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BURMA RELATED NEWS - JUNE 08,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar outposts seized by Shan
army-Thai military
AP - Myanmar authorities burn 290 tons of opium poppy
seeds
AP - International press groups protest clampdown by Myanmar's
military junta
VOA News - Burma, Thailand Tense Amid Border
Fighting
The Star - Malaysian company starts design for Myanmar?s EDI
system
Bkk Post - EU could admit Burma to forum
CNN - Shan army in fierce Myanmar fighting
The Nation - Army chief under pressure to
quit
The Nation - Exiles sought for attack
The Nation - Security boosted at Burmese
border
The Nation - No help to retrieve pickup
The Nation - Driver may be cause of attack
The Nation - EDITORIAL: The
Burma that we don't know ----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar outposts seized by Shan
army-Thai military
MAE HONG SON, Thailand, June 8 (Reuters) ? Myanmar rebels fighting near the Thai
border have seized two more government outposts after days of fierce fighting
that has fuelled tension between Yangon and Bangkok, military sources said on
Saturday.
The Myanmar army has poured 1,500 reinforcements into the area and is
expected to launch a fresh offensive in coming days at the rebel Shan State
Army's headquarters, opposite Thailand's northern Mae Hong Son province, said
Thai army officers stationed on the border.
The Shan army seized on Friday the Si Kieu and Doi Kom Kiew outposts,
previously manned by a joint force of Myanmar troops and their allies the ethnic
United Wa State Army soldiers, the officers told Reuters.
''The Myanmar army is expected to launch an attack at Doi Tai Lang, which
is the Shan State Army's headquarters, in coming days,'' said one senior Thai
officer.
Myanmar troops and the Wa, an ethnic army blamed by Thailand for producing
much of the Golden Triangle's output of heroin and methamphetamines, launched an
offensive earlier this week to try to capture four border outposts taken earlier
by the Shan army.
Myanmar accuses Thailand of supporting Shan rebels backed up against the
border -- a charge Bangkok denies -- and has warned of retaliation if Thai
troops get involved in the fighting.
Tensions between the two countries flared last month after Thailand moved
thousands of troops to its northern border.
The troops were ostensibly there for a training exercise, but military
sources said they were preparing for a strike on Wei Hsueh-Kang, a notorious
drug baron who commands a faction of the Wa army.
Thailand withdrew the troops after protests from Myanmar but relations
between the two countries have hardly improved.
Myanmar sealed major border crossings last month and its state-run media
have bitterly criticised Thailand. The junta has so far rebuffed Thai requests
for talks.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar authorities burn 290 tons
of opium poppy seeds
ASSOCIATED PRESS BANGKOK, Thailand, June 7 (AP)? Myanmar authorities on Friday burned 290 tons of opium poppy seeds in a demonstration of their determination to stamp out the drug trade, a government public relations firm reported. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was the world's top opium producer in
2001, even though its production has fallen sharply since 1996, according to
U.S. State Department figures. Much of Myanmar's opium is processed into heroin,
which is exported to neighboring countries and onward to the West.
The burning took place in Shan state, an eastern border area that is the
nation's main narcotics production area, Sally Anderson of the Washington
D.C.-based public relations company DCI Group told The Associated Press in
Bangkok. Myanmar is a client of the DCI group.
She said the mass of poppy seeds took several hours to burn and was
witnessed by 350 people, including government officials and their guests as well
as villagers.
Among those who watched the destruction were Priscilla Clapp, charge
d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar, a representative of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration from the embassy, and Japanese Ambassador Shigeru
Tsumori, said Anderson.
A government news release earlier this week said the seeds, if planted and
harvested, would yield enough opium to make 55 tons of pure heroin with an
estimated U.S. street value of $2.2 billion, according to Justice Department
calculations.
Last year's estimated opium production in Myanmar totaled approximately 865
tons, which could be used to make about 86.5 tons of heroin.
Under a program called ''Project Hell-Flower,'' the seeds were collected
from farmers in northern, eastern and southern Shan State in exchange for rice,
wheat, maize and corn seeds.
The United States has provided little assistance to Myanmar since 1988, when the military government crushed a pro-democracy movement. U.S. officials have said relations will not improve until Myanmar allows democratic reforms and does more to fight drugs. Myanmar is one of three countries that the State Department says has
''failed demonstrably'' to cooperate in fighting drugs. The designation makes it
ineligible for most types of U.S. assistance.
----------------------------------------------------------------- International press groups protest
clampdown by Myanmar's military junta
Sat Jun 8, 4:55 AM ET BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Two
international press organizations expressed concern over curbs on press freedom
in Myanmar, protesting a ban on the advertising of products from Thailand and
the continued imprisonment of journalists and other political prisoners.
The World Association of Newspapers said in a news release Saturday that it
had written to the head of Myanmar's military junta, Gen. Than Shwe, to protest
an order banning any mention of Thailand and advertisements for Thai products in
privately-owned publications.
The Paris-based group, which claims to represent 18,000 newspapers in 100
countries, said the ban was "a clear breach" of the internationally recognized
right to freedom of _expression_.
The letter, cosigned by the World Editors Forum, said the ban on
advertising Thai products "severely threatens the economic viability of the
Burmese press, which is heavily reliant on Thai advertising." Myanmar is also
known as Burma.
The ban was imposed on May 22 after Myanmar accused Thailand of militarily
supporting anti-government ethnic guerrillas in fighting along their
border.
Another Paris-based group, Reporters Without Borders, meanwhile called for
the immediate and unconditional release of hundreds of political prisoners,
including 16 journalists.
In a news release, the group condemned what it said were reprisals taken
against an imprisoned photographer, Khin Maung Win and at least 25 other
political prisoners who had staged a hunger strike in Kalay prison in
northwestern Myanmar.
It said the hunger strikers began their protest on May 16 to demand the
release of all political prisoners. Khin Maung Win ? better known as Sunny ? was
transferred along with other prisoners to another prison on May 21. Since then,
his family and friends have received no news from him.
Reporters Without Borders said Sunny was sentenced in 1997 to seven years
imprisonment for videotaping an interview with opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi and smuggling it out of the country.
Suu Kyi is leader of the National League for Democracy party, which won a
1990 general election but was not allowed to take power. Myanmar's military
regime put Suu Kyi under house arrest from 1989 until 1995 and again from
October 2000 until early May.
In late 2000 the junta began closed-door reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi
and since early 2001 it has released about 290 political prisoners.
----------------------------------------------------------------- VOA News
Burma, Thailand Tense Amid Border Fighting Ron Corben Bangkok 7 Jun 2002 14:03 UTC Tensions between Burma and Thailand remain high, with their navies
patrolling close to each other in the Andaman Sea. Burma's military government
is also keeping up a propaganda campaign against Thailand.
Fighting continues between the Burmese Army and ethnic Shan fighters near
the border with Thailand. The fighting has killed or injured dozens over the
past three weeks.
News reports have said the well-equipped Shan rebel fighters recently
overran a government base. The Burmese army is said to be sending
reinforcements.
So far, Thai officials say the fighting has not spilled over into Thai
territory.
The Shan army, which has been fighting for greater autonomy from the
central government for decades, said more than 300 Burmese and pro-Rangoon
ethnic Wa have been killed. There were no details of Shan casualties. Burma has
accused Thailand of supporting the Shan, an accusation the Thai Army
denies.
Thailand said the Wa ethnic group draws its income from drug trafficking.
Rangoon denies the charge, saying the Shan are behind a flood of illegal
narcotics into Thailand.
Vessels from both navies have been dispatched to the Andaman Sea. Thai
officials say there has been no naval confrontation but both sides made the
deployments to safeguard territory.
Just a month ago, several senior Burmese officials visited Thailand, and
their talks with Bangkok then were considered a success. Diplomats and analysts
in the region play down any thought the current tensions could lead to
cross-border skirmishes.
Professor Chaiyachoke Chulasiriwong is a political scientist from
Chulaongkorn University. He says the current fighting is part of Rangoon's
regular efforts to quash the rebels, both the Shan and the Karen National Union.
"I would say [the fighting] is an annual event in terms of the suppression
that the Burmese government forces try to rid of the minority factions. A number
of these factions have laid down their arms except a few, for instance the KNU
(Karen National Union) and the Shan State Army," he said.
Despite efforts by Thailand to start talks, Burma continues to hold mass
rallies denouncing the Karen National Union. One diplomat in Rangoon says the
rallies refer obliquely to Thailand's alleged backing to the rebel armies.
Diplomats have said Burma's military government may be looking to distract
citizens from the country's economic troubles. There also has been little sign
of further dialogue with opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi since her release a
month ago.
Professor Chaiyachoke said the Thai government is not unified in its
approach to Burma. " The problem is not because of the conflict between Thailand
and Burma itself, but because among the government agencies we are not united.
Therefore this thing caused some sort of problem," the professor said.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is facing widespread criticism for
his conciliatory approach. Thailand's efforts to commence dialogue with Burma
have so far been turned down.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Star
Friday, June 7, 2002 Malaysian company starts design for Myanmar?s EDI system KUALA LUMPUR: Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd (DNT) said it has begun a
?blueprinting? exercise for Myanmar in the first step towards implementing a
trade electronic data interchange (TEDI) system for the country.
The three-month exercise, covering three aspects ? scope, functionality and
technical specifications ? is scheduled to be completed by August, DNT said in a
press statement.
DNT was formally appointed to the task at a seminar on cooperation
organised and jointly sponsored by Myanmar?s e-National Task Force (e-NTF) and
the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC) of Malaysia, held in Yangon in
April.
The seminar was a follow-up to a memorandum of understanding signed between
the e-NTF and MDC in January, DNT said. The objective was to lay down a pilot
project to jumpstart Myanmar?s information and communications technology (ICT)
development.
MDC manages Malaysia?s Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) project.
According to DNT chief executive officer Hazree Mohd Turee, the company was
pleased to answer the Malaysian Government?s call for closer cooperation among
Asean members.
?By sharing our experience and expertise, we can help shorten the learning
curve of our less ICT progressive neighbours.
?The MDC has been aggressively promoting Malaysia?s ICT expertise abroad,
and we are happy to support its initiatives,? he said.
MDC senior vice-president Dr Muhammad Ghazie Ismail said that many
countries have expressed interest in learning from Malaysia?s experience in ICT
implementation.
?Malaysia is well advanced in many aspects as we have successfully
implemented an electronic trade documentation system since 1994, and various MSC
flagship applications are now being realised.
?We are encouraged that Malaysian ICT companies such as Dagang Net have
stepped forward to offer their services,? he said.
Established in 1989, DNT owns and operates Malaysia?s most established
e-transactions exchange that handles some 48 million transactions and some
RM4.7billion in Customs duty payments annually.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Saturday 08 June 2002
EU could admit Burma to forum Cambodia and Laos could also join talks Anuraj Manibhandu The European Union yesterday implied readiness to consider admitting Burma
into an Asia-Europe forum at a later date, in what was seen as a significant
compromise.
A chairman's statement at the same time made clear the door would also be
open to Cambodia and Laos, other members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations not yet integrated into the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem).
The 10 Asian and 15 European ministers ``welcomed the interest in joining,
expressed by various European and Asian states, in particular the Asean members
Cambodia, Laos and Burma,'' the draft statement said.
The ministers ``agreed to recommend to leaders to take up the issue of
enlargement, in accordance with the Asia-Europe Co-operation Framework, at the
fifth summit in Hanoi in 2004, to allow for consolidation of the Asem
process.''
Asem leaders are due to meet in Copenhagen, late this year, and the
deliberate delay in considering Burma's admission could be seen as linked to
current clashes on the Thai-Burmese border, observers noted.
Senior Asean officials had raised the issue during preparatory meetings in
Madrid earlier this week, Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar told the
Bangkok Post in an interview on June 6.
Asean leaders at their last summit had agreed to push the issue of Burma's
admission into Asem, he added.
The draft statement recognised the May 6 release of Aung San Suu Kyi from
house arrest as a positive step
However, it also urged more such developments.
The ministers ``welcomed the recent positive developments in Burma, in
particular the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and looked forward to further
positive and concrete steps towards national reconciliation.''
European hardliners earlier had dismissed Mrs Suu Kyi's release as too
little too late.
The EU's Scandinavian member states are among its harshest critics of the
military junta in Rangoon.
Mrs Suu Kyi had noted that Norway, a non-EU Scandinavian, would be her
first trip if she left the country.
Burma in December 2000 agreed to let a European troika conduct a
fact-finding mission into the country, after EU ministers agreed to sit with
Rangoon's representative at an Asean-EU ministerial meeting in Rangoon.
The junta's release of Mrs Suu Kyi was widely seen as an admission of the
dire straits of Burma's economy, and a bid for aid from Western donors,
including Europeans.
----------------------------------------------------------------- CNN News
Shan army in fierce Myanmar fighting June 8, 2002 Posted: 0938 GMT MAE HONG SON, Thailand (Reuters) -- Myanmar rebels fighting near the Thai
border have seized two more government outposts after days of fierce fighting
that has fuelled tension between Yangon and Bangkok, military sources said on
Saturday.
The Myanmar army has poured 1,500 reinforcements into the area and is
expected to launch a fresh offensive in coming days at the rebel Shan State
Army's headquarters, opposite Thailand's northern Mae Hong Son province, said
Thai army officers stationed on the border.
The Shan army seized on Friday the Si Kieu and Doi Kom Kiew outposts,
previously manned by a joint force of Myanmar troops and their allies the ethnic
United Wa State Army soldiers, the officers told Reuters.
"The Myanmar army is expected to launch an attack at Doi Tai Lang, which is
the Shan State Army's headquarters, in coming days," said one senior Thai
officer.
Myanmar troops and the Wa, an ethnic army blamed by Thailand for producing
much of the Golden Triangle's output of heroin and methamphetamines, launched an
offensive earlier this week to try to capture four border outposts taken earlier
by the Shan army.
Myanmar accuses Thailand of supporting Shan rebels backed up against the
border -- a charge Bangkok denies -- and has warned of retaliation if Thai
troops get involved in the fighting.
Tensions between the two countries flared last month after Thailand moved
thousands of troops to its northern border.
The troops were ostensibly there for a training exercise, but military
sources said they were preparing for a strike on Wei Hsueh-Kang, a notorious
drug baron who commands a faction of the Wa army.
Thailand withdrew the troops after protests from Myanmar but relations
between the two countries have hardly improved.
Myanmar sealed major border crossings last month and its state-run media
have bitterly criticized Thailand. The junta has so far rebuffed Thai requests
for talks.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Army chief under pressure to quit
Published on Jun 8, 2002
Army chief General Surayud Chulanont faces mounting pressure about whether
he will leave his job due to conflicts with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
over their differences on Burma as well as concerns about his health, military
sources said yesterday.
The rift between the military and government leadership became public
knowledge when Thaksin accused the Army of "overreacting" in an exchange of
artillery shelling with Burmese troops last month.
Burma accused Thailand of firing the shells to help the rebel Shan minority
in a series of attacks on Burmese outposts in the border area near Chiang Mai's
Wiang Haeng district.
The Army chief defended the decision, saying the military had to act
promptly following the intrusion on Thai sovereignty.
But Thaksin, who promised Burma's No-2 leader Maung Aye that the
buffer-zone policy would be abolished, put pressure on the Army by demanding an
explanation of the huge damage to the Burmese outposts.
Rangoon gave Thaksin evidence that indicated that the artillery shelling,
which killed some 30 Burmese troops including a colonel, went far beyond the
normal warning shots, sources said.
According to an Army source, Surayud told military officers close to him
before leaving Bangkok for medical treatment in the United States that his
patience was wearing thin, although he did not elaborate on his next move.
The Army chief, who is suffering from intestinal ulcers, also said he
needed to escape the stress of work.
Maj-General Ninnart Beawkhaimuk, chief officer at the Army commander's
office, confirmed that Surayud was sick and said that the Army chief, who
received surgery some years ago for the problem, had been recommended by doctors
at Mongkutklao Hospital to get treatment in the US. However, his illness was not
so serious that he would be forced to leave the job, he added.
Thaksin yesterday also said Surayud had not decided to quit the position of
Army commander-in-chief.
"The rumour [about his resignation] will never come true," Thaksin said,
adding that his comment about "overreaction" was unlikely to have hurt the
feelings of the Army chief.
"Is it a strong word? No, I've never used any strong words. 'Overreact' is
a normal word that simply means acting much more beyond what is necessary. It's
a very simple word, don't take it so seriously," he said.
Thaksin said his government retained good relations with the military
because as a former pre-cadet academy student he understood the military's
job.
"The military has a duty to defend our sovereignty and the government fully
supports them in doing their job. But today nobody is violating Thai
sovereignty, so why do soldiers need to take action," he said.
The premier said the government had a clear policy not to interfere in the
internal affairs of foreign countries and maintained good relations with Burma.
He also said the government needed to correct the misunderstanding that
Thailand supported rebellious minorities that were fighting against Burma.
"May I beg your love for the nation, not for me . . . Scold me if it's good
for the country. I am not the untouchable. But please think twice [because]
scolding me probably damages the country," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Exiles sought for attack
Published on Jun 8, 2002
Authorities are looking for three former Burmese students in connection
with the recent attack on a school bus that killed three school children and
injured 14 others on their way to school in Ratchaburi province.
A military intelligence source said the three were part of exiled groups
who had taken up arms against the Burmese government but decided to give up the
armed struggle and seek a new life abroad.
It is believed that the three entered Ratchaburi two weeks ago after their
base camp opposite Mae Hong Son's Sarieng district was overrun by advancing
Burmese troops on May 8.
The source, quoting other Burmese exiles in the area, said the three gunmen
were planning to ask the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for a political
asylum but were not convinced that they would receive this status.
"We had suspected that the killings may have been the result of a
kidnapping attempt that went wrong," the source said.
Ratchaburi Governor Gomet Daengthongdee said the province had long been a
haven for Burmese dissidents, as well as Karen rebels, who either refused to
relocate to a third country or had had their request for resettlement to a third
country rejected.
The province also houses the Maneeloy holding centre for Burmese dissidents
who fled to Thailand over a decade ago following a bloody crackdown against
pro-democracy activists by the military regime.
The camp is now closed and the residents are either resettled to a third
country or have been relocated to border camps. However, remnants of the former
Maneeloy residents are still roaming the area with no real base to carry out
their activities.
Wat Jedi Hoi, a Buddhist temple, became the centre of attention after it
was discovered that Burmese dissidents had taken refuge there in the past.
Police suspect that the dissidents may have buried their weapons in the temple
grounds.
The attack on the school bus was one of the worst terrorist incidents on
Thai soil in decades.
Armed ethnic groups, including the anti-Rangoon Karen National Union, and
the pro-Rangoon DKBA - operating along the border area adjacent to Ratchaburi
province - have joined Thai authorities in hunting down the killers.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Security boosted at Burmese border
Published on Jun 8, 2002
Official agencies in districts along the Thai-Burmese border are taking
extra security precautions amid reports that pro-Rangoon ethnic groups may be
crossing over to carry out attacks, officials said.
Tak's Mae Sot district chief Samart Loifah said surveillance had been
stepped up to prevent possible incursions by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army,
a pro-Rangoon group with a record of launching attacks on Burmese refugees and
local villagers in Thailand.
Soldiers from Infantry units, as well as Border Police, have been mobilised
in border areas, Samart said.
A school with 2,000 students is only 1.5 kilometres from the border, he
said. In Chiang Mai, Vieng Haeng district chief Adisuan Nanthachaiphan singled
out two villages, Ban Lak Taeng and Pieng Luang, as his main concerns as stray
shells from Burma had fallen on the Thai side, displacing over 1,500 local
residents.
In Mae Hong Son, Governor Poj U-thana told provincial officials to be on
high alert around the clock amid reports of possible sabotage by pro-Rangoon
groups.
The measures came amid a stand-off between Thai and Burmese troops, as well
as the recent killing of three schoolchildren and injuring of 14 others in a
district of Ratchaburi.
Burmese government troops have been mobilised to counter Shan rebels.
Rangoon is determined to retake some positions lost to Shans over the past two
weeks.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
No help to retrieve pickup
Published on Jun 8, 2002
Burmese troops and pro-Rangoon Karen militias yesterday refused to
negotiate the return of a pickup truck that was stolen from a Royally sponsored
project on Thursday night, forest and military officials said.
District officials said the project officers had been watching the World
Cup at the time and been caught off guard by the robbers.
Piya Chantarapanon, acting provincial forest chief, said about 50 armed
robbers had raided the project's office, a kilometre from the Thai-Burmese
border at Baan Maoko in Umphang district, and driven away the pickup
truck.
The robbers fled across the border into Burma, he said.
A team of civilians and military officials later contacted the Burmese base
but were told to initiate direct talks with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA). a pro-Rangoon outfit with a track record of crossing over to the Thai
side to carry out raids on Burmese refugees and Thai villagers.
The DKBA in turn declined to meet and negotiate with Thai officials.
A border security official expressed suspicion that the DKBA had staged the
armed robbery as a means of fuelling cross-border tension.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
SCHOOL-BUS SHOOTING: Driver may be
cause of attack
Published on Jun 8, 2002
Thongmon Khemthong, the driver of the pickup truck used as a school bus,
has metamorphosed from an overnight hero to a possible cause of the attack by
three masked gunmen on his passengers - 24 children attending Ban Kha Witthaya
School.
Ban Kha sub-district villagers glorified Thongmon as a saviour when he had
claimed that there would have been more casualties had he not sped away from the
ambush.
Ratchaburi Governor Komet Daengthongdi, however, created a sensation with
his remark that Thongmon's business and personal conflicts might have driven the
unknown men to rake the makeshift school bus with M-16 attack rifles.
Although police have not ruled out the possibility that the shooting was
linked to the recent border skirmishes in Burma, police took Komet's comment
seriously and have made it the focus of their investigation.
Police questioned Thongmon yesterday and told him to stop giving any more
interviews to the press.
Thongmon - a native of Nakhon Pathom's Kampaengsaen district - moved to Ban
Kha sub-district over 10 years ago as a man of means. He used Bt1 million
inherited from his mother to start a general merchandise store, a karaoke lounge
and a school transportation service. Conflicts arising from these business,
which many believe were operated as a front for illegal drug trafficking, are
suspected of being the motive behind the shooting on Monday.
A source said ethnic Karens used to patronise Thongmon's karaoke bar and
have fights. Thongmon also allegedly raped a Karen woman who worked for him and
the Karens may have come back to seek revenge.
Running the general merchandise store led him to become acquainted with the
Karens, who would order supplies such as medication to stop bleeding. They were
reportedly cheated by Thongmon and this might have been a motive for their
staging the attack.
Thongmon's school-bus business, which had been in service for only 21 days,
may have upset other bus operators who might have resented the new
competition.
Ban Kha police said Thongmon was once arrested on a drug charge and turned
out to be a mole for the police. Police suspect that when the three gunmen tried
to stop Thongmon on Monday, he might have panicked, thinking that drug traders
or police were after him, so he tried to run them over.
"The gunmen may have only intended to rob his pickup and not to shoot
anyone to death judging from the direction of the bullets,'' he said. "Had
Thongmon stopped the car, the gunmen may not have hit the students with their
fire. They might have only taken the pickup away or held the students hostage
for ransom,'' the police source said.
His father-in-law, however, denied that his son-in-law was the cause of the
shooting, saying that although Thongmon was once arrested on a drug charge he
had only two amphetamine tablets on him, which he needed for the hard work on
the farm. Moreover, it happened 15 years ago, he added. It was also not his
son-in-law's idea to start the school-bus business. Parents had asked him to do
it since they had to wait for a school bus in front of his house, said the
father-in-law.
PM's Office Minister Thamarak Isarangura said that if police could find any
evidence of Thongkon's involvement in the shooting, they would start
investigating any group that might want to undermine national stability by
staging the episode.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
EDITORIAL: The Burma that we don't know
Published on Jun 8, 2002
Amid the ongoing conflict between Thailand and Burma, which has intensified
since the shooting up of a school bus at the border, it is worth asking
ourselves how much we actually understand our neighbours, their people and
politics. Very little, especially when it comes to Burma. On the one hand the
Thai government is trying to play down the escalating tension, treating it as a
"minor issue"; on the other hand we cannot not help but be confused when hearing
how state-run media in Rangoon have demonised Thailand. `
It is clear we don't know much about our neighbours. And this is hardly
surprising when we look at how little effort we put into getting to understand
them.
In the case of Burma, the knowledge of many of us stops at primary-school
history textbooks, which create lingering mistrust by the stories of how Burmese
troops raided, looted and burned down our former capital of Ayuytthaya. Then the
memory probably jumps to the current problems of Burmese migrant workers. A lot
seems to be missing in between.
Academics Sunait Chutintaranond and Withaya Sucharithanarugse rightly point
out that Thai people need to understand more about Burma and make themselves
understood by the Burmese in order to look beyond the conflicts between leaders
of the two countries. To promote better understanding between the two countries,
a student-exchange programme would be a good idea.
Students from Burma should be studying at Thai universities under
scholarships from the Thai government. By living in Thai society, these students
would have a better knowledge of Thailand when they went back home. At the same
time, Thai students would also learn about Burmese people through their
classmates from Rangoon.
There is a need to create a body of knowledge and specialists in Burmese
affairs.
While Thai leaders are stuck in government-to-government conflicts, the
academics have gone a step further to build up public understanding of Burma and
other neighbours in Southeast Asia.
Chulalongkorn University has just initiated the country's first MA
programme in Southeast Asian Studies. The course is a more advanced scheme than
the undergraduate programme in the same field at Thammasat University.
Both programmes are unique because they stress the need for native scholars
and students learn one another's perspectives.
Seeing language as the first key to understanding between peoples, the
academics also offer scholarships to members of the Thai public to learn the
languages of our neighbours, Burmese among them.
Now that the first group of students has just completed the course, they
will be organising an intellectual and cultural exchange event entitled "The
Burma we don't know" tomorrow at the Student Christian Centre. It is an initial
step to create people-to-people diplomacy as an alternative to the superficial,
formal relationships between leaders which seem to benefit few people outside
their circle.
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