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----------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - July 18,
2001.
----------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Opposition Lawmakers, Writer Freed From
Myanmar Detention
AP - Refugees Flee To Thailand After Myanmar
Border Clash
AP - China:Asean Nations Close To Agreement On
Disputed Waters
AFP - ASEAN must work hard to restore 'lost
lustre': Singapore FM
AFP - External issues threaten to overshadow
southeast Asian meet
Reuters - Myanmar frees noted writer on eve of
key ceremony
ZDNetAsia - Authoritarian govts in control of Net threat BBC - Burma releases 11 political
prisoners
BBC - Thailand's 'mad medicine'
Bernama - Myanmar To Further Develop Tourist
Destinations
The Nation - Missiles
'no threat' to regional stability
The Nation - Hundreds cross the border to flee
conflict
Bkk Post - Plan to purchase
missiles
Bkk Post - US
anti-drug fund, Border trade up
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Takes Measures to Develop
Capital City
SCMP - US missile sale 'agreed before
border clashes'
---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 18, 7:14 PM
Opposition Lawmakers, Writer Freed From Myanmar Detention YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Myanmar's
military government on Wednesday released 11 more political prisoners associated
with the opposition National League for Democracy, including four elected
Members of Parliament and a prominent woman writer.
The releases were the latest in a series of conciliatory moves by the junta
since it started closed-door political negotiations late last year with Aung San
Suu Kyi, head of the NLD and Myanmar's most prominent dissident.
The government has released more than 150 people since January.
"Today 11 NLD members including 4 MPs have been released from various
correctional facilities in the country," said an official statement.
It identified those released as lawmakers Dr. Aung Khin Sint, Kyi Win, Aye
Kyu, Nyunt Hlaing and NLD members San San Nwe, Sein Than, Aye Myint, Aye Kyaw,
Than Tun, Tin Win and Tun Kyi.
The brief statement said "they are all in good health."
San San Nwe, in her mid-fifties, is a former journalist and novelist who
was sentenced in August 1994 to 10 years in prison for allegedly giving
information to foreign journalists and diplomats "against or critical of the
government in order to make foreign governments misunderstand the government."
The human rights group Amnesty International and other organizations
claimed that she suffered from ill health during her time in detention.
A winner of the Myanmar National Literary Prize, as a prisoner San San Nwe
was co-winner of the 2001 Golden Pen of Freedom award from the World Association
of Newspapers, as well as the recipient of a 1999 press freedom award from the
France-based group Reporters Without Borders.
Her co-winner of the Golden Pen award, journalist Win Tin, apparently
remains in detention.
According to an NLD official, 34 NLD MPs remain detained in prisons around
the country.
"Most of those released (Wednesday) were arrested between 1996 and 1997 and
have been detained at Insein prison and prison in Thayet, Magwe Division in
central Myanmar," said one NLD official.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her democracy struggle, and
her top two aides, remain under house detention, enforced since Sept. 22 when
Suu Kyi tried to travel outside Yangon in defiance of official restrictions.
The current group of generals ruling Myanmar seized power in 1988 after
crushing a pro-democracy movement with a bloody crackdown that killed hundreds.
The junta called general elections in 1990 but refused to recognize the
overwhelming victory of the NLD, and never allowed Parliament to convene.
On Monday, Amnesty International urged the military regime to release more
political prisoners, saying that there are still at least 1,800 under detention
despite recent releases.
Hundreds of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners are still being
held, including politicians, students, doctors, farmers, teachers, journalists,
writers, lawyers, comedians and housewives serving long prison terms in very
poor conditions, Amnesty said.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 18, 2:43 PM
Refugees Flee To Thailand After Myanmar Border Clash BANGKOK (AP)--Nearly 200 ethnic
Karen villagers, mostly women and children, fled to Thailand after a clash
between rival Karen factions on the Myanmar side of the border, a Thai official
said Wednesday.
About 50 soldiers of the pro-Yangon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, or
DKBA, launched a surprise attack on a mobile border camp of the rebel Karen
National Union, or KNU, late Tuesday. It was bombarded for about 20 minutes and
then overrun.
Anuchit Trongkao, the local Thai chief of civilian defense, told The
Associated Press that 194 Karen civilians fled the camp and sought refuge in Tha
Song Yang district, in Tak province, 370 kilometers north of Bangkok.
About 200 other guerrillas and their families abandoned the camp, which
lies on the bank of Moei River border, and fled inside Myanmar, he said.
Two 60 mm mortars shells landed on Thai soil but didn't hurt anyone,
leading Thailand to believe the DKBA forces had received supporting mortar fire
from Myanmar military, he said.
The DKBA attackers burned down four houses and a makeshift hospital before
retreating to their own camp deeper inside Myanmar, Anuchit said.
He had no details of casualties but expected they were minimal as the KNU
had fled the scene before the attack.
The KNU, which has been fighting for greater autonomy from Yangon for more
than 50 years, wasn't immediately available for comment. Myanmar, also known as
Burma, has been ruled by its military since 1962.
The KNU is one of the few rebel groups in Myanmar yet to reach a cease-fire
with the regime. At its peak in the early 1980s, the largely Christian rebel
movement had nearly 30,000 soldiers and controlled large enclaves of territory
along the border.
But the KNU was badly split by a defection in the early 1990s of a Buddhist
faction, which then set up the pro-Yangon DKBA. The KNU now has only a few
thousand guerrillas under arms and has no fixed territory.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 18, 6:41 PM
China:Asean Nations Close To Agreement
On Disputed Waters
BEIJING (AP)--Asian nations are
close to agreeing on rules to govern their conduct in the disputed South China
Sea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are
expected to discuss the code next week at a meeting in Vietnam, said Fu Ying,
director of the Foreign Ministry's Asia Department.
Asean is made up of Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore,
Brunei, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia.
"We've covered most of the items for a code of conduct and consensus has
been reached, I think, on the majority of the elements," Fu said at a briefing
for reporters on the meeting.
"I don't know yet if there will be a final conclusion but I think it's
near, it's not very difficult," she said.
The South China Sea is considered one of Asia's most dangerous potential
flashpoints. Six governments have conflicting claims in the area. Busy shipping
lanes pass through the South China Sea, which also has rich fishing grounds and
is thought to lie atop oil and gas deposits.
Fu said some Asean countries disagree about which areas should be covered
by the code of conduct, but didn't say which countries.
She said China was flexible and willing for the code to cover either the
South China Sea or just the contested Spratly Islands.
The code would focus on a commitment to peacefully resolve disputes in the
area, said Fu.
"But if there's no progress there isn't much to talk about," she said. "We
have to wait for the Asean countries to sort out their differences."
---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 18, 4:59 PM
ASEAN must work hard to restore
'lost lustre': Singapore FM
SINGAPORE, July 18 (AFP) - Southeast Asia must redouble efforts to "regain its lost lustre", as the region faces an economic downturn and key members battle political problems, Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said Wednesday. The credibility and cohesion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) was being severely put to test by these challenges, he said in a speech
to university students.
ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Hanoi next week should give top priority
to restoring investor confidence in the region and in helping poorer members
catch up economically, he said.
Singapore, which has the strongest economy in the 10-member ASEAN, has
fallen into recession due to dwindling exports and sharp falls in industrial
output.
Economists have for the first time raised the possibility that gross
domestic product (GDP) growth this year could swing into negative territory for
the city-state from a 9.9 percent expansion last year.
Singapore's ASEAN neighbours, similarly dependent on exports, have also
slashed growth projections this year due the slowdown in the US economy and the
waning global demand for electronics products.
"With three of its founding members facing domestic challenges, and the
region experiencing an economic slowdown, ASEAN is experiencing an interregnum,
during which its credibility and cohesiveness are being severely tested,"
Jayakumar said.
He was referring to Indonesia, which is gripped by a leadership crisis and
separatist unrest in some provinces, as well as the Philippines and Thailand
where new governments are preoccupied with various problems.
"Even without the financial crisis, ASEAN's expansion to 10 was a challenge
in itself, calling for consolidation to allow the newer members to catch up
economically," Jayakumar said.
"With these additional challenges ASEAN currently faces, it needs to double
its efforts to regain its lost lustre."
ASEAN originally grouped Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand, but gradually expanded to include Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar and Vietnam.
The regional grouping is fast losing out to China in attracting foreign
direct investments.
On Indonesia, ASEAN's largest member, Jayakumar said the problems were
complex and a new government would find it difficult to solve all of them
immediately.
"If stability is restored, it might take some years for Indonesian politics
to reach a new equilibrium," he said.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid faces impending impeachment
proceedings from parliament, along with challenges by his estranged vice
president, Megawati Sukarnoputri and open defiance of his orders by the armed
forces.
Without referring to any particular country, Jayakumar said "troubled
economies are a potential source of instability and conflict, both within and
between countries".
"These difficulties must be managed carefully if we are to avoid conflict
and maintain a global peace and stability which would aid economic recovery," he
said.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 18, 11:06 AM
External issues threaten to overshadow
southeast Asian meet
HANOI, July 18 (AFP) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers gather here next week, desperate to use key talks with international partners to refocus attention on the region in the face of the growing pull exerted by a resurgent China. The guest list, including US Secretary of State Colin Powell, EU External
Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and
Japanese Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, ensures the talks a
high-profile platform.
But diplomats say a host of external issues from Korea to Japanese school
history textbooks already threatens to overshadow the region's efforts to put
itself back on the map as the guests queue up to organize separate talks on the
sidelines.
As Powell makes his first diplomatic foray into Asia, all eyes are likely
to focus on the new US administration's policy towards North Korea.
The US State Department has said it is "possible" the secretary of state
will meet North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun on the sidelines of the
Hanoi talks in a bid to break a deadlock over President George W. Bush's terms
for a resumption of dialogue.
Bush insists he will only resume talks with Pyongyang if they are broadened
to include the size of the north's huge army as well as its missile and nuclear
programmes, something which the north's official media has so far
rejected.
Strained relations between southeast Asia's three key Asian partners --
Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo -- also threaten to overshadow the talks.
Officials in Tokyo say Tanaka is seeking meetings on the sidelines with
both her Chinese and South Korean counterparts amid a worsening trade row with
Beijing and a bitter dispute with both governments over new school textbooks
accused of glossing over Japan's wartime atrocities.
Powell's very presence in Vietnam is likely to divert attention to
bilateral issues between Washington and its former foe, as the US Congress
prepares to vote on a landmark trade agreement which is seen a a final seal on
their rapprochement.
The secretary of state, who is himself a Vietnam War veteran, will be under
massive pressure to raise human rights issues with his Vietnamese hosts amid
growing criticism among US lawmakers of the communist authorities' detention of
several prominent religious dissidents.
Even Australia has its own agenda -- Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is
expected to meet his Lao counterpart Somsavat Lengsavad on the sidelines amid
anger over the jailing of an Australian couple in Vientiane on widely contested
gem theft charges.
Diplomats say southeast Asian ministers are partly to blame for the focus
on outside issues, having failed to articulate a common vision for the Hanoi
talks.
In recent weeks, southeast Asian officials have issued ever more plaintive
pleas for the world to keep sight of the region as China's imminent accession to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) threatens to drain off an ever larger share
of international interest and investment.
At a conference in Brussels last month, Singapore Trade Minister George Yeo
even invoked the links of the colonial past in a desperate plea for renewed
European interest in the region.
But diplomats say continuing divisions within the 10-member Association of
Southeast Nations (ASEAN) have prevented it from achieving a consensus around
the sort of radical reforms urged by a growing number of outside
commentators.
Pundits ranging from Japanese Deputy Finance Minister Haruhiko Kuroda to
the WTO's incoming director general, Supachai Panitchpakdi, have called on ASEAN
to swiftly accelerate eight-year-old plans for a free trade area in the face of
the economic challenge from China.
But the grouping's newer members -- hosts Vietnam as well as Cambodia, Laos
and Myanmar -- remain reluctant to accept any step which might widen the gap
with core members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand.
"The ASEANs still lack the leadership to articulate a common sense of
purpose. It's not altogether surprising then that interest has shifted to the
bilaterals," one Western diplomat told AFP.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 18, 10:22 PM
Myanmar frees noted writer on eve of key ceremony By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
military government released 11 more members of the opposition from prison on
Wednesday, including a noted writer close to pro-democracy figurehead Aung San
Suu Kyi.
San San Nwe, a leading member of a writers' group in Suu Kyi's opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD), was arrested in 1994 and sentenced to 10
years in prison on charges of fabricating and circulating false news.
She was considered one of Myanmar's most prominent journalists and this
year was awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom prize by the World Association of
Newspapers.
In the four years before her arrest, she had been banned from printing any
articles or literature. Up to this point she had written 12 novels, several
non-fiction books, scores of poems and hundreds of short stories.
Her 1977 novel "Only a Folding Umbrella" was translated into English and
Russian.
The release of the 11 opposition members is the latest sign of a thaw in
relations between the military government and the NLD since October, when the
ruling generals began secret talks with Suu Kyi.
The NLD won Myanmar's last general election in 1990 by a landslide but was
never allowed to govern. Over the last decade its members have faced harassment,
arrest and imprisonment.
WATCHING CEREMONY
No information has been released on the progress of the talks. Suu Kyi has
been held under de facto house arrest since September and only a handful of
foreign diplomats have been given access to her.
But since the start of the talks, 151 NLD detainees have been released and
the party has been given permission to reopen 18 of its branch offices.
The government and opposition have agreed to refrain from open criticism of
each other while the talks are going on.
Wednesday's releases come on the eve of a major national ceremony marking
Martyrs' Day, the anniversary of the assassination of Suu Kyi's father,
independence hero General Aung San, and eight senior officials on July 19, 1947.
This year's ceremony is being closely watched to see whether Suu Kyi
attends.
Despite her rift with the ruling generals, Suu Kyi has always attended the
ceremony in recent years, even when she was being held in house arrest between
1989 and 1995.
But diplomats and officials said last week Suu Kyi had declined to attend
Thursday's ceremony. If she fails to appear, it would be widely interpreted as a
sign that the talks with the government are not going well.
Earlier this year, diplomatic sources said the talks appeared to have
stalled, but subsequent prisoner releases and a visit by United Nations special
envoy Razali Ismail, who helped broker the talks, stirred hopes the negotiations
were still on track.
There had been rumours in Myanmar that restrictions on Suu Kyi could be
lifted ahead of the Martyrs' Day ceremony.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 18, 1:12 PM
Authoritarian govts in control of Net
threat
ZDNetAsia - WASHINGTON--Despite widespread belief that greater access to information leads to increased freedom of speech, authoritarian governments such as those in China and Cuba have managed to control political speech on the Internet within their borders, a private think tank reported Tuesday. Examining the impact of the Internet on China and Cuba, the report by the
Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concludes that the
governments of both countries have managed to limit political discourse and
contain subversive elements.
"Far from hastening its own demise by allowing the Internet to penetrate
its borders, an authoritarian state can actually utilize the Internet to its own
benefit and increase its stability by engaging with the technology," said report
authors Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C Boas.
The two countries have pursued different strategies to control Internet
use. The report found China has encouraged its citizens to get online but has
carefully monitored chat rooms and Web pages, while Cuba limits access to
universities and a few other institutions.
Both countries have provided models for other countries such as Myanmar and
the United Arab Emirates seeking to harness the economic power of the global
computer network while limiting political discourse, the report said.
Between 17 million and 22.5 million Chinese citizens are now online, the
report said, while only 60,000 Cubans have email addresses and only a few
thousand Cuban computers can access the Web.
The Chinese government has pursued a strategy of controlling what its
citizens read and say online, blocking Web sites it deems inappropriate and
removing subversive comments from chat rooms. The banned spiritual movement
Falun Gong, for example, saw its domestic Web sites shut down and access to
overseas Web sites blocked.
Cuba has not had to monitor the Internet habits of its citizens as much
because so few are online, the report said.
Economic growth on the Web may not necessarily lead to greater freedom of
speech, the report said, as many entrepreneurs are afraid to challenge a
government that issues licenses and controls the regulatory environment.
"Taken together, the cases of China and Cuba should illustrate that the
diffusion of the Internet does not necessarily spell the demise of authoritarian
rule," the report said.
---------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Wednesday, 18 July, 2001, 11:38
GMT 12:38 UK
Burma releases 11 political prisoners The military government in Burma is reported to have released a further 11
political prisoners from jail.
It brings the total number of activists freed from prison over the past
week to 20.
The freed prisoners are said to include a prominent journalist, San San
Nwe, a leading member of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Correspondents say the releases could be a sign of a thaw in relations
between the military government and the NLD.
They come on the eve of a national ceremony marking Martyrs' Day, the
anniversary of the assassination of the father of the opposition leader, Aung
San Suu Kyi.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
---------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - 17 July, 2001, 18:51 GMT 19:51
UK
Thailand's 'mad medicine' By Bob Howard in Bangkok
Its chemical name is methamphetamine, but in Thailand it's simply known as
ya baa or "mad medicine".
Thais are estimated to consume 600m tablets of the drug each year - the
equivalent of 12 for every man, woman and child.
Its appeal is widespread, encompassing workers trying to keep awake,
students out partying, and even the country's poor, who just want temporary
escape from their harsh conditions.
Sandro Calvani, head of the UN International Drug Control Programme in
Thailand, says that ya baa is now threatening the very fabric of society.
He says the drug is so common in Bangkok that taxi drivers will sometimes
give it as change if they don't have coins to hand.
Huge market
"I think methamphetamines are now the main problem for Thailand and the
region," he said. "This drug delivers immediately, it's extremely cheap and
easily available, and that is why it has such a huge market."
One man who sees the effects at first hand is Father Joe, an American
Catholic priest who helps the disadvantaged in Bangkok's poorest districts.
His Human Development Foundation provides schooling for those who could not
normally afford it and cares for Thais suffering from Aids.
Many of those he sees have been hooked on ya baa. He says that while
methamphetamines may not have the notoriety of other drugs, they are highly
addictive and cause mood swings which often result in violence.
Father Joe's views on the subject are clear. "It's the greatest enemy
Thailand has ever had, and no one seems to want to do anything about it.
Everyone's making too much money," he said.
Making ya baa
The manufacture of methamphetamines is thought to be concentrated in Burma,
along its border with Thailand.
The biggest producer is believed to be the self-styled United Wa State
Army, an armed ethnic minority group which can call on 15,000 soldiers. The
drugs are then smuggled across the Thai border.
The trade has caused tensions between Thailand and Burma, which the Thai
prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra tried to address in an official visit to
Rangoon in June.
The United States has also agreed to send Black Hawk helicopters to the
north of Thailand to help clamp down on the smuggling routes.
But use of the drug is so widespread that the authorities face an uphill
battle.
With each tablet retailing at around $1, it is cheap to buy. It is even
cheaper to produce, as - unlike heroin or marijuana - it needs no crop, just a
simple laboratory.
One report by the Thai army estimated there are more than 80 factories in
Burma turning out the drug.
Ya baa tablets are also small and easy to hide, which makes them ideal for
smuggling. The trade is estimated to be worth well over half a billion dollars a
year.
Father Joe is convinced the solution lies not in Burma but with the Thais
themselves.
"It's easy to blame someone else for a problem you don't know what to do
about," he said.
"No one has come out and said it might be morally wrong to sell them to our
kids. The solution is with the parents and the communities."
---------------------------------------------------------------- Malaysian National News Agency
(Bernama)
Myanmar To Further Develop Tourist
Destinations
YANGON, July 18 (Oana-Xinhua) -- Myanmar is planning to further develop the 10 existing tourist destinations in the country as part of its tourism promotion program, according to the country's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism Wednesday. The 10 tourist destinations are Mandalay, Bagan, Inlay, Taunggyi, Kengtung,
Putao, Kawthoung, Chaungtha, Ngapali and Mrauk U, sources of the ministry said.
In recent years, Myanmar organized private entrepreneurs for participation
in tourism fairs held yearly in Thailand, Singapore, China's Hong Kong, Berlin,
London, France and Republic of Korea to raise the enthusiasm of local tour
operators in its efforts to develop the tourism industry.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - July 18,
2001.
Missiles 'no threat' to regional
stability
A senior air force officer yesterday dismissed concerns that the
procurement of eight Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (Amraam) from the
United States would destabilise regional security, pointing to Singapore's plans
to acquire 100 of the missiles.
Air Force Chief-of-Staff Marshall Kongsak Vattana was responding to fears
that buying the missiles would further strain ties with Burma, which recently
reached a deal with Russia to purchase 10 MiG jet fighters.
Kongsak's comment was also seen as an attempt to counter an earlier comment
by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who suggested he might call off the
deal.
Thaksin said on Tuesday the Amraam deal had been reached by the previous
administration, and he had yet to decide whether approve it. However, the
premier said yesterday he was not aware the funds for the deal were already in
place.
Kongsak said the missiles would be purchased using funds "stranded" in the
United States after the previous government cancelled an order for a squadron of
F-18 fighter jets.
"It's a very expensive system, but we can initially afford to buy eight
missiles," Kongsak said, adding the acquisition was vital to national defence
and was part of the armed forces' modernisation programme.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - July 18,
2001.
FIGHTING IN BURMA: Hundreds cross
the border to flee conflict
Jeeraporn Chaisri
The fate of 200 ethnic Karen refugees living in a temporary shelter in
Tak's Ta Song Yang district remains uncertain as the situation inside Burma has
yet to return to normal, said a senior Thai Army officer in the area.
"Fighting between the two sides has stopped for now. We are monitoring the
situation to determine if and when the situation is suitable for repatriation,"
said an army officer at the Naresuan Task Force, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
Fighting between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the combined forces of
Burma and its allies, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), erupted over
the weekend, forcing about 200 residents to flee across the border. The refugees
are being housed at Nong Bua village in Ta Song Yang.
Aid workers and border officials from nearby Mae Hla refugee camp, which is
currently home to about 30,000 Burmese refugees, were brought in to assist the
displaced Karen.
No casualties were reported from the fighting, said the officer.
The Associated Press reported yesterday that fighting had spilled over the
Thai border with two 60mm mortar shells landing on Thai soil but causing no
injuries.
It quoted a Thai official as saying the DKBA had burned down four houses
and a makeshift hospital before retreating back to their own camp deeper inside
Burma.
About 100,000 refugees, mostly ethnic Karen, now live in camps along the
Thai border.
The DKBA split from the predominantly Christian KNU about six years ago,
leading to the fall of Manaplaw, their main stronghold.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July 18,
2001.
Plan to purchase
missiles
Joint air force drills with US next year An air force plan to buy eight air-to-air missiles from the United States
is not related to Rangoon's decision to buy 10 MiG-29 fighters from Russia, said
Air Force Commander-in-chief ACM Pong Maneesilp.
"The Amraam (advanced, medium range air-to-air) missile purchase has been
planned for quite some time and is not aimed at countering anyone," he
said.
The air force wanted to upgrade the efficiency of its F-16 fighters. The
missiles would be kept in the US unless a security threat arose, when they would
be handed over, he said.
The air force would hold joint air exercises with the US air force next
year to make pilots familiar with the missiles and other air weaponry
systems.
"The exercise will relate directly to training on air weaponry systems,"
said ACM Pong.
An air force source said a squadron of used F-16 fighters bought from the
US would be delivered to Thailand starting late next year.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July 18,
2001.
US anti-drug fund, Border trade
up
The United States is giving Thailand $3.7 million (166.5 million baht) for
anti-narcotics and law enforcement programme.
US Ambassador Richard Hecklinger will sign an agreement with PM's Office
Minister Krasae Chanawong today.
The US has provided more than $81 million (3.65 billion baht) to Thailand
in anti-drug assistance since 1974, a statement from the US embassy said.
Increasingly, Thailand's anti-drug efforts are directed at stopping the
trafficking of heroin and methamphetamines from Burma.-AP
Border trade up
Chiang Rai-The sale of strategic commodities to Burma has jumped markedly since an export ban has been lifted. The customs office said exports through Tachilek opposite Mae Sot district
topped 48 million baht since border trade with Burma resumed on June 24.
Strategic goods included fuel, cement and building materials, with petrol
amounting to 1.4 million litres.
Popular imports include wood products, garments and VCD players. The
latter, manufactured in China, are sold for slightly over 2,000 baht each plus
800 baht import tax.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Takes Measures to Develop
Capital City
2001.07.18 12:21:44 YANGON, July 18 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar is taking measures to develop the capital city of Yangon to
possess the characteristics of a modern city that could raise the nation's
dignity in the world.
According to the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) Wednesday,
it is making efforts to turn Yangon into a main center for national
economic progress where all the convenient trade, financial, banking,
departmental and management services are available.
It has also successfully implemented in the capital the housing projects,
set up new satellite towns and industrial zones and carried out urban and
city beautifying projects, the YCDC said.
Yangon used to be a famous metropolis renowned as a garden city of Asia.
Later slums appeared and created unhealthy environment and the city lost
its cleanliness, pleasantness and urban characteristics.
Yangon has a population of over 3 million, according to official
estimation.
---------------------------------------------------------------- South China Morning Post
Wednesday, July 18, 2001
US missile sale 'agreed before border
clashes'
JAMES POLLARD in Bangkok An agreement by the US Government to sell air-to-air AIM-30 missiles to
Thailand was a long-planned move that preceded recent border clashes with Burma,
a spokeswoman at the US Embassy in Bangkok said yesterday.
The sale of advanced medium-range air-to-air (Amraam) missiles to the Thai
air force - signed in the US on Friday - had been discussed since last year, the
spokeswoman said.
It was unrelated to recent news that Burma had signed a deal with Russia to
purchase 10 MiG-29 jets, she added.
The Burmese-Russian deal, said by Jane's Defence Weekly to be worth US$130
million (HK$1 billion), is reported to have been struck after clashes in
February between Thai and Burmese troops in and around the northern Thai border
town of Mae Sai.
Rangoon signed a contract to buy eight MiG-29Bs and 2 MiG-29UB trainers,
Jane's reported earlier this month.
The US-Thai deal, which officials were unable to put a figure on, was seen
as a response to Burma's purchase of the MiG warplanes.
But the US spokeswoman said: "The process for buying arms is really long.
We have been talking to Thailand about Amraam missiles since the fall last year.
There is a period that Congress has - about three months, I think - to raise an
objection and that time period was up last week, so they were free to sign an
agreement."
The company building the Amraam missiles normally sold them in lots of 32,
she said, and "special permission" was needed for the Thai air force to purchase
eight.
Washington had made a policy decision not to introduce Amraams into the
Southeast Asian region unilaterally, so the weapons had to be stored outside
those countries, she said.
The missiles would be quickly delivered to Thailand when the country was
under threat or when it was appropriate to release them, the spokeswoman added.
Thailand has F-16 jet fighters, while Burma has 42 Chengdu F-7M and
Nanchang A-5C aircraft from China. The Russian MiGs are seen as a "cheap
equivalent" to the F-16s for the cash-strapped Rangoon junta.
Thai government officials and defence analysts have so far played down the
impact of the deals, saying both purchases were legitimate and not likely to
spark a regional arms race. However, US Senator Mitchell McConnell voiced
concerns over the Burmese deal in Congress last week.
Thai military sources, quoted in the Nation newspaper, said it was
"possible the US sees Burma's MiG-29 purchasing plan as tilting the equilibrium
of the regional arms structure and could cause an arms race in the region".
"McConnell also said Thailand and the US should be concerned about the
move, which he said has the potential to destabilise Southeast Asia," the paper
said.
The Burmese plan was disturbing, but not unexpected, Thai defence analyst
Professor Panitan Wattanayagorn was quoted as saying. "It is worrisome because
it's happening at a time the region is plagued with political and territorial
conflicts," he said.
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