Burma Related News- March 13, 2001.

[Tin Kyi <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - March 13, 2001.
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Headlines
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AFP - Thaksin tries to soothe Myanmar rift after drugs crisis row
AP - Thai Govt Blames Predecessor For Bad Ties With Myanmar
Reuters - Thais put drugs trade at top of Myanmar relations
Asia Pulse - Asean Finance Ministers to Discuss Currency Swap Next Month
The Guardian - Premier profits from Burma stand
BBC - Detained Burmese journalist gets UN award
The Times of India - Hundreds wait in vain as Myanmar shuts crossing
The Age - At last, some good news from Burma
Bkk Post - Talks with Burma in April to ease tension
Bkk Post - Six die after eating globefish
Bkk Post - Editorial - The battle plan to fight drugs

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Tuesday March 13, 1:42 PM
Thai Govt Blames Predecessor For Bad Ties With Myanmar


BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand's new government on Tuesday blamed its predecessor for unfriendly relations with Myanmar, and expressed the hope that an upcoming bilateral meeting would help mend fences.

Thailand and Myanmar have been exchanging hot words during the last month after their troops clashed at the border. The verbal war has grown with Thailand's protests that Myanmar is doing little to stop ethnic drug armies in its territory from flooding Thailand with methamphetamine drugs.

Defense Minster Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said age-old rivalries between Thailand and Myanmar increased after the previous government of Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai criticized Myanmar's ruling military junta for suppressing democracy.

Chavalit, known to be close to Myanmar's generals, said relations remained sour because of the "policy of not talking" adopted by Chuan's government.

"Myanmar had invited Chuan to talk, but he turned it down," Chavalit said. "I don't know the reason ... but the attitude added to the problems, which resulted in deterioration of relations," Chavalit said.

The new government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took office last month after defeating Chuan's party in the Jan. 6 elections.

Thailand reopened its northern border with Myanmar Monday after a monthlong closure following border clashes, but Myanmar kept its gates closed in an apparent rebuff to the Thai olive branch.

Chavalit said he hoped that a meeting of their regional border committees scheduled for April would help improve ties. The talks have been suspended since 1998 when Myanmar refused to participate.

Chavalit said Myanmar has confirmed that it will host the meeting this year in Kentung town.

The border disputes are only part of the problems between the two countries. Thailand's main frustration is over the rising use of methamphetamines, which officials say are largely being produced by the United Wa State Army.

A former Myanmar rebel group, the Wa army signed a cease-fire with Yangon in exchange for virtual autonomy in a border area with Thailand where it is known to operate amphetamine laboratories.

Thai and U.S. narcotics officials say Myanmar authorities are turning a blind eye to the United Wa State Army.

On Monday, the Myanmar junta said Thailand was making the Wa army a "scapegoat" for its problems and asked it to clean its own house first by cracking down on crime syndicates that buy the drugs.

Thaksin said in response Tuesday: "We are sweeping our own house but our effort must be harder because the dust keeps coming from our neighbor."

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Tuesday March 13, 3:12 PM
Thaksin tries to soothe Myanmar rift after drugs crisis row


BANGKOK, March 13 (AFP) - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Tuesday attempted to play down a growing rift with Myanmar after the junta angrily accused Thailand of making it a "scapegoat" for the drugs crisis.

Thaksin declared a "war on drugs" last weekend at an unprecedented meeting of top officials charged with thrashing out a coordinated strategy to close down the narcotics trade.

The premier said he would demand explanations from Myanmar's generals over the deadly flow of methamphetamines, made in jungle refineries operated by Yangon-allied ethnic druglords, which threaten to destroy Thai society.

But Myanmar lashed out at the tough new approach, saying Thailand should put its own house in order before trying to dump the blame for its drugs problems onto border militias like the United Wa State Army, also known as the Red Wa.

"Putting all the blame on a neighbouring country for everything that goes wrong in Thailand is not the way to solve any problems and any issues," a government spokesman said.

Crime bosses and big-time drug dealers were "surviving and thriving" in Thailand where their illicit activities were being protected, he said.

Thaksin Tuesday attempted to turn the war of words down a notch, saying relations on a national level were "good".

"However, there are some problems on the local level relating to the Red Wa," he said.

"We don't blame the Yangon government ... but we want Myanmar to understand that we have evidence of these activities. We are concerned and we want to know how they will cooperate with us."

Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh called for cross border talks to resolve differences.

"The two countries have had problems for a long time, but the best way to ease the tension is to hold a meeting. It takes time to create confidence in each other," he said.

But he also got in a dig over Myanmar's refusal to open its side of a strategic border crossing which was closed a month ago in the wake of clashes between the two armies.

"They are sulking because we won't open the door for all products when we re-open the checkpoint, but we can talk about this issue," he said.

Thailand Monday reopened its side of the Mae Sai-Tachilek crossing but said the Myanmar end of the bridge that links the frontier towns remained closed.

The action appears to be in retaliation for Thailand's insistence that the passage of military supplies including rice, fuel and medicine will still be banned when the checkpoint reopens.

In a tit-for-tat response, Myanmar on Sunday announced a ban on imports of Thai-made energy drinks and goods containing the flavour enhancer MSG.

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Tuesday March 13, 12:32 PM
Thais put drugs trade at top of Myanmar relations

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said on Tuesday coordinated efforts to clamp down on the drugs trade would top the agenda of Thailand's relations with Myanmar.

"Thais would appreciate the fact that the most important result of Thai-Myanmar relations would be joint narcotics suppression. Other issues would be secondary," he said.

Surakiart told reporters he planned to hold talks with Myanmar officials at the appropriate time to discuss tackling drugs trafficking across the Thai-Myanmar border.

"We must build mutual trust at every level through frank, open talks on the table which would lead to cooperation," he said.

The Thai army said last weekend it expected up to a billion methamphetamine pills to come into Thailand from Myanmar this year.

Thai politicians at a drugs conference at the weekend in northern Thailand told reporters they had been shocked by photographs of impressive infrastructure in the prosperous Myanmar border town of Mong Yawn, which Thai officials believe has been funded by the drugs trade.

Myanmar denies this, saying successful development projects and other legitimate economic activity are responsible for the growing wealth of the Wa ethnic group living in the area under the control of the Yangon-backed United Wa State Army (UWSA).

Thai foreign ministry sources said Thailand and Myanmar would hold a regional border committee meeting in April in the Myanmar town of Kengtung, about 150 kms (95 miles) from the Thai border. The meeting would be the first border committee meeting to be held since March 1999.

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Monday March 12, 7:25 PM
Asean Finance Ministers to Discuss Currency Swap Next Month


KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 Asia Pulse - Asean finance ministers will review the terms of the proposed currency swap arrangement for Asian countries at a meeting here next month, said finance minister Daim Zainuddin Monday.

The ministers would meet here for their fifth Asean Finance Ministers meeting on April 7-8, 2001.

Speaking to reporters after delivering a keynote address at the International Organisation of Securities Commissions conference here he said the Malaysian government was talking to those involved in the arrangement.

He, however, stressed on Malaysia's stand in opposing a proposal to link the Asean Plus Three currency swap arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In citing Malaysia's opposition, Daim referred to the IMF's role in Indonesia where it took a long time to disburse much-needed funds.

"We are not under the IMF, why should they impose IMF conditions on us?" he asked.

Asean Plus Three comprises the 10 members of the Southeast Asian group and its summit partners namely China, Japan and South Korea.

Under the currency swap arrangment, the 13 countries help each other to provide temporary financing for members facing balance of payments problems.

Asean members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand.

At the Fourth Asean Informal Summit in Singapore in November last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that the majority of Asean countries were not keen on having the IMF to participate in and oversee the swap arrangement.

This he said was because IMF was not a contributor to the arrangement.

Meanwhile, Daim in his speech Monday said in order to stay ahead of developments, policy makers and market regulators cannot afford to plan and strategise in isolation.

"They need to take cognisance of the lessons learnt during the Asian financial crisis that underscored the need for closer regional surveillance and co-operation to ensure the region's resilience to future financial crises," he said.

As such, he said policy makers needed to be forward-looking and global in their outlook and effectively utilise regional co-operation and mutual reliance to their benefit.

"There is, I believe, still much room for greater regional collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and experiences in meeting the challenges that lie ahead," he added.

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More than 38 tons of MSG seized near Yangon

YANGON March 13 Kyodo - More than 38 tons of monosodium glutamate (MSG), apparently made in Thailand and brought to Myanmar by schooner, were seized by a navy patrol boat Feb. 4 near Yangon, local newspapers reported Tuesday.


The patrol boat was said to have chased and stopped the schooner, without a registration number and sailing with its lights off, in the Hlaing River and found 38.6 tons of MSG bearing several Thai brand names.

Ten crew members escaped from the boat during the chase, but the remaining three confessed the schooner had left with the cargo from a private jetty in Thailand, the newspapers said.

Myanmar's junta has banned import of MSG from Thailand and warned several brands of MSG and soft drinks could be harmful to health.

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The Guardian
Tuesday March 13, 2001

Premier profits from Burma stand
Terry Macalister


Premier Oil's decision to defy British government demands and stay in military-run Burma has paid off. The company yesterday reported its first profits in three years.
Chief executive Charles Jamieson claimed the political climate in Burma was improving. He expressed "cautious optimism" that the future of the country would reduce pressure on Premier.

Production started from Premier's Yetagun gas project in Burma last May and it is now Premier's largest asset. Gas is moving from Burma by pipeline to Thailand.

Pre-tax profits on ordinary activities bounced to �17m in the year to December 31, compared with a �16.7m loss last time. Turnover rose from �89.5m to �115.7m.

Profits would have been higher if Premier had not been forced to put in place an oil price hedge at $19.54 per barrel when the average price over 2000 was $28.39.

The hedge was imposed by Amerada Hess and Petronas, its two major shareholders in return for an investment of �136m in November 1999.

Premier has also left nearly �12m of extra revenues out of its immediate turnover on the grounds they are part of a take-or-pay contract and therefore must be treated as debt for the time being.

Like other oil companies, Premier has increasingly switched its attention to gas and concentrated on south-east Asia. Its other major asset is in Indonesia where Premier has just brought on stream its West Natuna gas scheme six months ahead of schedule.

Mr Jamieson said the commercialisation of its Asian gas business, successful exploration work and a growing base of reserves put Premier in a strong position for the future.

Progress was also being made in talks with Amerada Hess and Petronas about in creasing shareholder value. These two companies hold 50% of Premier and effectively rule out any outside bid for it. This has held back the price of the company.

Recent speculation that US-based Amerada might sell down or out its 25% stake sent the share price up from 12p to 20p. It has since dropped back and ended the day down 0.75p at 17.75p. Mr Jamieson said various options were being looked at and he expected a decision before the end of the year.

Analysts said the Premier results were encouraging but they remained sceptical about talk of a corporate shake-up.

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BBC - Monday, 12 March, 2001, 23:03 GMT
Detained Burmese journalist gets UN award

The United Nations cultural organisation, Unesco, has awarded its annual World Press Freedom Prize to the jailed Burmese journalist, U Win Tin.

Mr Win Tin, a former editor of the Hanthawati newspaper, and a founder member of the opposition National League for Democracy, was jailed by the military government in 1989 on charges of belonging to the banned Communist Party.

He is currently in Rangoon General Hospital, where he is reported to be seriously ill.

Mr Win Tin's prison sentence is due to end in 2008 unless he renounces all political activities, which UNESCO says he refuses to do. Awarding the prize, the UNESCO jury expressed concern for Mr Win Tin and said it hoped steps would be taken to secure his release.

>From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

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The Times of India - March 13, 2001.
Hundreds wait in vain as Myanmar shuts crossing


MAE SAI, Thailand: Myanmar on Monday failed to open a major border crossing with Thailand even after the Thai side reopened its gates in a bid to end month long tensions over fighting between their armies.

Hundreds of disappointed people waited in rain near the Thai checkpoint at the foot of a bridge over a canal that separates Mae Sai town in northern Thailand with Tachilek in Myanmar.

A Myanmar government spokesman did not immediately respond to faxed questions on the border reopening.

Thailand opened three other crossings in Mae Sai district, but "the other side does not seem to have responded well to our attempts to ease tensions," Ronarong Sukthavorn, the chief customs official in Mae Sai, told The Associated Press.

"Myanmar procedure is usually slow. But they might open soon, I hope," he said.

Mae Sai is 720 kilometres (445 miles) north of Bangkok.

Thailand had closed the border after heavy fighting on February 11 between Myanmar troops and ethnic Shan rebels seeking independence when several shells landed on Mae Sai town from Myanmar, killing two civilians. Thai troops later fought with Myanmar soldiers, accusing them of intruding into Thai soil, a charge Myanmar denied.

Maj. Domsak Khamsijam, who held talks with a Myanmar border committee to ease tensions, said he had informed his counterpart about the planned reopening or the border Monday. In response, Myanmar said it had never shut the border in the first place, Domsak said.

"But when we opened the border, they closed their gate. When we asked why, they said they have to consult their supervisors," he said.

Among those waiting was Chinda Nanthapao, a 42-year-old Thai woman who owns a shop in Tachilek selling watches, calculators and transistor radios.

"If Myanmar does not opens the border soon, the ones to be affected the most will by Thai people who have invested in Tachilek," she said.

She said 80 percent of shops in Tachilek are owned by Thais. "During one month of the closure we have lost a lot of money," she said.

The closure also has affected business in Mae Sai, where tourists stop on their way to Myanmar. Food vendors, who said they made 3,000 baht ($70) a day during normal times, have been earning only 200 baht ($5) a day.

Myanmar and Thailand have had uneasy relations over several disputes. Yangon accuses Bangkok of providing sanctuaries to anti-government ethnic rebels. Bangkok denies the charge, and complains that Yangon turns a blind eye to drug lords who operate amphetamine factories in Myanmar and smuggle them into Thailand. (AP)

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The Age
At last, some good news from Burma
Tuesday 13 March 2001

In 1990 a democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of the Burmese prime minister (General Thakin Aung San) who had been assassinated in 1947, won a landslide victory in the country's general election. But the military regime refused to allow Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to rule. For much of the past decade, Ms Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and the Burmese military rulers have perpetrated a regime of unrelenting oppression and abuse of the human rights of its people. Now, in an extraordinary development revealed in The Age on Saturday, Burma's military rulers are holding secret talks with Aung San Suu Kyi about the framework for a transitional administration to return the country to civilian rule.

Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and a woman who has shown herself to be not only of the highest integrity but one of the bravest political leaders in the world, is believed to be prepared to accept the condition that she will not take a direct role in any future civilian government. It is a great pity that she may never be able to claim her rightful role as the leader of the country's government. Yet the fact that the regime appears to be ready to consider entering an interim government with her NLD party is itself an astonishing and most encouraging political shift.

Another condition is believed to be that the military will be guaranteed immunity from prosecution for past abuses. Whether this condition should or can be sustained if and when the country ever returns to true democracy is an issue that will be decided in the future. The concessions offered by the military government at present do not represent a perfect outcome by any means, but when it comes to ending military dictatorships the world must unfortunately sometimes accept imperfect solutions.

What is clear is that the concessions have been made as a direct result of the effects of the international sanctions that have been imposed on Burma. There has been a great deal of debate about the validity of these sanctions, as there is about the sanctions imposed on other rogue states. And it is true that in some cases, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, sanctions have so far had little effect in ending abusive regimes. But the change of heart of the Burmese rulers has been caused by pressure from the world outside. Trade sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States have virtually halted all Western investment in Burma; tourism has shrunk dramatically in response to an international campaign for travellers to boycott the country; and consumer pressure has had a significant effect in persuading multinational companies that trading with Burma is bad for business. As a result, Burma's economy has collapsed.

These are early days yet. But the world should be encouraged: it has a weapon against regimes that are prepared to use the might of the state against their own citizens. It is an imperfect one to be sure, but one worth using even if it works only some of the time.

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Bangkok Post - March 13, 2001
Talks with Burma in April to ease tension
Thailand to push for border demarcation
Wassana Nanuam

Regional-level talks to be held early next month in Burma will help ease border disputes between Thailand and Burma, according to Lt-Gen Pisnu Urailert, chief of the Supreme Command's Directorate of Civil Affairs.

Lt-Gen Pisnu said the 18th meeting of the Thai-Burmese Regional Border Committee (RBC) in early April in Burma's Keng Tung-to be chaired by Thailand's Third Army commander Lt-Gen Watthanachai Chaimuenwong and Burma's Southwest Army chief Maj-Gen Khet Sein-is expected to lessen tension on the border.

During these talks Thai authorities will propose that the border in the Phuteng Nayong area in Chiang Rai be demarcated and that Burmese troops no longer be permitted to let artillery shells land on Thai soil, he said.

Lt-Gen Pisnu said the Thai military wants the area to be declared a no-man's land pending border demarcation.

A sub-committee chaired by Maj-Gen Prasart Luewattananon, director of the Supreme Command's Joint Operation Centre 103, will draft issues to be put on the agenda of next month's RBC meeting.

Lt-Gen Pisnu said the Thai armed forces have reiterated they will not support any anti-Rangoon minority groups, nor will they withdraw Thai soldiers from the border in Chiang Rai until the situation improves.

Meanwhile, army spokesman Col Somkhuan Saengpattaranate said Burma yesterday did not open its gate at the Tachilek checkpoint while the Thai side reopened its gate at the Mae Sai checkpoint in Chiang Rai for cross-border trade, despite a previous agreement.

"We opened Mae Sai checkpoint because we are sympathetic with the Burmese who face a shortage of food and goods, though Thais are not in trouble.

"We want the border trade to resume and believe that the border situation has improved since there will be an RBC meeting soon," he added.

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Bangkok Post - March 13, 2001.
Six die after eating globefish
Samut Prakan

Six fishing boat crewmen, including four Thais and two Burmese, died after eating cooked pakpao (globefish).

The bodies of the victims were yesterday sent to Samut Prakan hospital for autopsy.

Vichai Chaisrisamut, owner of the Vichaikarn Pramong 6 , said the boat's crewmen died on March 6 after eating tomyam pakpao.

The victims were among 14 crewmen who had gone fishing in Indonesian waters.

The dead crewmen included four Thais and two Burmese.

Mr Vichai said seven crewmen ate cooked pakpao while the rest refused to try it.

The seven crewmen started vomiting and having breathing problems shortly after eating the fish. Only one man, identified only as Vorapong, survived. The man reportedly consumed only a small amount of the fish.

Amporn Choksaen, 49, a crew member, said he and other crewmen refused to eat the dish as they knew the fish was poisonous between March and April.

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Bangkok Post - March 13, 2001.
Editorial - The battle plan to fight drugs

The weekend meeting on Thailand's increasing and dangerous drug problem was extremely useful. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra invited virtually all relevant government agencies. He also opened most of the meeting to the public, through the media. Mr Thaksin and all Thais saw for the first time, in one place, the scope of the problem.

Those who attended the meeting in Chiang Rai were clearly shocked by many of the revelations. The army's security briefing was probably the most sobering. It detailed the growth of a brand new and modern city inside Burma, almost in sight of the Thai frontier. Mong Yawn is the headquarters of the United Wa State Army, and appears entirely dedicated to producing, marketing and smuggling drugs of various types to and through Thailand and other neighbouring countries.

There never has been such an operation in our history. Mong Yawn is a speed empire, totally controlled by drug dealers with at least the acquiescence of Rangoon. Some believe Burma actively supports, and profits from, the drug trade. This threatening drug city is expanding every day, even as the Shan are ruthlessly eliminated. Details of Mong Yawn caused Premier Thaksin to re-introduce the word which has fallen into disfavour. But as he said: "It is the vital mission of the country and it is a war."

If the Burmese support for drug trafficking were not bad enough, the conference made clear we have our home-grown problems. Sinister and anti-Thai people would destroy the country and our children's brains for dirty drug money. Money laundering is at an all-time high. Chemical precursors, such as ephedrine for methamphetamines, are bought abroad by drug traffickers, and smuggled to the Burmese drug-making factories through Thailand.

Mr Thaksin indicated his support for a number of possible measures to step up the war on drugs. Some are excellent ideas. The army can be reinforced along our borders, to stop smuggling in both directions. The military can also help all agencies improve their intelligence capabilities. It is far easier to stop drug smugglers if you know their agents and "mules" used to carry drugs. Pinpoint raids against known dealers will yield far more for the country than roadblocks and random searches of mostly honest citizens going about their business.

But Mr Thaksin also must beware embracing quick-fix, populist solutions to this threatening problem of national and international drug trafficking. A curfew on youth, for example, may sound like a way to keep young people out of those nightclubs where drugs are introduced. But it is already illegal for young people to be in such clubs, and asking our police to keep all under-18s off the streets at night is a terrible waste of resources.

Just as troubling is the call for a "speed up of justice" for drug dealers. We remind the premier and his supporters that they are "suspected" drug dealers until the courts deal with them. More liberal use of the death penalty will not deter drug smuggling. Not even summary, public executions will do that. Nor will the prospect of tough life in an army camp stop a troubled or witless teenager from popping speed pills.

Drug trafficking will be defeated by a combination of relentless law enforcement against criminal traffickers, combined with education. We must reduce the supply of drugs, and we must convince Burma of this, or make Rangoon face the consequences. We must also reduce the demand, by convincing Thai adults and children that drugs ruin their lives and all hope for the future of the nation. This is a matter of national survival. We must approach it intelligently and immediately.


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