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BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 04,
2001.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - U.N. rights envoy meets Myanmar opposition leaders
Reuters - Thailand
says border talks improve ties with Myanmar
AP - UN Official
Travels To Controversial Myanmar Gas Pipeline
AP - Thailand: Myanmar
To Open Border Within A Few Days
Asia Pulse - Asean Finance Ministers Meeting to Discuss Regional Currency
Swap
Dow Jones - ASEAN Fin
Min Mtg To See Bickering, Target US
Reuters - Yen puts
Asian currencies in a stew as ASEAN meets
BBC - UN envoy continues Burma talks BBC - Thai Burma
border talks positive
The Nation - Burma agrees to joint drug suppression
The Nation - BORDERS TO RE-OPEN
Bkk Post - Rangoon
agrees to closer co-operation
Bkk Post - Low expectations for border
talks
Xinhuanet - Thailand: Border Meeting With
Myanmar a "Success"
Xinhuanet - Myanmar-Thai Border Committee
Meeting Underway
Xinhuanet - Mekong Meeting on Refugees
Ends in Myanmar
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 4, 8:06 PM U.N. rights envoy meets Myanmar
opposition leaders
YANGON (Reuters) - U.N. human
rights envoy to Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, met senior members of the
pro-democracy opposition on Wednesday on the penultimate day of a landmark visit
to the military-ruled country.
Pinheiro met five members of the National League for Democracy (NLD)
executive committee at the party's Yangon headquarters, but has not yet held
talks with the party's leader, pro-democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has been held under de facto
house arrest since September with access to her strictly controlled.
Pinheiro declined to comment on the progress of his visit, saying he would
make a statement only after arriving back in Geneva on Friday.
"Things are very delicate," he told reporters in Yangon.
He met representatives of non-governmental organisations on Wednesday
evening and was due to have dinner with diplomats from Asian countries.
Pinheiro, a Brazilian who took over as U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar
after the resignation of his predecessor Rajsoomer Lallah in November, on Monday
met the powerful Secretary One of the ruling State Peace and Development
Council, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, and Foreign Minister Win Aung.
The NLD won Myanmar's most recent general election in 1990 by a landslide
but has never been allowed to govern.
But relations between the military and pro-democracy opposition have
improved in recent months with a series of private meetings between Suu Kyi and
senior generals.
Diplomats see Pinheiro's visit as another sign of rapprochement between the
two sides in Myanmar.
Lallah, who resigned in November after four years in the job, was never
allowed to visit Myanmar.
His last report, in October, accused the military government of torturing,
raping and executing civilians, particularly members of ethnic minority groups.
The United States' annual report on global human rights, released last
month, grouped Myanmar with Cuba and North Korea as the world's three worst
countries for human rights abuses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 4, 7:55 PM
Thailand says border talks improve ties
with Myanmar
CHIANG MAI, Thailand, April 4 (Reuters) - A three-day meeting of Thai and Myanmar
officials aimed at soothing tension along their mutual border ended on Wednesday
with relations improved, the head of the Thai delegation said.
Lieutenant-General Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, commander of Thailand's third
army which defends the northern border with Myanmar, told reporters the talks
had helped improve understanding between the two sides.
Relations between the two countries dived in February amid battles between
Myanmar troops, their allies in the United Wa State Army (UWSA), and
anti-government Shan rebels.
Thailand has said the battles spilled over on to Thai soil, forcing a
response. Myanmar denies this.
The drugs trade has also damaged relations.
"The talks have indeed mended the soured ties, and Myanmar has agreed to
help Thailand solve our border and drugs problems," Wattanachai told reporters
as his plane refuelled in the Thai city of Chiang Mai en route to Bangkok from
Yangon.
Bangkok has said the UWSA is the source of hundreds of millions of
methamphetamine tablets flooding Thailand each year, and has accused Yangon of
turning a blind eye to the problem.
Myanmar says the Shan rebels are the region's main drug traffickers.
Wattanachai, often a vocal critic of Myanmar military, said Major General
Thein Sein of the Triangle Region Command, the chief of Myanmar's delegation,
agreed that Myanmar soldiers would co-operate more closely with Thai soldiers in
combating drugs.
The two countries, which share a 2,400 km (1,490 mile) border, have waged a
war of words since the February clashes.
The border committee last met in the Thai resort of Phuket in March 1999.
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said on Wednesday that the two
countries would hold more regular meetings at various levels to strengthen ties.
Surakiart is due to make an official visit to Myanmar on May 1-2 after an
informal meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of South East Asian
Nations in Yangon on April 30.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 4, 2:48 PM
UN Official Travels To Controversial
Myanmar Gas Pipeline
YANGON (AP)--A United Nations
human rights official traveled Wednesday to a gas pipeline project in southern
Myanmar where activists claim local people have faced abuses by the army,
official said.
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the first U.N. human rights rapporteur to be allowed
into the military state in five years, flew to Kanbauk and was due to return to
the capital later in the day, an employee of Premier Oil said.
Kanbauk, 300 kilometers southeast of Yangon, is the starting point on land
for a gas pipeline that carries natural gas from the offshore rigs in the
Andaman Sea to Thailand. Companies operating there include Premier Oil of
Britain, U.S.-based UNOCAL and Total of France.
Human rights activists critical of the Myanmar military regime claim forced
labor was used in construction related to the projects and have urged
multinational oil companies to pull out of the country.
Pinheiro, a Brazilian politics professor, is scheduled to return later
Wednesday to Yangon where he is due to meet with U Lwin, a central executive
committee member of the main opposition National League for Democracy, official
sources said.
A meeting with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi isn't on his official agenda,
said officials who insisted on anonymity.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her democracy struggle, has
been kept under virtual house arrest since Sept. 22 after she defied a travel
ban.
Pinheiro has described his three-day visit, which ends Thursday, as
"exploratory." He met Tuesday with Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, a leading member of the
ruling State Peace and Development Council. He also met separately with the
foreign minister, home minister and labor minister.
Pinheiro was named U.N. human rights rapporteur to Myanmar in February,
replacing Rajsoomer Lallah, a Mauritian judge who took office in 1996 and
resigned in November.
The junta never allowed Lallah into the country, accusing him of being
unfairly critical of the regime. In his reports, Lallah had accused the junta of
suppressing all opposition political activity and engaging in "inhuman
treatment" of opposition members and ethnic minorities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 4, 9:05 PM
Thailand: Myanmar To Open Border Within
A Few Days
BANGKOK (AP)--Myanmar has
agreed to open within a few days a key border checkpoint that was closed in
February after the worst military clashes between the two sides in years, a
senior official was quoted as saying Wednesday.
A 40-member Thai delegation led by northern army commander Lt. Gen
Wattanachai Chaimuanwong met with Myanmar officials on Monday and Tuesday in the
eastern Myanmar town of Keng Tung in a bid to ease tensions.
The talks between the two sides went well and were "very successful,"
Wattanachai said, according to the Thai News Agency.
However, Myanmar's state-controlled media kept up its diatribe against
Thailand with several anti-Thailand articles Wednesday including a cartoon
suggesting that Thailand was a Western stooge.
Relations between the two countries plunged after fighting between Myanmar
troops and anti-government rebels based along Thailand's northern border spilled
into Thailand on Feb. 10. At least five civilians and a number of Myanmar
soldiers were killed when Thai troops joined the fray to keep the Myanmar troops
from intruding.
Following the battles, several crossing were closed by both sides including
the Mae Sai-Tachilek checkpoint, which lies at the northernmost point of
Thailand, bringing trade there to a standstill.
Two weeks ago, Thailand reopened its checkpoint at Mae Sai, but Myanmar has
kept its gate at Tachilek shut.
The Thai News Agency quoted Wattanachai as saying that Myanmar was expected
to reopen the Tachilek crossing within two or three days.
The bilateral ties have also been strained by Thai allegations that Myanmar
is allowing an ethnic army, which has reached a cease-fire with the regime, to
produce hundreds of millions of methamphetamines at the border every year and
smuggle them for sale in Thailand.
Wattanachai said that during his talks Myanmar officials promised to
cooperate with Thailand in its efforts to crack down on drug smuggling.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 4, 12:20 PM
Asean Finance Ministers Meeting to
Discuss Regional Currency Swap
KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 Asia
Pulse - The proposed currency swap arrangement for Asian
countries and the impact of the U.S. slowdown plus the soft Japanese economy on
the region is expected to hog the limelight at the Fifth Asean Finance Ministers
[AFM] meeting beginning here Wednesday.
The currency swap arrangement was mooted to provide a safety net against
future financial crisis, after regional economies hit badly by the 1997-98
recession faced tight liquidity problems to boost their flagging
economies.
Asean finance ministers from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand and their counterparts
from China, South Korea and Japan, collectively known as Asean Plus Three, would
meet for two days beginning Saturday.
The Japanese-led US$2.5 billion (US$657.89 million) currency swap plan,
which was also known as the Chiangmai Initiative named after the Thai city where
it was born, aimed to link the 10 Asean's member countries international reserve
via bilateral pacts with the regional powerhouse -- China and Japan, as well as
South Korea.
Under the currency swap arrangement, the 13 countries would help each other
to provide temporary financing for members facing balance of payments problems,
and provide quick response to a currency falldown.
The AFM meeting kicks off tomorrow with senior finance ministry officials
and central bank deputies expected to prepare and finalise the agenda for the
ministers.
Analsyst said finance ministers might be keen to form a currency safety net
to shield off any future financial crisis.
However, Finance Minister Daim Zainuiddin had reiterated Malaysia's stance
that it would oppose any proposal that would link the Asean Plus Three currency
swap arrangement with the International Monetary Fund [IMF].
Daim said one of the reasons Malaysia opposed the idea to link the currency
swap arrangment to IMF as it might take a long time for the international body
to disburse the much-needed funds to a country under its financial aid
programme, like what had happened to Indonesia.
Newsreports said that an official from the Asian Development Bank had said
that the Chiangmai Initiative was expected to be completed before an Asean Plus
Three meeting scheduled in Hawaii, this May.
Pradumna Rana, ADB's regional economic monitoring unit manager had said
that Chiangmai Initiative could eventually form the basis for an Asian Monetary
Fund.
The establishment of the Asian Monetary Fund advocated by Japan in the
midst of the regional financial crisis was previously opposed by the United
States and other developed nations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 4, 2:35 PM
ASEAN Fin Min Mtg To See Bickering,
Target US
By Monica Houston-Waesch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--This
week's gathering of finance ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations hosted by Malaysia is likely to include more than the usual degree of
bickering and bargaining.
Issues such as applying International Monetary Fund conditions to currency
swaps, the specter of an Asian Monetary Fund, and the effects of bilateral trade
agreements on ASEAN are all likely to be topics at the meeting, along with a
regional approach to slowing economic growth in the U.S.
Given diverse stances on a range of issues under discussion among
ASEAN-plus-three ministers from China, Japan and South Korea attending the
meeting, it appears the only mutually-agreed upon culprit for Asia's problems
will be the U.S.
The ASEAN meeting comes as most countries, apart from Malaysia, are
grappling with currency weakness against the dollar, plunging exports and
manufacturing output growth, as well as political leadership scuffles in the
region. Malaysia's currency is pegged to the dollar at $1=MYR3.80, and the
country enjoyed strong export-led economic growth of 8.5% in 2000, better than
most countries in the region.
But at home, some Malaysian manufacturers worry that the stronger ringgit
vis-a-vis regional counterpart currencies will no longer offer the competitive
edge of previous years. Some economists estimate that regional exports account
for around 59% of total Malaysian exports.
On Monday, the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Malaysia proposed the government remove the fixed peg in favor of a floating peg
within predetermined trading bands. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
reiterated Tuesday there is no need to alter the peg for the time being.
ASEAN To Wring Hands Over Regional Currency
Weakness
Meanwhile, other countries' currencies are reeling from the double-whammy of a stronger dollar and weaker yen, making it all the more important that currency swaps, agreed upon in Chiang Mai, Thailand in May last year, fall into place as expected by this year's May meeting in Hawaii of ASEAN +3 on the fringes of the Asian Development Bank meeting. And that will be much talked about in Kuala Lumpur. "ASEAN will be wringing its hands about currency pressures," David Cohen,
regional director of economic analysis at MMS International in Singapore said.
"The pattern this week has shown regional currencies vulnerability to yen
weakness," he added, referring to a 30-month-high of dollar to the yen touched
earlier in the week, dragging on regional currencies.
"There will be discussions about any possible deepening of existing swap
arrangements among central banks in the region," Prasenjit Basu, chief economist
for Southeast Asia at Credit Suisse First Boston in Singapore said.
But the currency swap process, too, is far from assured automatism. The
bilateral ASEAN +3 swap initiative, not to be confused with the inter-ASEAN $1
billion swap initiative, is led by Japan to help stabilize the region and make
it more resilient to external shocks. But the swap arrangement is stretching
Malaysia's principles, if not its patience.
Japan and other countries have agreed that International Monetary Fund
economic reform conditions be applied when sanctioning the swaps, and propose
limiting swap dispersal to only 10% if these conditions aren't met. Proud of its
independent, if not heretic, stance toward the IMF, Malaysia doesn't want to
play by those rules.
"We are not under the IMF, so why do they impose these conditions?"
Malaysian Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin said in mid-March. "We are talking"
about coming to an agreement, he added.
Asian Monetary Fund Topic To Be Revived
And many observers disagree on what a successful swap program could mean for an Asian Monetary Fund. In an interview this week with Dow Jones Newswires, Asian Development Bank
President Tadao Chino said economies are better insulated against crisis now,
and that the swaps will contribute to stability. "This (AMF) may not be an
urgent issue now," Chino said.
Others suggest the idea won't be easily contained.
"...the ASEAN surveillance process and the Chiang Mai initiative could be
the early stage of more advanced cooperation in Asia," another ADB official told
Dow Jones.
"The issue is whether or not it will be separate from the IMF, with its own
institutional arrangements, or whether it will be a subsidiary of the IMF," Basu
notes.
The U.S. voiced objections to the idea when it was first tabled in the wake
of Asia's financial crisis in 1997. At the time, it was feared that an AMF could
undermine stringent IMF reforms.
But at the Kuala Lumpur meeting this weekend, the U.S. will likely be on
the defensive as ministers discuss strategies on how to best counter the effects
of slowing growth in the U.S.
Indeed, perhaps the only topic to meet sure agreement amongst participants
is U.S. culpability for economic transgressions, if the recent Manila Framework
Group meeting in Beijing is any indication. At that meeting, even Japan is
believed to have pointed to the U.S. for Asia's woes, blaming the U.S.'s sharp
rise in economic growth for the current decline.
On Saturday afternoon, ASEAN finance ministers will meet with the U.S.
ASEAN business council for an exchange of views. And this will be followed by a
U.S. business council delegation visit to Malaysia later this month.
While any concrete objective toward establishing an Asian Monetary Fund is
unlikely, Asian anger at the downslide in the U.S. is likely to propel the
momentum of discussions. At the recent Manila Framework meeting, diplomatic
sources told Dow Jones that some countries, Malaysia in particular, had urged a
more critical communique, expressing hostility toward U.S. and Japanese policy
makers for putting Asia's fledgling economic recovery at risk.
The weekend ASEAN meeting will follow the first formal meeting on Tuesday
between Mahathir and U.S. Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe since the U.S. diplomat
assumed his duties two years ago.
The U.S. is Malaysia's biggest single trading partner. Slowing global
demand for electronics is of particular concern to Malaysia since over 50% of
its exports are made up of electrical and electronic products.
And trade is also a sensitive subject in an ASEAN context. Earlier this
week, Malaysia's Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz said Malaysia will
keep a close eye on bilateral free trade agreements between ASEAN members and
nonmembers.
"We are not against the bilateral free trade agreements, but we want to
make sure that in conclusion of the free trade agreement, no new barriers are
raised which may adversely affect Malaysia's exports," Rafidah said Monday,
according to report by the government-funded news agency Bernama.
In the past, Malaysia openly expressed concern over Singapore's trade
initiatives with New Zealand and other countries.
There could also be updates on whether Malaysia's decision to delay to 2005
an AFTA agreement to tax automobiles and parts by no more than 5% by 2003 means
it must award Thailand compensation.
Finally, among other topics, finance ministers may briefly touch on a
proposal by Malaysia to hold joint armed forces exercises.
ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The key dates for the Malaysian hosted meeting of ASEAN Plus 3 are April 7
and 8.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday April 4, 6:51 PM
Yen puts Asian currencies in a stew as
ASEAN meets
By Simon Cameron-Moore KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A
wobbling Japanese yen and worries over quick-fire currency depreciations could
unsettle a few stomachs when Southeast Asian finance ministers gather in Kuala
Lumpur on April 7-8.
Ministers from the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), will be joined by senior officials from China, Korea and Japan. Tokyo's Senior Finance Ministry Official Zembei Mizoguchi can be expected
to repeat the message in the Malaysian capital that Japan regards a rapid fall
in the yen as undesirable.
Similar comments by him on Tuesday helped the yen bounce off 2-1/2 year
lows -- but on Wednesday it was falling again.
And although the prospect of currency falls triggering a new regional
financial crisis appear remote, ASEAN ministers from Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam will seek more reassurance from Tokyo's representative.
"It's a good opportunity for regional finance ministers to impress on Japan
the need to get its economy in order and highlight concerns over the weak yen,"
said Gerard Teo, regional economist at ABN-AMRO in Singapore.
ENOUGH PROBLEMS IN ASEAN ALREADY
Analysts harbour suspicions, despite Tokyo officials' fine words, that
Japan aims to export its way out of trouble, which means letting the yen fall,
albeit not too fast.
They see a period of sustained weakness for the Japanese currency due to a
floundering economy and lack of strong policy-making as the curtain comes down
on Yoshiro Mori's ill-fated premiership.
The yen's ten percent decline in the last month -- it has lost four percent
in the last four days -- has already helped relegate the Singapore and Thai
currencies to levels last seen during the Asian financial crisis over three
years ago.
The pressure in the markets should help finance officials from the ASEAN+3
group, gathered here ahead of the weekend ministerial talks, reach a consensus
faster on a regional web of currency swaps to ward off future financial crises.
DEPRECIATION OPTION MOST LIKELY
ASEAN economies have a lot on their plates without having to deal with a
rotten yen -- Japan both competes with them in third markets and takes around 15
percent of emerging Asia's exports.
A sharp drop in U.S. demand for their goods, paltry portfolio investment
and slack direct investment has left Southeast Asia's export-oriented economies
in the doldrums.
Only a few governments, like Malaysia, have leeway to boost public spending
without taking the inflationary money-printing route.
Domestic consumption and investment levels are too low to make enough of a
difference, though a regional free trade agreement coming into effect in 2003
could develop local markets.
It is a recipe for depreciation, and the move is already underway.
"We expect competitive devaluations," Barclays Capital declared in a
research report on Asian Currency Strategy, dated March 27.
If U.S. demand recovers later this year for Asian electronic and computer
equipment the depreciations could be rewarded -- if not the cheaper currencies
will serve no purpose.
Sanjeev Sanyal, regional economist at Deutsche Bank, expects all the Asian
currencies to feel the pressure over the next six months, with those which have
done most to clean up their financial systems faring better.
NOT SO ALARMING
With political instability all around, the last thing Southeast Asia needs
is an attack of beggar-your-neighbour depreciations. But, the outlook is far
less alarming than before.
This time the dollar is strong against everything.
Short term debt is nowhere near the 1997 proportions that made the Asian
crisis an accident waiting to happen.
Markets are more illiquid these days, with less room for speculation, and
regulatory authorities are far stricter.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(ESCAP) released a survey on Tuesday saying the dangers of a second regional
crisis were remote.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Wednesday, 4 April, 2001, 01:35
GMT 02:35 UK
UN envoy continues Burma talks The United Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, currently in
Burma, is due to meet a senior official of the opposition National League for
Democracy party today.
UN officials say he'll see the party treasurer, U Lwin, but will not meet
the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since
last September.
On Tuesday, Mr Pinheiro met the head of military intelligence, Lieutenant
General Khin Nyunt, and other leading ministers.
It's the first time such a visit has been allowed for nearly five years and
is being described as a new approach by Burma's military government to the
outside world.
Mr Pinheiro report to the UN human rights commission in Geneva on Thursday.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Wednesday, 4 April, 2001, 07:55
GMT 08:55 UK
Thai Burma border talks positive Thailand and Burma have agreed on closer co-operation to tackle the illegal
drugs trade on their common border.
The two sides reached the agreement after three days of talks, the first
high level discussions on border problems for two years.
Reports from Bangkok say the Thai delegation expressed satisfaction over
the talks, as well as surprise at the positive response from Burma on some of
the issues.
The reports say Burma agreed to help destroy drug plantations identified by
Thai intelligence.
Burma which is ruled by a military government also indicated it could take
back refugees living in Thailand.
There were positive moves on withdrawing troops from Thailand's Chiang Mai
district and on establishing a demilitarised zone in the border town of Mae Sai.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - April 04,
2001.
Burma agrees to joint drug suppression
Filed at 05 : 03 pm (THLD time)
CHIANG MAI, April 4 (The
Nation) -- Thai negotiators, led by a regional army chief,
declared the Thai-Burmese Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting a "success"
after both sides agreed to cooperate more closely on drug suppression.
Speaking at a press conference, Lt Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong said Burma
had specifically agreed to Thailand's call for help in crackdown on amphetamine
producing plants and cross-border trafficking.
"Both sides have reached better understanding on the need to cooperate on
issues ranging from drug suppression, demarcation of border, cross border trade
and fisheries," Wattanachai said.
At the two-day meeting in Burma's Ken Tung province, the two sides also
agreed that the RBC should be held once every six months instead of every two
years. They also agreed that the border checkpoint at Thachilek-Mae Sai should
be reopened as soon as possible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation. - April 04,
2001.
BORDERS TO RE-OPEN
BURMA will re-open the Tachilek and Three Pagodas checkpoints before
Songkran starts on April 13, PM's Office Minister General Thamarak Isarangura
said yesterday.
And border officials would allow tourists to travel to those areas during
the three-day New Year's festival, Thamarak said. He did not specify the date
the checkpoints would be opened.
Re-opening the border checkpoints had been agreed, he said, during the
ongoing Thai-Burma Regional Border Committee meeting in Keng Tung in Burma's
Shan State.
Burma closed the Tachilek checkpoint into Chiang Rai province in February
after a series of clashes. The Three Pagodas Pass was apparently closed in
retaliation for Thai criticism of Burma's involvement in drug trafficking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok post - April 04,
2001.
Rangoon agrees to closer
co-operation
Wattanachai will meet junta leaders Wassana Nanuam, Kengtung, Burma
Thailand and Burma agreed yesterday to strengthen border co-operation,
including joint efforts to fight drugs.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuengwong, the Third Army commander who heads the
Thai delegation, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
The issue of joint suppression of drugs along the common border was raised
during a private meeting between Lt-Gen Wattanachai and Maj-Gen Thein Sein, the
Burmese commander in charge of security in Burma's border area opposite northern
Thailand.
An informed source said Lt-Gen Wattanachai had raised several border issues
for frank discussion with Maj-Gen Thein Sein, who promised co-operation against
drugs.
"Burma is ready to help us destroy drug plants in the border area provided
we give them information on their precise locations, so they can verify and
destroy these drug plants," said a security source.
He added that both sides would step up border co-operation, especially on
intelligence exchanges.
The Thai side was surprised by the Burmese team's positive responses to a
number of issues raised by the Third Army chief, said one member of the Thai
delegation.
Maj-Gen Thein Sein agreed with Lt-Gen Wattanachai's proposal that both
sides withdraw their forces deployed at Doi Lang in Chiang Mai's Chiang Dao
district since 1997.
He also backed the idea that a disputed area at Koo Teng Na Yong in Chiang
Rai's Mae Sai border town should be made a demilitarised zone.
Maj-Gen Thein Sein said the idea would be forwarded to Rangoon for further
consideration.
On the issue of Burmese refugees housed in Thai border camps, Maj-Gen Thein
Sein reportedly said there should be no problem in taking back those refugees.
However, he disagreed with a suggestion that the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees be allowed to look after them inside Burma.
The Kengtung meeting is scheduled to end this morning with the signing of a
memorandum of understanding by Lt-Gen Wattanachai and Maj-Gen Thein Sein.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai will fly to Rangoon in the afternoon to meet Gen Maung
Aye, the Burmese army commander, and Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary one of the
State Peace and Development Council.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - April 04,
2001.
Low expectations for border
talks
Kanjana Spindler Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, Third Army Region commander, is the
epitome of a professional soldier. He's tough and straight talking, and fiercely
patriotic. He sees himself as a soldier rather than a diplomat and believes the
two functions don't mix well.
His job is one of the toughest in the Royal Thai Army, covering as it does
the highly sensitive border regions with Burma. Securing this border is made
much more difficult by the drug traffic, the refugee problem, the cross-border
trade issues and the anti-Rangoon forces. Add to this cauldron of tension and
hot money the fact that almost the entire border with Burma is not properly
demarcated, and that confusing policy signals emanate from the Ministry of
Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and you have a soldier's nightmare
which includes confusion and the political games people play.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai probably thinks his head is on the chopping board-with
good reason, although he appears to have survived Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's
initial desire to remove him due to reported intervention by Gen Prem
Tinsulanonda, statesman and president of the Privy Council. Gen Chavalit's
antipathy towards the current Royal Thai Army C-in-C Gen Surayud Chulanont is
well documented (as too is Gen Chavalit's propensity to spend forward the armed
forces budget to the maximum extent possible) so both Gen Surayud and his
protege Lt-Gen Wattanachai might be considered fair targets in the old-style
game of promoting one's close associates and "yes men", a game that Gen Chavalit
practically invented.
Moreover, neither of these two professional soldiers will utter a word in
their defence if they are "de-activated" because they are both firm believers in
a professional military subservient to democratic political control. So,
hopefully, Gen Prem will continue to provide a silent and invisible protective
shield over these two modern soldiers in order to preserve the de-politicisation
of the Thai military which has been making solid progress over the last two
years since Gen Surayud's promotion to the position of C-in-C.
But for Lt-Gen Wattanachai the stakes are much higher.
He's currently leading the Thai delegation to the first Regional Border
Committee meeting, in Kengtung, for nearly three years. His expectations are low
because, with good reason, he doesn't believe the Burmese side is sincere.
According to sources close to Lt-Gen Wattanachai, the Burmese are likely to do
everything possible to put Lt-Gen Wattanachai in a bad light. They want him
removed from the Third Army Region because he's a thorn in their side and they
probably want to create an excuse for Gen Chavalit to try and remove him so that
he can be replaced by someone more pliable and more susceptible to the nuances
and money politics of this wild frontier.
Of course, this would simply be playing into Burma's hands, something that
Gen Chavalit might keep in mind the next time his desire to remove Lt-Gen
Wattanachai bubbles irrepressibly.
One item up for discussion in Kengtung will be the issue of joint border
patrols which would allow Thai troops accompanied by Burmese troops to patrol
areas inside Burmese territory so that both forces can help each other in
jointly destroying the Wa's drug production bases. The likelihood of the Burmese
accepting this idea are, of course, fairly remote for obvious reasons, but the
request in itself is a useful test of their sincerity.
Before Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai meets his Burmese counterpart
at the beginning of next month following the Asean foreign ministers "retreat"
in Burma, it might be useful if some intensive, non-public brainstorming took
place including all involved Thai parties.
We cannot and should not take a conciliatory approach towards Burma as long
as it keeps feeding off "the tears of the Thai people".
Kanjana Spindler is Assistant Editor, Editorial Pages, Bangkok Post.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thailand: Border Meeting With
Myanmar a "Success"
2001.04.04 21:55:46 BANGKOK, April 4 (Xinhuanet) --
The border meeting between Thailand and Myanmar aimed at improving
strained bilateral ties ended Wednesday with success, the head of Thai
delegation said.
Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, commander of Thailand's third army which is
in charge of security of northern border with Myanmar, told reporters that
the Thai-Myanmar Regional Border Committee ( RBC) meeting was a "success"
after both sides agreed to cooperate more closely on drug suppression.
Wattanachai said Myanmar had specifically agreed to Thailand's call
for help in crackdown on amphetamine producing plants and cross-border
trafficking, according to The Nation online news service.
"Both sides have reached better understanding on the need to
cooperate on issues ranging from drug suppression, demarcation of border,
cross border trade and fisheries," Wattanachai said.
Thai-Myanmar relations got strained since February when Myanmar denied
Thailand's accusation that the battle between Myanmar's troops and
anti-government rebels spilled over on to Thai soil. The clashes between
the two countries left several civilians dead.
At the three-day meeting in Myanmar's Ken Tung province, the two
sides also agreed that the RBC meeting should be held once every six
months instead of every two years. They also agreed that the border checkpoint
at Thachilek-Mae Sai should be reopened as soon as possible, the report
said.
The checkpoint has been closed since February.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar-Thai Border Committee
Meeting Underway
2001.04.04 10:55:32 YANGON, April 4 (Xinhuanet) --
A Regional Border Committee (RBC) Meeting between Myanmar and Thailand is
underway in Kengtung, northern Shan state of Myanmar, to discuss border
conflict problems between the two countries and seek ways to improve
their bilateral relations.
An official of the Office of Strategic Studies of the Myanmar Defense
Ministry told Xinhua Wednesday that the three-day meeting, which began on
Monday, is attended by a delegation led by Major- General Thein Sein of the
Triangle Region Command from the Myanmar side, and a delegation headed by
Lieutenant-General Wattanachia Chaimuanwong of the Third Army from the
Thai side.
So far, the Myanmar authorities have not yet disclosed any details
about the meeting. However, observers here believed that the meeting will
focus on drug trafficking, illegal migrant workers, border clashes and
refugees.
It is the first time that the two countries' RBC met in two years and
the event came less than two months after Myanmar and Thai troops clashed
on their border on February 5 until March 2. The two countries share a
border line of 2,400 kilometers.
In the battles, Myanmar accused Thai troops of backing the Shan United
Revolutionary Army, an anti-government ethnic armed group, by shelling
with heavy weapons from Maesai of Thailand on Myanmar' s Tachilek, while
Thailand charged Myanmar troops with intruding into Thai soil and seizing
one of its border outposts.
The Myanmar side claimed that 23 of its soldiers were killed and 62
others injured during the battles, while the Thai side claimed seven dead
and eight injured.
After the incident, Thailand reopened its checkpoint of Maesai on
March 12, while Tachilek checkpoint of the Myanmar side still remains
closed.
Meanwhile, Thailand has banned export of strategic products such as
rice, medicines, fuel and construction materials to Myanmar. The ban has
been cited by the Myanmar side as a reason that it has yet reopened
Tachilek checkpoint.
The drug trade was also a source of tension between the two
countries. Bangkok accused Yangon of turning a blind eye to a large number
of stimulant drugs smuggled into Thailand yearly.
The last Myanmar-Thai RBC meeting was held in Thailand's Phuket in March
1999.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mekong Meeting on Refugees Ends in
Myanmar
2001.04.04 10:23:48 YANGON, April 4 (Xinhuanet) --
The two-day Second Mekong Sub- Regional Meeting of the Asia-Pacific
Consultations on Refugees, Displaced Persons and Migrants ended here
Tuesday evening.
Delegates from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam
exchanged information on displaced persons and migrants, and proposed the
best measures to solve the problem of cross- border migration.
The meeting also approved some agreements on migrants and matters to
be discussed at the next meeting without further details.
Present at the meeting, which began on Monday, were officials of the
Asia-Pacific Consultations and the U.N. High Commission for Refugees as well as
observers from Brunei.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Minister of Immigration and Population U Saw Tun has
stressed at the meeting the need for information sharing which he said is
a key to developing better understanding of the migration situation across
the Asia-Pacific region. He also underscored the importance of sound and
comprehensive judicial, legislative and executive systems in the
reconstruction of a civil society relating to repatriation and
reintegration.
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