited
them and talked about the need to maintain tourist flow, Maj. Gen. Mana
Prachakchit, the regional commander, said in a telephone interview.
He said local villagers were allowed to pass back and forth across the
frontier during the closure.
The move followed border clashes last month between the two countries
and detailed descriptions by the Thai government of how methamphetamines
and heroin are flooding into the country from Myanmar.
Mana said he thought the closure was ``an act of retaliation for the
exposure.''
Meanwhile, the Thai army said it arrested on Friday three people who
were smuggling one million methamphetamine tablets worth 5.6 million
baht (dlrs 130,880) into the northern province of Chiang Mai from
Myanmar.
Major Gen. Padungkiat Sithidej, the commander of Pa Muang area, said of
those arrested was a Thai village headman.
The Three Pagoda Pass action came four days after Thailand reopened its
checkpoint at Mae Sai, in northern Thailand. But the Myanmar side of
that border crossing remains closed.
Mana said that Myanmar, also known as Burma, closed crossings which
were lucrative to Thai businessmen but kept open those necessary for
vital imports, including oil, rice and medicine, from Thailand.
Thai loggers and furniture makers are active in the Three Pagoda Pass
area, which is also a destination for Western backpackers.
Despite the tensions, two of the three key frontier checkpoints, at
Ranong and Mae Sot, remain open. The third important one is at Mae Sai.
Myanmar has accused the Thais of aiding Shan rebels, who have been
waging a guerrilla war against the military regime in Yangon. The
fighting spilled over into Thailand and led to Thai-Myanmar clashes.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, declaring a war on drug
traffickers, last weekend gave a graphic presentation to senior
officials about Mong Yawn, a town just inside Myanmar he said was built
with drug money.
The town is controlled by the United Wa State Army, an ethnic guerrilla
group believed to be kingpins of the regional drug trade. The group has
close ties with Myanmar's military rulers.
_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________
Asiaweek: Letter?Tourism
March 16, 2001
Patricia Barnett, Director, Tourism Concern, Britain
Ron Gluckman's article on Burma and the boycott of Lonely Planet's books
is a poor excuse for independent journalism. Mr. Gluckman traveled
around Burma with Tony and Maureen Wheeler, who publish Lonely Planet
guidebooks, and chose not to give voice to farmers in the rural areas
where 75% of the population is, or forced laborers at Mandalay
International Airport, or those forced to leave their homes for the
construction of golf courses or hotels, or the millions in Burma's
cities and towns who never come into contact with tourists and don't
depend on them to make a living.
Neither has Mr. Gluckman referred to the arguments upon which The Burma
Campaign UK and Tourism Concern base their work: that the International
Labor Organization has accused Burma of a "crime against humanity" for
the widespread and systematic use of forced labor, much of which is used
in building infrastructure for tourism. Lonely Planet is not objective
in its guide. When it argues whether one should or should not go to
Burma, it is dismissive of opposing voices. A travel guidebook can never
be objective. The Lonely Planet guide exists to facilitate travel to
Burma, and to pretend otherwise is ridiculous. However, Lonely Planet
has also made clear in a previous edition that it believes "it is
essential to respect the wishes of the genuine representatives of the
people of Myanmar." They are the very voices asking us not to visit
until democracy is in place in their country.
Tourism Concern and The Burma Campaign UK (which has never received
money from Lonely Planet as Mr. Gluckman states) are not asking for a
ban but for the democratic right to choose the products you buy on an
ethical basis. At the moment even the most sensitive, independent
tourist provides $ 200 to the regime on entry to the country. If only
Mr. Gluckman could have offered us an ethical choice too.
___________________________________________________
KNPP: Statement on tripartite dialogue
Office of the Prime Minister
Statement
Serial No. 1/2001
1. The ninth Karenni National Convention, attended by representatives
from various areas of Karenni, was successfully held on Feb 19-21, 2001.
During the convention a new Karenni government was formed in order to
lead and protect the country as past Karenni governments have done.
2. The formation of the new government will stand firm on the policies,
regulations and basic laws that have been approved and adopted by the
statute of the State. The Government will serve the people dutifully and
faithfully and will work to safeguard the national interest.
3. The Government will fight strongly against drugs that threaten the
lives of the people. It will also cooperate with the international
community in attempts to eradicate the problem.
4. To support and work together with the Karenni people against the
State Peace and Development Council's (SPDC) policy of annihilation
against the Karenni. We will also join forces, politically and
militarily, with other organizations that are engaged in armed struggle
to fight against the common enemy.
5. In theory, the Karenni Government welcomes and supports the
establishment of a federal union and the participation of the oppressed
nationalities in the tripartite dialogue.
6. The Karenni Government welcomes the support of political parties
based on equality and is willing to solve any problems, political or
otherwise, by measures agreed upon between the parties concerned.
7. The Karenni Government declares that it will protect the sovereignty
of the Karenni. As a party of national unity we pledge to fight against
the invasion by external enemies. With the support and assistance of
other world governments we intend to implement equality, unity, full
democracy, peace and prosperity for our people.
The Government of Karenni
Date: March 10, 2001
______________________OTHER______________________
Radio Free Asia: Internship announcement
Radio Free Asia is looking for interested candidates to apply for an
internship that
will be conducted in Washington DC. RFA is applying under the OSI
internship program for funding to provide training and work experience
to a qualified candidate. Qualifications include: proficiency in the
English language, an interest in and/or background in radio broadcasting
and a commitment to come back to the border area to work on related
issues. Please send a letter of interest and resume to: Radio Free
Asia, Maxim House, Suite 402, 112 Witthayu Road, Pathumwan Bangkok
10330; or by fax: 02 650 9177; or e-mail: ????????
All applications must be received by March 31, 2001.
________________
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