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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- April 23, 2001.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar denounces rebel fighters as
"drug bandits" after deadly raid
AFP - Asia must look
to Africa for lessons on AIDS: UN conference
AP - Thai Village Evacuated
After Rebel Fighting In Myanmar
AP - Thailand To Query
Myanmar Over Pwr Plant Proj Near Border
AP - Cambodian
Laborers To Work In Greek Construction Industry
Today(Philippines) -
GUINGONA EYES MEETING WITH BURMA'S SUU KYI
Reuters - PTTEP may
repay debts to IBJ early
Reuters - Myanmar court adjourns Suu Kyi house case to May
2
BBC - Suu Kyi's
brother reopens house claim
Kyodo - Myanmar lawyers file powers of attorney in Suu Kyi
lawsuit
The Nation - Military defends Chavalit over Burma-bound
convoy
The Nation -
Border fighting escalates
The Nation - Asia-Pacific leaders meet today to discuss Aids,
poverty
The Nation - Chasing the Burmese dragon
The Nation - Plant fuels pollution concerns
Bkk Post - Karen
attack, burn Wa speed storehouse
Bkk Post - Shan find
big stash in junta camp
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's
Fertilizer Production Up in 2000
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's
Customs Duties Income up in 2000
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 23, 8:15 PM
Myanmar denounces rebel fighters as
"drug bandits" after deadly raid
YANGON, April 23 (AFP) -
Myanmar on Monday accused rebel fighters who claimed to have uncovered a
narcotics haul in a deadly weekend raid on a border outpost of being "drug
bandits."
The Shan State Army (SSA) rebels said they found 170,000 methamphetamine
pills in a security post opposite the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai where
they killed seven Myanmar soldiers Sunday.
The Myanmar government did not directly deny reports of the soldiers'
deaths, or of the drugs haul, but launched a tirade against the SSA which it
accused of itself being involved in the narcotics trade.
"It is indeed regretful that ... the drug bandit group ... again managed to
use Thai territory as a springboard in attacking the security unit assigned to
monitor and prevent armed terrorist groups and drug traffickings from crossing
into Myanmar territory," it said in an official information sheet.
SSA leader Colonel Yawd Serk was trying to "justify his criminal activities
by trying to falsely portray himself and his organisation as Shan freedom
fighters fighting to eliminate narcotic drugs production," it added.
Fighting between the SSA and the rival United Wa State Army (UWSA), which
is allied with the junta in Yangon, sparked a serious border clash between the
Thai and Myanmar national armies earlier this year.
After a tense stand-off which saw heavy military build-ups on either side
of the important Mae Sai-Tachilek border crossing, the two sides finally held
high-level talks that went some way to resolving the tensions.
The UWSA -- also known as the Red Wa -- has been fingered by Thai and US
anti-narcotics officials as being the main player in the rampant drugs trade
centred on the Thai-Myanmar border.
While opinions differ over the level of the SSA's involvement, many
observers believe they also tap profits from the drugs trade to fund their
campaign for autonomy.
And they are widely seen as having become closely aligned with the Thai
military, fighting a proxy war against the Red Wa which has signed a ceasefire
agreement with the Myanmar regime.
The junta said Monday that it was "unfortunate" that the Red Wa had become
a "scapegoat" by bearing the brunt of the blame for the production of heroin and
methamphetamines within Myanmar's borders.
"The Red Wa has not only pledged to make the whole Wa region drug-free but
has actually implemented a number of crop-substitition and income-generating
programs," it said.
The Shan were "being falsely portrayed as drug-busters," it said.
And it also poured scorn on a claim by the rebel Karen National Union that
its fighters destroyed a drugs warehouse opposite Thailand's Mae Sot province
over the weekend.
SSA leader Yawd Serk, who has been battling Myanmar government forces in
the remote east of the country, vowed earlier this year to step up the group's
fight against advancing soldiers.
"From now on we will not just wait for Myanmar troops to fire on us. We
will move to fight them, too," he told reporters in February.
Yawd Serk said SSA troops had been attacked because they were positioned
along a border route used by Myanmar to transport drugs, and that the rebel army
was simply following its policy to suppress the drugs trade.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 23, 8:41 PM
Asia must look to Africa for lessons on
AIDS: UN conference
BANGKOK, April 23 (AFP) - Asian
nations fighting to curb the spread of HIV and AIDS should study the lessons
learned in Africa where the disease has hit hardest, a UN conference heard
Monday.
After being ravaged by the disease for nearly two decades, Africa now has
an estimated 25 million people infected with HIV and AIDS compared to 6.4
million in the Asia-Pacific region.
Although Asia's crisis was not as serious as Africa's, tougher action
needed to be taken to prevent new infections, with 780,000 estimated to have
occurred in the region last year, experts at a special session on the disease
said.
"It could well grow faster in Asia than in Africa. Asia could learn from
Africa in the removal of social stigma," said Kathleen Cravero, deputy executive
director of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.
Developing countries needed affordable drugs to fight the disease, former
Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda told the conference.
"We in Africa have been lobbying the pharmaceutical companies to reduce the
price of the anti-retroviral drugs to affordable levels," Kaunda said.
The annual income was too low in many countries to make even discount drugs
cost-effective, delegates heard.
"Getting prices down is a necessary but not sufficient measure. How low
they have to go in Burundi is different than how low they have to go in
Thailand. There is no one price for these drugs," Cravero said.
The special session on HIV and AIDS was held alongside the opening of the
57th annual assembly of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP).
"Let's not repeat the African mistake in Southeast Asia. We're at an early
stage of HIV/AIDS and we need to make member governments aware, using an early
warning system," said ESCAP executive secretary Kim Hak-Su.
"It's time for the Asia-Pacific region to break the conspiracy of silence
surrounding HIV/AIDS. We are facing a global epidemic that far exceeds what we
imagined a decade ago," he said.
Young people account for 50 percent of the region's infections, Kim said,
and most Asians with the disease did not even know they were infected.
On the bright side, the conference heard that Asian nations had
successfully persuaded their citizens to use condoms, something that had not
been achieved in Africa.
Thai officials said Monday that the percentage of adult men visiting sex
workers in the country annually fell from almost a quarter of the population in
1990 to roughly 10 percent in 2000.
This was a sign that its much-vaunted HIV prevention program was making
head way, they said.
Another was that condom use rose from 15 percent in 1989 to 85 percent last
year, and new infections tumbled from 143,000 in 1992 to 29,000 in 2000.
The changes prevented about 5.7 million new adult HIV infections among
Thailand's population of 62 million.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 23, 12:44 PM
Thai Village Evacuated After Rebel
Fighting In Myanmar
BANGKOK (AP)--Thai authorities
evacuated a tribal village on its northern border with Myanmar to protect them
from fighting between Myanmar troops and ethnic rebels, officials said Monday.
About 500 tribespeople in Ban Nolae village in the hills of Chiang Mai
province were temporarily moved to a low-lying area Sunday, Arthit Chittangkul,
the administrative chief of Fang district said.
The area is about 800 kilometers north of Bangkok.
Arthit said no details were immediately available regarding the fighting
Sunday between the rebel Shan State Army guerrillas and Myanmar troops manning
the Pakhee outpost, 300 meters across the border from Ban Nolae village.
"The villagers have been evacuated for their safety and they will live here
until the situation comes back to normal," Arthit said in a telephone interview.
Thailand has been concerned about its border communities since fighting
between Myanmar and the Shan State Army spilled into Thailand's Chiang Rai
province, which neighbors Chiang Mai, in January. Several shells had landed in
the town of Mae Sai, killing at least two civilians on that occasion.
Later, Thai and Myanmar troops also exchanged fire, causing a deterioration
in relations between the two countries. Several border crossings between
Thailand and Myanmar remain closed even today because of the tensions.
The Shan State Army is fighting for independence for the Shan state which
borders Thailand. Myanmar accuses Thailand of aiding the rebels and giving them
sanctuary. Thailand denies the accusation.
In a statement received Monday, the Shan State Army said it raided a
Myanmar military outpost in Pakhee before dawn Sunday, killing seven soldiers.
The claim could not be independently confirmed and the Myanmar government
spokesman did not immediately respond to a faxed letter from The Associated
Press.
The Shan State Army said it seized 170,000 pills of the illegal stimulant
methamphetamines, one rocket propelled grenade launcher, five automatic rifles,
a mortar, and ammunition.
The statement said 14 Shan villagers on their way to Thailand were beaten
to death on March 2 near the Pakhee outpost. This claim also could not be
independently confirmed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 23, 3:17 PM
Thailand To Query Myanmar Over Pwr Plant
Proj Near Border
BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand will
seek more information from Myanmar about a coal fired power plant being planned
near the border amid concerns it will be used by a drug trafficking army and
cause pollution, officials said Monday.
Thai authorities prevented a consignment of power generating equipment
destined for the power project from crossing the northern Thai-Myanmar border
last week. The equipment reportedly came by sea from China to Bangkok port for
land transportation to Myanmar.
The blocked shipment is the latest blow to frayed Thai-Myanmar relations.
Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai said he would raise the issue during
a meeting with his Myanmar counterpart in Yangon May 1-2. He said he would seek
more information about where the plant would be located and what measures would
be taken to prevent pollution.
If anti-pollution precautions weren't taken, he would urge Myanmar to
relocate the plant, Surakiat told reporters.
Trucks carrying the cargo drove back Sunday from the Thai border town of
Mae Sai to a port in Bangkok after Thai villagers threatened to torch them.
"Thai people fear the sulfur dioxide emissions will pollute the
environment," Phong Srimawan, a protesting villager told reporters in Mae Sai,
about 720 kilometers north of Bangkok.
The power plant is reportedly planned for construction only 4 kilometers
from the Myanmar border town of Myawaddy, which lies opposite Mae Sai.
Sunday, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he believed the plant would
be built in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army, an ethnic army
that Thailand says is responsible for production and trafficking of illegal
drugs.
"I will not allow the shipment to reach the hands of the Wa via a Thai
checkpoint," Thaksin told reporters in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
"The Wa are committing a serious crime against Thailand by producing
narcotic drugs and exporting them to our country and should not get this
strategic supply," he said.
The two countries share a more than 2,000 kilometer border where
anti-Myanmar insurgents operate. Fighting between forces of Myanmar's military
regime and ethnic Shan rebels spilled over the Thai border in February leading
to the worst clashes between the Thai and Myanmar armies in recent years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 23, 6:49 PM
Cambodian Laborers To Work In Greek Construction
Industry
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)--Cambodian officials said Monday that more
than 1,200 workers would be sent to work in Greece's construction industry in
what will be only the second large-scale project involving export of labor.
Labor export is a major foreign exchange earner for several Southeast Asian
countries such as Thailand and the Philippines, with workers' wages bringing
hundreds of millions of dollars in hard currency to their home countries.
Cambodian labor has generally been homebound, with cheap wages and
favorable trading conditions attracting garment manufacturers.
Greek officials were considering obtaining the labor from Vietnam and
Myanmar, also known as Burma, but bureaucratic red tape compelled them to take
Cambodians, said Oum Mean, director of the Labor Department at the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Labor.
"Our government clearly supports this concept," Oum Mean said.
He said 1,220 workers including construction engineers, crew site foremen
and simple laborers will leave for Greece in August and earn between $400 and
$1,000 monthly, a huge sum in a country where the average pay is about $45 a
month. Contracts are for one year.
"This is a chance for our people to step above poverty and gain
experience," Oum Mean said, adding that he expected most wages to be sent back
home.
Vong Soth, an undersecretary of state at the ministry, said the government
is trying to secure deals that would also send Cambodian labor to South Korea
and Hong Kong.
The Greek deal marks only the second time a large group of Cambodians are
being sent abroad to work. Housemaids have been working in Malaysia for about
two years in a state-sponsored program.
The Cambodian economy is in shambles, struggling to recover from a 1997
coup d'etat that drove away foreign businessmen, and the 1997 Asian financial
crisis which hurt potential investors. Few full-time jobs exist in Cambodia,
where mothers regularly sell their daughters into prostitution, or encourage
them to work under often difficult conditions at garment factories for the
average monthly wage of $45.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- GUINGONA EYES MEETING WITH BURMA'S SUU KYI
April 23, Monday (PHILIPPINES) TODAY newspaper by Malou Talosig-reporter IN what could be his first diplomatic salvo, Vice President and Foreign
Secretary Teofisto Guingona will brave dangerous waters by arranging to
meet with Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi when he goes to Burma next week, officials at the Department of Foreign
Affairs revealed yesterday.
Officials who requested anonymity said a non government organization, Free
Burma Coalition, called on Guingona and requested that he see Suu Kyi in
Rangoon.
Guingona is schedule to attend the "retreat" of the foreign ministers of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This will be his first ever-trip as
foreign secretary and it is regarded as his baptism of fire in diplomacy.
The ASEAN foreign ministers had earlier decided to "retreat" so that
they can have another meeting among themselves, away from the clutches of
their bosses.
There would be "more candid and frank" exchanges of any issues that foreign
ministers would like to discuss in two-hour "retreat".
But this "retreat" will be hosted by Burma, whose government is ruled by a
military junta that has been considered a pariah in many parts of the
international community, after disregarding the 1990 parliamentary elections
where the party of Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a
landslide.
Other Filipino diplomats believe that Guingona's plan to meet with Suu Kyi
at the sidelines of the Asean foreign minister's retreat would be
"inappropriate" since the host is the Burmese government.
But the Free Burma Coalition apparently convinced Guingona to meet with Suu
Kyi. At one point, foreign affairs officials said, they heard Guingona's
consultant, Vic Luna, exclaim that Guingona will postpone his trip to Burma if
he is not allowed to meet with the Burmese opposition leader.
The officials pointed out that the planned meeting between Guingona and Suu
Kyi "would do more harm than good for both Suu Kyi and the Philippine
government".
At the moment, they said that Suu Kyi "is not keen on receiving foreign
ambassadors" in her residence and has in fact "recognized" the "positive
developments" made by the Burmese military junta. These developments include the
holding of dialogue between the Burmese government and the opposition party at a
low level and the reception by the Burmese government to the European Union
troika representatives.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday April 23, 5:46 PM
PTTEP may repay debts to IBJ
early
BANGKOK, April 23 (Reuters) -
Thai upstream oil and gas firm PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) said
on Monday it was considering repaying $64.8 million owed to the Industrial Bank
of Japan earlier than the due date of 2004.
PTTEP President Chitrapongse Kwangsukstith told reporters the planned early
repayment aimed to cut costs, given the firm's excess cashflow. He gave no
details of the likely timeframe.
Chitrapongse said IBJ loans carried an interest rate of more than six
percent, or LIBOR plus 0.5-0.875 percentage points, compared with domestic
deposit rates of 2.0-2.5 percent.
At end-2000, PTTEP's foreign debt was $508 million. The firm had cashflow
of 16 billion baht with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.1:1.0.
Chitrapongse said the firm would revise down estimated growth of domestic
demand for natural gas this year to five percent from seven percent expected
earlier, due to the country's weak economic growth. In 2000, the country's
natural gas consumption grew 14 percent year on year.
Chitrapongse said PTTEP was likely to delay investment in some projects,
such as the Yetakun project in Myanmar.
PTTEP had planned to increase production at the Yetakun field to 400
million cubic feet per day (mcfpd) in 2004 from 260 mcfpd now.
By 0935 GMT, PTTEP shares were up 1.0 percent at 96.50 baht compared with a
0.77 percent fall on the overall market.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- WIRE: 04/23/2001 3:24 am ET
Myanmar court adjourns Suu Kyi house
case to May 2
YANGON, April 23 (Reuters) - A
Myanmar court on Monday began hearing a suit filed by the brother of opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi for administration of her Yangon home, and adjourned the
case until May 2.
"I hereby adjourn this suit until May 2," judge Soe Thein told the lawyers
of Suu Kyi and her brother Aung San Oo.
Suu Kyi's brother, who lives in the United States and has U.S. citizenship,
wants the right to administer the house where Suu Kyi lives in Yangon. Real
estate agents say it is worth about $2 million.
The court dismissed a previous suit by Aung San Oo in January on the
grounds he had filed the case on the wrong form.
The dismissal of the suit in January was widely interpreted as a sign
Myanmar's military government was easing its crackdown on Suu Kyi and her
National League for Democracy (NLD).
But the government insists the suit is a family affair and says it will not
intervene.
Suu Kyi, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring
democracy to Myanmar, has been confined to the house in Yangon since September
and access to her has been tightly controlled.
The NLD won Myanmar's last democratic elections in 1990 by a landslide but
has never been allowed to govern.
But tension between the government and the NLD has eased in recent months.
Secretive talks between Suu Kyi and the military began at the end of last year
and open criticism by both sides has gradually ceased.
Suu Kyi and Aung San Oo are children of Myanmar independence hero General
Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947 when the country was on the threshold of
independence from Britain.
The Yangon house was owned by Suu Kyi's family.
Suu Kyi has lived there -- much of the time under house arrest -- since
returning from Europe in 1988 to nurse her ailing mother.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Monday, 23 April, 2001, 12:54
GMT 13:54 UK
Suu Kyi's brother reopens house claim A court case has opened in Burma in a renewed effort by the brother of the
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to secure a half share in the family home in
Rangoon.
The lakeside property is said to be worth two million dollars.
Miss Suu Kyi has lived there since she returned to Burma 13 years ago; much
of the time she's been under house arrest.
A previous case was dismissed in January, in what correspondents saw as an
indication of a softening of the Burmese military government's stance towards
Miss Suu Kyi.
She is reported to be unhappy about the reopening of the hearing, which has
been adjourned for a week.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar lawyers file powers of attorney
in Suu Kyi lawsuit
YANGON April 23 Kyodo - Lawyers
representing Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her brother Aung San
Oo filed powers of attorney at the
Yangon division court Monday, an initial procedure in contesting a suit
filed by Aung San Oo for part ownership of the property where Suu Kyi lives.
Kyi Win, a leading Yangon lawyer, represents Suu Kyi, Han Toe her brother. After accepting the credentials, judge Soe Thein adjourned the court to May
2 when both parties are to submit written statements on the case in which Aung
San Oo seeks eventual partition of the property that belonged to the siblings'
parents.
Aung San Oo, who lives in the United States, filed a similar suit last
year, but the case was dismissed in January on procedural grounds.
In his reviving the suit, Aung San Oo is applying for administration of the
property as a first step to eventual partition.
Some assessors in Yangon have suggested the estate in a wealthy part of the
Myanmar capital could be worth several million dollars on the local real estate
market.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Military defends Chavalit over
Burma-bound convoy
BANGKOK, April 23 (The Nation)
-- The Defence Ministry denied on Monday that Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh had anything to do with the controversial shipment of 44 containers
of machinery destined for Burma which has been turned back at the border by the
Third Army Region over the weekend.
Defence Ministry spokesman Col Jongsak Panichkul said neither Gen Chavalit
nor his wife, Khunying Phankrua, had business interest in the delivery of the
machinery for coal-fired power generation plant being built in Burma's Thachilek
province.
"Gen Chavalit denied any link to the shipment and considered the matter
closed," the spokesman said. "The Foreign Ministry has been assigned to take
over the matter," he said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said this morning that he
was told by the Defence Ministry that the planned construction of power plant in
Thachilek had nothing to do with the development of Mong Yawn, a new border town
suspected by Thai authorities of being an amphetamine manufacturing centre.
"Thailand is concerned about the construction of coal-fired electricity
generating plant near the border because of fears of possible pollution that
could cause environmental impacts," the foreign minister said.
The foreign minister said he would raise the issue of the planned power
plant with Burmese leaders during his scheduled official visit to Rangoon on May
1-2.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - April 23,
2001.
Border fighting
escalates
HUNDREDS of Thai villagers were forced to flee their homes as fighting
between Burmese soldiers and Shan rebels intensified yesterday, threatening to
spill over onto Thai soil.
Nearly 500 villagers from Chiang Rai's Fang district were evacuated from
their homes as fighting between Burmese troops and members of the Shan State
Army (SSA) continued throughout the day.
The SSA issued a statement claiming to have killed six soldiers in the
pre-dawn attack yesterday. The group also said it confiscated about 150,000
methamphetamine pills as well as some weapons from the Burmese camp in Mong Ton
after it was overrun.
Thailand's Third Army despatched two battalions to the area to keep the
fighting from reaching Thai territory.
In a separate development, the rebel Karen National Union (KNU) launched an
attack against a splinter group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), that
left two dead from the pro-Rangoon camp.
Thai villagers said a stray mortar shell landed near a jetty on the Moei
River just south of the Friendship Bridge, forcing the closure of the bridge.
The bridge was ordered closed yesterday, forcing Thai goods heading for Burma to
be stockpiled in the district.
A number of villagers from Burma were reported to have been allowed into
Thailand to receive treatment at Mae Sot's hospital.
KNU commander Pado Manh Sa said the attack was aimed at breaking a supply
line between the DKBA and another pro-Rangoon group, the United Wa State Army.
Manh Sa said the two groups were producing methamphetamines destined for
Thailand.Bangkok has singled out the UWSA as responsible for millions of
methamphetamines flooding the country and vowed to raise the issue with the
Burmese junta.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - April 23,
2001.
Asia-Pacific leaders meet today to
discuss Aids, poverty
KULACHADA CHAIPIPAT
MINISTERS from 61 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific are to meet here today to address the region's growing number of urban poor and HIV/Aids sufferers, which are increasingly destabilising the region of 3.7 billion people. The two-day discussion is to centre on "Balanced Development of Urban and
Rural Areas and Regions Within the Countries of Asia and the Pacific", the theme
of the 57the session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific Region (Escap)
Yap Kioe Sheng, chief of Escap's Human Settlements Section, said the theme
had been chosen because the plight of the poor had not been a focal point of
discussion before the 1997 financial crisis.
While efforts to fight poverty have had mixed results in some countries,
information technology is threatening to widen the gaps between and within
countries, Yap said.
In North Asia, China has been successful in reducing rural poverty over the
last decades but still faces gaps between regions. In Southeast Asia, Thailand
and Malaysia were well on their way to reducing poverty. The results are not as
impressive in India and Sri Lanka, however.
The situation is worse in Indonesia, which is plagued by political turmoil
and the eruption of ethnic violence in resource-rich Aceh and Maluku.
According to the World Bank's 2000 statistics, poverty is declining in most
countries of Asia and the Pacific but remains widespread and is more serious in
rural areas than in urban areas.
The statistic showed that in 1987 there were 891.9 million people living on
less than US$1 (Bt45) a day. In 1998 the number declined to 800.3 million.
Nevertheless, the statistics also point to the growing number of urban poor
and widespread disparities between regions within countries.
Yap quoted bank statistics showing that last year 47 per cent of the
region's population lived in the urban areas. The ratio is expected to grow to
51 per cent in the next decade.
"We can reduce disparities between the rural and urban areas, but we cannot
stop the rural-to-urban migration," the official said.
He pointed to the pattern of demographic change in Europe and South
America. Some 80 per cent of the populations of both continents live in urban
areas.
Poverty has become more urban as a result of the unstoppable rural-to-urban
migration, he noted.
There are no ready-made solutions as yet to address this issue but the
meeting is an appropriate venue to discuss and share experiences between
countries on the best ways to deal with it, he said.
At present agriculture, which is the primary means of living for most
people in the region, cannot provide enough jobs. "When rural growth stops, the
small villages are deserted as residents move out," he said.
As a result, small towns will become cities and many of them are not
prepared to cope with the massive flow of migrants.
In a related development, former Thai premier Anand Panyarachun and former
president of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda will today preside over a regional conference
to address HIV/Aids, which poses a major health threat to the region.
While Africa has been the most affected region, with the highest HIV rates,
Asian populations are prone to massive infections, with India alone home to 3.7
million people living with HIV/Aids.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - April 24,
2001.
Chasing the Burmese
dragon
The Thaksin government is poised to launch a major anti-drug offensive
against the Burma-based Wa army. It stands a real risk of failure, Don Pathan
reports.
Two years ago when the bodies of nine Thai villagers, beaten to death with
their hands tied behind their backs, were found scattered along the northern
border, all fingers pointed to the Wa army which is based just on the other side
of the border.
It was a drug deal gone bad, and members of the United Wa State Army did
it, Thai officials said.
Though no one has proven exactly who carried out the brutal act,
nevertheless the blame was conveniently placed on the Wa. After all, this
20,000-strong outfit has been dubbed the world's largest armed drug-trafficking
group, and a number of its leaders have already been indicted by a US federal
court on drug charges.
Thai security agencies found themselves in a situation where they had to
act and act fast. The army was brought into the picture, border crossings
leading to the UWSA areas were ordered shut, and over 1,000 Thai workers
building everything from roads and hydroelectric dams to schools and hospitals
in nearby Wa-controlled areas were told to come home.
For the Thai troops along the border overlooking Doi Sam Sao opposite
Thailand's Mae Ai district, this meant that their daily volleyball games with
the Wa soldiers had to end.
The Thai public and the media went along for the ride, and the Thaksin
government, as well as the previous Chuan administration, couldn't resist
jumping on the bandwagon in spite of its racist connotations. "Wa" immediately
became a household name. And just like that, an entire ethnic group became
demonised.
To show that he meant business Thaksin, shortly after taking over as
premier, launched a high-profile drug seminar in Chiang Mai. Photographs showed
Burma's security chief, Lt-General Khin Nyunt, shaking hands with Wa leaders in
Mong Yawn, a newly built town adjacent to Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district. Thai
officials said Mong Yawn was the source of millions of methamphetamine pills
heading for the streets of Bangkok and other major cities in the country.
At the end of the two-day seminar, Thaksin boldly told the public that he
would take the matter straight to Rangoon. China, said Thaksin, will also be
brought into the picture to help with the counter-narcotics efforts.
Thailand's latest move is to form a 400-strong anti-drug task force made up
of staff from the Army Special Forces, infantry and Border Police units. They
will be trained by a team of about 20 soldiers from the US Special Forces,
starting this October under the supervision of the Third Army.
But while the public ate up the anti-narcotic rhetoric, little discussion
was given to the implications and the possible fallout with Rangoon and Beijing,
two sovereign governments whose priorities happen to be other than the Thai
people's bad habits.
A Bangkok-based foreign diplomat overseeing drug issues called Thailand's
declaring war on the Wa a "knee-jerk" reaction without real understanding of the
situation on the ground. For any anti-narcotic policy to be successful,
according to Burma experts, it must include a meaningful political solution for
all insurgent groups in the ethnically diverse country. Drug trafficking and
insurgency, they say, are two sides of the same coin.
In a recent interview with The Nation, the UN Drug Control Programme's
regional representative Sandro Calvani said a strong foundation for regional
countries to cooperate in their anti-narcotic efforts "exists in joint
agreements, but real united action requires significant improvements".
"Finger-pointing to drug-producers or drug-users helps no one. History in
other parts of the world has shown that isolating a group does more harm than
help," said Calvani, suggesting that regional UN coordinated action on the Wa
and Burma might be more effective than fragmented moves by Thailand, Malaysia,
China, India and other countries concerned.
As for the country's anti-drug policy, an alliance that unites the
government, the UN and the entire civil society must be created, while the
private and public sectors, as well as government agencies and the community,
must be included in this endeavour, he said.
For years Rangoon has consistently come under attack by Western governments
for allowing drug armies and opium warlords to operate with little hindrance.
They point to the presence of the Wa army along Burma's northern border with
Thailand and China, as well as the Kokang Chinese, also known as the Myanmar
National Democratic Alliance Army.
But the reality on the ground, say Thai and foreign drug officials, is that
the Burmese government has little control over the Wa's activities. For one
thing, Burmese troops must have permission before entering areas occupied by
UWSA troops.
Wa fighters were the foot-soldiers of the now defunct Communist Party of
Burma. In 1989 the CPB fractured along ethnic lines, and the group formed the
United Wa State Army, before working out an attractive cease-fire agreement
orchestrated by security chief Lt-General Khin Nyunt.
For Rangoon the truce neutralised a 20,000-strong insurgent group that had
enough weapons to last them for another decade. For the Wa it was a green light
to expand their heroin empire southwards from the Chinese border to areas
adjacent to Thailand's northern border. Along the way they clashed with former
drug kingpin Khun Sa, hastening his surrender in January 1996.
Today, besides filling a vacuum left by Khun Sa, the presence of the Wa
army along the Thai border is deemed a security threat to Thailand. The group is
also perceived to be a significant factor in the tit-for-tat relations between
Thailand and Burma.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - April 23,
2001.
Plant fuels pollution
concerns
PRIME Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday expressed concern over the
planned lignite power plant in Burma's border town of Tachilek, saying it would
be detrimental to the environments of both countries if Rangoon went through
with the plan.
"If they are going to use lignite, it's going to be detrimental to the
environment of Chiang Rai as well. I understand that the plant is only about
five kilometres from the Thai border," Thaksin said.
Thaksin said Thailand would raise the issue with the Burmese government but
dismissed suggestions the incident would further strain already tense bilateral
ties following cross-border shelling between the two countries' armies over two
months ago.
The premier's statement came a day after 44 containers of equipment heading
for the power plant were ordered to return to a pier in Samut Prakarn's
Pappadaeng district to be shipped back to China.
Thaksin also said he was optimistic he would be able to reach a compromise
with the Burmese government but if the power plant belonged to the Wa army, as
some locals suspect, he could not compromise on the matter.
Thailand has singled out the United Wa State Army (UWSA) as being
responsible for millions of methamphetamines flooding Thailand.
Local residents in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district were also up in arms
yesterday over the planned power plant. They threatened to burn the 44
containers, which were parked just kilometres away from the Mae Sai-Tachilek
border crossing. Many villagers, still upset over cross-border shelling in their
area two months ago, called on authorities to open the containers, which they
suspected of containing precursor chemicals bound for clandestine
methamphetamine drug labs belonging to the UWSA.
Thaksin told reporters yesterday there were no chemicals in the 44
containers but did not say how he had come to that conclusion. He also said it
was the transport company's decision to order the drivers to return.
Veera Cheeprasert, an executive at Praphamart Transport, the company
responsible for delivering the containers from Pappadaeng Pier to Tachilek, told
reporters yesterday that he was disappointed by the entire episode.
"A number of parties are wondering if there will be another attempt to get
the containers through using this route. I can assure you that this won't
happen. The sentiment in government and among the public is too high," Veera
said.
Pang Pholchai, a leading environmentalist in Chiang Rai, said local
residents were stepping up their campaign against the planned power plant and
called on the government to intervene on their behalf.
Thaksin on Friday ordered that the shipment of lignite power-generation
equipment be barred from crossing at Mae Sai-Tachilek in response to Rangoon's
closure of the Thai-Burmese border crossing.
Third Army deputy commander Maj-General Chamlong Phothong has compared the
planned power plant to the one in Lampang's Mae Moh district, where hundreds of
local villagers have been admitted to hospital over the years after being
exposed to pollution generated by the plant.
A compromise was reached in Mae Moh after the government agreed to spend
millions on a high-quality filter to prevent acid rain.
Pang said the planned 24-megawatt Burmese plant needed to be 80 kilometres
from the border to be considered safe for Mae Sai residents. Its current
location, he said, would be too close for comfort, especially in the cold season
when the wind blew from Burma to Thailand.
Mae Sai resident groups have been protesting for months, but the issue has
attracted little government interest, he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - April 23,
2001.
Karen attack, burn Wa speed
storehouse
Sounds of battle clear in Mae Sot Supamart Kasem
Soldiers of the Karen National Union attacked a warehouse thought to be a
storage depot for methamphetamines on the outskirts of Myawaddy, opposite Mae
Sot, early yesterday.
Mahnshar Lapan, KNU secretary-general, said they had information that Wa
soldiers had stored several million methamphetamines in the warehouse.
The building, about 1km south of the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge, was
set on fire during the attack. Billowing smoke could be seen from the Thai side
of the border. No drugs were recovered.
The attack was launched by the KNU's 6th division at 3.40am, a source
said.
The exchange was fierce, with the sound of mortars, rocket launchers and
small arms fire clearly audible in Mae Sot until 4.45am.
Two mortar rounds landed on Thai soil, but caused no damage. Thai forces
along the Moei river responded with 120mm mortar smoke shells as a warning.
Villagers at Ban Huay Muang were evacuated to bunkers.
Two soldiers of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army were
reported killed and four wounded. Two Burmese women were injured in the
cross-fire and sent to Mae Sot hospital for treatment.
The KNU said two of its men were wounded. They seized one M79 grenade
launcher and one rifle.
The KNU also reported an earlier clash, on April 14, with a combined force
of Burmese and DKBA troops in Kawkareik district of Karen state, claiming 12
Burmese and two DKBA soldiers killed and 21 wounded, for the loss of two KNU
soldiers killed and four wounded.
- Two Thai men were arrested with 368,000 methamphetamine pills in Muang
district of Tak on Saturday.
The pills were found in a pick-up driven by Thanom Phosa, 36, on Mae
Sot-Tak road, heading to Sukhothai.
He said he was hired by Boonchai Sothorn-aree, 23, of Chiang Rai, for
50,000 baht to deliver the drugs from Phop Phra district to Ban Dan Lan Hoy and
Thung Saliam districts of Sukhothai.
Mr Boonchai was arrested later in Phop Phra district.
Pol Maj-Gen Luerit Puipanthawong, the Tak provincial police chief, said the
7.6 million speed pills seized in Phop Phra district on April 16 and the 368,000
seized on Saturday were part of a 40 million pill shipment the United Wa State
Army had planned to smuggle into Thailand during the Songkran festival by using
DKBA soldiers.
He believed more pills were stored in Burma opposite Tak, awaiting shipment
into Thailand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - April 23,
2001.
Shan find big stash in junta
camp
Subin Khuenkaew Rebel Shan forces report finding 170,000 methamphetamine pills at a Burmese
army outpost they captured just across the border yesterday.
Col Yod Seuk, the Shan State Army leader, said about 200 soldiers of the
241st special combat regiment attacked the Burmese army government base early
yesterday at Takhi, about 500m over the border and opposite Ban Nolae in Fang
district.
They overran the outpost at 3.30am, and found the bodies of seven Burmese
soldiers together with 170,000 methamphetamine pills.
The booty included six G4 rifles with 2,000 rounds of ammunition, nine 75mm
recoilless guns, 113 mortar rounds and field gear, Col Yod Seuk said.
The Shan flag was now flying over the base.
"The SSA will continue to wipe out methamphetamine production plants and
storage places, to show we are opposed to the drug trade," the rebel leader
said.
A source said two Burmese soldiers strayed across the border during the
clash and were taken for questioning by troops of the Pha Muang Force.
Soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment have been reinforced at Ban Nolae,
to prevent possible intrusion as Burmese soldiers were expected to try to
recapture the base in a few days, the source said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's Fertilizer Production Up
in 2000
2001.04.23 09:47:34 YANGON, April 23 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar produced 167,599 tons of chemical fertilizer in 2000, up 14.8
percent from 1999 when it was 145,962 tons, according to the latest figures of
the country's Central Statistical Organization (CSO).
Up to now, the country has only three fertilizer plants which can
only produce urea, which has an average annual production of about 120,000
tons.
Myanmar needs over 800,000 tons of chemical fertilizer annually and its
domestic production is very limited and far from meeting the demand. The
country needs to import nearly 700,000 tons of fertilizer which accounts
for 85 percent of total required quantity.
To promote agricultural development, Myanmar government has exempted
import duties of agricultural products including
fertilizer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's Customs Duties Income up
in 2000
2001.04.23 09:47:42 YANGON, April 23 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar earned 891 million U.S. dollars from customs duties in 2000, 11
percent more than 1999 when it registered 802 million dollars in revenues,
according to the latest figures released by the country's Central
Statistical Organization.
The main source of Myanmar's customs duties income comes from import
through normal trade and border trade, of which the import customs duties
income earned through normal trade accounted for 87 percent of the
total.
To promote agricultural development, Myanmar government has exempted
import customs duties levied on agricultural implements including
fertilizer, pesticide and improved variety and machinery.
In 2000, Myanmar's foreign trade totaled 4.086 billion dollars, of which
imports amounted to 2.567 billion dollars, while exports were valued at
1.519 billion dollars. The trade deficit stood at 1. 048 billion
dollars.
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