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BURMA RELATED NEWS - JUNE 10,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- TI - Offensive claims lives of 100 Myanmar
troops
AP - Myanmar rebel leader disappointed in Thai
premier's plan to stop tolerating rebels as buffer
Bkk Post - Largest-ever attack against SSA
planned
Bkk post - Buffer
state policy ended years ago
Bkk Post - Pro-Rangoon
rebels return stolen vehicle
The Nation - Shan rebels assail change of
position
The Nation - BUFFER STRATEGY: PM flayed for
Burma gaffe
Xinhuanet - Foreign Bank Offices Withdraw From
Myanmar
NSTP - 100 Myanmar soldiers killed in
rebel attacks
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Times of India
Offensive claims lives of 100 Myanmar troops AFP [ SUNDAY, JUNE 09, 2002 10:13:14 PM ] CHIANG MAI: Around 100 Myanmar troops have been killed and some 150 wounded since they launched an offensive against the rebel Shan State Army (SSA) last week, a Thai military source said Sunday as fighting continued. "About 100 Myanmar troops have been killed and another 150 injured since
the offensive began," a Thai military intelligence official based along the
border said.
He said up to 50 fighters with the SSA had been killed or injured in the
offensive.
Myanmar troops carried out long-range shelling attacks throughout Saturday
night and Sunday, SSA spokeswoman Nam Kher Hsem told AFP from the border area in
Chiang Mai province.
Clashes were heaviest around the areas of Pang Kam Kaw and Pang Mae Sueng
opposite Chiang Mai province, Nam Kher said.
Myanmar and pro-Yangon forces are attempting to recapture border bases Yangon says were overrun by the rebels last month. Yangon declared last week its intention to stage an all-out offensive against the SSA. Another Thai military source said the SSA was in a superior position for
the fighting, which is occurring during the onset of the wet season.
"I think the Myanmar troops have been suffering more casualties during the
recent attacks because the Shan positions are on the mountain tops. The bad
weather is a major problem for Yangon forces," the source said.
Another border source in Mae Hong Son province told AFP of eyewitness
reports that Myanmar soldiers had rounded up some 200 civilians in eastern
border towns to use as porters.
Eyewitnesses had seen handcuffed Myanmar prisoners in the battle zones
carrying arms and ammunitions for government troops, the source said.
The SSA spokeswoman said Shan fighters had also reported seeing prisoners
handcuffed and shackled to each other.
At least 3,000 Myanmar soldiers and their allies, the United Wa State Army's fighters, are involved in the offensive against the SSA, one of two major armed insurgent groups in Myanmar yet to sign a ceasefire agreement with the ruling junta. They have been fighting for an independent state for decades.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar rebel leader disappointed
in Thai premier's plan to stop tolerating rebels as buffer
Sun Jun 9,11:09 AM ET BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A
Myanmar guerrilla leader expressed disappointment Sunday over a decision by
Thailand's prime minister to distance his country from ethnic minority rebel
groups fighting Myanmar's military government.
Col. Yawd Serk of the Shan State Army was speaking a day after Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that he had decided to end a long-standing
policy of tolerating rebels who operate along Thailand's border with Myanmar as
a "buffer zone." That policy has recently strained tensions with Myanmar's junta
as skirmishes with the rebels have intensified.
Yawd Serk, whose ethnic minority army has been fighting for years for
autonomy in the country formerly known as Burma, called Thaksin's announcement
unwise and unfortunate.
"Thailand needs to think about with whom it wants to be friends," he said
in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
Thailand's military has traditionally maintained close ties with rebels of
the Shan and Karen ethnic groups, who were considered to provide a security
buffer for Thailand by tying up Mynamar's army along the border.
While discouraging attacks by the rebels across the frontier, the Thai army
has allowed them to supply themselves in Thailand and organize political support
among refugees who fled there. There are more than 100,000 Karen refugees in
Thai camps.
Thaksin has yet to spell out his new policy toward the Myanmar rebels,
saying only that the "buffer zone (concept) must be totally abandoned."
His government is seeking closer business ties with Myanmar, which with
relations deteriorated badly after shells were fired across their border last
month.
Mynamar accused Thailand of launching an artillery barrage to support
attacks by Shan rebels on Myanmar army outposts, but Thailand insisted that its
forces had merely fired warning shots after fighting on the other side of the
border spilled onto Thai soil.
After the incident, Myanmar closed its border with Thailand, freezing
overland trade, and banned Thai officials from visiting.
Rebels belonging to Myanmar's Shan and Karen minorities have been fighting
for autonomy since Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948 as
Burma.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Monday 10 June 2002
Largest-ever attack against SSA planned Burma deploys more troops, heavy artillery Post reporters An impending Burmese attack on the Shan State Army could be the biggest
assault ever by Rangoon, involving thousands of troops and heavy artillery, Thai
intelligence sources said.
Never before had Rangoon marshalled such a large force to attack the Shan,
whose military camps are sited alongside the border in rugged terrain opposite
Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang and Mae Hong Son's Pang Mapha districts.
The SSA headquarters are at Doi Tailang, opposite Pang Mapha.
A junior SSA officer predicted Rangoon's forces would begin a major
offensive in the next few days against Kaw Wan and Kaw Muang, two significant
Shan bases opposite Mae Fa Luang.
He expected an extensive artillery bombardment of Kaw Muang following
Bangkok's refusal to allow Burmese troops to launch an attack on the base
through Thai territory. The terrain on the Burmese side is very difficult for
troops to carry out an assault.
A veteran Thai border watcher said Burmese troops now had no option but to
use artillery to bombard Kaw Muang.
``What concerns us most is that shells that miss their targets could land
on our side of the border and cause extensive damage,'' he said.
Thai cavalry soldiers from Pha Muang Task Force deployed at Mae Fa Luang's
border area remain on full alert.
There have been indications the Burmese might use the same strategy they
did last year, when their troops crossed the border and briefly occupied Ban
Pang Noon as a base for a cross-border operation against the SSA base at Kaw
Wan, four kilometres west of Kaw Muang.
``Our orders are clear, that no foreign forces will be allowed to use our
territory for any military operation,'' a cavalry officer said.
Tachilek township, on the Burmese side of the border, was without
electricity last night following reports that local Burmese officials had asked
Thai authorities to cut the supply to the town.
``It was very quiet in Tachilek and we don't really know what's going on
there, but this could have something to do with Rangoon's coming military
operation,'' a local official said, adding reports of the build-up were causing
widespread concern among local people.
The Irrawaddy newspaper reported the Burmese military was forcing local
people in the border town of Myawaddy to work as porters for troops preparing to
attack the Shan.
Since the junta closed the Thai-Burmese Friendship bridge between Myawaddy
and Mae Sot two weeks ago the Burmese army had been arbitrarily arresting young
men in the marketplace and at tea shops, the report.
The border crossing is normally a major thoroughfare for Burmese migrant
workers seeking jobs in Thailand.
With the bridge closed, workers must illegally cross the Moei river into
Thailand. Border sources said young Burmese men were also crossing to dodge
arrest and conscription.
``Parents have been advising their children to cross the river and hide in
Mae Sot until the situation cools down," said Moe Swe, head of the Mae Sot-based
Burmese Labour Solidarity Organisation. To deter this exodus, the Burmese
government has issued a directive stating that anyone caught crossing the river
faces six months in jail, according to people who recently crossed into
Thailand.
There was no information on how many people had been arrested on the
Burmese side.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Monday 10 June 2002
Buffer state policy ended years ago
Army sets record straight for PM
Wassana Nanuam
The army says remarks by the prime minister that Thailand would end its
``buffer state'' policy on Burma was not an indication the policy abolished two
decades ago had ever been revived.
Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkasingha, the Third Army commander, said Thaksin
Shinawatra was merely saying that the government would not revive the
policy.
The commander said Rangoon might have taken the remark the wrong way and
thought the government had been pursuing the policy all along.
``The prime minister referred to a policy in effect 20 years ago. The
government does not want to dust it off, but to concentrate on forging a cordial
relationship,'' Lt-Gen Udomchai said.
Mr Thaksin said on Saturday his government did not advocate a buffer state
policy and did not want to interfere in Burma's affairs.
The government wanted to foster national reconciliation in Burma so refugee
and drug problems would not spill across the border.
The country was in no hurry to negotiate with Burma on the border issue.
``Burma is not comfortable with what happened. Four of its military camps were
sacked by ethnic rebels. We'll have to wait until troops retake them [before
starting any talks],'' Mr Thaksin said.
An army source, however, said Mr Thaksin's buffer state remark, whether or
not inadvertently made, was damaging to the already fragile state of
Thai-Burmese relations.
The source said Rangoon would lose no time seizing on the comment to launch
a fresh round of verbal attacks.
``What did he [the prime minister] say that for? Did he not know what's
what?'' the source said.
In reality, the buffer state policy was repealed during the Prem
Tinsulanonda administration.
An army general who asked to remain anonymous said Mr Thaksin appeared keen
to substantiate Rangoon's charge that the military had been helping Shan State
Army rebels.
Burma has accused the government of harbouring rebels fighting its troops
on the border.
The general said the military may have fostered loose ties with the SSA in
the past but those days were long gone.
Rangoon, on the other hand, had the Wa minority rebels at its disposal and
turned them into its own ``buffer force'' against Thailand. The Wa, who smuggled
drugs into Thailand, were a dangerous buffer agent.
``It emerges that we have no buffer in place while Burma still commands
one. Who's at a disadvantage here?'' the general said.
The army occasionally offered humanitarian aid to the SSA, but that was
all. The rebels may have entered the country to buy provisions or medicine but
they came in as villagers, unarmed.
The general said Mr Thaksin had misconstrued the ``buffer state'' concept
in the first place. The term referred to an overt policy of supporting minority
groups.
Lt-Gen Udomchai said there was no point these days in engaging the SSA or
the Karen National Union in the buffer equation.
Technically, buffer states had ceased to exist once Rangoon annexed areas
occupied by the Karen, Kaya and Shan groups. Only pockets of breakaway armed
rebels remained but it would be wrong to define them as ``states''.
Buffer states must be self-ruled, run their own military, and uphold
territorial integrity. The SSA and KNU could not function as buffer states on
such a basic definition.
The Wa, on the other hand, did occupy a buffer state, because Rangoon had
granted them a special-administered zone. ``They [the Wa] are on our doorstep
but we have no buffer against Burma,'' he said. The SSA, by contrast, were
forces without a territory, Lt-Gen Udomchai said.
Chamni Sakdiset, the deputy Democrat secretary-general, said Mr Thaksin's
buffer state comment would not help border relations.
Restoring goodwill would be an uphill task if commercial interests were
involved. Shin Satellite Co has interests in Burma. The firm is affiliated to
Shin Corp, a company controlled by Mr Thaksin.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Monday 10 June 2002
Pro-Rangoon rebels return stolen vehicle
Committee chief files protest over incident
Supamart Kasem - Tak
A group of pro-Rangoon Karen guerrillas returned a stolen four-wheel drive
vehicle to forestry officials on Saturday evening after a border committee
lodged a protest with its Burmese counterpart.
About 10 heavily-armed fighters from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA) commandeered the vehicle on Thursday night after storming a forestry
office in Umphang district.
They claimed the vehicle was needed to transport injured colleagues to a
hospital after a gunbattle with the anti-Rangoon Karen National Union
(KNU).
The DKBA subsequently alleged it had been attacked by Thai-backed KNU
forces, and demanded 1 million baht in damages before the vehicle could be
returned.
This prompted Col Saksin Klansanoh, border committee chairman, to send a
memo to his Burmese counterpart, Maj Thet Lwin, condemning the DKBA's actions
and demanding the return of the vehicle.
Talks were also arranged between village leaders and DKBA
representatives.
The vehicle was eventually returned at a border area about four kilometres
from where it was stolen.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Shan rebels assail change of
position
Published on Jun 10, 2002
MAE SAI - Shan State Army leader Colonel Yawd Serk yesterday expressed
dismay at reports that the Thai government was planning to end its "buffer
strategy" along the Burmese border.
He said such a move overlooked the turbulent history between Thailand and
Burma.
Yawd Serk said that although the SSA's struggle for autonomy was an
internal matter, its conflict with Rangoon had enhanced Thailand's security
because it forced Rangoon to focus its military efforts on insurgent groups
instead of the Thai Army, the junta's historical enemy.
The buffer strategy involves Thailand supporting Burmese insurgent troops
to create a buffer between the Thai and the Burmese armies.
Yawd Serk said that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's plan to end the
buffer strategy ignored the history of the two countries and was insensitive to
the feelings of the Thai people who looked on the ethnic Shan as brothers and
sisters.
The SSA has strongholds along the northern Thai border and has been
carrying out hit-and-run attacks on Burmese government troops in its fight for a
separate state.
Yawd Serk said that his army had never violated Thailand's sovereignty and
he had the utmost respect for the Kingdom and its people.
"Shan and Thai are linked by history, language, religion and culture, and
security concerns," he said in a telephone interview with The Nation
yesterday.
The Shan leader said that the recent history of Thai-Burma relations showed
that the Burmese could not be trusted. He said Rangoon had little respect for
Thailand's sovereignty because it allowed the United Wa State Army, one of the
world's largest drug armies, to operate freely just metres from the Thai
border.
"The whole world knows what the Burmese government has been doing," Yawd
Serk said, adding that the junta had benefited tremendously from the drug trade
carried out by its Wa State allies.
"Thailand needs to think about who it wants as its friends," he said.
Prime Minister Thaksin has ordered the Army to end the buffer strategy,
adding that the government would also curtail the activities of the local and
international aid organisations operating along the border.
The prime minister's statements were deemed an admission to using the
Burmese insurgent groups along the border to keep the Burmese Army at bay.
Yawd Serk has consistently called on the international community to step up
efforts to help Shan refugees, thousands of whom have been victims of what
human-rights groups say is "ethnic cleansing" by the Burmese Army.
Meanwhile about 70 Burmese troops have been killed and scores wounded as
the Burmese Army battles SSA strongholds in areas over the border from Chiang
Mai's Piang Luang subdistrict, according to the Shan leader.
The SSA had suffered one dead and five wounded, Yawd Serk said.
The Burmese government has mobilised other pro-Rangoon groups, the Wa and
the Lahu, in its attempt to oust the SSA from their positions.
But the SSA is well dug in and putting up strong resistance, Yawd Serk
said.
Thai Army officers monitoring the situation said Burmese troops were
fighting an uphill battle. They said the SSA were better situated strategically
and knew the terrain much better then the advancing Burmese.
In nearby Mae Fah Luang district in Chiang Rai province, about 1,500 Thai
residents of villages along the border remained displaced as stray shells and
bullets continued to land there.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
BUFFER STRATEGY: PM flayed for
Burma gaffe
Published on Jun 10, 2002
Thaksin cited a foreign policy that officially does not exist, say critics
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's announcement on Saturday that he would
end the buffer-zone policy with Burma drew rebukes from parliamentarians and
academics who told him to talk less about Burma and to be more discrete when
talking about foreign policy.
"The prime minister should not have said that he wanted the end of the
policy. This is because we have denied the existence of the policy for a long
time. His statement will send the message to other countries that we are
unstable," said Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign
Affairs.
Thaksin, a former foreign minister, said on Saturday that he would cease
using Burma's insurgent groups as a buffer between Thailand and Burma. He also
accused non-governmental organisations operating at the Thai-Burmese border of
interfering in both countries' efforts to mend ties.
His statement came amid ongoing border tensions in which Burma demanded
that the Thai Army stop providing assistance to ethnic rebels fighting against
Rangoon.
Late last week the Thai government agreed to move villagers from along the
border after Burma informed it that it would attack the rebels and also the Thai
Army if it continued to help the insurgents.
"Thaksin should pay more attention when he talks about foreign policy,
particularly when Burmese issues are concerned. He should be more skilful when
talking about these things," Kraisak told The Nation.
Talking about foreign policy is not easy and should be done by a person
skilled in it, he said.
"The premier should be more skilful when talking about these issues. They
are different from other policies and not as simple as the Bt30-healthcare
programme that he can boast about in his radio programme," Kraisak said,
referring to a radio show hosted by Thaksin every Saturday morning.
Thaksin yesterday apparently tried to tone down his statements on Saturday,
saying the government had never adopted the buffer policy because it had never
wanted to interfere in other countries' internal affairs.
He also said that he believed that the Army had never used this policy to
deal with Burma either, though it would not have been wrong to do so.
Meanwhile Deputy Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said that Thaksin
should have been more cautious when he spoke on the issue because his statement
clearly admitted that Thailand supported the Burmese rebels.
"It is not true that Thailand extended assistance to the Burmese
insurgents. The previous Thai governments never implemented this policy.
Thaksin's statement caused great confusion," Abhisit said.
"Moreover the prime minister should not have said anything that hurts the
feelings and dignity of the people. He should speak less, because his statements
could cause damage given the fact he does not know the real truth of what he is
talking about," Abhisit said.
Earlier Thaksin called for the Thai Army not to "overreact" when dealing
with Burma, drawing intense criticism from many. He was accused of trying to
please Burma for the sake of his family's business there.
Somchai Homla-or, a representative of non-governmental organisation Forum
Asia, said that Thaksin's call to end the buffer policy betrayed his confusion
about foreign policy.
"Thailand annulled the policy about six years ago. If the policy was still
on, the Burmese rebels would have more freedom and be stronger than they are
now," Somchai said.
The Thai government should clearly inform Burma that any contact it has
with Burmese insurgents is just part of the anti-narcotics campaign, he
said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Foreign Bank Offices Withdraw From
Myanmar
Xinhuanet 2002-06-10 12:25:29 YANGON, June 10 (Xinhuanet) --
A majority of foreign bank representative offices have withdrawn from Myanmar
during the past five years, bank sources here said Monday.
Before the Asian financial crisis broke out in mid-1997, there were 43
foreign bank offices in Myanmar. But there remain only over 10 now, the sources
disclosed.
The withdrawal of the foreign bank offices was due to the unavailability of
banking operation licenses to do international business in Myanmar, complains
the bank circle here.
Meanwhile, there are so far over 10 local private banks in Myanmar with a
total of about 350 branches. The government allowed the private sector to run
banks again in 1992, nearly three decades after nationalization of private banks
and termination of foreign bank branches operation in the early 1960s.
Of the present over 10 private banks, the Asia Wealth Bank, Myanmar
Mayflower Bank, Yoma Bank, Kanbawza Bank and Myanmar Oriental Bank are in the
leading position..
All private banks give 12 percent annual interest for deposits and 15
percent for loans fixed by the Central Bank of Myanmar.
There are also five state-owned banks in Myanmar.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The New Straits Times Press
100 Myanmar soldiers killed in
rebel attacks
By AFP CHIANG MAI, June 9. ? Around 100 Myanmar troops have been killed and some
150 wounded since they launched an offensive against the rebel Shan State Army
last week, a Thai military source said today as fighting continued.
"About 100 Myanmar troops have been killed and another 150 injured since
the offensive began," a Thai military intelligence official based along the
border said.
He said up to 50 fighters with the SSA had been killed or injured in the
offensive.
Myanmar troops carried out longrange shelling attacks throughout yesterday
night and today, SSA spokesman Nam Kher Hsem said from the border area in Chiang
Mai province.
Clashes were heaviest around the areas of Pang Kam Kaw and Pang Mae Sueng
opposite Chiang Mai province, Nam Kher said.
Myanmar and pro-Yangon forces are attempting to recapture border bases
Yangon says were overrun by the rebels last month.
Another Thai military source said the SSA was in a superior position for
the fighting, which is occurring during the onset of the wet season.
"I think the Myanmar troops have been suffering more casualties during the
recent attacks because the Shan positions are on the mountain tops." Another
border source in Mae Hong Son province spoke of eyewitness reports that Myanmar
soldiers had rounded up some 200 civilians in eastern border towns to use as
porters.
Eyewitnesses had seen handcuffed Myanmar prisoners in the battle zones
carrying arms and ammunitions for government troops, the source said.
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