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Bangkok Post
- May 15, 2000.
BORDER Burma slams Thais over rocket attack
Supamart Kasem Burma has accused Thailand
of allowing Karen rebels to launch a rocket attack on a border village in
Myawaddy which killed one Burmese civilian and seriously injured another. Lt-Col Tin Ngwe, chairman of Burma's local Thai-Burmese Border Committee,
yesterday demanded that Thailand explain why they allowed Karen National Union
fighters to launch the four RPG rockets. One Wa villager was killed and another injured in the attack which took place
at about 8.30pm on Saturday. Two agricultural warehouses and workers' living
quarters were destroyed during the 20-minute attack. Burma also demanded that Thai authorities take responsibility for the damage
caused. A source said two pick-up trucks carrying 20 heavily-armed Karen rebels drove
near the border on Saturday night. The rebels later divided into two groups with the first group firing four RPG
rockets at the two warehouses. The other group crossed the border and fired rockets at the living
quarters. Firearms belonging to pro-Rangoon forces were thought to have been stored at
the warehouses. Bangkok Post - May 15, 2000. Commentary
The talk has gone on long enough. Day in, day
out, the reports pour in of hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of
methamphetamine pills being seized. On Thursday, a consignment of 1.2 tonnes of ephedrine, enough to make 500
million methamphetamine pills, was seized in Fang district of Chiang Mai. Two
men, one a special forces soldier, were arrested with the stimulant believed
destined for the factories of the Wa State Army in Burma. The Third Army wants to close a temporary checkpoint in Chiang Mai and four
others in Chiang Rai in a bid to stem drug smuggling. Efforts have been made to
close most temporary checkpoints in Tak but others in other northern provinces
remain open. Despite meetings at the highest level between Thailand and Burma, the flow of
methamphetamines continues. So much so, that Army Chief Gen Surayud Chulanont
last week, apparently out of frustration, declared that the drug factories run
by the Wa are now Thailand's top external security threat. How many times does it need to be said that the prime minister and this
government need to get together with all our security, public health and
judicial agencies and hammer out a comprehensive policy on this scourge which is
rapidly destroying the social fabric of Thai society and our youth. If the Burmese say they cannot control areas under the Wa, then we must seek
their agreement for cross-border strikes. If Burma is truly genuine in fostering
good relations with us, then it should agree to such action. Admittedly, cross-border strikes will not stop the flow. These factories can
be very mobile, they can be dismantled and set up quickly. But surely striking
at them is better than sitting on this side of the fence chasing after the
traffickers who surely must have some assistance-official or otherwise. This is
what is happening now and our most senior security officials say it is a no-win
situation. Attacking supply centres and sources is not enough. We need to tackle the
problem of demand and have a clear-cut policy on rehabilitation. Unless we can
curb supply and wean addicts off the drugs, the problem will never be reduced
satisfactorily. Thai Rak Thai party leader Thaksin Shinawatra said last week the judicial
process also needed to be strengthened. He believes special courts should be set
up to handle criminal cases involving drugs. While the judicial process must be
fair, it should also be swift and firm. If necessary, the death sentence should
be meted out. "People are always afraid of dying," he said. Equally important, Mr Thaksin suggests that greater effort be put into
rehabilitation. We sorely need more rehabilitation centres or programmes. There are insufficient funds to handle the increasing number of cases. Mr
Thaksin suggests that private hospitals be encouraged to set up rehabilitation
units and receive tax breaks as incentives. I am not sure whether such a programme would attract hospitals. But certainly
the extent of the methamphetamine problem requires a complete review and all
thoughts and suggestions should be explored. Cross-border strikes, stemming the flow of chemicals by speaking to the
Chinese, closing temporary border checkpoints, swift legal action against
traffickers, and beefing up rehabilitation are the way forward. If some of these efforts, as Deputy Foreign Minister M.R. Sukhumbhand
Paribatra put it, "affect our good relations with some of our neighbours," then
so be it. The same applies if the border trade with Burma is affected. It is increasingly clear that we cannot tip-toe around the issue in the name
of good relations with Burma. If we don't act now, and firmly, this scourge will
swiftly erode the fabric of our society. - Pichai Chuensuksawadi is Editor, Bangkok Post. All comments and
suggestions welcomed at: pichai@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Vietnam News Agency PRIME MINISTER'S ACTIVITIES IN MYANMAR The Nation - May 15, 2000. Top junta official to be invited for seminar
THE chairman of Mae Hong Son's Chamber of Commerce is to ask high-level Burmese officials to attend a seminar on border trade to strengthen trade ties between the countries. The chamber will invite Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the first secretary-general of Burma's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to attend the May 31 to June 4 seminar inaugurating the Mobile Border Trade Clinic, as well as the governor of Burma's Tong Kee province, Phoonsak Sunthornpanitchak said. Phoonsak said his chamber had contacted Khin Nyunt's aides and was awaiting a response. Meanwhile the SPDC is upset that Thailand detained six Burmese soldiers on February 3 and has not yet released them as it demanded, an intelligence source said. The SPDC has criticised the Thai government's reluctance to end the border dispute between the two countries. Broadcasts on SPDC short-wave radio say the Burmese junta is ready to take action against Thai authorities, the source said. The junta has moved its 428th Battalion to the Huai Pong Lao base of operations, just over the border from Mae Hong Son's Baan Nam Phiang Din border checkpoint, the source said. The battalion last year attacked Baan Nam Phiang Din Police Station in the Muang district, he said, adding that if the six Burmese soldiers were not released neither Khin Nyunt nor the Tong Kee governor would accept Phoonsak's invitation. The Nation South China Morning Post
Monday, May 15, 2000 THAILAND Drug war
recruits
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Bangkok As Thailand steps up its war against drugs from Burma, it reportedly has
begun arming northern villagers and training them to fight traffickers and even
the Burmese army.
A civilian army had begun to take shape along the Thai-Burmese border, with more than 5,000 members trained to fight foreign troops and exploitation by drug traffickers, the Bangkok Post said yesterday. The army would provide training, including instruction in the use of firearms and explosives and classes on drug laws, to 592 "high-risk" villages by the end of 2001, Lieutenant General Chamlong Phothong told the Post. Last year's massacre by Burmese drug traffickers of nine villagers in the northern town of Ban Mae Soon Noi, as well as increases in methamphetamine production in Burma, had necessitated the new policy, General Chamlong said. Burmese drug traffickers frequently use towns in northern Thailand as
shipment points, and the Thai army has alleged that Burma's military is deeply
involved in the illicit trade.
Villagers from Phaya Phrai village, 2km from the border, said "unknown
foreign troops" frequently entered their village. The military regime in Rangoon
has ordered its cash-strapped army to "live off the land", a command which many
Burma-watchers have interpreted as an order to cultivate narcotics to support
itself.
Channel NewsAsia
Monday, May 15 4:00 PM SGT
Security stepped up at Myanmar embassy in Bangkok after bomb scareSecurity has been stepped up around the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok following a bomb scare.A police bomb squad sealed off the embassy and combed the premises for two hours but found no sign of any explosive device. A man giving his name as Kyaw Aung and saying he was calling from Canada telephoned embassy officials on Sunday evening and said he had planted a bomb in the embassy. But police say they have been unable to track down the caller. Last October, five pro-democracy gunmen from the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors stormed the embassy creating a 25-hour hostage drama. The group which is battling the Yangon junta had demanded that Myanmar's military open talks with the country's democratic opposition. Thai negotiators brought an end to the crisis by agreeing to fly the gunmen to the jungle along the Thai-Myanmar border. Anti-Myanmar forces continue to operate in Thailand. Since the embassy assault, anti-junta insurgents have seized a hospital west of Bangkok and repeatedly clashed with the Myanmar army along the Thai-Myanmar border. AP-Monday, May 15 4:39 PM SGT Bomb Threat Against Myanmar Embassy In ThailandBANGKOK (AP)--Thai police have increased security and patrols around the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok after it received a bomb threat, police said Monday. A Thai bomb squad combed the embassy compound in the city center for explosives late Sunday after they were contacted by an embassy official panicked by a phone call from a man claiming to be a Myanmar national in Canada saying he had planted a bomb. No explosive was found, said Police Maj. Gen. Chakthip Kunchorn na Ayudhya, an assistant commander of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau. "The embassy is open as usual but police have provided more security around the embassy and are patrolling more often in the area," he said. Chaktip said embassy officials had few details about the hoax caller and it wasn't possible for Thai authorities to trace the call. In October, five anti-Yangon student rebels demanding democracy in military-run Myanmar took dozens of hostages at the embassy, including diplomats and their families who live inside the compound. The Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, as the rebels called themselves, were set free at the Thai-Myanmar border by the Thai authorities in return for the safe release of the hostages. The incident marked an embarrassing lapse in Thai security and hurt relations with Myanmar. |