INTERVIEW-Thailand expects early resolution of PTT spat

HANOI, July 3 (Reuters) - A Thai minister said on Monday he expects a dispute over a take-or-pay gas agreement between state-owned Petroleum Authority of Thailand and consortium of military-ruled Myanmar, Unocal Corp < >TICKER>UCL< >/TICKER> and TotalFinaElf < >TOT.PA> to be resolved soon. Savit Bhotiwihok, a minister in Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's office, told Reuters at an energy meeting in Hanoi the Thai government had made a commitment to ensure PTT had the funds to pay for the gas from Myanmar's Yadana gas field. 'This is already a Cabinet decision, therefore PTT has the funds available,' Savit said before a meeting with Myanmar's Minister of Energy Brigadier-General Lun Thi. However, Savit said the take or pay clause was 'being interpreted right now by PTT as well as by the developers as to exactly what it means, as it was not actually envisoned that this clause would come into effect.' 'The issues are now being examined by PTT,' he said, adding that an initial payment of about $50 million had been paid previously to consortium. ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED After that initial payment there arose the issues of the 'quality of the gas, the possible restructuring of the deliveray dates in terms of amounts, as well as obligations of PTT under the contract,' he said. He said PTT had been raising the issue with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, which were to have been the buyers for the Ratchaburi power plant which was not completed on time. 'Some people had raised the issue of force majeure or not,' he said. 'So all these issues were issues that had to be thrashed out. At this particular stage, I think, most of the major issues have already been worked out by the PTT people.' He said PTT officials had met Lun Thi on his Bangkok stopover en route to Hanoi for the meeting of energy ministers from ASEAN. They would meet him again in Bangkok on his way back, Savit said. 'I'm sure PTT would probably want to discuss the tranche, delivery dates, as well as the issue of the Yatakun pipeline coming onshore as well,' he said. 'The immediate issue is take-or-pay, but the much more fundamental issue is how to cooperate in the future over further deliveries.' Savit said the Thai government took the view that the issue was one of a business contract between PTT and the developers. 'It is not a governmental issue at this stage at all. 'However, to give support to PTT to be able to pay if they have to pay under the take-or-pay clause, the Thai government has already agreed for PTT to take out a new amount of loans they require, with the Ministry of Finance of Thailand guaranteeing those loans,' he said.

Monday, July 3 3:00 PM SGT

Myanmar general to visit Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, July 3 (AFP) -

Myanmar's powerful intelligence chief and junta First Secretary Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt was due to arrive in Pakistan later Monday at the start of a five-day trip, officials said.

It was to be the first high-level visit here by a Myanmar delegation since 1974 when former military dictator Ne Win came to Pakistan, a government statement said.

Khin Nyunt was to meet military ruler General Pervez Musharraf and the chiefs of Pakistan's navy and airforce, as well as visiting unspecified industrial centres during his July 3-7 stay, it said.

"Pakistan and Myanmar have long-standing cordial and friendly relations, which are marked by a close similarity of views on a number of regional and international issues," a foreign office statement said.

"Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt's visit to Pakistan will strengthen the existing bilateral relations and open new avenues for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries."

Islamabad and Yangon are close allies of China, which sees them as strategic buttresses against India's military and economic might in South Asia.

Myanmar has reportedly allowed China access to intelligence posts and naval bases in its southern islands, while Beijing has been instrumental in developing Pakistan's nuclear capabilities.

Historically, both countries are former British colonies which have been under military rule for most of their independence.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory in elections there in 1990 but the junta has refused to relinquish power and has kept her under virtual house arrest in Yangon.

Musharraf seized power in a coup here almost nine months ago and ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is now serving a life sentence for hijacking and terrorism and is on trial for corruption.

Both regimes vow to return their countries to democracy.

Islamabad and Yangon also share major drug problems, with Myanmar believed to be the world's second biggest opium producer after Pakistan's western neighbour Afghanistan.

The United Nations recently said that with four million drug addicts out of a population of some 140 million people, Pakistan was probably the the world's most drug-addicted nation on a per capita basis.

Channel NewsAsia

Sunday, July 2 10:05 PM SGT

Myanmar's Karen rebel group wants dialogue with government

Myanmar's main rebel group, the Karen National Union says it wants serious dialogue with the government.
Speaking to Channel NewsAsia, the rebel Karen group's military commander in Chief General Bo Mya, says his group is willing to take all necessary steps to gain a lasting peace.

The KNU's call comes at a time when several other opposition groups along the Thai-Myanmar border are also calling for a settlement.

Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai is heading to the border regions this weekend to assess the situation.

Most of the 200 soldiers in the Karen national Union's battalion 201 are under 30 years old.

Many are veteran fighters who have been fighting for Karen independence since their teens.

Now with more than 10,000 troops operating along the border and inside Myanmar, the rebels think they have a strong bargaining position and want to negotiate a peace deal to create a federated state.

"Our main request is to have the Myanmar government give us a Karen federated state. We want to establish a true federation in Burma. We don't want to be independent but we can have a Karen federated state under the central govenment where everybody can leave peacefully in unity," said General Bo Mya, Commander in Chief, Karen National Liberation Front.

This dream, however, has been difficult to achieve as Yangon wants the rebel groups to lay down their arms before talking peace.

But the rebel leaders are only willing to lay down arms if the government considers creating a Karen state based on Hong Kong's Special Administrative Region model.

And so fighting between the two sides continues.

For Major Nerdah Mya, who commands battalion 201, the challenge is to keep the Myanmar troops on edge till a peaceful settlement can be reached.

He does this by using guerrilla tactics and small four-men teams.

Major Nerdah Mya says
"With four-man team you can go closer to the Burmese outpost, then we can put the landmines, set up boobytraps, then come back. The Burmese troops, if they come up, step on the landmines. Most of the time they do not want to go out. They sit at their outposts and waiting for their time to go back."

Both sides have blamed the other for not being serious about wanting peace.

The government has been able to negotiate a peaceful settlement with more than 14 armed ethnic groups in the country although it has not managed to do so with the KNU.

Our correspondent Romen Bose reports:
"The KNU says it will continue its armed struggle against government troops until the opposition is recognised and there is power sharing. Only then, can the long process of negotiating with other border minority groups like the Karen begin."

Sunday July 2 11:13 PM ET
Thailand Asks for Help with Myanmar

BAN MAE LA, Thailand (AP) - Thailand has asked the international community to hold talks on repatriating more than 100,000 refugees who have fled military rule in neighboring Myanmar, reports said Monday.

The call was made on Sunday as Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai toured the largest refugee camp along the Myanmar-Thai border, accompanied by senior Thai officials and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees representative Jahanshah Assadi.

Some human rights groups have criticized Thailand for deporting some of the refugees to Myanmar, also known as Burma, where human rights abuses have been widely reported.

But Chuan told reporters that the refugees would be allowed to remain on Thai soil as long as the situation remained unsafe for them in Myanmar. However, he said migrant workers would be repatriated.

Earlier the Thai government said it intended to send back all refugees within three years, but Chuan said ``maybe it will take more time, three to five years.''

Chuan called for more help, particularly from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, in pressing for negotiations with Myanmar on returning the refugees, who come mostly from the country's minority ethnic groups.

Their temporary refuge on Thai soil is a burden on civilians and military, and is at the expense of the environment and security, he said, as he met with some of the camp's nearly 31,000 residents.

The U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch has over the past two months denounced the Thai government for forcibly repatriating more than 100 Karen refugees and urged it to provide more protection for those remaining on its soil.

Thailand toughened its policy after a raid on the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok last October by student radicals opposed to the Myanmar regime, and a hostage-taking in January by the rebel God's Army.

Bangkok Post - July 3, 2000.

NARCOTICS

Drug trade resumes at Khun Sa's ex-bastion

Villagers serve as tools of traffickers

Subin Khuenkaew

The border town of Ban Therd Thai, a former bastion of drug warlord Khun Sa, has again become a major centre for illicit trade-only now it's mainly methamphetamines instead of heroin.

The village, in Mae Fa Luang district and also known as Ban Hin Taek, has fallen under the influence of armed gangs run by drug traffickers operating from across the border.

Villagers said local authorities, police and administrative officials in particular, serve as mere tools of the drug traders, who wield a strong financial influence over them.

In the first six months of this year at least four local residents were killed by the gangs, villagers said. Two were eliminated because they tried to turn their backs on the drug trade, and two others because they were being unco-operative.

A former soldier in the Mong Tai Army, who has returned to Ban Therd Thai since Khun Sa surrendered to Rangoon two years ago, said many of his friends had to join the United Wa State Army under Wei Hsueh-Kang.

It was a matter of survival, he said.

The UWSA is building a new town opposite Ban Therd Thai which authorities say is being paid for from the profits of methamphetamine trafficking.

"The UWSA soldiers came and threatened us if we did not co-operate," the former soldier said.

"Many of my friends managed to flee the village, but most had no choice. It was join them or die."

Ban Therd Thai had now become a major meeting place for drug traders, he said.

The Third Army recently closed the San Ton Doo border checkpoint in nearby Mae Ai district, which intelligence reports said was being used extensively by drug traffickers.

Shortly afterward, an army patrol clashed with UWSA soldiers in an area west of Ban Therd Thai and seized four million methamphetamine pills and 27kg of heroin.

Maj-Gen Chamlong Pothong, deputy commander of the Third Army, said there have been complaints from Ban Therd Thai villagers that some government officials in Mae Fa Luang district are taking bribes from drug traders.

"The area along the 100km stretch of border in Mae Fa Luang district is reported to be the most heavily infested with methamphetamine traders in the country," he said.

"The Pha Muang Force, which is responsible for the area, has been patrolling the mountains along the border and development projects are planned for border villages. One is now under way already in Mae Hong Son," Maj-Gen Chamlong said.

Bangkok Post - July 3, 2000.
THAI-BURMESE RELATIONS

Chuan seeks help on refugee repatriation
Achara Ashayagachat

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai made a brief visit to the largest border refugee camp yesterday, and said he expected it would bring rewards in the form of international understanding and assistance.

"Our burden is not the direct funding for these people, but the extra work it places on our officials, both civilians and military, to provide humanitarian shelter and protection for them.

"Their temporary refuge on Thai soil is also at the expense of the environment and our security, which affects local people," he said.

Mr Chuan said the presence of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees since July 1998 in helping the Burmese refugees, had created a level of understanding in the international community about the seriousness of the border situation.

He called for even more awareness and assistance, particularly from the UNHCR, in pushing forward negotiations on the repatriation of more than 100,000 displaced people from Burma.

"The future of these people and their families are of great concern. They should have better health and proper education," Mr Chuan said.

Several refugees, mostly Karenni, told the premier they had fears for their safety if they returned to Burma.

Although their life was difficult in Thailand, at least they had shelter and enough to eat. They were not at all sure that would be the case if they returned home.

"If there was peace in Burma, then we would like to go back," one man said.

Mr Chuan paid a two-hour-and-a-half visit to Ban Mae La temporary shelter in Tak's Tha Song Yang district, home to the largest group of refugees. The refugees first arrived in 1995 and now total 30,779, officials said.

The premier's delegation was the most senior ever to visit the refugee camp. It included army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont, National Security Council chief Kachadpai Burusphat, Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra and permanent foreign secretary Nitya Pibulsongram.

Mr Chuan said the best way to solve the refugee problem was to keep talking to the Burmese leaders on every possible occasion.

Mr Kachadpai said the UNHCR had to play a more aggressive role by starting negotiations with Rangoon to bring about the eventual solution to the problem.

UNHCR representative Jahanshah Assadi said he was quite optimistic about ruling junta's recent promise to allow the UN agency a presence along their eastern border with Thailand if there was a political settlement between the Karen National Union and the Burmese regime.

Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, head of the State Peace and Development Council, outlined the precondition to UNHCR assistant commissioner Jessen Petersen when he visited Burma in March.

"At least there is a little step forward. Rangoon has tacitly acknowledged that the UNHCR has a role here," Mr Assadi said.

He expected the spirit of co-operation between the UNHCR and the junta in the repatriation of 230,000 refugees along Bangladesh-Burma border would be carried over to Burma's eastern border once the area was safe.

"At the moment. Thailand's generosity in granting asylum to these displaced people is noted by the international community, which is working on the eventual solution to the problem," he said.

Bangkok Post - July 3, 2000.

NARCOTICS

Envoys set to talk with Wa army

Diplomats dealing with Burma are on the verge of setting up a working group to prepare for talks with the United Wa State Army.

The officials believe the Wa, currently the region's largest group of drug traffickers, may have started to look forward. The day may come soon when the Wa may feel besieged and try to strike a deal, diplomatic sources said.

The UWSA has prospered in recent years, since making a political deal with Rangoon to stop their active resistance, in return for support from the Burmese regime for their drug empire.

Maj-Gen Khin Nyunt, the top man in the government, personally visited Wa areas earlier this year to give Rangoon's blessing to their spreading urban area. The Burmese army has also supported the forced relocation of some of the population. Diplomatic sources stressed they had no direct information yet. "We want to be ready to deal with them, in case they want to make a deal," said one foreign official.

The move is surprising, as the UWSA has previously made no known efforts to talk with foreign diplomats, although they frequently have sent unofficial emissaries to local Thai officials.

The group is widely criticised for making and smuggling heroin and methamphetamines.

- The government will present a list of drug suspects to special anti-narcotics task forces in the central provinces to start a crackdown aimed at wiping out their networks in three months.

Some 140 narcotics agents have been recruited to join the task forces.

Sorasit Saengprasert, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said yesterday the special anti-narcotics task forces will be responsible for 25 central provinces.

These provinces, especially those at the western border, have been found to be strongholds of the drugs trade as transit and storage points.

A fund of 3.5 million baht has been provided to fund the operation.

Mr Sorasit said he was confident the operation could curb the rising number of new drug dealers and force old-time dealers to temporarily halt their trade.

The Nation - July 3, 2000.
Govt urges UNHCR to open Burma talks

TAK -- The government yesterday urged a UN agency dealing with refugees to open a dialogue with Rangoon in order to settle the fate of about 100,000 refugees in camps along the Thai-Burmese border.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) should do more than merely give assistance to refugee camps in Thailand, said National Security Council chief Khachadpai Burusapatana, who accompanied Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai on a tour of Ban Ma La camp.

The UNHCR should provide counselling in the camps in order to keep the refugees informed of the situation in Burma, Khachadpai said.

"I visited camps whose residents said they wanted to return home, but they don't know where the safe places they could return to are."

Thailand will try to send as many Burmese refugees as possible home within three years, taking into account the security situation there.

Chuan will meet Burmese leaders during an informal summit of Asean leaders later this year to discuss sending the refugees home, Chuan said during the tour of the camp.

The Ban Ma La camp houses 30,711 refugees. The refugees outnumber local residents, and their number increases by about 100 a month.

The camp is among three holding areas for refugees in Tak province. The others are Ban Um Piam, which houses 15,627 refugees, and Ban Nu Bho, which holds 8,358.

The Interior Ministry allocates Bt10 million a year to the province to administer the camps, while the Burmese Consortium, comprising 14 non-governmental organisations, spends about Bt200 million a year to look after the refugees.

The total number of Burmese refugees living in camps in five Thai border provinces is 102,493. The camps are in Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanburi, Ratchaburi and Chumporn.

UNHCR regional representative for Thailand Jahanshah Assadi praised Chuan's visit to the camp, saying it showed Thailand's humanitarian commitment to the refugees and the importance it attached to their plight.

Assadi defended the UNHCR, saying it is in contact with Rangoon to try to settle the fate of the refugees. A senior official recently held talks with Burmese officials in Rangoon, he said.

"The Burmese regime acknowledges the role of the UNHCR and understands the process of repatriation, which requires a guarantee of safety for the returnees," Assadi said.

The Thai and Burmese governments were fully aware that there needs to be a permanent solution to the refugee problem, he said. "Both sides know their limitations," he said without elaborating.

The government has asked other countries to help ease Thailand's 10-year burden of sheltering Burmese refugees, whose presence in Thailand is a cause of security and health-related problems. Some refugees are carriers of malaria, some are involved in drug smuggling and illegal logging, and some take illegal employment.

Chuan yesterday denied reports the government planned to move all Burmese students at the Maneeloy holding centre in Ratchaburi to Mae Sot district. Progress has been made in finding countries that would accept them, with about 300 scheduled to go to Finland this week, he said.

Peace in Burma does not appear near, as the Burmese military junta continues to crack down on the pro-democracy movement and has made no headway in ending fighting with the Karen National Union.

BY PIYANART SRIVALO

BBC-Monday, 3 July, 2000, 03:44 GMT 04:44 UK
Thailand asks for help with refugees

Thailand has asked the international community to help it repatriate over one-hundred-thousand Burmese refugees living in camps on the Thai-Burma border.

After visiting one of the largest camps Ban Mae La, the Thai Prime Minister, Chuan Leekpai, said the refugee situation was a problem that must be solved urgently.

He asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help convince Burma to take back its people, instead of hampering their return. Many of the refugees are ethnic Karens fleeing fighting between the government and Karen National Union troops.

Thailand has been criticised in the past by some human rights groups for forcibly sending back refugees despite reports of human rights violations in their homelands.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

BBC-Monday, 3 July, 2000, 11:37 GMT 12:37 UK
Razali ends Burma visit

The United Nations envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, has held a series of meetings with the military government and some of its most vocal opponents, including the leader of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Correspondents say Mr Razali's visit, his first since being appointed in April, comes at a time when there is increasing international effort to engage with the military government, which has frequently been accused of human rights violations.

Mr Razali held several meetings with a senior leader of the government, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, and the N-L-D leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. He also met leaders of the ethnic political party, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy.

Correspondents say there were no indications of movement on the stalemate over democratic elections, but Mr Razali's visit was welcomed on all sides.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Burma Related News - July 3, 2000.

Myanmar general to visit Pakistan

Villagers serve as tools of traffickers