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BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 11,
2001.
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HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - Rangoon
on warpath, top general warns
The Nation - No
instant solution - Surakiart
Bkk Post - Talks must end mistrust, says
Chavalit
Bkk Post - PM's trip essential to end problems,
says Surakiart
Bkk Post - Villages
strengthen Burmese positions
Bkk Post - Gas pipeline brings no real
benefits
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's Trade with Five Western
Countries Rises Sharply
SCMP - Taleban poppy ban a boon for
Burma
Kyodo News - Suu Kyi lawsuit
adjourned
AFP - Judge says top legal officer told
him to drop political case
---------------------------------------------------------------- The NATION - JUNE 11,
2001.
Rangoon on warpath, top general warns
Natee Vichitsorasatra
CHIANG MAI - When General Charnchai Sun-thornket, deputy chief of staff of
the 3rd Army Region, spoke, it was as if nobody else at the academic seminar on
Thai-Burmese relations had said a word.
"The [Burmese] army build-up is approaching 500,000 [men]. Two-thirds of
Burma's forces are posted on the Thai border. Two per cent of Burma's GDP is
spent on building up the military," Charnchai warned. His comments were in sharp
contrast to the views expressed by academics and businessmen at the seminar, who
said the problems were solvable and perceptions played a large part in the
deteriorating relationship between Thailand and Burma.
"Burma's economy went downhill along with ours. Where does the money come
from?" Charnchai asked.Charnchai argued that the Burmese government was often
insincere, which meant that dialogue did not help.
"Local problems, no matter how good the relationship among the people is,
cannot be solved if the solution is not initiated from the top," he
said.Interestingly, relations on the local level are surprisingly good.
Represen-tatives of the Tak and Chiang Rai chambers of commerce gave examples of
how people from the two countries regularly crossed borders and did business
with each other.
"Locals don't care about nationalism. It's all started by those in the
capital. All we care about is when business can resume as usual," said Sermchai
Kittirattanapaiboon, president of the Chiang Rai Chamber of Commerce. He said
the amount of money changing hands in the area had dropped from Bt50 million to
Bt4 million since the border was closed four months ago.
Charnchai replied that "militarism can't be wrong if it is a means to
making Thais patriotic."
He then went into a long narration of how drugs were causing problems in
Thailand and said that there had been no effort to solve the problem at the top.
"Lower level soldiers will harass us and cause problems to keep their power
and maintain their interests at the border," he said. The Burmese town of Mong
Yawn, the general said, was developing fast, and military sources said drugs
were being produced there. "Of course, they won't let you see it. Nobody's that
stupid," he added.
Other speakers at the session focused on the reasons the relationship had
deteriorated so sharply during the last four months. It was pointed out that
border clashes, nationalistic movies and the media had contributed to the
problem.
Scores of examples were cited. Movies such as "Bangrajan", or television
series such as Adeeta consistently portrayed the Burmese as the enemy. "A
traffic radio station lobbied for F16s to bomb Burma for two whole days before
they were stopped," said Surachat Bamrungsuk of Chulalongkorn. A newspaper
column suggesting money be raised to "kill the Burmese" was also
mentioned.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - June 11,
2001.
No instant solution - Surakiart
CHIANG MAI - The Foreign Minister affirmed here yesterday that every
possible effort was being made to improve cooperation between Thailand and the
Burmese government but that no-one should expect improvements overnight.
In the opening speech to an academic seminar held by Chulalongkorn and
Chiangmai Universities, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said that
dialogue with the Burmese had been put off for too long. The Regional Border
Committee, for example, had not convened for two years before a meeting was
called in April.
Pointing to cooperation as the ultimate solution to the diplomatic impasse
with Thailand's most problematic neighbour, Surakiart said such was the
complexity of some misunderstandings between the two governments that "only the
top level" could find a solution.
The Foreign Minister cited the fact that the leaders of China, Burma and
Laos had already agreed to a meeting with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in
Kunming, China, to discuss border problems as an example of the present
government's willingness to cooperate.
He pointed out that Burmese leaders had also agreed in principle to a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the cross-border drug problem.
"With this MOU we have guidelines and principles to which we can strictly
adhere," Surakiart said.
The minister attributed what he called "the constant misunderstanding"
between Thailand and Burma to a number of factors beyond the Foreign Ministry's
control. "We have a free press, and the Burmese have very sensitive ears.
Several cross-border acts are also not controlled by the Foreign Ministry," he
said, adding that proper dialogue was the only way forward.
Subsequent speakers supported the Foreign Minister's views and agreed that
cooperation was essential for a peaceful relationship.
Doctor Sunet Chutinatharanon, a history professor from Chulalongkorn
University (CU), said that the Foreign Ministry's initiative to encourage
cooperation would improve relationships.
Associate Professor Chaichoke Chulasiriwong of CU's Political Science
Faculty commented later: "After years of following events, I can say now that
the previous government was insincere, causing Burma to be wary of the Thai
government.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 11,
2001.
Talks must end mistrust, says
Chavalit
Frankness necessary to resolve suspicions Sermsuk Kasitipradit and Nusara Thaitawat
Thailand and Burma must urgently embark on confidence-building measures to
dispel mutual mistrust and restore understanding, Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh said yesterday.
"The present state of mistrust and wide suspicion, each side questioning
the other's sincerity in tackling problems on the common border, must not be
left unresolved," Gen Chavalit said.
"It would only further affect our relationship."
He was confident that discussions during the visit to Rangoon by Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, scheduled for June 19-20, would help restore mutual
confidence and pave the way for lasting stability along the border.
"If we talk openly and frankly, we can resolve our suspicions.
"I have no doubt that the PM's visit will bring extraordinary
success.
"It will be the government's benchmark for a new era in bilateral
co-operation," said Gen Chavalit, who will accompany the prime minister.
Burma was welcome to raise any suspicions about Thailand's sincerity. Both
sides should speak frankly, Gen Chavalit said.
The economic potential of the Greater Mekong Sub-region-northern Thailand
and Burma, southern China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, was immense. All stood to
benefit from peace and stability and co-operation between regional
governments.
"We need to build mutual trust and confidence before we can strive together
for regional prosperity. Cross-border development will benefit us all," he
said.
The minister tried to dispel the "misconception" that Thailand was backing
the anti-Rangoon rebels of the Shan State Army (SSA).
"Why would we back this minority group? It's clear to us they don't have a
chance to win against the Burmese army and set up an independent Shan State," he
said.
Gen Chavalit is known to have befriended the late Gen Saw Maung, who was
the first chairman of Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council, now
termed the State Peace and Development Council.
"If the Burmese government has any suspicion that we may be training SSA
rebels in Fang [district, Chiang Mai], they're welcome to visit the camp to
check it out for themselves," he said.
One of the concrete measures envisioned by Gen Chavalit is the opening up
of border areas subject to suspicion to joint Thai-Burmese inspection, and
possibly patrols.
"If we have a suspicion about some border area, let us see it. If they have
a suspicion on any particular site, they're welcome," he said.
The minister was optimistic Rangoon would respond positively to the
government's initiatives.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 11,
2001.
PM's trip essential to end
problems, says Surakiart
Insults to monarchy likely to be raised Achara Ashayagachat
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's trip to Burma will clear up
"complicated and profound" misunderstandings and facilitate bilateral agreement
on drug suppression, the foreign minister said.
Surakiart Sathirathai said current problems had gone on too long and the
prime minister was the only government leader who could make a
breakthrough.
Border conflicts erupted four months ago when Burmese soldiers seized a
Thai military outpost in Ban Pang Noon as part of an operation against ethnic
Shan troops inside Burma, opposite Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai.
Mr Surakiart said the full extent of the misunderstanding could not be made
public, but insisted only a face-to-face discussion between both leaders could
clear up the problem.
Separate talks would also touch upon other outstanding bilateral
issues.
Krit Garnjana-gunchorn, head of the ministry's East Asian Affairs
Department, led an advance team to Rangoon last week to pave the way for the
summit.
The actual agenda has not been announced, but officials said Rangoon would
be made aware that its comments about the Thai monarchy were not
appreciated.
The foreign minister said Mr Thaksin's June 19-20 visit was not against
diplomatic protocol since Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung was scheduled to
visit Thailand immediately after.
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was the last prime minister to make
an official visit to Rangoon, in May 1997.
Mr Surakiart hoped a memorandum of understanding on drug suppression would
be signed during Mr Thaksin's visit and that Burma would endorse multilateral
talks on drugs.
Mr Surakiart was confident there would not be a repeat of the border
clashes which marred his Burmese trip last month, but said the army would deal
with them if they occurred.
He said it was not acceptable under any circumstances for a foreign nation
to verbally attack the Thai monarchy or encroach on Thailand's territory.
A non-escalation of animosity between the two nations would bring about the
most conducive environment not only for the premier's visit but also for the
forging of better relations, he said.
"To minimise conflict and disputes, we have to exercise more tolerance and
try to understand each other's social and cultural context."
Sermchai Kitiratanapaiboon, president of the Chiang Rai Chamber of
Commerce, petitioned the foreign minister to ask Mr Thaksin to request the
opening of the Tachilek border checkpoint, opposite Mae Sai.
He said cash reserves had dropped dramatically since the Tachilek border
closed, although there had been a small resurgence after traders began doing
business through Laos.
Burma historian Sunait Chutintranond said the underlying cause of conflict
was internal problems within Burma.
Rangoon's desperate need to protect national unity prompted them to attempt
to control all ethnic minorities, witn an inevitable spill-over into Thailand.
Chronic corruption in Thailand supported drug trafficking, he said.
Panithi Tangpati, president of the Tak Chamber of Commerce, said the drug
problem was compounded by Thais.
"It's not the Burmese or ethnic groups who raised the cost of a speed pill
in Bangkok from 10 baht to 100 baht," he said. "It's us, and we need to resolve
the problem, as we did with illegal immigrants."
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 11,
2001.
Villages strengthen Burmese
positions
Burmese troops have established villages along the border to strengthen
their positions opposite Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
A source said about 20,000 Wa residents were moved from a town north of
Shan State to villages built for them by the Rangoon military.
The cluster of villages was believed to serve as a base from which to mount
military operations. Houses in the villages were mostly built in the same style,
indicating they were constructed by Rangoon soldiers.
Roads were also paved to the new military headquarters located near border
areas where incursions occurred in the past.
The source said the Burmese military was also building roads to areas under
its control opposite the Doi Angkang Royal Project site in Fang district.
Col Chavalit Sirikakit, of the special task force, said Burmese troops were
expected to launch a fresh offensive against the Shan State Army stationed
opposite Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 11,
2001.
Gas pipeline brings no real
benefits
Electricity bills still remain high Anchalee Kongrut
Kanchanaburi Local residents are upset their electricity bills have not decreased
despite the completion three years ago of the Thai-Burmese gas pipeline.
Songyuth Arsakit, 47, a construction businessman, did not care about
environmental opposition to the controversial project but was angry the pipeline
did not return any benefit to local people.
"The pipeline has already been built and there's nothing you and I can do
about it," he said.
He attended a seminar yesterday organised by the Kanchanaburi Conservation
Group to push the Petroleum Authority of Thailand into reducing electricity
bills.
"I've just realised that after the pipeline construction, our province has
got nothing but destroyed ecology and a rift in society.
"The country still has to pay for the take-or-pay deal and our electric
bills are unusually high. My question is why the state still presses forward
other projects like the Thai-Malaysian gas pipeline and power plants in Prachuap
Khiri Khan while we have energy oversupply."
He said he was not impressed with the state agency's claim that it
succeeded in its efforts to rehabilitate the pristine forest and restore
deteriorated forest land along the pipeline. "The new trees cannot compare to
the original forest. They are more of a showcase," he said.
Phinan Chotirosseranee, of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, said the
group would maintain its opposition to the pipeline project.
Prominent social critic Sulak Sivaraksa slammed political establishments
for "brainwashing" people into accepting globalisation and Western
domination.
He once led a sit-in protest at a pipeline construction site and was
consequently subject to a legal lawsuit by the PTT.
Mr Sulak's remarks were criticised by Lt-Gen Ruamsak Chaikomin, a retired
Third Army commander.
"Sor Sivaraksa is a dangerous person. Do not believe him. He deceives
children into denouncing their teachers and religion."
Mr Sulak said the retired general should be more open-minded and stop
ordering people around.
Lt-Gen Ruamsak said it would be more in Mr Sulak's line to attack Burma for
insulting Thailand instead of criticising Thai society. He said Mr Sulak could
criticise the expensive electricity without slamming the Yadana gas
pipeline.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's Trade with Five Western
Countries Rises Sharply
2001.06.11 11:16:44 YANGON, June 11 (Xinhuanet) --
Bilateral trade between Myanmar and five western industrialized countries -- the
United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and France -- totaled 142.3
million U. S. dollars in the first two months of this year, up 123.8
percent from the same period of 2000, according to the latest government-
issued Economic Indicators.
Of the total, Myanmar's import from the five countries amounted to 63.96
million dollars, while its export to them was valued at 78.34 million
dollars, enjoying a trade surplus of 14.38 million dollars.
The bilateral trade between Myanmar and the five western
industrialized countries during the two-month period accounted for 18.5 percent
of Myanmar's total foreign trade which was registered at 769.15 million
dollars.
Of them, Myanmar's bilateral trade with the U.S. represented the
highest volume with 66.26 million dollars or 8.6 percent of Myanmar's
total foreign trade, followed by that with Japan 58 million dollars or
7.54 percent, with U.K. 10.26 million dollars or 1.3 percent, with Germany
4.75 million dollars or 0.61 percent.
During the period, though there was import from France with 3. 03 million
dollars, the export to that country was nil.
The U.S. stood as Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner after
Thailand, Singapore and China and was followed by Japan and Republic of
Korea during the two-month period.
According to official statistics, in 2000, Myanmar's total foreign
trade, including the border trade, totaled 4.086 billion dollars, of which
its bilateral trade with the five western countries amounted to 614.2
million dollars, accounting for 15.03 percent of Myanmar's total foreign
trade during the year.
---------------------------------------------------------------- South China Morning Post
Monday, June 11, 2001
Taleban poppy ban a boon for
Burma
WILLIAM BARNES in Chiang Mai, Thailand Opium growing in Burma's Golden Triangle is set to boom under the benign
eye of its military regime following Afghanistan's decision to eliminate its
poppy fields, Western, Thai and opposition sources on the Thai border claim.
The ruling Taleban's decision automatically anoints Burma as the world's premier opium supplier, despite at least three years of poor growing weather. Moves by thousands of families belonging to the drug trafficking ethnic Wa
minority from the traditional poppy heartland off China to just north of
Thailand have also spread the opium production area.
"Heroin is definitely coming back up this year. I am very angry," said
General Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, commander of Thailand's northern Third Army.
Burma's military Government has claimed that its own eradication efforts
have been largely responsible for a 38 per cent drop in its Golden Triangle
opium production since 1997.
The regime's powerful intelligence chief, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt,
told a narcotics conference in Rangoon last month a "universally acknowledged"
drop in production was down to the authorities' efforts, including the
destruction of 4,444 hectares of poppy fields last season.
The US State Department says that Burma produced 1,085 tonnes of opium last
year, less than half the peak output in 1989 of 2,400 tonnes. The Burmese
Government has promised to wipe out drug production in the country by 2014.
Yet most foreign observers say the fall in production is mostly a result of
drought. "I've seen the poppy plants. Small, poor things," said William Snipes,
the Bangkok head of the United States' Drug Enforcement Administration.
Although the Burmese authorities have undoubtedly cleared some poppies
fields and co-operated in some small crop substitution schemes initiated by the
United Nations Drug Control Programme, many informed observers say they still
turn a blind eye to much drug production.
This is partly because tough, well-armed and partly autonomous former
rebels such as the United Wa State Army continue to produce both opium and
amphetamines in great quantities and partly because many Burmese army units
blatantly co-operate with the traffickers.
"Many of the old drug warlords believe that amphetamines are a passing fad,
that heroin is here to stay. The acreage of poppy fields hasn't dropped at all.
It is just that the yields have been terrible," said a Western narcotics expert
in Chiang Mai.
"The demand is still there. We do see a lot more stuff going out through
Rangoon now," he added.
The Taleban has destroyed perhaps 100,000 hectares of poppies this year in
a country that overtook Burma as the world's premier opium source following the
"retirement" of notorious drug warlord Khun Sa in 1996.
Opium growing, and production of its derivative heroin, never really paused
in Shan state even if the players, the alliances and the drug routes have
changed.
Mr Snipes said that Burmese heroin prices had been rock solid for the past
two years.
The Golden Triangle currently supplies only a quarter of the heroin sold in
the US and Europe, but it could easily pick up the slack left by Afghanistan and
by similar actions in Bolivia.
"The problem will migrate to another angle of the world and it is very
likely that it will be our corner," said the UN Drug Control Programme's
regional representative, Sandro Calvani.
Many observers on the Thai border consider the debate in diplomatic circles
about the depth of the cash-strapped Burmese regime's involvement in the drug
trade as sterile when they hear so many reports of soldiers in the field
assisting drug producers.
"I've heard lots of refugees [in Shan state] say that Burmese soldiers
either ordered them or encouraged them to grow poppies," said Kam Harn Fah, the
director of the Shan Human Rights Foundation.
"Sometimes they tell them they must co-operate with this or that
trafficker. Sometimes they say it will be good business for you," he said.
The Burmese and their Wa allies have been shifting families - 50,000 so far
- south to lush land near the Thai border so that they can grow not poppies but
citrus fruit and the like.
Yet this may be exacerbating the drug production problem. "In reality when
they come close to Thailand they are still planting opium in the mountainous
areas," complained General Wattanachai.
Heroin trafficking out of Burma has been overshadowed since the mid-1990s
by the dramatic surge in the production of amphetamines.
The drug, however, remains so prized for its purity that in recent years
traffickers have been willing to risk sending Afghan heroin to Bangkok to be
bleached and sold as "Burma white".
---------------------------------------------------------------- (Kyodo News) - Suu Kyi lawsuit
adjourned
Monday, June 11, 2001 at 18:30 JST
YANGON — Trial judge Soe Thein on Monday adjourned a court session for a
suit filed against Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by her brother Aung
San Oo until June 25 in order to consider an amendment to the plaint.
The Yangon Division Court made the decision after Aung San Oo's lawyer
asked for a revision to the plaint, he said.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Monday June 11, 8:02 PM
Judge says top legal officer told him to drop political case KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 (AFP) - The Malaysian judge who disclosed that he had been pressured to drop a politically sensitive case said Monday the order came from a then-top officer in the judiciary. High court judge Muhammad Kamil Awang, quoted by Bernama news agency,
declined to name the person.
Asked by reporters if the person was a former top official of either the
federal (highest) court, the court of appeal or the chief judge of Sabah and
Sarawak, he replied: "Yes... you think who else can give a directive to a
judge."
The judge's original disclosure sparked a furore in Malaysia, where critics
of the government say judicial independence has long been under threat.
Muhammad Kamil last Friday ordered a member of the nationally ruling
coalition to vacate his seat in the assembly of the eastern state of Sabah,
ruling that he won it in 1999 with the help of "phantom voters."
In his written judgement he also said he had been given a directive by
phone that petitions from two defeated candidates contesting the result should
be struck off without a hearing.
Mohammad Kamil did not name the phone caller but said he was determined "to
truly act as a judge and not a 'yes man'."
His partial disclosure Monday follows pressure to name the person.
Param Cumaraswamy, the United Nations special rapporteur on judicial
independence, said he had heard of similar directives being given to judges in
other cases.
But this was the first time in recent years that such interference had been
exposed, Cumaraswamy said in a statement.
He praised Muhammad Kamil's courage but said he should "in the public
interest to promote and protect judicial independence, report the incident and
disclose the name of the caller to the competent authorities for full
investigations."
Rais Yatim, minister for legal affairs, made a similar request on
Sunday.
Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah said it is up to Muhammad Kamil to
decide whether to identify the caller.
Describing his comment as "a very serious allegation", Mohamed Dzaiddin
said it was not for him to direct the judge what to do "because the allegation
formed part of his judgement."
The Bar Council -- representing 9,600 lawyers -- has urged police to
investigate the phone call to the judge, saying obstruction of justice is a
criminal offence.
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