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BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 22,
2001.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Seven Myanmar troops reportedly
slain in guerrilla attack
AP - Mortar Hits Thailand After Karen Rebels
Clash Near Border
AP - Myanmar Currency Tumbles
To New Low
Reuters - Two militiamen killed in east Myanmar
attack
Kyodo - Former Ambassador to Myanmar Otaka dies at age of
73
Bkk Post - Villagers force
convoy to turn back
The Nation - Talks with Rangoon over seized cargo
imminent
The Nation - Army sends
containers to Bangkok
Xinhuanet - Japan to
Implement Water Supply Project for Myanmar
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Makes
Efforts to Improve Public Health Care
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday April 22, 5:13 PM
Seven Myanmar troops reportedly slain in
guerrilla attack
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Seven
Myanmar soldiers were killed in an early Sunday attack on their camp by
separatist Shan guerrillas in northeastern Myanmar's Shan State, Thai military
sources said.
Shan State Army guerrillas captured the Myanmar army outpost at Tuan,
opposite the Thai town of Fang, some 700 km (420 miles) north of Bangkok, and
seized about 170,000 methamphetamine tablets, the Thai sources said.
Nearly 500 Thai villagers were evacuated from their homes in Fang after the
clash due to fears of an upsurge in fighting between the Shan rebels and Myanmar
forces, Thai authorities said.
In another incident, two members of a Myanmar ethnic minority militia
allied with the military government were killed on Sunday in an attack by
unidentified rivals in the east Myanmar border town of Myawady , Thai military
sources said.
"At around 4:00 am (2100 GMT) an unidentified rebel group, armed with
rifles and mortars, opened fire on the DKBA troops for about half an hour," said
a Thai military source based on the Myanmar-Thai border.
Two fighters from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) were killed and
two wounded in the attack. Two villagers were also wounded, the Thai sources
said.
The DKBA and Myanmar government forces fight the autonomy-seeking Karen
National Union (KNU) guerrilla army in that part of eastern Myanmar but the KNU
had not claimed responsibility for the attack, the Thai sources said.
Thai military authorities closed the border crossing between the Thai town
of Mae Sot, about 500 km (300 miles) northwest of Bangkok, and Myawady after the
attack.
The area of the attack is believed to be one of Myanmar's main areas for
producing illegal methamphetamines, which have been flooding into Thailand in
recent years.
Thai military sources say the DKBA, formed by a KNU splinter faction in
1994 after a split in the Christian-led, anti-Yangon group, is involved in the
drugs trade.
In a related development, Thai authorities ordered a convoy of trucks
trying to take power-generation equipment to the northeast Myanmar town of
Tachilek to return to Bangkok, Thai media reported on Sunday.
Thai authorities stopped the convoy crossing from the northern Thai town of
Mae Sai into Tachilek last week because they believed the power equipment was
bound for another Myanmar minority militia group blamed for large-scale drug
production.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday he had ordered the
convoy of trucks carrying the equipment to return to Bangkok as Thai security
forces believed most of the supplies were bound for the United Wa State Army
(UWSA) militia group.
Relations between Myanmar and Thailand soured earlier this year when their
troops clashed at the border near Mae Sai and their governments traded
accusations of support for the drugs trade.
The UWSA, which is allied with the Myanmar army, has been branded a major
producer of heroin and methamphetamines by U.S. and Thai anti-narcotics
agencies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday April 22, 4:03 PM
Mortar Hits Thailand After Karen Rebels Clash Near Border MAE SOT, Thailand (AP)--A stray
mortar shell landed in Thailand when rival ethnic Karen armies clashed for about
one hour near the Thai-Myanmar border early Sunday, a Karen rebel spokesman and
Thai villagers said.
The mortar hit a jetty on the Moei river, 2 kilometers ) south of the
Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, which is located at Mae Sot, 370 kilometers
northwest of Bangkok. No Thais were injured, Thai villagers said.
David Tarkabaw, spokesman for the Karen National Union, said a KNU
battalion attacked and briefly seized a small hilltop camp of the rival
Democratic Buddhist Karen Army on the Myanmar side of the river border. He
claimed the camp was used as a transit point for trafficking methamphetamine
drugs to Thailand.
The KNU battalion overran the camp but soon withdrew. One DKBA soldier was
killed and four injured in a one hour exchange of fire with assault rifles and
M-79 grenade launchers. Two KNU soldiers were wounded in the fighting, Tarkabaw
said.
Officials at Mae Sot hospital said two DKBA women civilians were sent from
Myanmar for treatment. Other Thai officials declined to comment about the clash.
Myanmar officials weren't immediately available for comment.
The DKBA is a pro-Myanmar army that was set up by disgruntled KNU fighters.
The KNU has been fighting for autonomy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, for five
decades. It still wages a resistance war against the Myanmar military regime
along the Thai-Myanmar border.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday April 22, 6:16 PM
Myanmar Currency Tumbles To New
Low
YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Myanmar's
ailing currency, the kyat, hit a record low Sunday, trading at 610 to one U.S
dollar, about 100 times the official exchange rate, dealers said.
The official exchange rate remains about 6 kyats to the dollar, but most
business and consumer transactions are based on the rate quoted on the black
market, which is tacitly tolerated by the government as necessary to carry on
business.
The free-market exchange rate, which had eased down steadily from 434 kyats
to the dollar at the beginning of 2001, has slid quickly since February when the
kyat fell to 500 to the dollar.
Currency dealers are unable to explain the reasons for the kyat's latest
dip but the government usually blames rumor-mongers and market manipulators for
currency instability.
However, the downward trend clearly reflects the military government's
failure to boost a sluggish economy. In the past month, there has been added
market skittishness because Thailand restricted trade along the border with
Myanmar after a series of clashes between Thai and Myanmar troops.
"I am worried I might get into trouble," said a nervous money changer
dealer, who declined to be identified. The authorities usually react to sudden
slumps in the kyat's value with warnings to the black-market dealers or by
sometimes temporarily detaining them, while running commentaries in the
state-run press denouncing "avaricious" business people for currency
manipulation.
The drop in the currency's values has made imported goods more expensive,
with a slight knock-on effect on local commodities.
The value of official Foreign Exchange Certificates, special financial
instruments issued by the government to try to keep some control over currency
exchanges, has also fallen. The certificates, which traded at 480 kyats to the
dollar early this month, were selling for 580 kyats Saturday.
The kyat eased down steadily from 320 to the dollar at the beginning of
2000, especially after government servants were given a fivefold pay raise in
March last year.
In January, the state-controlled media said the public should not worry
about the value of the currency because the nation is self-sufficient and had
abundant resources.
But most outside observers believe Myanmar's economy is on shaky ground.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is one of the region's poorest countries.
Last week, the Asian Development Bank has urged Myanmar's military
government to introduce structural reforms to help the economy grow and to
reduce poverty.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- WIRE: 04/22/2001 0:57 am ET
Two militiamen killed in east Myanmar
attack
BANGKOK, April 22 (Reuters) -
Two members of a Myanmar ethnic minority militia force allied with the military
government were killed on Sunday in an attack by unidentified rivals in the east
Myanmar border town of Myawady , Thai military sources said.
"At around 4:00 am (2100 GMT) an unidentified rebel group, armed with
rifles and mortars, opened fire on the DKBA troops for about half an hour," said
a Thai military source based on the Myanmar-Thai border.
Two fighters from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) were killed and
two wounded in the attack. Two villagers were also wounded, the Thai sources
said.
The DKBA and Myanmar government forces fight the autonomy-seeking Karen
National Union (KNU) guerrilla army in that part of eastern Myanmar but the KNU
had not claimed responsibility for the attack, the Thai sources said.
Thai military authorities closed the border crossing between the Thai town
of Mae Sot, about 500 km (300 miles) northwest of Bangkok, and Myawady after the
attack.
The area of the attack is believed to be one of Myanmar's main areas for
producing illegal methamphetamines, which have been flooding into Thailand in
recent years.
Thai military sources say the DKBA, formed by a KNU splinter faction in
1994 after a split with the Christian-led, anti-Yangon group, is involved in the
drugs trade.
In a related development, Thai authorities ordered a convoy of trucks
trying to take power-generation equipment to the northeast Myanmar town of
Tachilek to return to Bangkok, Thai media reported on Sunday.
Thai authorities stopped the convoy crossing from the northern Thai town of
Mae Sai into Tachilek last week because they believed the power equipment was
bound for another Myanmar ethnic minority militia group blamed for large-scale
drug production.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday he had ordered the
convoy of trucks carrying the equipment to return to Bangkok as Thai security
forces believed most of the supplies were bound for the United Wa State Army
(UWSA) militia group.
Relations between Myanmar and Thailand soured earlier this year when their
troops clashed at the border near Mae Sai and their governments traded
accusations of support for the drugs trade.
The UWSA, which is allied with the Myanmar army, has been branded a major
producer of heroin and methamphetamines by U.S. and Thai anti-narcotics
agencies.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Former Ambassador to Myanmar Otaka dies
at age of 73
TOKYO April 22 Kyodo - Hiroshi
Otaka, a former Japanese ambassador to Myanmar and husband of actress and former
House of Councillors member Yoshiko Yamaguchi, died of pneumonia at a Tokyo
hospital Saturday, his family said Sunday. He was 73.
After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1950, he entered the
Foreign Ministry and also served as ambassador to Fiji and Sri Lanka.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - April 22,
2001.
Villagers force convoy to turn
back
Threat to burn cargo bound for Tachilek Subin Khuenkaew
A demonstration by angry villagers yesterday forced a large convoy of
trucks on its way to a Burmese border town to return to Bangkok.
The convoy was carrying Chinese-made generators and construction material
for a coal-fired power plant being built in the Burmese town of Tachilek, 4km
from the Thai border.
A representative of the company responsible for the delivery of the
equipment in 44 containers decided to order the convoy back to Klong Toey port
after demonstrators threatened to burn the cargo.
More than 2,000 villagers blocked the road and demanded that local
authorities open the containers to check the cargo.
The convoy was stopped at the border by the Third Army on Friday, as it
tried to cross into Tachilek.
Security sources said staff of Papamas Co, responsible for the delivery,
claimed the shipment had been given clearance by Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the
deputy prime minister and defence minister.
The Defence Ministry has denied the claim. Gen Somporn Termthongchai, who
was reported to be chairman of Papamas Co, also denied yesterday any link with
the firm and the shipment.
Gen Chavalit said he and his wife, Khunying Phankruea, had no connection
whatsoever with the equipment or Papamas Co. The Third Army has been ordered to
find out how his name became linked with the shipment.
The villagers, from Mae Sai and Mae Chan districts, said they did not want
the equipment delivered to the Burmese for fear that emissions from the
coal-fired power plant, under construction since last May, would pollute their
homes and damage the environment.
Sources said the power plant is believed partly funded by the Rangoon
government and Myanmar Mayflower Bank Ltd, which is run by a group of ethnic
Chinese businessmen led by Wei Hsea Kang, leader of the
methamphetamine-producing United Wa State Army.
Designed by Chinese engineers, it would have total capacity of 12
megawatts-enough to supply Tachilek town, a cement plant, a ferry landing, a
150-room hotel and an industrial estate.
Governor Samrerng Bonyopakorn of Chiang Rai said he has been aware of the
villagers' concern from the start, and the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Science
ministries had been briefed about the Burmese project.
"I have served as governor of Lampang, and I understand well the extent of
the damage sulphur dioxide from a coal-fired power plant can have on the
environment," he said, referring to the Mae Moh power plant in Lampang.
During yesterday's protest, the villagers also demanded that the government
tell them who imported the cargo, and whether any Thai officials were involved
in the shipment.
The villagers said they would burn the containers if no explanation was
given by 4pm yesterday.
This prompted company representatives to turn back the convoy, returning
the cargo to Klong Toey port, where another 30 containers of equipment await
shipment.
Yongyuth Tiyapairat, government spokesman, said the foreign minister would
be asked to raise the Tachilek power plant issue for discussion when he visits
Burma soon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talks with Rangoon over seized
cargo imminent
Filed at 05 : 04 pm (THLD time) BANGKOK, April 22 (The Nation)
-- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said today he would soon discuss the future
of equipment needed in the building of a power plant in Burma which has been
seized by Thai military with Burmese authorities.
He said the cargo would be returned to Rangoon if the findings showed that
it belonged to Burmese authories, not to any minority groups involved in
narcotics production.
However, Thaksin said he was still concerned over Thai people possibly
being affected environmentally, as the site designated for the plant would be
only five kilometres away from Thai border across from Chiang Rai province, in
case the shipment was returned to Burma and later used in the building of the
plant.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation, Reuters - April 22,
2001.
Army sends containers to
Bangkok
THE Third Army yesterday ordered 44 containers carrying
electricity-generating equipment destined for a power plant being built just
inside the Burmese border to be returned to Bangkok after local residents
threatened to set fire to the shipment.
The villagers fear the lignite-fuelled plant will spew pollution across the
border.
The Third Army will meet with National Security Council officials next week
to discuss possible legal conflicts regarding the containerised shipment,
sources said.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who on Friday ordered the containers
stopped before they crossed the Mae Sai-Tachilek border, insisted he would not
allow the trucks to cross into Burma unless Rangoon could prove that the
shipment belonged to the government.
More than 500 villagers in the northern border town of Mae Sai in Chiang
Rai province yesterday threatened to set fire to the containers and block the
road if authorities allowed the truck convoy to cross into Burma.
They also demanded that the containers be opened to verify the contents.
The villagers said they suspect the trucks also contain a chemical liquid used
in the production of amphetamines.
The villagers strongly criticised security officials for failing to
ascertain whether the containers held equipment that could be a threat to
national security or the environment.
If not for the soldiers who arrived just in time to stop the trucks, the
containers would have crossed into Burma, the villagers said.
Local residents have many concerns about the power plant, which is being
built about 4.5 kilometres from the Thai-Burmese border. Villager leader
Chalermchai Chaimanee said that Mae Sai residents have long studied the effects
of sulphur dioxide emissions from lignite-fuelled power plants.
"The villagers believe that this power plant would facilitate the
production of amphetamines," he said.
Thaksin said he had ordered the block of 44 containers stopped at the
border because security forces believed that most of the supplies were bound for
the United Wa State Army's (UWSA) headquarters in Mong Yawn, 80 km southwest of
Tachilek.
Authorities had blamed the ethnic minority militia as being responsible for
a flood of narcotics into Thailand.
Thaksin said Thailand was ready to cooperate and let the trucks cross the
border if Rangoon could prove that the equipment belonged to the government and
not to the UWSA.
Thaksin called on Burma to help tackle the drug trade and suggested that it
take action against the UWSA.
The premier said Burma's military government appeared confused about its
relationship with the UWSA, which has been branded a major producer of heroin
and methamphetamines by US and Thai anti-narcotics agencies.
"Rangoon is still confused over the roles and its relationship with the
Wa," Thaksin told reporters on the sidelines of a tourism industry meeting in
Chiang Mai.
"If Rangoon thinks the Wa, which we believe is a major drug producer, is
just a (rebel) ethnic group, that's fine. But if Burma accepts that they belong
to the country, the Burmese government must help us handle the drug
issue."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan to Implement Water Supply
Project for Myanmar
2001.04.22 12:41:42 YANGON, April 22 (Xinhuanet) --
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will implement a rural
water supply project in Myanmar's eastern Shan state in cooperation with
the country's Development Affairs Department (DAD) under the
Ministry of Progress of Border Areas and National Races and
Development Affairs.
According to a document of the DAD released on Sunday, the program
covering 250 villages in the state will be implemented by using heavy
machinery equipment of the JICA beginning the present fiscal year
(2001-02).
The document disclosed that a minutes of discussions on the
implementation was signed here between the two sides on Friday.
The project worth 624 million yens (5.13 million U.S. dollars) is one
of the two health-related projects covered by Japan's official development
assistance (ODA) program.
This ODA will be the first grant aid of its kind provided by the
Japanese government to Myanmar in 13 years since Japan temporarily
suspended its ODA as well as humanitarian aid in late 1988 when the
present Myanmar military government came to power.
Before 1988, the Japanese government has extended to the country ODA
worth 50 billion yens (426.1 million dollars).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Makes Efforts to Improve
Public Health Care
2001.04.22 10:29:42 YANGON, April 22 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar has been making efforts to improve public health care, adding a large
number of hospitals and health care centers in the country in 13
years.
According to the statistics published by the Myanmar Ministry of
Health on Sunday, since 1988, the country has opened 97 new hospitals, 83
regional and rural health centers and 28 rural clinics.
Myanmar Minister of Health Major-General Ket Sein said recently that the
country's public health care services have improved dramatically, but he
admitted that there is still a gap in development levels between urban and
rural areas.
Myanmar has been implementing a five-year national health plan from
1996 to 2001 and public health care and hospital care are among the areas
covered by the plan. The other areas are disease control, environmental
health and health system development.
The government's financial support to the health sector accounts for
about 7 percent of its total state budget and 40 percent of the national
health expenditure are spent to improve health care in the rural
areas.
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