|
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BURMA RELATED NEWS - January
28, 2002.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Malaysia urged to give temporary shelter
to Myanmar refugees
AFP - Thai addicts sent to boot camp as army
tries new tactic against drugs
Asia Pulse - Indian Firms Buy Stake in Daewoo
Hunt for Natural Gas in Myanmar
Dow Jones - Korea Daewoo Intl Sells 30% In
Myanmar Proj To Indian Cos
Reuters - Rights criticisms unlikely to trouble
Vietnam
Reuters - Refugees from Myanmar handed over to
Malaysia
AP - Thai Villagers Informing o
Neighbors
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Leader Meets Chinese CAFIU
Delegation
The Star - Association appeals for Indian labour
Xinhuanet - Myanmar to Host 7-Nation Basketball
Tournament
Bkk Post - Boom times expected as trade with
China surges
The Nation - DEFENCE: Junta's new jets alarm
Xinhuanet - Thailand
Joins Other ASEAN Members in Working Out Info-Mechanism Against
Terrorism
Irrawaddy online - Illegal Wood Confiscated
Irrawaddy online - Trade Fair Concludes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday January 28, 4:54 PM
Malaysia urged to give temporary shelter
to Myanmar refugees
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (AFP) - A
Myanmar group Monday urged Malaysia to give temporary shelter to 28 Rohingya
Muslims who sought refuge at the UN refugee agency's compound here amid a
crackdown on illegal immigrants. The 28 Rohingyas entered the UN High Commisioner for Refugeescentre in the
capital on Friday to seek refugee status but were handed over to the immigration
department Saturday.
The Royingya Information Center office here protested the UNHCR action,
saying the 28 were among some 7,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslim refugees stranded in
Malaysia since fleeing persecution by Myanmar's military regime 1988.
"As the authority of Malaysia recently intensifies deportation of illegal
immigrants, they are in great need of shelter," secretary-general Syedul Amin
Syed Ahmad said in a statement.
"They cannot return to Myanmar now as the prevalent situation there is
still unsafe for the Rohingyas' life, liberty and human rights," he said.
"We beg the government of Malaysia... for sympathy so as to give us
temporary shelter until our return to our homeland is safe for our life."
The move to seek asylum by the 28 Myanmar immigrants came amid an intense
police crackdown on illegal immigrants after recent riots by Indonesian workers
here.
Police said Monday they had detained some 700 illegal immigrants under a
nationwide operation since the first riot on January 17.
The Rohingya Information Centre criticised the UNHCR for its "inhuman
treatment" in surrendering the group to Malaysian authorities and for its
failure to help the oppressed Rohingya community.
It urged the UNHCR to "treat Rohingya Muslims equally at par with other
asylum seekers and stop such attitude of inhuman treatment against Rohingya
asylum seekers and refugees in Malaysia."
Malaysian immigration deputy director Ahmad Ismail said the immigrants
would be placed in a detention camp pending approval from Myanmar for their
repatriation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday January 27, 11:12 AM
Thai addicts sent to boot camp as army tries new tactic against drugs BANGKOK, Jan 27 (AFP) - Faced
with a drugs epidemic that has some 2.65 million Thais in its grips, the
nation's army is drafting thousands of addicts into boot camps and training
centres across the country.
After a decades-long battle against the drugs scourge centred on the
infamous Golden Triangle region, the Thai army is adopting new tactics to combat
a new crisis from a flood of methamphetamine pills.
Some 800 million tablets of the cheap but dangerously addictive pills,
known here as "ya baa" or crazy medicine, are expected to be ferried across the
border from Myanmar this year.
More than four percent of Thais from all walks of life are already addicted
to the drug that has largely replaced heroin addiction in the country.
Army spokesman Colonel Somkhuan Saengpattaranetr said the drugs war was
potentially a greater threat to Thailand's security than any other conventional
conflict it has faced.
"Drugs are a major security problem. If our people, particularly children,
are addicted to drugs, the nation will become very weak," he said, adding that
the fallout on the economy was also enormous.
Last year, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced his government would
fight a "war on drugs", introducing measures including fast-tracked execution
for drug traffickers.
Thailand's army is now joining the get-tough approach, but it has opted to
lay down its weapons to face one of the toughest fights in its history.
The military's new rehabilitation project, named "Wiwat Pollameung" or
Citizen Development School, will embrace some 5,000 drug criminals by the end of
February.
Daung, a former drug addict, was among a group of 200 teenagers who took
part in the pilot project, spending one month's training in two army camps. He
said the experience has changed his life.
"The project give me knowledge and the strength to quit," he told AFP. "Now
I've given up drugs, I'm never going to go back."
A total of 2,584 drug prisoners from across the country took part in the
training at 25 army camps in provinces including Chiang Rai, Tak, Phayao and
Udon Thani in the north near the Myanmar border, as well as Kanchanaburi in
central Thailand and Ranong, Surat Thani and Songkhla in the south.
Prisoners who have served more than a year of their sentence, and have
between six and 10 months to go, are eligible for the scheme run jointly by the
army and the corrections department.
For the next three months, the prisoners are treated just like fresh army
conscripts.
They are roused at dawn, put through their paces in a series of strenuous
exercises and undergo basic military training before entering a vocational
training program.
One of the most popular options is motor mechanic training, which allows
the young prisoners to return to society with a trade that they can earn their
living from.
"The prisoners who have attended this program are encouraged to live
healthy lives and not to return to drug abuse," an army trainer said, adding
that they were tutored in the benefits of maintaining a sound mind and
body.
On graduation, they are awarded brooches to show that they successfully
passed through the Wiwat Pollameung school.
"It is very successful program. Prisoners who have completed it have kept
in contact with army trainers to tell them how it changed their lives," the
trainer said.
The second group of prisoners will enter the school by mid Febuary, in what
could become a regular series of intakes.
Meanwhile, the conventional war on drugs continues to be rolled out along
the Myanmar border, where dozens of illegal laboratories churn out
methampetamine pills.
Lieutenant-General Noraset Issarangkul na Ayudhya said this month that the
drugs trade was likely to increase in 2002 despite improving relations between
Thailand and Myanmar which should have facilitated anti-narcotics
operations.
Noraset, head of the Joint Operation Command Centre, said the Red Wa -- an
ethnic militia accused of controlling the trade -- were merely producing more
drugs to counter the increased suppression activities.
To foil the increased surveillance on the border, drug gangs were replacing
bulk shipments with "ant armies" -- large numbers of drug mules who carry small
amounts into Thailand in backpacks, he said
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday January 28, 10:33 AM
Indian Firms Buy Stake in Daewoo Hunt for Natural Gas in Myanmar SEOUL, Jan 28 Asia Pulse -
India Petroleum Corporation and India Gas Corporation will take part in Daewoo
International's hunt for natural gas in Myanmar, according to the Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Energy Monday.
Daewoo International will sell a 20 per cent stake in the project to India
Petroleum and a 10 per cent stake to India Gas in a signing ceremony scheduled
for Monday at the Daewoo Center, according to the Ministry.
Daewoo International launched the project in August 2000 but sold a 10 per
cent stake last year to Korea Gas Corporation.
A Ministry source said that it is customary to organize an international
consortium to develop gas fields because such projects require huge capital
outlays.
The participation of the two Indian corporations will help speed up the
field's development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday January 28, 9:48 AM
Korea Daewoo Intl Sells 30% In Myanmar Proj To Indian Cos SEOUL (Dow Jones)--South
Korea's Daewoo International Corp. (Q.DWT) will sign agreements late Monday to
sell a total 30% stake in its natural gas development project in Myanmar to
India's ONGC Videsh Ltd. and Gas Authority of India Ltd. (P.GAI), or GAIL, the
Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said Monday.
Daewoo International is the developer of block A-1 in Myanmar, estimated to
hold about 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Daewoo International will sell a 20% stake to ONGC and 10% to GAIL, and
will begin development of the block for natural gas production soon, the
ministry said in a statement.
In November 2001, Daewoo International sold a 10% stake in block A-1 to
Korea Gas Corp. (Q.KGS).
After the stake sales to the Indian companies, Daewoo International will
have a 60% stake in block A-1.
Previously, Daewoo International said ONGC and GAIL may invest in
feasibility tests at block A-1, and will invest more than $400 million for the
development stage.
Daewoo International has said it expects the feasibility tests to cost more
than $20 million and the gas development costs to exceed $1 billion.
If the block is deemed economical, commercial production will begin between
2006 and 2008.
ONGC Videsh is the international arm of India's state-owned Oil &
Natural Gas Corp. (P.ONG).
Daewoo International was spun off from Daewoo Corp. in December 2000.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday January 28, 2:58 PM
Rights criticisms unlikely to trouble Vietnam By David Brunnstrom HANOI (Reuters) - Damning
reports from a global watchdog and the detention of a dissident writer have
thrust Vietnam's rights record back into the spotlight.
But Hanoi has little reason to fear an international response that would
hurt trade, investment, or aid.
Thanks to progress on poverty reduction and a gradual improvement in
overall civil liberties, Vietnam these days enjoys the benefit of the doubt from
the international community, despite a strong rights lobby, especially in the
United States.
Donor countries and agencies have maintained substantial aid flows, even as
countries like Vietnam's military-ruled regional partner Myanmar attract
sanctions and take pariah status.
New York-based Human Rights Watch appealed to donors to press for
significant improvements in rights when they met for an annual World
Bank-sponsored conference in December.
The issue was brought up, quietly, by the European Union and the United
States, but there was no linkage to aid pledges, which were maintained at $2.4
billion, most from Japan.
Vietnam's partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have made
virtually no comment on its rights record in the past year and Hanoi and its
powerful neighbour China clearly see eye to eye on the issue.
Given this, Vietnam is unlikely to feel the need to soften its line on
types of dissent it considers a threat to order or the ruling Communist Party's
monopoly of power, analysts say.
"SEVERAL MAJOR STEPS BACKWARDS"
Rights observers have been disappointed not to have seen a relaxation of
attitudes after a reputed reformer, Nong Duc Manh, became Party leader last
April.
They have also been disappointed that Vietnam's increasing integration into
the international community through activation of a key bilateral trade
agreement with the United States late last year has not brought an easing of the
mood.
Human Rights Watch said this month Hanoi took "several major steps
backward" in 2001, particularly on religious rights.
It detailed severe repression of unprecedented protests by tribal people
over land and religion and the arrest and harassment of many religious leaders
and political dissidents.
Hanoi angrily dismissed the report, but within days confirmed it had put
journalist Bui Minh Quoc under house arrest.
Fellow dissidents say his detention was connected to an investigation he
had conducted into a sensitive border treaty with China, something Hanoi denied
without alternative explanation.
Quoc's detention came ahead a visit by China's President Jiang Zemin
expected late next month or early March and a tight rein is likely to be kept on
similar dissent in coming weeks.
The crackdown on the ethnic protests prompted more than 1,000 minority
people to flee to Cambodia, a neighbour better known in the past for producing
refugees than receiving them.
Vietnam held up efforts to arrange for their repatriation by barring U.N.
monitoring of returns.
Last week it agreed to limited U.N. access, but then dimmed prospects for
any returns on Monday announcing that four minority people had been jailed for
smuggling people out.
Carl Thayer, a Vietnam expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy, said
Hanoi was concerned by criticisms on rights to the extent that they damaged its
international prestige.
However, he said domestic security thinking was still driven by the spectre
of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, China's problems with religious
and political dissent and the fall of regional authoritarians like Indonesia's
Suharto.
"No one knows in this regime how much pressure you can let off before you
have to reapply it," Thayer said. "So in their view it's better to be overly
cautious."
"IT'S NOT A BURMA"
Some diplomats of donor countries admit problems in the approach of the
international community.
"It doesn't make any difference to complain about human rights if you then
continue to do whatever you have been doing in other fields," said one European
diplomat.
"What will be important in coming years will be to see whether there is the
strength of will in the international community to give teeth to these concerns
if they become more serious.
"But as to the question of whether the human rights situation here at the
moment is serious enough to consider sanctions, everyone would probably agree
that it's not.
"It's not a Burma, it's not a China. There are not hundreds and hundreds of
political prisoners locked up. There are people who really are persecuted for
religious beliefs, for beliefs that contradict the government, but not in the
same numbers."
Thayer said Vietnam had little reason to fear sanctions, even though its
trade pact with the United States requires its normal trade relations status to
be renewed annually.
"Vietnam would have to go through a really extraordinary period of
repression to get the U.S. Congress to react," he said, noting that moves to
prompt that by the likes of anti-Hanoi Congressman Dana Rohrabacher had so far
fallen flat.
"Vietnam knows there's nothing in these criticisms. They have to have bite
-- someone's got to cancel aid -- to hurt.
"Every time there's a donors' meeting, it doesn't happen. Every time human
rights groups say 'Hey, don't do that, you're endorsing the regime', they get
pledged more money."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday January 28, 2:15 AM
Refugees from Myanmar handed over to Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Three
Muslim families from Myanmar who took refuge in the ground of the U.S. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Malaysia were handed over to
immigration officials on Saturday.
The 28 men, women and children, from three ethnic Rohingya families, had
entered the compound in the capital early on Friday seeking asylum.
Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department Deputy Director Ahmad Ismail said his
officers were questioning the immigrants to determine their status.
"We have to determine whether they possess valid documents and their
citizenship before deciding to deport them," he said.
Ahmad said it was not known when they would be sent back to their country,
adding that they would be held at a detention camp for immigrants in the western
state of Negeri Sembilan pending the completion of investigations.
The refugees said they entered Malaysia illegally several years ago to
escape persecution in their homeland but an ongoing crackdown on illegal
immigrants in Malaysia has exacerbated their plight.
UNHCR officials in Malaysia declined to comment on Saturday.
On Friday, Yoshiteru Fuji, officer in charge of the Malaysian UNHCR office,
said some of the Rohingya occupying his office had had earlier requests for
refugee status rejected.
He said the U.N. body would consider their appeals on a case-by-case basis.
Twenty more Rohingya, who come from western Myanmar, had also tried to
enter the compound later on Friday but fled as more than a dozen police
patrolled the entrance to the building.
Police caught two of them.
It is estimated that there were between 2,000 and 3,000 Rohingyas living in
Malaysia.
In February last year, about 450 Rohingyas were killed in clashes with
Buddhists around Akyab town in Myanmar, according to a statement released by
Arakan Rohingya National Organisation.
Malaysia, with a population of 23 million, has two million immigrants, less
than half of whom are legal.
The government on Saturday announced plans to deport 30,000 mainly Filipino
and Indonesian immigrants from the eastern state of Sabah, as part of a
crackdown on foreign labour.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday January 28 4:48 AM ET
Thai Villagers Informing o Neighbors By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON, Associated Press Writer BAN PA-KWOW, Thailand (AP) -
Seated in a Buddhist temple, the villagers scribbled on pieces of paper and
dropped them in a box. The secret ballots contained names of friends, relatives
and neighbors suspected to be drug traders or users.
If the accusations turned out to be true, the offenders would be asked to
either reform or be shunned.
The threat of social sanctions is the latest weapon in a widening war on
drugs, especially methamphetamine, the synthetic stimulant that has been
declared Thailand's public enemy No. 1.
But the inform-on-your-neighbor strategy worries some Thais.
``To humiliate publicly, disgrace and shame people, is against human rights
and the law,'' said Thongbai Thongpao, a leading civil liberties lawyer. ``This
kind of measure will lead to social conflict with people in the village, making
enemies of each other.''
However, authorities say the methamphetamines, being smuggled with impunity
from neighboring Myanmar, have become such a problem that tough measures are
needed.
The army says an estimated 700 million methamphetamine tablets were
smuggled into Thailand last year, a sevenfold increase since 1988. Only about 10
percent was seized by the authorities.
The Health Ministry estimates 2.4 million of Thailand's 62 million people
use the drug.
Secret ballot forums were introduced in October in Chiang Rai province,
about 400 miles north of Bangkok, in the notorious Golden Triangle where the
borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.
So far 340 of Chiang Rai's 1,510 villages have held forums.
``Our policy is to try to wipe out the medium- and small-scale dealers,
because these guys are the ones who spread the drugs to teen-agers,'' provincial
police chief Maj. Gen. Wut Witittanont said.
``We think social sanctions will help us a lot,'' he said.
Thai villages are close-knit communities of a few hundred inhabitants each,
and people are assumed to know what the neighbors are up to.
Realizing that villagers can provide the best intelligence about drugs,
authorities decided to enlist their help in fighting the scourge after
conventional law enforcement methods made little progress.
In Chiang Rai alone, about 120,000 people are known to be addicted. Gov.
Rungrith Makarapong says the worst-hit areas are those bordering Myanmar, such
as Mae Chan district where Ban Pa-kwow is located.
Ban Pa-kwow's 200 or so adults knew what was at stake when they gathered at
the Buddhist temple last week.
The meetings work like this: each villager is asked to write the name of a
person suspected to be involved in using or trafficking in drugs. The unsigned
papers are deposited in a box.
Officials then read out the names, which are copied on a blackboard. A
person whose name appears more than five times must answer the assembly. A
confession results in the accused being sent for medical help. A denial leads to
more discussion among villagers.
If a majority finds the accusation warranted, the offenders are made social
pariahs. People are urged not to help them with their harvests or invite them to
parties, or even talk with them.
Such sanctions can be effective because villagers depend on each other,
said Yongyut Tiyapairat, a lawmaker from Mae Chan district who brought
journalists to observe the forum.
The names of blacklisted individuals are given to police. So far, the
meetings have contributed 1,000 names to the police watch list, said Wut, the
police chief.
The forums don't follow court-like procedures of evidence, but it is
assumed that the opinion of a majority of villagers assembled safeguards against
score-settling and malicious finger-pointing. Wut said there have been no
complaints of wrongful ``convictions'' so far.
Aye Kanpeng, a 47-year-old farmer in Ban Pa-Kwow, is among those who
support the program.
``Authorities alone cannot get rid of all drugs and sellers and addicts,''
he said. ``My son is 25 years old and not an addict, but I fear one day he will
follow his friends and try drugs.''
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Leader Meets Chinese CAFIU
Delegation
Xinhuanet 2002-01-27 22:00:44 YANGON, January 27 (Xinhuanet)
-- First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt met with visiting delegation of the China
Association for International Understanding (CAFIU) here Sunday afternoon.
Khin Nyunt said at the meeting that Myanmar-China friendship has been long
standing and the "paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, forged personally by leaders
of elder generation of the two countries, is continuously developing.
He stressed the need for Myanmar and China to strengthen cooperation in the
wake of momentary changes of international situation, adding that the Myanmar
side believes only through development of all-sided cooperative ties, can it be
able to cope with the new challenge ahead.
The Chinese delegation arrived here on Wednesday on a six-day goodwill
visit.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Star
Monday, January 28, 2002
Association appeals for Indian labour PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association has
appealed to the Government to allow for the sourcing of labour from India.
Its honorary secretary C. Krishnan said foreign Indian workers in Malaysia had so far proved to be law-abiding people who had not created any trouble. The association, Krishnan said, made the appeal since the Government was
considering opting for labour from Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Nepal
following the latest “trouble” involving Indonesian workers.
Krishnan said that history had shown how migrant Indian workers, who came
to Malaya then, had worked hard in building railway tracks and roads.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar to Host 7-Nation
Basketball Tournament
Xinhuanet 2002-01-27 11:40:36 YANGON, January 27 (Xinhuanet)
-- A seven-nation basketball friendly tournament for both men and women will be
held here on a grand scale in the last week of February this year, according to
sources at the Myanmar Ministry of Sports on Sunday.
The tournament, aimed at promoting Myanmar basketball standard and gaining
international experiences, will feature teams from Brunei, Cambodia, Laos,
Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and hosts Myanmar.
The friendly is jointly sponsored by the ministry, the Department of Sports
and Physical Education and the Myanmar Basketball Federation.
The tournament will be the one participated by the largest number of
athletes from Southeast Asian (SEA) nations since 1969 when the 5th SEA Games
were held.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - January 28,
2002.
BORDER ECONOMY - Boom times
expected as trade with China surges
Burma business dips as Laos improves
Theerawat Khamthita -- Chiang Rai
Northern entrepreneurs see bright prospects for trade with China but a
plunge in business with Burma following border disputes last year.
Trade with Laos grew slowly.
Sirinat Sennant, provincial commerce office chief in Chiang Rai, said trade
with China, Burma and Laos totalled about 4.8 billion baht last year, up more
than 2% on the previous year.
Trade with southern China amounted to 2.7 billion baht, up by 141% and
accounting for 58% of the total trade with the three countries.
Thai exports to China through Chiang Rai stood at 2.2 billion baht, up
165%, mostly dried longan and truck tyres.
Imports amounted to 547 million baht, up by 77%, and centred around apples
and potassium chlorate, used by longan farmers.
Trade with Burma through Chiang Rai stood at 826 million baht last year,
dropping by 66% from the previous year. Exports were estimated at 779 million
baht, down by 67%, and were mainly fuel.
Imports were recorded at 47.58 million baht, down by 36.51%. Most of them
were cattle and electronic appliances.
Despite the rise in trade with China, the plunge in business with Burma
meant no increase in overall trade value.
Mrs Sirinat said trade with southern China was becoming dominant in the
Mekong economic quadrangle. The share increased from 21.5% in 1999 to 23% in
2000 and 58% last year. Meanwhile, trade with Burma continued to shrink, from
54% in 1999 to 53% in 2000 and only 17% last year.
She attributed the plunge to border disputes that closed the border
crossings at Mae Sai, Chiang Rai, and Tachilek of Burma for five months last
year.
Transit shipments between Thailand and southern China through Burma
decreased because they could be transported directly through commercial
navigation along the Mekong river, she said.
``Cargo transport along the river will play an even more important role in
the future because China has become a member of the World Trade Organisation.
This will boost trade between Thailand and China in terms of both volume and
value,'' Mrs Sirinat said.
Trade with Laos rose by about 10% to 1.1 billion baht last year
Exports to Laos stood at 607.74 million baht, up by 8.46%, and were mostly
food, beverages and construction materials. Imports amounted to 512.59 million
baht, up by 11.84%, and focused on cattle.
The trade shared 23.74% of the overall business in the quadrangle. It
rarely changed as the share stood at 22.96% and 22.04% in 1999 and 2000
respectively.
Transit goods from other countries through Chiang Rai to Laos were
estimated at 78 million baht, rising by 103%, mostly auto parts and marble.
Transit goods from Laos to other nations amounted to 4.5 million baht, dropping
by 69%. Most were processed teak and some fruits.
Mrs Sirinat said prospects were bright for trade with southern China.
Hundreds of millions of people lived there. The potential for sales of rice and
rubber were high.
Future trade would benefit from commercial navigation on the Mekong
river.
Cheap Chinese products like electronic appliances, including video compact
disc players and winter clothing, were becoming popular in Mae Sai and Thai
producers must respond with goods produced with skilled labour.
Trade through unofficial middlemen in the economic quadrangle was much
higher, estimated at over 60 billion baht in the past year, she said.
The state should try to make it official by promoting more commercial banks
in the region. Official trade would benefit the state, she said.
Sermchai Kittiratanapaibool, chairman of the Chiang Rai Chamber of
Commerce, said Burma was opening its markets to more Thai goods.
Previously it banned 27 items from entering Tachilek, but this had been
reduced to three: stimulant drinks, seasonings and soda.
Rangoon had relaxed the ban briefly to allow stimulant drinks to be sold in
the Thai trade fair in Tachilek on Jan 18-27 and that was a good sign.
He also suggested Thai businessmen turn to the economic quadrangle where
the markets were very promising regarding the development of roads and
navigation among the four nations.
Chiang Rai Deputy Governor Sukitja Karunanon said the Business Economics
Department, the Thai Chamber of Commerce, the Thai consulate in China, and
Charoen Pokphand Group would organise a seminar on business in Yunnan in Chiang
Rai on Feb 18.
In addition, the cabinet had allocated 144 million baht to build an opium
museum on about 50 rai of land in the Ban Sop Ruak, Chiang Saen district of the
Golden Triangle.
The museum would be open in six months and should prove popular with
tourists, he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE NATION
DEFENCE: Junta's new jets alarm Don Pathan Published on Jan 28, 2002 US Senate panel calls for report on Thailand's security needs
The US Senate appropriations committee has ordered the US Senate panel
calls for report on Thailand's security needs
The US Senate appropriations committee has ordered the Department of
Defence to report to the Congress on Thailand's se-|curity needs in the wake of
|Burma's recent purchase of |10 MiG-29 fighter aircraft |from Russia, according
to |documents obtained by The |Nation.
"The committee is aware |of a recent introduction of advanced fighter
aircraft in Burma and is concerned with |the strategic military balance |in the
region, particularly regarding Thai-land," one document said.
The idea behind the move is to assess Thailand's defence need and to ensure
"military superiority over its airspace |and territorial waters in the face of
possible threats". The Pentagon is expected to report to Congress by April.
The move to include Thailand's security concern |in this fiscal year's US
Department of Defence Appropriations Bill was pushed through by Senator Mitch
McConnell, a member in the committee.
"I did so because of my grave concerns with regional security and stability
and with the welfare of the people of Burma who endure hardships and indignities
under the oppressive misrule of the State Peace and Development Council [SPDC],"
McConnell told his fellow senators.
"In terms of oppressive regimes, the SPDC ranks right up there with the
Talebans," he added.
McConnell pointed out to |his colleague that pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, who he referred to as the "legitimately elected leader of Burma",
remain under house arrest, with up to 1,800 political prisoners still locked up
in prisons in Burma.
"While SPDC thugs and Suu Kyi are engaged in 'talks', the junta is building
up its military strength and purchasing billions of dollars of military hardware
from Russia and China," McConnell said.
"To say that the defence |build-up sends conflicting |messages to the NLD
and the world is a gross understatement," he added.
McConnell also pointed to |the November 28 edition of Jane's Defence
Weekly, which said Burma had "significant-|ly expanded the country's military
strength while most others in the region are pursuing |force reductions . . .
Military modernisation since 1988 |has been heavily tied to China |as the
principal source of |equipment, variously valued |at between US$1 billion [Bt44
billion] and $2 billion."
The purchase |of MiGs from Moscow, including the acquisition of MiG-17
helicopters in 1996, suggested that "a new dimension could dominate the next
phase of development" in Burma's military build-up.
SPDC has stated publicly that it |plans to expand the armed forces by a
further 25 |per cent, to 500,000, the report said.
Besides the harsh words for the Burmese government, McConnell criticised
Japan |for "rewarding" Rangoon by |providing a grant aid for the repair of
Baluchaung Hydroelectric Power Plant in Karenni State.
"The Japanese government must understand that such assistance is not only
premature, it is also misguided. Money is certainly the language of the thugs
and thieves in Burma, but it cannot buy peace and stability in that mafia
state," the senator said.
Rangoon has said the aid |was part of World War II compensation and
dismissed suggestions that it was a reward for releasing some of the political
prisoners.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thailand Joins Other ASEAN Members in
Working Out Info-Mechanism Against Terrorism
Xinhuanet 2002-01-28
16:43:03
BANGKOK, January 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Thailand and other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to work out a mechanism for prompt exchange of information to enhance the safety and security of travellers against terrorism, according to a report of the Thai News Agency Monday. The agreement was reached at the Fifth ASEAN Tourism Ministers'Meeting,
held in the Indonesian ancient city of Yogyakarta on Friday.
The mechanism is necessary in view of the concern over terrorism following
the discovery of terrorist networks and the aftermath of terrorist attacks
against the United States on September 11 last year, according to the meeting's
resolution.
The meeting, inaugurated by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, was
the first gathering of ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korean tourism ministers,
said the report.
A study was carried out recently to assess the impact of the September 11
attacks, but its findings had not be disclosed, it added.
The meeting also discussed tourism promotion between destinations in ASEAN,
China, Japan and South Korea, and enhance private sector programs, said the
report.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Irrawaddy onLine
Illegal Wood
Confiscated
By Win Myint
January 28, 2002— Fifteen tons of illegally imported wood from Burma were
seized on Wednesday night at the Hwe Ya Au checkpoint just east of Mae Sot,
Thailand after authorities received an anonymous tip regarding the Bangkok-bound
shipment, according to a customs official.
The shipment, with an estimated worth of 1.3 million baht (US$ 29,545), is
believed to be the largest haul of Burmese wood confiscated by Thai authorities
since the government implemented an import ban on wood and wood products from
Burma on November 7.
Tak province's Deputy Customs Chief told reporters that they have been
closely monitoring all checkpoints in order to thwart smuggling efforts in the
area. Wood products are in high demand in Thailand due to a countrywide
moratorium on logging that began in the late 1980s.
Meanwhile, two mills in Burma's Karen state, opposite Tha Song Yang in
Thailand, have requested that the Thai government allow them to transport logs
bound for Hong Kong across Thai soil. The two mills are owned by Kyaw Myint
Naing Co Ltd, which has close affiliation with the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army (DKBA). The petition, filed by managing director Swe Myint, is
still under review.
Although the November 7 directive is still recognized, there has been some
debate among Thai authorities as to whether they should maintain the ban,
according to one Thai official.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Irrawaddy online
Trade Fair
Concludes
By John S. Moncreif
January 28, 2002— A two-week trade fair intended to boost economic
relations between Thailand and Burma concluded yesterday in the Burmese border
town of Tachilek. The fair comes just one year after Burmese and Thai troops
clashed along Thailand's northern border, when, Mae Sai, a town opposite
Tachilek, was shelled by Burmese troops resulting in a five-month border
closure.
During the opening ceremony of the fair, leaders from both countries were
able to put their differences aside. Secretary One of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council Lt Gen Khin Nyunt and Thai Deputy Prime Minister Gen
Chavalit both referred to each other as "big brother" on numerous occasions
during their opening speeches.
Khin Nyunt also met with Wei Hsue-kang, leader of the United Wa State Party
(UWSA) on the eve of the fair's opening, according to a report from the Shan
Herald Agency for News. Wei Hsue-Kang is wanted by the US and Thailand on drug
trafficking charges. The Thai government, at the end of last year, began a
campaign to crack down on his drug trafficking network by seizing almost 200
million baht in assets.
Meanwhile, the exhibition, which was held at the Shan Yoma Department
store, featured Burmese traditional medicine, forestry products and famous
Burmese jewelry along with goods from fifty-nine Thai companies.
Despite the fanfare, attendance for the fair fell far short of projections.
Many Burmese said they were turned off by the lack of variety. One man
complained that the majority of products were herbal medicines that were readily
available throughout the country.
The border checkpoint linking the two towns saw an upsurge in activity as
fair goers crossed back and forth. Border officials were concerned that the
increase in travel might be used as a shield to increase drug trafficking and
during the fair Thai border officials seized a pickup truck filled with drug
precursors used for methamphetamines.
The fair was jointly organized by the Thai-Myanmar Cultural and Economic
Association and its counterpart the Myanmar Thai Cultural and Economic
Association, which is sponsored by business and government leaders with economic
interests in Burma.
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