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BURMA RELATED NEWS - August 19 2001.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------ AFP - Myanmar's economy remains hopelessly mired
in crisis
AFP - Talks only hope for Myanmar to end pariah
status
AFP - India's northeast flooded by cheap drugs
from Golden Triangle
Reuters - Myanmar sentences Taiwanese drug
smuggler to death
Kyodo News - Japan-donated high school building opens in
Myanmar
PD - China, Myanmar Sign Agricultural Factory
Project Agreement
ITN - Burma rebels: 'army smuggles
drugs'
Kyodo News - Lao
premier arrives in Yangon for 4-day visit
Bkk Post - Summit set to focus on drugs issues
Bkk Post - Seminar
faults alien registration policy
The Nation - BURMESE 'REFUGEES': NSC chief
slams UN over illegals
ST - Two
soldiers charged with smuggling illegals into Thailand
Japan
Today - High school building opens in Myanmar
------------------------------------------------------------------ Sunday August 19, 3:17 PM
Myanmar's economy remains hopelessly mired in crisis YANGON, Aug 19 (AFP) -
Paralysed for years by the twin burdens of appalling management and
international sanctions, Myanmar's economy remains hopelessly enmired in crisis
even as the ruling junta embarks on landmark talks with the democratic
opposition.
Property developments that have sprung up in the capital Yangon, as well as
official claims of five percent annual economic growth, give a misleading
impression of dynamism in the military-run nation.
But conversations with ordinary Myanmar citizens tell a very different tale
of continual price rises, rationing and a daily struggle to gather the
necessities of life.
"There is mass national depression because of the economy," said a Western
diplomat who accused the regime of "incomptence and lack of understanding of a
free market economy."
Despite being "ruled by generals who give commands," the economy would
probably continue to stumble along, greased by the black market as well as the
fortune in drug money funnelled in from ethnic warlords.
"There isn't enough economy to collapse," the diplomat quipped.
Apart from rice, which the government keeps in plentiful supply to avoid
the prospect of hunger-fuelled dissent, the price of basic commodities has
doubled or tripled this year alone, according to aid officials.
"The price of cooking oil has tripled, as well as other items vital to
people's lives," said one, on condition of anonymity.
In the towns and cities, Myanmar citizens endure annual inflation rates as
high as 50 percent, the alarming depreciation of the kyat currency and
constantly changing rules on rationing of items like gasoline.
Tax-free markets set up a couple of years ago to ease the burden on
low-wage earners, including the legion of government employees, offer fresh
produce at discounted prices but in very limited amounts.
As a result, an industry has sprung up among "professional queuers" who can
be seen lining up well before dawn to purchase their quotas and sell them at a
healthy profit to oil merchants or harried housewives.
"In a single day I can get to queue up again at least four times and invest
350 kyats, from which I can get a profit of 500 kyats (one dollar) at the end of
the day ... not bad for eight hours of queuing up," one jobless man said.
Ironically, the government's plan to help consumers by distributing
rationed staples like cooking oil through the markets has served only to line
the pockets of big-time oil merchants.
"I don't know if Than Shwe understands how bad it is, it is getting worse
... and people are becoming impoverished," a Western diplomat said of Myanmar's
military leader.
The junta meanwhile insists that the creaking economy is functioning
adequately, ignoring the mechanisms like the thriving black market that have
emerged to fill the gaps in the official economy.
"Nobody is starving here, nobody is homeless," a senior spokesman for the
government told AFP.
Foreign observers posted in Yangon remain pessimistic. "The ticking bomb
now is energy now ... They can't supply the electricity necessary to run the
industries," said one expert.
"In the countryside, people will continue to live like they did in the
feudal times."
Foreign investment remains extremely weak, and what funds do make their way
to Myanmar are centred on speculative sectors like property or tourism, rather
than industry or manufacturing.
Businesspeople lured by the prospect of rich natural resources lying
untapped in Myanmar's energy fields, mines and forests, as well as cheap labour
and a solid legal system inherited from the British colonial rulers, have become
disenchanted after seeing the economy at close quarters.
"Investors don't come, because investors want to make money. People have
pulled out, like the Singaporeans out of oil, others out of textiles," one
analyst said.
International sanctions are also a major deterrent to foreign companies
investing here, and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund will not
consider giving assistance while the current regime is in change.
But despite the sanctions, which have contributed to Myanmar remaining one
of the world's poorest nations while its Southeast Asian neighbours prosper, the
government insists it is not concerned.
"We have built infrastructure, thousands of new roads, reservoirs and dams,
even without the help of the international institutions," said Tin Winn,
Minister at the Prime Minister's Office.
Tourism may not be the saviour it was hoped to be, due to the 1997 regional
financial crisis and calls from democracy activists for holiday-makers to stay
away while Myanmar remains under military rule.
The stunning new five-star hotels built in Yangon, with their luxurious
ballrooms, expansive swimming pools and plentiful staff, are nearly deserted
with occupation rates running at a miserable eight percent.
"It is the worst July they have ever had, even Laos is getting better
figures," one diplomat exclaimed.
In spite of the malaise, observers do not believe that the "desperation
factor", which fuelled the bloody uprising of 1988 after three currency
devaluations, exists today.
Hopes for the future rest on the landmark dialogue between the junta and
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi which began last October.
"The only way to make any reform in this country -- whether in the economy,
social or health sectors -- is to start with political reform," says one
observer.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Sunday August 19, 9:11 AM
Talks only hope for Myanmar to end pariah status YANGON, Aug 19 (AFP) - Talks
between Myanmar's junta and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi are moving
painfully slowly but remain the pariah nation's only chance of emerging from a
political impasse that has lasted a decade.
Informed sources in Yangon say that since they began meeting last October,
the two camps have not progressed past the first stage of the process which is
aimed at creating a "climate of confidence and mutual respect".
The new atmosphere has seen the release of around 170 political prisoners
in small groups over the past few months.
But eventually the aim is to establish a full-blown "national
reconciliation" process which, through the drafting of a new constitution and
democratic elections, would herald the return of civilian government after 40
years of military rule.
The junta allowed free elections in 1990, which Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy won convincingly, but the military regime has always
refused to recognise the result.
Observers have been heartened by the prisoner releases, but note that only
about 60 are from the "priority list" of 200 presented to the generals by United
Nations special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, when he last visited in
June.
The releases -- a major priority for Aung San Suu Kyi who herself remains
under loose house arrest restrictions -- are going too slowly and have made only
modest inroads into the 1,800 strong dissident population in jail.
"The military is going much too slowly. The passing of time is not an
advantage for anyone. They should move more quickly," said a source close to the
talks.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is frustrated at the pace (of the releases). She thinks
they could move a lot faster," said a western diplomat who nevertheless said the
Nobel peace laureate is "still willing to pursue the dialogue".
The international community meanwhile is waiting for some proof of the
generals' sincerity, like a mass release of prisoners or the lifting of
restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi and her two top aides who are also in
detention.
But the moment of truth -- when the "pseudo dialogue" is transformed into a
real political process -- is approaching just at the start of a series of
important diplomatic events which are expected to have a bearing on the
talks.
Myanmar's generals, long reviled on the world stage for their appalling
human rights record and refusal to brook democratic reforms, have never had such
a busy schedule as over the next few weeks.
Razali, the Malaysian diplomat who spearheaded the talks, is expected in
Yangon at the end of the month, and a team from the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) will fly in to assess the extent of forced labour.
A European Union mission will make a visit in the autumn, and the UN's
special rapporteur on human rights, the Brazilian Sergio Pinheiro, will make his
second trip to Yangon.
Just as significant are plans for the junta's number-one, Senior General
Than Shwe, to visit his staunch ally Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad,
and attend the next UN General Assembly in September.
The military regime has implicitly linked hints of progress in the talks
with moves to lift the heavy sanctions placed on Myanmar.
It is unlikely that the European Union or the United States will lift their
sanctions any time in the near future, but the international community has
indicated it is willing to make a gesture if the generals begin moving towards
democracy.
In what appeared to be an implicit gesture of encouragement, the heads of
the UN agencies in Yangon recently signed a joint letter urging more
international aid to cope with Myanmar's "humanitarian crisis".
Despite the considerable hurdles, no one in Yangon expects either side to
walk away from the dialogue. Aung San Suu Kyi has put her reputation on the line
by sitting down with her enemies, and the junta's pariah status would become
permanent if it allowed the process to collapse.
"They do not have any alternatives," diplomats in Yangon say in
unison.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Sunday August 19, 9:10 AM
India's northeast flooded by cheap drugs from Golden Triangle MOREH, India, Aug 19 (AFP) -
India's remote northeast is being flooded with cheap amphetamines as drug
traffickers from the notorious "Golden Triangle" switch their focus away from
heroin, customs officials have warned.
Young people in the seven states which border the "Golden Triangle" of
Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, are particularly vulnerable to the increase in
availability of synthetic stimulants which are much cheaper than opiates.
"Drug syndicates operating in the Golden Triangle are now abandoning heroin
production and instead producing illegal stimulants like amphetamines and
methamphetamine tablets, thousands of which flood Indian markets," an Indian
customs official said.
"This is posing a real threat to the youths."
An amphetamine pill costs from five to 10 rupees (10 to 20 cents) on the
Indian markets.
It is estimated that more than 20,000 such tablets are smuggled daily from
Myanmar into Moreh, the easternmost Indian border township, 100 kilometresmiles)
east of Manipur's state capital Imphal.
"The porous border with Myanmar is helping the trade in narcotics,
including amphetamines," said N Kipgen, chief of Narcotics and Border Affairs in
Manipur.
"The entry of such drugs is blocked at Moreh, but then the porous terrain
makes it physically impossible to stop everything," Kipgen told AFP.
Addicts normally dissolve about five amphetamine tablets in water for
intravenous use on the lower limbs and arms. A single dose can give a user an
eight-hour high.
According to anti-drugs campaigners, there could be more than 200,000
intravenous drug users in India's seven northeastern states, which have a total
population of around 30 million.
"The youth in the region are now getting hooked on amphetamines and
proxyvon as these are relatively cheap compared with heroin, cannabis or
marijuana," said C.H. Anand, head of the Kripa Foundation, a leading centre
battling drug addiction in Manipur.
"When injected, it has a depressing affect on the nerves. Excessive usage
leads to large ulcers which do not heal and result in high fatalities," Anand
told AFP.
Thailand, Myanmar and China last week declared a joint "war" on the
increasing narcotics trade in the region and called for better cooperation among
their governments against producers and traffickers.
According to Indian intelligence officials, there are at least 20
methamphetamine producing plants in Myanmar's Sagaing division, adjacent to
Manipur state.
"The flourishing drug-manufacturing business in Myanmar is directly linked
to the continuing conflict between the military government and the armed ethnic
groups fighting for autonomy," an Indian intelligence official said.
"The drug lords, who are rebel leaders, have turned to drug trafficking to
finance their military campaigns," he added.
Officials meeting at the weekend in Nepal warned that South Asia as a whole
is a prime target for the drug trade as it is sandwiched between the Golden
Triangle and the Golden Crescent of Afghanistan and Iran.
Renata Ehmer, the regional representative of the United Nations Drug
Control Programme, said a number of illegal laboratories making materials to
manufacture drugs have been shut down, attesting to the problem in South
Asia.
"Almost all kinds of drugs -- natural, semi-synthetic or synthetic -- are
being trafficked in this area," she said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Saturday August 18, 8:11 PM
Myanmar sentences Taiwanese drug smuggler to death YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar
court has sentenced a Taiwanese citizen to death for trying to smuggle heroin
out of the country, state-owned media reported on Saturday.
Drug squad officials found 500 grams of heroin when searching a man,
identified by state media only as Mr Yumingyu, while he was waiting to board a
flight to Taipei in early June.
The 45 year old man was sentenced to death by a Yangon district court on
July 31. Since Myanmar's military government introduced strict penalties for
drug offenders in 1993, 16 traffickers have been sentenced to death.
It was the first narcotics seizure at Yangon airport this year.
According to official figures, 406 people were arrested in Myanmar on
drug-related cases in June.
Authorities say they seized 2.639 kilograms (5.818 lb) of heroin and 2.5
million metamphetamine tablets in the month.
Myanmar's efforts to fight drug production and trafficking have received a
mixed reaction from the international community.
Earlier this year relations between Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand
plunged as the two countries traded accusations of backing drug-running ethnic
groups along their common border.
But the neighbours have since agreed to co-operate in the fight against
drugs, together with Laos and China.
The United States has placed Myanmar on a black-list of countries deemed to
be doing so little to stop drug production that they deserve virtually no
foreign aid.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Japan-donated high school building opens
in Myanmar
YANGON, Aug. 18, Kyodo - A high
school building built with a nearly $95,000 Japanese government grant was
inaugurated in Kyaunggone, 130 kilometers northwest of Yangon, in the
Ayeyarwaddy delta Saturday.
The two-story concrete building was transferred to the Education Department
at a ceremony attended by Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, number three in Myanmar's ruling
junta, other ministers and the Japanese ambassador to Myanmar.
''I want to thank the Japanese government for extending grassroots
assistance for development projects in Myanmar despite sanctions by western
countries and the (European Union),'' the general said.
Japanese Ambassador Shigeru Tsumori said the school building was ''a symbol
of friendship and cooperation by the people of Japan toward the people of
Myanmar.''
The cost of the new school building was $115,000, of which about $95,000
was donated by the Japanese government and $20,000 by Kyodo News correspondent
Sein Win.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The People's Daily - August 18,
2001.
China, Myanmar Sign Agricultural Factory Project Agreement China and Myanmar signed an agreement Friday in Yangon on China's
assistance to an agricultural machinery factory project in Myanmar's northern
Mandalay division.
According to the agreement, the factory, to be built in Ingon, Kyaukse
township, will produce annually 10,000 sets of walking tractor and 5,000 sets of
reaper.
------------------------------------------------------------------ ITN (UK) - August 17,
2001.
Burma rebels: 'army smuggles
drugs'
A Burmese rebel army claims to have ambushed a government convoy carrying
thousands of amphetamine tablets bound for Thailand.
Fighting erupted between Shan State Army (SSA) rebels and Burmese (Myanmar)
troops after the reported seizure.
During recent months clashes between SSA rebels, who fighting for an
independent homeland, and regular troops have intensified along the mountainous
border with Thailand.
Thailand accuses Burma of using border unrest as a cover for its
involvement in the production and distribution of amphetamines and ecstasy to
Thailand and beyond.
Main drugs route
Thailand is the main market for amphetamine pills in southeast Asia and an
important route to other markets for drug traffickers based in neighbouring
Burma.
SSA leaders say they are looking to safeguard their future and to keep
their children away from drugs.
SSA leader Yod Suk explained: "The reason why we are focused on
intercepting drugs at the moment is because narcotics are not only affecting
Thailand and the outside world.
"It is directly threatening and affecting our own Shan people as well.
"If many of our people become addicted to drugs, we won't be able to
achieve what we want and are fighting for, so eradicating drugs is our
priority," he continued.
Cross-border skirmishes
Relations between Thailand and Burma have soured in recent months, almost
boiling over at one point in February into full-blown warfare.
Burmese regular troops ventured across the border, briefly capturing a Thai
military outpost and shelling the nearby Thai town of Mae Sai.
The Thai army retaliated by reinforcing the border and pounding Burma's
troops with artillery.
The situation has calmed down, but is still tense with both sides trading
accusations of cross-border violations.
Rebel army
Although Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has made
peace with 17 anti-government groups, the SSA is determined to continue its
armed struggle.
The Yangon government has vehemently denied any involvement in the
narcotics trade.
The SSA has been fighting for independence from Burma for more than 40
years and is the most powerful antigovernment force in the country.
The group wants freedom for ethnic minorities in Burma and has spent the
past few years trying to prove that it is not involved in drug production and
trafficking.
Despite pressures from the international community, Burma's military
government has turned a deaf ear to calls for an end to its repression of
opposition groups.
The European Union has suspended aid to Burma and the United States has
imposed economic and trade sanctions.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Lao premier arrives in Yangon for 4-day
visit
YANGON, Aug. 19, Kyodo - Lao
Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachit, his wife and a 19-member entourage, arrived
in Yangon on Sunday for a four-day goodwill visit.
The Lao leader was welcomed with a 19-gun salute on arrival at Yangon
International airport. Myanmar leaders led by Prime Minister and Chairman of the
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Senior Gen. Than Shwe welcomed
the delegation.
The Lao leader will visit Gen. Than Shwe later in the afternoon at the
Parliament building, according to his publicized schedule.
It is Boungnang's first visit to Myanmar as prime minister of Laos. He
visited Myanmar last year as deputy prime minister and finance minister.
Boungnang will also visit Mandalay in central Myanmar before leaving
Myanmar on Wednesday.
Myanmar shares a common border of 233 kilometers with Laos.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - August 19,
2001.
Summit set to focus on drugs issues Tense relations expected to improve Subin Khuenkaew Next month's Regional Border Committee meeting will focus on strengthening
ties with Burma and curbing border drug activities.
Lt-Gen Watanachai Chaimuanwong, the Third Army commander, was optimistic
about the meeting and said improved relations between Thailand and Burma would
help yield encouraging results.
The Thai delegation would be led by Lt-Gen Watanachai while Maj-Gen Thein
Sein, the Triangle Region commander, leads the Burmese delegation.
The meeting, the 19th of its kind, would be held in Pattaya between Sept
4-6.
``I'm quite hopeful the meeting will yield positive results which will help
strengthen ties and understanding between our two sides,'' he said.
Drug problems would top the agenda since trafficking was considered a
threat to national security, Lt-Gen Watanachai said.
Co-operation from Burma was vital to efficiently resolving border disputes,
he said.
``All border problems could be raised for discussion once we have a good
understanding with each other.''
The commander said border tensions were unlikely to escalate if the leaders
of both countries had a good relationship.
Recent border skirmishes almost became explosive because of the strained
relationship between the leaders of both sides.
Lt-Gen Watanachai hailed the success of a meeting with Maj-Gen Thein Sein
earlier this week in Chiang Rai and said their frank discussion helped bolster a
good understanding.
Maj-Gen Thein Sein told him the border conflict between Thailand and Burma
was not unusual since it existed for a long time.
He said border tensions and misunderstandings were unlikely to escalate
``if both sides maintained their close ties and good understanding with each
other''.
Maj-Gen Thein Sein said Mae Sai river, which borders the two nations, was
like a tiny silk cord demarcating the border when both sides understood one
another.
However, mistrust and suspicion would only turn the area into a Berlin wall
preventing local people from contacting each other, he said.
Maj-Gen Thein Sein apologised for the recent apprehension of seven Thai
security and anti-drug officials who crossed the Burmese border into
Tachilek.
He promised Lt-Gen Watanachai there would not be a repeat of the incident
if local Burmese officials were informed of such trips in advance.
A local observer secured the rapid release of the seven officials, led by
Col Duangkamol Sukhonthasap, director of Division 12 of the Supreme Command's
Security Centre.
``They might not have been returned alive if it weren't for the
much-improved ties between the two nations,'' the observer said.
The seven were held in the town of Mong Hsat after Burmese soldiers
apprehended them at gunpoint and accused them of spying.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - August 19,
2001.
Seminar faults alien registration policy
Penchan Charoensuthipan
Labour advocates support the proposed registration of alien workers but
doubt the government's ability to put it into practice.
Speaking at a seminar organised by the House committee on labour, they said
the policy had yet to be proven and it may be beyond the ability of state
officials to manage.
Problems were perpetuated by officials pocketing ill-gotten gains from
smuggling in workers for recruitment by labour-intensive industries.
Registration was nothing new. In the past it was denounced for compounding
illegal labour problems while contributing to joblessness in the local
workforce.
Prapat Pothivorakun, deputy chairman of the Industry Council, said few
workers had turned up for registration so far, thanks to a weak government
public relations campaign.
The registration fee to be met by employers was also too high. Premsak
Piayura, committee chairman, said he would write to Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra urging a once-and-for-all solution.
Controlled alien workers must work strictly within their permitted industry
and treatment of such workers must comply with human rights, if the country was
to avoid trade sanctions.
Unregistered workers must be repatriated and agreement struck with
countries of origin to prevent their return.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Nation - August 19,
2001.
BURMESE 'REFUGEES': NSC chief slams UN
over illegals
Piyanart Srivalo
National Security Council secretary-general Khajadpai Buruspatana has
lambasted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for attempting to
delay Thailand's deportation of non-refugees back to Burma, saying the agency
wanted to prolong the refugee situation in Thailand.
In an interview with The Nation on Friday, Khajadpai said he saw no point
in trying to negotiate the matter with the agency since its perception on the
status of these people differed from that of the National Security Council
(NSC).
"The UNHCR wants these people to be refugees so that it can take care of
them. Despite the fact that the war [in Burma] is over, they want to make them
stay here on grounds that these people may be affected by the ramifications of
the war," the NSC chief said.
"If we toe the agency's line, thousands of Shan people may flood into
Thailand," Khajadpai said, referring to the Burmese ethnic group still resisting
Rangoon's rule in northeastern Burma.
An UNHCR official in Bangkok had reportedly said earlier that Thai
authorities were about to deport some 4,800 ethnic Burmese, mostly Karen, from
Mae La camp in the western province of Tak regardless of the risks they might
face upon their return to their homeland.
The diminished fighting between Burmese troops and rebels belonging to the
Karen National Union raised hopes for Thailand to close all its western camps,
which so far have sheltered more than 10 thousand Burmese refugees.
Thailand needs to take a proactive approach on the refugee situation
otherwise the government will have to shoulder this burden indefinitely,
Khajadpai said.
"Our policy is to close refugee camps and send them back home," he said,
adding that the process needed to be discussed among stakeholders including
responsible agencies in Thailand and the Burmese government.
There are about 5,000 non-refugees living in sprawling camps bordering
Burma waiting to be deported, he said. They have been verified as non-refugees
who came to seek jobs or get aid inside the refugee camps.
Thai agencies concluded at a recent meeting that these people would be sent
back as soon as possible, taking into account humanitarian principles, Khajadpai
said
"They will be asked where they want to be sent back to. If they can't say
where, we will send them back where we deem safe," he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Straits Times - August 19,
2001.
Two soldiers charged with smuggling
illegals into Thailand
MAE SOT (Thailand) - An army officer and a lance corporal were arrested
yesterday on charges of trafficking in illegal migrant workers from Myanmar to
western Thailand, police said.
Sub-lieutenant Samphan Mahaphan, 36, and Lance Corporal Yongyud Ngisuwan,
34, of the Special Operations Command in Lopburi province, were caught with an
army van carrying a total of 17 women and three men, all of them Myanmar
nationals, a police official said.
The van was stopped at the Naung Boa checkpoint between Mae Sot and Tak
towns, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The area is about
400 km north-west of Bangkok.
If convicted, the two men will be sentenced to not less than five years in
jail. They also face being discharged from the army.
Some of the Myanmar migrants in the van will be detained to be witnesses
and to provide evidence in the case, and the rest will be deported, the official
said.
He said the migrants told the police that they paid 4,000 baht (S$160) each
to be transported into Thailand. -- AP
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Straits Times - August 19,
2001.
Thai banks deprive border gamblers of ready money To discourage punters from flocking to casinos across the border, Thai banks shut down their cash machines in those areas. But it may not have much effect By James East - STRAITS TIMES THAILAND BUREAU BANGKOK - Thai banks seem to have employed the most effective measure yet
in Bangkok's largely futile bid to stop thousands of gamblers flooding across
the border to casinos just inside Cambodia - they have closed nearby ATMs.
But shutting down their branch and hotel cash machines, to stave off
accusations that they support gambling, is unlikely to dent the border casino
business.
Thai intelligence officials say gambling at 18 casinos sitting a coin's
flick away from checkpoints in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in the last year
gobbled up US$156 million (S$275 million) in foreign currency.
The problem is touted as a national security risk - it was the National
Intelligence Agency that presented the figures to the Thai Cabinet last week,
provoking calls for a clampdown.
However, some politicians have dismissed the currency figure as overblown,
since most border casinos are owned by Thais who then return the money to
Thailand.
They say it may also be part of a ploy to get gambling legalised in
Thailand.
Thais are inveterate gamblers. Millions play underground lotteries and bet
on British football, visit secret city casinos or travel overseas to play the
tables in Macau, Malaysia and Australia.
Even Bangkok Governor Samak Sundaravej says it is time Thais faced up to
the fact. He wants casinos in the capital and at tourist resorts.
Thai intelligence officers say 500,000 gamblers visit the border casinos
every year.
Poipet, in Cambodia, is now a mini-Las Vegas and something of a family
attraction where children can be seen playing slot machines or punting on
mechanical horse-race games.
The casinos provide hotel accommodation and shuttle buses from Bangkok and
lay on free food.
Although there have been some half-hearted attempts to tighten border
controls, the army says at night, gamblers cross the border illegally.
At Mae Sot, on the Myanmar border, soldiers point across the Moi river to a
small casino allegedly owned by a businessman with close links to the junta. He
ferries in Thai gamblers on a boat.
At the top end is the luxury Andaman Club with its hotel, helipad, golf
club and casino, all set on a Myanmar island. It is owned by a Thai with good
connections to the generals.
Deputy government spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang said tackling the border
casinos was almost impossible and explained that although currency outflow
figures might be used by some politicians to push for the legalisation of
casinos, the move was unlikely to bear fruit.
'Once the idea comes up it would be severely criticised by those who do not
want to see it happen in a Buddhist country like Thailand,' he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Japan Today
High school building opens in
Myanmar
Sunday, August 19, 2001 at 19:00 JST YANGON — A high school building built with a nearly $95,000 Japanese
government grant was inaugurated in Kyaunggone, 130 kilometers northwest of
Yangon, in the Ayeyarwaddy delta Saturday.
The two-story concrete building was transferred to the Education Department
at a ceremony attended by Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, number three in Myanmar's ruling
junta, other ministers and the Japanese ambassador to Myanmar. (Kyodo
News)
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