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BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 10,
2001.
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HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Foreign Minister Says Thailand Eager To
Mend Myanmar Ties
ABC online - Thailand
to shut down camps for Burmese refugees
The Nation - Environmentalists renew attack on Yadana pipeline
The Nation - Thaksin to go ahead with visit to
Rangoon
Bkk Post - Protests may delay plan to shift
Karen
Bkk Podt - Thaksin sets out to mend border rifts
Bkk Post - PTT says pipeline helps save B15
billion in annual fuel costs
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Calls for Prevention Against
Malaria
ST - Myanmar unveils veteran battle
plan
---------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday June 10, 5:08 PMForeign Minister Says Thailand Eager To
Mend Myanmar Ties
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (AP)--Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said
Sunday that Thailand was eager to mend ties with Myanmar, but warned that it
wouldn't tolerate insults on its sovereignty and its royal family.
In a speech at a one-day conference on Thai-Myanmar ties held in this
northern town, Surakiart said the government would "fight with all efforts" if
their dispute boiled down to these two issues.
"What the Thai government cannot tolerate is our sovereignty (being
violated) ... and the insult to our royal dynasty, which we strongly protest,"
he said.
Surakiart's comments came two days after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
announced that he would travel to Myanmar June 19-20 to hold talks with that
country's military junta to end bickering between the two countries.
The visit would significantly lessen the tension as "there are things that
needed to be discussed in private between the two leaders to settle the
problem," Surakiart said without elaborating.
Thai-Myanmar relations have reached nadir over a range of disputes
including Thai allegations that Myanmar supports drug trafficking. The armies of
the two countries have fought sporadic battles at the border and some a Myanmar
artillery narrowly missed a royal building near the border.
Nationalist newspapers in both countries have also waged a war of words,
trading insults with some Myanmar newspapers writing articles critical of the
Thai royalty.
Surakiart said he believed the ties could be easily mended once the
distrust and misunderstanding between the two nations was eliminated.
The conference was organized by Chulalongkorn University and Asia Forum, a
local think tank. It was attended by about 500 participants including army and
police officers, officials from the interior and defense ministries, academics,
nongovernment organization workers and businessmen.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar government issued a statement Sunday, urging
Thailand and Thai newspapers to stop "demonizing and scapegoating" Myanmar.
It said the Thai media have made several "irresponsible allegations"
recently, and cited an article Sunday in the Bangkok Post titled "Burmese spies
are everywhere." The article accuses the Myanmar Military Intelligence Services
of piracy, drug trade, auto and arms smuggling.
"Of course, this kind of `blame it all on Myanmar' is not something new but
should be avoided while and when the governments of the two counties are trying
to enhance better understanding, friendship and sincere cooperation," the
statement said.
Myanmar hopes that "both nations can join hands to resolve the challenges
and common problems they are encountering," it said.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
June 10, 2001.
Thailand to shut down camps for Burmese
refugees
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has renewed a government pledge to
shut down camps for Burmese political dissidents and refugees.
He says dissidents who fled Burma after the 1988 crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrators will be resettled in third countries.
The Thai government estimates the number of illegal immigrants from Burma
to be about one million, while there are some 120-thousand refugees.
The Thai leader is scheduled to visit Burma later this month.
The Nation - June 10,
2001.
Environmentalists renew attack on Yadana
pipeline
Pennapa Hongthong
Environmental activists plan to launch a seminar in Kan-chanaburi today at
which they are expected to charge that the three-year life of the Thai-Burma gas
pipeline project has been three years of disaster for Thailand.
The activists say the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) has met none of
the promises it made since the Yadana gas pipeline project came into operation
in late-1998.
They also say the pipeline has caused higher electricity and gas
bills.
The PTT says the project has played a major role in reducing fuel costs and
generates electricity worth more than Bt 14.7 billion a year.
Songkiat Tansamrit, head of PTT's public relation department , said recent
increases in electricity and gas bills were caused by events in the world
economy that have nothing to do with PTT.
"If the country didn't have the Yadana project, you would be paying higher
bills than you pay today," he said.
Activist Phinant Chotirossani said all PTT's promises to rehabilitate
forest areas along the pipeline and to reduce fuel costs were "propaganda" aimed
at deceiving the country.
She added that the PTT once claimed that the project had to be finished
before August 1998, or the Burmese government would fine Thailand.
"Why has the country had to pay a fine of more than Bt29 billion over the
three years the pipeline has been operating?" Phinant asked.
Songkiat said the money Thailand paid to the Burmese government was not a
fine, but an advance payment for gas the PTT could not discharge as a result of
the unfinished construction of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
(Egat)'s power plant in Ratchburi province.
He said the agreement for the project between PTT and the Burmese
government included a "take-or-pay" clause, meaning PTT had to pay for the gas
whether it could use it or not. He said the gas PTT has paid for can be
discharged later, when the country is ready to use it.
"How can you say it is a mistake?" Songkiat said. "If the gas is discharged
and the country doesn't use it, I agree that's a mistake. But at least three
power plants - Egat's plant in Ratchburi, an independent plant owned by Tri
Energy Co and Egat's Wang Noi power plant - all generate electricity from the
Yadana gas."
Songkiat said the PTT is in the process of rehabilitating the affected
forest areas by co-ordinating with academics to find the best way villagers who
have stayed in the area can benefit from the forest.
The pipeline was constructed amid protests from local villagers and
environmentalists who were worried about the damage it would do to the forest
among other concerns.
Environmentalists said the pipeline-which carries gas from Burma-was
unnecessary as Thailand had sufficient energy reserves of its own.
The Nation - June 10,
2001.
THAI-BURMESE TIES: Thaksin to go
ahead with visit to Rangoon
Trip aimed at 'clearing the air' on border clashes, drug-smuggling
Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra yesterday ignored widespread domestic
objection to his visit to Burma by confirming the trip would go ahead as planned
this month in a bid to "clear the air" and open a new chapter in bilateral
relations, which are currently at their lowest point.
Thaksin said his trip would be a part of a three-nation tour which will
also take him to Laos and Cambodia. He is scheduled to visit Laos on Wednesday
and Thursday, followed by Cambodia on June 18 and 19 before flying to Burma,
where will stay until June 20.
This means that he will be absent during the last hearing of the
Constitutional Court on June 18, when a verdict is expected on charges that he
deliberately failed to declare part of his wealth. The verdict will determine
Thaksin's political future. Thaksin said that he was confident that a host of
problems, including border clashes, narcotics smuggling, and invocation of
historical animosities, would be resolved once and for all when he sat down to
heart-to-heart talks with the Burmese leaders, especially General Than
Shwe.
"The trip will clear the air. I am not worried. I think everything will be
resolved, and there should not be any further problems," Thaksin said, adding
that the countries would open up a new chapter in their relationship.
Thaksin downplayed warnings from numerous Burmese experts against the trip,
saying that it was prudently planned and an advance team had already been
dispatched to lay down the agenda. Various scholars had expressed serious
reservations about the merit of hastily arranged summit meetings during a most
sensitive phase of relations. "Border trade and fishing can go ahead. Peace will
return to the border area. We will not have to worry about clashes which have
damaged the investment and tourism atmosphere," he said.
Thaksin has stated since the first day of assuming the premiership that he
will go to Rangoon to mend ties broken by a border incursion by the Burmese
military into Thai territory in February.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said the Burmese authorities had
suggested a date for the visit and the Thai government had adjusted it to suit
the PM's regional tour. He said both sides were working on the agenda to be
discussed. "This will be a new era in our relationship. It will be based on
mutual confidence to the extent that whenever a problem crops up we can pick up
the phone and talk," Surakiart said, adding that he was confident the Burmese
would agree with the idea.
In affirming his desire to forge trust with Rangoon, Thaksin stated that
Thailand would close down the Maneeloy Holding Centre in Ratchaburi, where
Burmese student activists fled during the 1988 military crackdown, by early next
year. The National Security Council is coordinating with various third countries
to resettle hundreds of dissidents now at the centre.
He also said that the refugee camps along the border would be gradually
shut down but conceded that it would take some time because of accumulated
problems.
Bangkok Post - June 10,
2001.
Protests may delay plan to shift
Karen
Exiles accused of destroying forests Cheewin Sattha in Mae Hong Son
Opposition from villagers could delay plans to move 10,000 Karen refugees
from Salween national park.
Provincial officials will ask the Interior Ministry to suspend the plans
after local protests.
The Thai-Burmese border centre of Mae Hong Son on May 22 last year decided
to move the refugees from Mae Kongta-Tha Sala camp in tambon Mae Yuam of Mae
Sariang district.
The camp is in the middle of the national park, a source of several
streams.
The refugees were said to have destroyed forests and natural
resources.
In January this year cabinet decided the refugees should move to four
areas-Mae Ho village in Mae Sariang district, and Huay Chaiyong, Thiyaphoe and
Mae Lama Luang villages in Sop Moei districts.
However, villagers oppose the plan, arguing the refugees will encroach on
their land and cause environmental problems.
Kachadpai Burusapatana, secretary-general of the National Security Council,
said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees could speed up
repatriation of the refugees back across the border to Burma.
Mae Hong Son houses four Karen refugee camps, including 15,676 at Nai
Soi-Pang Khwai-Pang Tractor in tambon Pang Mu, Muang district; 2,879 at Mae
Surin in tambon Khun Yuam, Khun Yuam district; and 7,556 at Mae Lama Luang in
tambon Sop Moei, Sop Moei district.
Bangkok Post - June 10,
2001.
Thaksin sets out to mend border
rifts
Off to Rangoon for talks on June 19 Yuwadee Tunyasiri
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hopes to mend rifts in talks with three
neighbouring countries this month.
He was speaking during his regular weekly radio show yesterday.
Mr Thaksin said he planned to visit Laos on Wednesday and Thursday,
Cambodia on June 18-19 and Burma on June 19-20 to clear up disputes and build
trust.
Good relationships and peace would enhance border trade and fisheries, he
said. "The problems must be solved urgently. To the academics who expressed
concern and said I should not visit Burma at this time, I want to thank
them.
"And I want to tell you that I have made careful consideration and cleared
up some problems already. When I get there, everything will be all right because
of our preparations. I will do my best, so there is nothing to worry
about."China had confirmed Burmese junta members would attend an anti-drug
summit meeting of China, Thailand, Burma and Laos.
The summit is planned to take place in Kunming, China. Reports showed that
the spread of drugs in Laos was causing concern in neighbouring countries.
Bangkok Post - June 10,
2001.
PTT says pipeline helps save B15
billion in annual fuel costs
Claim seems to contradict trends Natural gas delivered by the Thai-Burmese pipeline has helped save the
country nearly 15 billion baht a year in fuel costs, the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand (PTT) claimed in a statement yesterday.
The authority is able to take delivery of about 700 million cubic feet a
day (mcfd) of gas for use at power plants in Ratchaburi and Ayutthaya in lieu of
15.3 million litres of bunker oil which accounts for the savings, said PTT
spokesman Songkiert Tarnsamrit.
He said as long as the oil price was high, the country would continue to
benefit from the Burmese gas which has been purchased at a low price.
However, the claim appears to contradict recent developments in domestic
energy and power prices.
In an attempt to lower electricity prices, a committee reviewing the
fuel-cost adjustment tariff, known as Ft, recently asked the Electricity
Generating Authority (Egat) to negotiate with Ratchaburi for a reduction in
prices. It also asked Ratchaburi to find ways to reduce the cost of gas from
Burma.
Egat pays more for electricity from Ratchaburi than from private
operations, mainly because of the higher cost of the Burmese natural gas.
Natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand costs an average of 138 baht per
million BTU (British thermal units) while that from Burma is 145 to 160
baht.
The committee also asked PTT to negotiate with the gas suppliers for a
reduction in gas deliveries due to their relatively higher price. PTT is
obligated in the "take or pay" deal to pay for gas from the pipeline even if it
could not take delivery due to limited demand.
PTT has paid US$327 million to the suppliers for the contracted gas for
1998 and 1999. But it has yet to pay $398 million for gas delivered last
year.
Mr Songkiert said the price of gas paid for in the take-or-pay deal was low
which would help relieve the impact of interest paid on the pre-payment, adding
that PTT has started taking delivery of the gas it has already paid for.
Meanwhile, he said PTT has completed the rehabilitation of 650 rai of
forest land along a 50km section of the pipeline as well as the reforestation of
10,000 rai of deteriorated forest.
The conservation of another 30,000 rai of forest land which it has promised
to carry out is now being carried out.
Mr Songkiert said the authority would try to improve the conditions of the
10,000-rai forest land it reforested.
Myanmar Calls for Prevention
Against Malaria
2001.06.10 10:41:32 YANGON, June 10 (Xinhuanet) --
A high-ranking Myanmar health official has called on the country's health
departments and non- governmental organizations to cooperate in prevention
against and treatment of malaria, one of the most common diseases posing
a major health problem to Myanmar.
Major-General Ket Sein, Myanmar minister of health, told a roll back
malaria advocacy meeting here on Saturday that there are about 600,000
people suffering from Malaria every year in the country, of whom about
4,000 people died of the disease annually, official newspaper The New
Light of Myanmar reported Sunday.
He disclosed at the meeting that the rate of outbreak of the disease
and the death toll are higher in Myanmar's border areas than in
others.
He called for efforts in reducing the number of outbreak of the disease and
the death toll.
Meanwhile, a national malaria control week campaign, which is the
second national movement of its kind since May 2000, was launched in
Myanmar beginning Saturday, aimed at promoting public awareness in control
and prevention of malaria.
Besides, the Central Committee for Prevention and Control of Malaria
has been formed in the country.
Malaria is one of the three communicable diseases designated as national
concern by the Myanmar health authorities. The other two are HIV/AIDS and
tuberculosis.
The Straits Times - June 10,
2001.
Myanmar unveils veteran battle plan
YANGON - Myanmar's military has announced a plan to call up 99,000
battle-hardened veterans in the event of an attack on its territory.
The resolution, passed at a veterans' conference which ended on Thursday,
is linked to a simmering row with Thailand which erupted after a half-day border
skirmish between the two national armies in March.
Myanmar was surrounded by nations with nuclear capability as well as those
with hostile foreign polices 'under the influence of a major power', said Home
Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing.
In a clear dig at Thailand, he said certain neighbouring countries were
building up their military power, carrying out military manoeuvres and promoting
their military capabilities.
He also accused them of making 'preposterous accusations' and 'attempting
to create battles at the border areas'.
In response, Myanmar had formulated a plan to counter the actions of
neighbours.
War veterans would be deployed to use their fighting and logistics
experience to give support to the regular Army and the police force.
The move is the latest in a bitter tit-for-tat between the
neighbours.
In a recent outburst, Thailand took umbrage at reports that a new Myanmar
history book portrays Thais as lazy and servile.
But Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says he is optimistic the
wrangle can be resolved when he visits Myanmar on June 19. --AFP
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