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BURMA RELATED NEWS - OCT - 16, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Vietnam minister in Myanmar amid
mediation debate
Reuters - EU to focus on trade, crime at Asian
summit
AFP - Myanmar's entry to ASEAN had faced
credibility problems
AFP - Karaoke killings highlight Bangkok's
increasing lawlessness
AFP - Japan, ASEAN need new partnership to meet
globalisation, says official
AP - UNHCR Chief Visits Myanmar For Talks On
Refugees
ABC online - US drugs
director doubts Burma's ability to end drug manufacture
The Times of India - Myanmar shuts down several universities: Oppn radio
Stratfor - Battling for Power in
Myanmar
Bkk Post - New Aspiration, Thai Rak Thai foster
Rangoon ties
Bkk Post - Ratchaburi siege rebels
cremated
The Nation - Burma to chase
tourists
BBC - Burma activist 'to be freed'
SCMP - UN refugee chief visits
WIRE:10/16/2000 08:59:00 ET
Vietnam minister in Myanmar amid mediation debate HANOI, Oct 16 (Reuters) -
Vietnam"s foreign minister began an official visit to Myanmar on Monday as
Southeast Asian nations wrestled over divisions on how to deal with the
political deadlock in Yangon.
Hanoi"s Foreign Ministry said Nguyen Dy Nien"s visit would last two days
but gave no details of his agenda. Vietnam is the current chair of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The trip was clearly hastily planned as Nien had been scheduled to speak at
a Vietnam-European Union seminar on trade on Monday in Hanoi but cancelled at
the last minute. Members of ASEAN are split over whether to mediate in Myanmar,
where the military government has held Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and
other leaders of her opposition National League for Democracy under house arrest
for weeks.
ASEAN agreed in July in Bangkok to form a "troika" of three members to try
to help resolve political and security disputes, but its Secretary-General
Rodolfo Severino told Reuters in Hanoi last week there was "no question of
mediation" in this case. This was despite a report in a Bangkok newspaper last
month quoting diplomats as saying U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had
suggested the troika help in Myanmar.
Communist Vietnam said earlier this month "relevant" ASEAN members had
rejected the idea on the grounds it would be interference in Yangon"s internal
affairs, a long-held ASEAN taboo. But ministers responsible for information from
all 10 ASEAN countries remained silent at a news briefing after a conference in
Hanoi last week when asked whether they were united in a policy not to mediate.
Supatra Masdit, a minister in the Thai prime minister"s office, told
Reuters seperately she supported mediation and this should be discussed at
Foreign Ministry level. Concerns have been raised that the Myanmar issue could
derail a long-delayed meeting of ASEAN-EU foreign ministers Laos is due to host
in December.
Laos has said the meeting would not be affected. ASEAN groups Myanmar with
Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, the Philippines,
Indonesia and Brunei.
WIRE:10/16/2000 08:45:00 ET
EU to focus on trade, crime at Asian summit BRUSSELS, Oct 16 (Reuters) -
European Union leaders will push for freer trade, a closer political dialogue
and joint action to combat international crime when they hold a biennial summit
with 10 Asian nations later this week.
Heads of government of the 15 EU and 10 Asian countries that make up the
Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), together with European Commission President Romano
Prodi, gather in Seoul from Thursday to Saturday for the third summit of the
group, created to forge stronger ties between the two continents.
The last ASEM summit in London in 1998 was overshadowed by the Asian
financial crisis, which had sent three of ASEM"s Asian members -- Indonesia,
South Korea and Thailand -- to the International Monetary Fund for $100 billion
in bailouts. The economic environment is less gloomy this time, although surging
oil prices are worrying consumer nations. Ensuring stable energy supplies will
be on the ASEM agenda.
The group"s other Asian members are Brunei, China, Japan, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. EU officials will urge the summit to
recognise "the importance of stable energy supplies at reasonable costs for all
regions of the world," according to an EU document. Although criticised in Asia
at the time for doing too little to help with the crisis, EU officials now argue
that decisions from the last summit -- including setting up a trust fund to help
Asian economies and a pledge to keep markets open -- played an important part in
easing the economic crunch.
"Fortunately, there has been a substantial recovery in Asia and that has
been partly helped by the easy access to European and American markets," EU
External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten told reporters last week.
EU officials will welcome renewed economic dynamism in Asia at the summit
but stress the importance of continued reform.
TRADE ROUND CALL
EU leaders will also stress the "crucial importance" of an early launch of
a comprehensive new round of global trade talks and the early accession, on
effective terms, of China and Vietnam to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
EU officials are eager to keep up the pressure for another attempt to
launch a new round of WTO trade liberalisation talks. A declaration at the end
of the Seoul summit is expected to call for a new round "at the earliest
opportunity." Information technology will be another key theme. EU officials say
they will call for stronger cooperation between Europe and Asia in the "new
economy" and support a South Korean proposal for an "EU-Asia information
superhighway."
On the political front, the EU will stress its interest in regional
developments in Asia, particularly in East Timor, North Korea and Myanmar --
whose human rights record has been regularly criticised by Brussels.
KOREA QUESTION
Host South Korea has already said it will seek support for its
rapprochement with Stalinist North Korea at the ASEM summit. The "Seoul
Declaration on the Korean Peninsula," to be adopted at the summit, will endorse
the policy of engaging North Korea with the goal of peaceful unification of the
two Koreas, according to an EU briefing paper.
The statement will get added exposure because of last week"s award of the
Nobel Peace Prize to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, partly for his work
for closer ties with North Korea.
EU officials are pleased that an updated "Asia Europe Cooperation
Framework" to be adopted at the summit adds references to the importance of
human rights and cooperation to protect the environment.
Another EU priority is to stress the importance of joint efforts to combat
transnational crime, an issue spotlighted in June when 58 illegal Chinese
immigrants suffocated in a truck while trying to enter Britain.
Proposals expected to be endorsed at the summit include a Chinese/British
initiative on cooperation to combat corruption, a British/Thai initiative
against money laundering and a Spanish/German proposal for a ministerial
conference on cooperation to manage migratory flows between Europe and
Asia.
Monday, October 16 1:37 PM SGT
ASEAN needs to adapt to face future:
Alatas
BANGKOK, Oct 16 (AFP) - ASEAN
countries should give preferential treatment and aid to new members to prevent a
"two-tier" organization from developing, former Indonesian foreign minister Ali
Alatas said in a report Monday.
"We must continue to pull out all our efforts towards liberalization and
toward finding effective means to adjust ourselves to globalization; if we fail
to do so we will be left behind," he told the Nation in an interview.
"The new members are not as advanced economically and they need our help,"
said Alatas, one of ASEAN's most influential figures.
"Apart from concentrating on projects like Mekong Basin Development, ASEAN
must come up with development aid-based programmes like what the EU did for many
years for its under-developed members."
Alatas cited as an example of a more flexible approach ASEAN's decision to
allow new members such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam more time to
achieve Asean Free Trade Area conditions.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
Alatas, former president Suharto's foreign policy chief, was in Bangkok
last week to receive a royal decoration for his role in promoting
Thai-Indonesian relations and his determination to bring peace and stability to
the region.
He acknowledged that ASEAN had faced credibility problems, in particular
following Myanmar's entry to the regional group in 1997 and the resulting
political fallout with the EU.
"Undoubtedly what has happened in (Myanmar) has affected ASEAN's
effectiveness in work, as proven by our difficulty in getting dialogues with the
EU."
But Alatas stressed that ASEAN must continue in its own way to persuade
Myanmar's ruling military junta to resolve its problems.
"Ours is a different way from that of the West, which wants to impose
sanctions and denounce (Myanmar) publicly. We think his method will not work,"
he said.
Ministerial meetings between the EU and ASEAN were suspended after Myanmar
was admitted to the regional organization in 1997. However ties are due to be
renewed at a meeting in December in Laos.
Alatas also said that the political and regional problems affecting the
vast Indonesian archipelago had not weakened his country's backing for the
grouping.
"Indonesia has not abandoned ASEAN and its interest in ASEAN will not be
diminished. We believe that ASEAN is vital for peace and stability, he
said.
"We have achieved a tremendous amount because our environment is so
peaceful and because we have ASEAN."
The former foreign minister also said that ASEAN should support any attempt
by East Timor to join the group once it becomes fully independent.
But he dismissed suggestions about expanding the group to include China,
Japan and South Korea: "ASEAN should remain an ASEAN for Southeast Asia."
When asked whether ASEAN should seek to mediate in cross-strait tensions
between China and Taiwan, Alatas said it had to prevent itself "from being
sucked in."
Monday, October 16 1:18 PM SGT
Karaoke killings highlight Bangkok's increasing lawlessness BANGKOK, Oct 16 (AFP) - A spate
of assaults in Bangkok's karaoke bars, where tuneless singers belt out bad
tunes, has highlighted increasing lawlessness in Thailand's capital city,
analysts say.
Three months ago, Thai policeman Lt Corporal Jirawat Sangworn confessed to
shooting one man and attempting to kill another because they booed his karaoke
performance.
Enraged by jeering from two men at the next table, Jirawat pulled out his
service pistol and gunned down his tormentors.
Several karaoke bar assaults have hit in the capital since then, as singers
opted for unpopular or ugly songs, witnesses and police said.
Last week a military officer killed a karaoke shop owner and his friend,
allegedly in a dispute over unpaid bills.
"The trend of violence at these entertainment places is increasing,"
Viraphong Boonyabhas, head of the Criminology Department at Chulalongkorn
University, told AFP.
Since the 1997 economic crisis, many cheap karaoke bars have sprung up in
Bangkok, serving inexpensive drinks to revelers unable to afford the city's
upscale sing-along joints, and occasionally emptying in bar brawls.
Analysts say the karaoke bar incidents demonstrate a rise in violent crime
in Bangkok.
"In an urban area like Bangkok that has increasing rootlessness,
unemployment from the financial crisis and drugs, it would predictable that
there would be more violence," said one long-time foreign academic studying Thai
culture.
"And as Thai culture has become more individualistic, that adds to the
possibility that people will express their anger rather than holding it in to
maintain everyone's face," he said.
Singapore-based research firm Strategic Intelligence recently estimated
that Thailand's illegal economy, which includes drug smuggling and prostitution,
is growing and now produces revenues equal to twenty percent of the country's
licit Gross National Product.
Thailand's recent yaaba, or amphetamine, epidemic has worsened the
situation, by creating a pool of violent addicts.
The drug has been proved to cause psychosis and violent behaviour in
long-term users.
The Thai military has estimated that over 600 million amphetamine tablets
will flow into Thailand this year from neighbouring Myanmar, and some police
sources have warned that the number of Thais addicted to yaaba will double
within the next five years.
Some karaoke bars are known to be yaaba distribution centres.
"Drugs are easily found in these places, and when the people there take
drugs, they lose control," Viraphong said.
Crime syndicates run overseas have increasingly made Bangkok a regional hub
for their operations due to Thailand's lax immigration policies and relatively
high-quality communications infrastructure.
"More and more international crime syndicates are basing themselves in
Thailand," said Khachadpai Buruspatana, secretary general of the National
Security Council (NSC).
Last month, suspected Indian mob boss Chhota Rajan was wounded by gunmen
who burst into his Bangkok apartment spraying bullets in a shooting allegedly
ordered by Rajan archenemy Dawood Ibrahim, another suspected Indian
mafioso.
Thai police have also said that Hong Kong triad gangs were moving to
Bangkok to flee the Chinese government's crackdown on crime in the former
British colony.
Thai police have vowed to hunt down foreign criminals, but they are less
sure of their ability to clean up Bangkok's karaoke scene.
"For karaoke, we have no idea. We don't know when it (crimes) will happen
and we can't prevent it," police sources told AFP.
Monday, October 16 4:49 PM SGT
Japan, ASEAN need new partnership to meet globalisation, says official SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (AFP) - Japan
and ASEAN need to forge a new partnership if they are to reap the benefits of
globalisation and contain the resulting risks, a senior Japanese official said
here Monday.
"New modalities for Japan-ASEAN cooperation are called for as we need to
respond to these challenges," said Hisashi Owada, president of the Japan
Institute of International Affairs and advisor to Foreign Minister Yohei
Kono.
"Our common interest in meeting these challenges at various levels of
governance requires the forging of a new partnership," said Owada, who is also
an adviser to World Bank president James Wolfensohn.
In a speech to the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Owada said
globalisation had exposed a need to reform several systems of governance in the
region, but the road ahead would not be easy.
"There is little consensus on what the definition of regionalism is or on
what the legitimate role of a regional approach to the issue of global
governance should be in the age of globalisation," he said.
"Regionalism may or may not serve the cause of promoting and strengthening
global governance, because a framework for regional cooperation can work for as
against the consolidation of a global system of governance, depending on whether
it serves the exclusive or inclusive interests of the community."
And ASEAN faces the added challenge of forging a framework that can meet
the needs of its 10 member countries which are at different levels of social and
political development, said Owada.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam
and Cambodia.
"Given this complexity in the situation of East Asia, it will not be easy
to attempt to establish even a region-wide system of rules reflecting the
community interest of the region as a whole in politico-military, economic and
social transactions," he said.
But toward this end, it is in Japan's interest to work with ASEAN
especially in engaging China, he said.
"Our prime goal should be to have a prosperous, stable and constructive
China fully integrated into the regional system of governance," Owada
said.
Japan and the ASEAN countries must make greater efforts to engage China in
this direction so it could play a more constructive role
internationally.
Monday, October 16 2:15 PM SGT
UNHCR Chief Visits Myanmar For Talks On Refugees YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--The chief
of the U.N. refugee agency arrived Monday for talks with the military government
on the fate of tens of thousands of Myanmar people sheltering in neighboring
Thailand and Bangladesh, officials said.5/8
Sadako Ogata, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, arrived in
Yangon late Sunday and is scheduled to meet later Monday with Lt. Gen. Khin
Nyunt, the third-ranking general in the regime.
The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper, reported Monday that Ogata was
invited by Khin Nyunt, who received her at the airport along with Foreign
Minister Win Aung and Home minister Col. Tin Hlaing.
The agenda of her talks hasn't been disclosed but she is expected to
discuss the possible return of some 146,000 Myanmar refugees from Thailand and
Bangladesh.
She will fly later Monday to Thailand, where she will visit Tuesday one of
the several camps near the Thai-Myanmar border that house some 126,000 ethnic
minority refugees, UNHCR officials said.
She will meet Tuesday with Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and deputy
Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
Thailand is keen for the Myanmar refugees to go back home, and has been
pressing the UNHCR to expedite the process. But the UNHCR says it needs to have
a presence in eastern Myanmar to pave the way for any resettlement.
Myanmar has in the past ruled this out, citing security reasons stemming
from rebel insurgencies in the area.
Most of the refugees, who began arriving in Thailand in 1984, are ethnic
Karens who have fled fighting and mass relocations.
ABC online - Oct 16,
2000.
US drugs director doubts Burma's ability to end drug manufacture The Director of America's Bureau of Narcotics in Asia-Pacific says he
doubts whether the region can be drug-free by 2015, unless there's a change of
government in Burma.
Government representatives from 30 nations, including the 10 ASEAN
countries and China have resolved to try and make Asia drug free in 15
years.
At a conference in Bangkok last week, they agreed to step up cooperation
among law enforcement agencies.
But, James Callahan says major trafficking grops such as Burma's United Wa
state army are operating with impunity, after signing a ceasefire agreement with
the ruling military junta:
"Through these ceasefire agreements, they have given safe haven to a number
of known traffickers who have ben allowed to continue doing trafficking,
certainly to live off the profits or trafficking and money laundering is going
on and there are investments by traiffickers throughout the Burmese economy and
we cotinue to have problems with that."
The Times of India - Oct 16,
2000.
Myanmar shuts down several universities: Oppn radio BANGKOK: Myanmar has closed several universities in the capital Yangon
after anti-government posters were found on their walls, opposition radio said
Sunday.
The government shut Dagon university and teacher training colleges under
the Emergency Act, said the Democratic Voice of Burma, an opposition radio
station transmitted from Oslo and monitored in Bangkok.
The closure of the Dagon schools, located in a suburb of Yangon, occurred
after police found "wall posters about opposition to the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC)'s education system and administrative machinery," it
said.
The SPDC is the official name for the Yangon junta, which re-opened
Myanmar's universities last month after a suspension in the wake of a 1996
student uprising.
Myanmar's universities have been sporadically closed since a popular
uprising in the summer of 1988 threatened to topple the military regime.
The junta imposed strict restrictions on universities in the wake of a
student revolt in December 1996, formally suspending classes for all second and
third-year students.
The recent re-opening was decried by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as
a sham.
The pro-democracy campaigner said students had returned to their studies
under unacceptable conditions, including being compelled to swear an oath of
allegiance to the junta. AFP
Stratfor
Battling for Power in Myanmar 1155 GMT, 001015 Last month, at a session of the United Nations Security Council, the United
States condemned the Myanmar government for its crackdown on pro-democracy
activists. While consistent with U.S. policy, Washington’s sentiment was unusual
since the administration tends to put Myanmar on its diplomatic back burner.
But the U.S. statement, whether intended for intervention or simply
political posturing for domestic consumption, comes at a particularly delegate
time for the country once known as Burma. Myanmar has drawn a flood of attention
from human rights advocates and pro-democracy lobbyists because of what many
feel is the Myanmar government’s harassment of opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
The power struggle between Myanmar’s ruling military government and Suu
Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, will do more than get Myanmar a few
headlines. Rather, its outcome will affect the balance of power in the Indian
Ocean and the South China Sea.
Myanmar has been run by the military for nearly 30 years, notwithstanding a
few scattered elections, whose results the military rigged or ignored. Under
economic sanctions by the United States and Europe, Myanmar has followed the
path of North Korea, closing itself off to the outside world and watching its
economy crumble.
But former dictator General Ne Win – who still influences the government
through a complex patronage system – is 89-years-old and gradually losing his
power. Senior General Than Shwe, who runs the government as prime minister, is
set to retire, most likely due to illness.
Two men are battling to take the reins of power – General Maung Aye, head
of the armed forces, and Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, who runs the secret
police.
Khin Nyunt leads a group of younger officers who want to open Myanmar up to
Western investment. To do so probably means easing restrictions on the
opposition National League for Democracy. The intelligence chief probably isn’t
a pro-Western liberal; he reportedly has ties to Myanmar’s major drug lords. But
the odds are good he will make a tidy profit from any investment.
Maung Aye is a taciturn soldier who shuns the spotlight. His views are less
pronounced, but he appears to wish to keep Myanmar on its current course.
The power struggle takes on a geostrategic dimension due to Myanmar’s
location at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea – and the
shipping routes between Asia and the Persian Gulf. China has had military
relations with Myanmar since 1988, and rival India has attempted to push China
out of Myanmar.
Khin Nyunt favors increased ties with China, but Maung Aye is less certain
about the relationship – he’s concerned about Beijing’s influence and that of
thousands of ethnic Chinese who live in northern Burma. If Khin Nyunt takes
power, China maintains – and probably increases – its intelligence and naval
presence in Myanmar. But Maung Aye wants to balance China, and would likely
increase ties with India.
But back to the original question – why did the United States suddenly pay
attention to Myanmar? One answer is that Washington was simply acknowledging the
cries of the human rights and pro-democracy lobbyists, and doing so in a
relatively cost-free way.
The other answer is a bit subtler. Khin Nyunt’s pro-investment policies
associate him with the United States and the West. But Khin Nyunt looks bad if
Washington openly criticizes the regime. And the United States would definitely
want to make Myanmar’s biggest China backer look bad.
In all likelihood, the United States government probably isn’t that subtle.
Washington was probably responding to domestic political pressure. But the
unintended consequences may prove a setback to Khin Nyunt and China.
Bangkok Post - Oct 16,
2000.
New Aspiration, Thai Rak Thai foster Rangoon ties Wassana Nanuam Two political parties will send their representatives to Burma in what is
seen as a political campaign to strengthen ties with Rangoon if their parties
win the next general election.
Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's New Aspiration Party and Thaksin Shinawatra's
Thai Rak Thai Party have started their foreign relations campaign with Burma,
said sources.
Gen Sanan Khachornklam, a NAP co-ordinator, said the foreign affairs
committee of the New Aspiration Party led by deputy leader Likhit Dhiravegin
will lead a delegation of 45 academics and leading party members to Burma during
October 23-25.
During the three-day visit, the panel will meet Burmese Prime Minister Gen
Than Shwe, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development
Council and other top military figures, said Gen Sanan, a former Defence
Ministry spokesman.
Gen Sanan said it is a good sign for the country that some major political
parties have given more special emphasis on the relationship with neighbouring
countries.
Sources said Gen Sanan has been approached by the New Aspiration Party to
be its co-ordinator for Thai-Burmese affairs.
Meanwhile, Thai Rak Thai plans to send former army chief Gen Chettha
Thanajaro to Burma.
Gen Chettha is known to have close ties with many leading Burmese figures,
particularly Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, said sources. However, the date for the visit
has yet to be scheduled.
Gen Chettha played a leading role in negotiating with Burmese authorities
for construction of a road from Kanchanaburi to Tavoy in Burma, said
sources.
The planned visits by the two leading political parties come amid a soured
relationship between Thailand and Burma.
The army has invited Burma's army chief to attend the Asean army chiefs
summit in Hua Hin in November.
The submit is aimed at forging closer ties between Asean country armies.
Burma did not attend previous summits. This year, Vietnam has accepted but Burma
has not yet replied.
Bangkok Post - Oct 16,
2000.
GOD'S ARMY - Ratchaburi siege rebels cremated Rites held for nine who raided hospital The bodies of nine God's Army rebels who seized Ratchaburi hospital in
January were cremated yesterday.
The funeral took place in Wat Khao Lue, where the bodies had been
kept.
The hostage drama came to a bloody end a day after the rebels laid siege to
the hospital.
They demanded that the government despatch medical personnel to help treat
the sick at their camp across the Thai-Burmese border.
The 10 rebels were shot dead by an anti-terrorist squad who infiltrated the
hospital in an attempt to regain control of the building.
There were allegations that some of the rebels were executed after they had
laid down their arms.
The authorities denied the allegation though press pictures showed some of
the bodies had been stripped and had their hands tied behind their backs.
The dead bodies were later delivered to Wat Khao Lue mortuary to await
collection by relatives.
But no one turned up to claim them.
One of the bodies was later picked up by a Ratchaburi Muslim organisation
for burial.
The rest were cremated yesterday.
Religous rites were presided over by Palawat Chayanuwat, Ratchaburi deputy
governor.
Some 50 police guarded the temple grounds to maintain security.
The ashes of the nine will be stored in receptacles.
The Nation - Oct 17,
2000.
Burma to chase tourists BY Choosak Jirasakunthai BURMA has announced ambitious plans to attract more tourists, aiming for
over one million visitors next year compared to 440,000 last year.
"We expect tourist-related income to double from US$100 million [Bt4.3
billion] in 1999 to $200 million in 2001," said Khin Maung Latt, director
general of Burma's Directorate of Hotels and Tourism.
Last year, 200,000 tourists arrived at Rangoon International Airport. From
January to August this year, the airport received 160,000 tourists, four percent
more than it did during the same period last year.
The Burmese government wants to increase revenue from tourism to boost
foreign income, Khin said. The average expenditure per tourist is low at
present, he added.
Burma has just opened the new Mandalay Airport, which it intends to develop
into its new gateway.
Three months ago, Burma set up the Tourism Promotion Board (TPB) to sell
the country around the world. The government has also recently approved
visas-on-arrival for groups.
The government hoped that tourists from Thailand would be a major source of
income next year, Khin said.
Duncan MacLean, chairman of TPB's marketing committee said the board
planned to raise $1 million for next year's promotion campaign. "We have
proposed five ways of raising the money, which has gone to the government for
approval," he said.
The campaign will promote the country's tourist destinations, he said.
Promotional activities, which are set to start next year, will include
television, Internet and print-media advertising, as well as documentaries.
Burma recently signed an agreement with Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos to
jointly promote the area as a single destination. The agreement is expected to
broaden the itineraries of tourists to Thailand to include neighbouring
countries, said Paisarn Wangsai, an official with the Tourism Authority of
Thailand.
BBC - Monday, 16 October, 2000, 17:18
GMT 18:18 UK
Burma activist 'to be freed' British human rights campaigner James Mawdsley is to be released from jail
in Burma and deported back to the UK, according to the Foreign Office.
He was imprisoned a year ago for carrying pro-democracy leaflets and has been in solitary confinement at the notorious Keng Tung prison ever since. Foreign Office minister John Battle said Burmese ambassador Dr Kyaw Win had
informed him on Tuesday that Mr Mawdsley will be deported.
"I am relieved that the Burmese regime has recognised that there is no
justification in keeping James in prison and has decided to deport him as soon
as possible," he said.
Dialogue
"I am delighted that James and his family will be reunited very shortly.
"And that all the efforts made by our Foreign Office staff, our ambassador
in Rangoon, the family and the campaign groups, together with the support of our
international partners, have achieved their aim."
Mr Mawdsley, 27, was arrested last September and charged with carrying
anti-government literature, after twice being deported from Burma.
His protests called for an end to the genocide against the Karen people,
the re-opening of the universities and dialogue between National League for
Democracy and the military regime.
He lost his appeal against the sentence in August and was hoping for
another hearing in November.
International pressure
Last month Mr Mawdsley's father said his son had been badly beaten in
prison.
David Mawdsley described the attack as an "act of barbarism" and called for
international pressure on Burma's military regime.
His mother Diana went to Burma to establish contact with her son, but was
been unable to speak to him about the attack.
They called for international pressure to help his son and urged companies
such as Premier Oil to stop investment in the country.
The Foreign Office "protested in the strongest terms" to the Burmese
authorities about Mr Mawdsley's treatment.
South China Morning Post
Monday, October 16, 2000 UN refugee chief visits ASSOCIATED PRESS in Rangoon The chief of the UN refugee agency arrived on Monday for talks with the
military government on the fate of tens of thousands of Burma people sheltering
in neighbouring Thailand and Bangladesh, officials said.
Sadako Ogata, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, arrived in Rangoon late on Sunday and is scheduled to meet later on Monday with Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, the third-ranking general in the regime. The official New Light of Burma newspaper, reported on Monday that Ms Ogata
was invited by General Khin Nyunt, who received her at the airport along with
Foreign Minister Win Aung and Home minister Colonel Tin Hlaing.
The agenda of her talks has not been disclosed but she is expected to
discuss the possible return of some 146,000 Burma refugees from Thailand and
Bangladesh.
She will fly late on Monday to Thailand, where she will visit on Tuesday
one of the several camps near the Thai-Burma border that house some 126,000
ethnic minority refugees, UNHCR officials said.
She will meet on Tuesday with Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and deputy
Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
Thailand is keen for the Burma refugees to go back home, and has been
pressing the UNHCR to expedite the process. But the UNHCR says it needs to have
a presence in eastern Burma to pave the way for any resettlement.
Burma has in the past ruled this out, citing security reasons stemming from
rebel insurgencies in the area.
Most of the refugees, who began arriving in Thailand in 1984, are ethnic
Karens who have fled fighting and mass relocations.
Many are sympathisers of the rebel Karen National Union, which has fought
the longest running insurgency in Burma for more autonomy. Burma has often
charged that the KNU fighters are allowed to shelter in Thai camps.
In her talks with Burma officials, Ms Ogata was also expected to discuss
the return of more than 20,000 Burma refugees still sheltering in
Bangladesh.
UNHCR has long had a presence on Burma's western border with Bangladesh,
where it has repatriated more than 230,000 refugees to northern Rakhine state
from Bangladesh over the past five
years. |