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BURMA RELATED NEWS - August 24,
2001.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------ AFP - Panel urges Powell to name nine countries
as violators of religious freedom
AFP - Thailand seals border in attempt to stop
influx of illegal workers
AFP - Adult death rates in Asia to climb 40
percent due to AIDS: WHO
AFP - Indonesia's Megawati arrives in Thailand
on whistlestop tour
Reuters - Megawati in Myanmar but no Suu Kyi
meeting planned
Dow Jones - Nippon M'bishi Oil To Transfer Oil
Devt Ops To 100% Unit
BBC - Megawati visits Burma
PD - Myanmar, Laos Issue Joint Communique to
Promote Cooperation
The Washington Time - Repressive governments
able to tame Internet
The Star - Plans for medical-tourism trail
The Nation - Thamarak
sets agenda for China drug meet
Bkk Post - Wa taking
smuggled cars in barter deals with local help
Bkk Post - Employers seek further reprieve
Xinhuanet - Indonesian President Ends Visit to
Myanmar
Xinhuanet - Myanmar ASEAN Women's Association
Formed in Yangon
Kyodo News - Megawati
arrives in Yangon
The Times of India - Chinese Vice FM in Yangon for goodwill visit
------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday August 24, 6:27 AMPanel urges Powell to name nine countries as violators of religious freedom WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (AFP) - An independent panel set up by US lawmakers to monitor religious freedom around the world has asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to designate nine countries as persecutors of their citizens based on faith. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom wants Powell to name
China, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Myanmar, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and
Turkmenistan as "countries of particular concern" in the State Department's next
global assessment of religious freedom.
In addition, the six-member commission urged Powell in a letter last week
to name Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia a "particularly severe violator" of
religious freedom in the annual report, usually released in September.
Nations designated as "countries of particular concern" can be subject to
US sanctions under 1998 legislation.
China, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar and Sudan have been so designated since the
first report on religious freedom was prepared in 1999.
Last year, the commission sought unsuccessfully to have Laos, North Korea,
Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan added to the list.
Arguing for China and Sudan to be redesignated, the commission said in the
August 16 letter "that particularly severe violations of religious freedom have
increased in both nations during the past year."
In China, the panel noted increasing harassment and arrests of both Roman
Catholics and practitioners of Falun Gong, an exercise and spiritual movement
that Beijing regards as a dangerous cult.
In Sudan, the commission said religion continued to be the major factor in
the country's long-running civil war pitting the Islamic north against the
mainly Christian and animist south.
Iran and Iraq continued harassment and arrests of religious minorities, it
said.
Persecution of Christians in Laos, where the communist government arrested
more than 95 worshippers last year, warranted its inclusion on the list, the
commission said.
North Korea should be designated because it "suppresses all independent
religious activity" and is reported to have tortured and executed believers, it
said.
Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, should be included on the list as the
commission found that religious freedom "does not exist" there and that serious
violations warranted inclusion, the panel said.
Turkmenistan "severely restricts" religious activity, other than that
engaged in by officially recognized churches, and should also be designated a
country of particular concern, it said.
In addition to calling for the designation of the nine countries and the
Taliban, the panel also asked Powell to note "grave violations of religious
freedom" in India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday August 24, 4:38 PM
Thailand seals border in attempt to stop influx of illegal workers BANGKOK, Aug 24 (AFP) - Thai
authorities said Friday they had sealed the country's borders in an effort to
stem the chronic inflow of illegal workers from neighboring countries.
"Now we have sealed all borders in order to prevent the continued influx of
illegal workers," Labour and Social Welfare Minister Dej Boon-long said after a
meeting of government agencies chaired by Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra.
He added that border patrol officers had taken up posts in Thailand's
frontier areas bordering Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, and that official
checkpoints would remain open.
The move comes as the Thai government struggles to map out a plan for a
system to register thousands of illegal workers and grant them one-year work
permits ahead of an August 31 deadline set by the previous administration.
The government of former prime minister Chuan Leekpai, who lost to Thaksin
in January elections, vowed to deport unregistered workers before September of
this year.
Dej said Thaksin had asked the National Security Council to improve a
measure proposed by the labour ministry to register and issue work permits to
some 500,000 illegal workers in Thailand.
Thailand currently allows some 160,000 workers from neighboring countries
to work for one year at labour-intensive jobs typically avoided by Thais in 18
industries, including fisheries, rice mills, mining and livestock farming.
The work permits are issued in 37 of Thailand's 76 provinces.
"The problems are rules and regulations for the registration process and
enforcement," Dej said, adding that a plan would be adopted and implemented
before the August 31 deadline expired.
He said earlier that employers would have to go through official channels
and properly register their foreign workers, who are mostly from Myanmar, Laos
and Cambodia, for temporary work permits.
Under the proposed scheme, the government would allow foreign illegals to
register for jobs as domestic servants in addition jobs in the industries where
foreign illegals can currently register to work.
Employers who fail to register their illegal immigrant workers with local
government offices will face severe penalties, including imprisonment, fines and
paying the cost for deporting their workers.
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said he would clarify the
matter with his counterparts in Myanmar, Laotian and Cambodia.
He added that he would ask Myanmar, whose nationals constitute the largest
segment of the illegal worker population in Thailand, to accept some of them
back.
"During (Myanmar number-three Lieutenant-General) Khin Nyunt's visit here
from September 3 to 6 I will raise this issue and ask for his cooperation as a
neighbouring country," he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday August 24, 6:20 PM
Adult death rates in Asia to climb 40 percent due to AIDS: WHO MANILA, Aug 24 (AFP) - The
World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Friday that the death rate of adults in
Asian nations will rise by up to 40 percent in the coming decade due to the AIDS
problem.
In a report released in Manila, the WHO called on Asian countries to
"aggressively implement" HIV prevention programmes for drug users, including the
controversial practice of providing clean needles to ensure safe injection
practices among them.
The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The WHO report released by its Manila-based Western Pacific regional office
said that in the next few years AIDS will weigh even heavier on Asian countries
with more people stricken and dying of the disease.
For most moderately-affected Asian countries, annual deaths among adults
will increase by five percent in the coming decade due to AIDS, it said.
In areas most affected -- Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and a few states in
India -- the death rates of adults will rise 40 percent, the WHO warned.
India alone could see a third of a million deaths due to AIDS in 2005, the
WHO forecast.
The report did not give comparative figures.
Despite the AIDS threat, the WHO said few countries were equipped to deal
with the problem with only Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Singapore having
"adequate resources to provide for both prevention and care".
It called on Asian nations to focus on drug addicts and prostitutes in the
battle against AIDS.
This could include providing clean needles to addicts and promoting condom
use among prostitutes.
Some governments in Asia are against providing clean needles to addicts
because it would encourage the larger drug abuse problem.
The WHO said the AIDS epidemic in virtually all of Asia is concentrated on
sex workers and injecting drug users, making the region "comparatively unique".
But few Asian countries are trying to stop the spread of AIDS among these
"socially marginalized sectors" which are usually treated as outcasts, it
said.
The report said "most countries are targeting efforts at the general
public" but warned that "the only responsible public health action to take" is
to focus attention on these groups who are most at risk.
It said that in Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, China's Yunnan province and
Manipur in India, about 50 percent or more of the injecting drug users are
infected with the HIV virus.
It also found "relatively high rates of infection ... among sex workers in
Myanmar and some Indian cities".
While Asian women rarely engaged in sex outside of wedlock, a small "core"
of infected prostitutes can spread the disease to their clients who could spread
it to their wives and girlfriends, the WHO said.
It endorsed the examples of Thailand and Cambodia, which both heavily
promoted condoms in the sex industry, leading to a sharp drop in the infection
rates of sex workers.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday August 24, 6:41 PM
Indonesia's Megawati arrives in Thailand on whistlestop tour BANGKOK, Aug 24 (AFP) -
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri touched down in Thailand late Friday
as part of her nine-nation tour of Southeast Asia for a two-day visit aimed at
boosting economic and political ties.
Megawati, who arrived here after a brief stop in Myanmar, was to hold talks
with Thaksin Friday evening before joining a meeting of high ranking officials
from both countries.
Thaksin and his wife will later host a dinner to honour the Indonesian
leader.
Thai government spokesman Yongyuth Tiyapairat said discussions would focus
on increasing national currency trading between Thailand and Indonesia as a
basis for broader economic trade.
Thai officials are also expected to push for Indonesia's acceptance of
higher rubber prices in deals with Thailand and Malaysia, the world's largest
rubber producers, he added.
Thailand would likely ask Indonesia for fisheries concessions allowing Thai
trawlers to work Indonesian waters.
An official source told AFP that Indonesia would ask Thailand to purchase
airplanes for agricultural use after initial agreements to buy seven of the
planes over the past two decades.
Thailand bought two of the CASA aircraft in April 1999 through a barter
agreement in return for rice and other agricultural produce.
Other topics in line for discussion include the exchange of intelligence
information on sea piracy, boat people, arms trafficking and the smuggling of
illegal goods.
Further security issues expected to be raised by Indonesia include the case
of Thai soldiers arrested earlier this year for smuggling arms destined for
members of Aceh's independence movement on Sumatra Island.
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said earlier that Thailand
would offer Megawati its full support in its efforts to bring peace and
stability to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.
"The purpose of her visit is to ensure political cooperation with Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who will reassure her that Thailand will
fully support changes in Indonesia," he said.
Then-vice president Megawati was sworn in last month as Indonesia's fifth
president after her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid was ousted by an impeachment
vote in parliament.
Megawati intends to visit all members of the Association of ASEAN during
her week-long tour, her first foreign trip since taking office.
Thailand and Indonesia are members of ASEAN along with Brunei, Cambodia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday August 24, 2:03 PM
Megawati in Myanmar but no Suu Kyi meeting planned By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - New
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri visited Myanmar on Friday on the
latest leg of a whirlwind tour through southeast Asia to drum up business and
reassure the region that her vast country was on the mend.
Megawati was due to have lunch with Senior General Than Shwe, chairman of
the military government, before flying to Bangkok for a meeting with Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
She was not expected to meet pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi -- a woman who Megawati has said she admires, and whose life has many
parallels with her own.
Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's founding President Sukarno, became a
symbol of democracy in Indonesia due to her opposition to the military-backed
government there in the 1990s.
Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Burmese independence hero General Aung San,
spent six years under house arrest from 1989 and has been held in de facto house
arrest for nearly a year because of her pro-democracy campaigning.
Senior Indonesian diplomats said no meeting between Megawati and Suu Kyi
had been planned.
Myanmar is the fifth stop in Megawati's eight-day trip to all nine fellow
member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- the
Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and
Malaysia.
She left Cambodia on Friday morning, after a visit upon which she discussed
with Prime Minister Hun Sen ways to boost Indonesian investment in Cambodia.
Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said the two leaders also
discussed the possibility of direct air links between Indonesia and Cambodia,
and improving shipping links.
In Thailand, Megawati is expected to discuss ways of boosting bilateral
trade, and of trading using local currencies to avoid having to use the U.S.
dollar.
Diplomats have said Megawati's regional tour is partly aimed at displaying
her confidence in weathering troubles at home, following her sudden ascent to
the presidency last month.
Megawati's tour highlights a week of diplomatic forays by ASEAN leaders
anxious to find ways to put their countries back on the world investment map.
Vietnamese President Tran Doc Luong is on a three-day visit to South Korea,
and Thaksin visited Singapore earlier this week, mainly to try to drum up
investment.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo arrives in Singapore on Friday
after a visit to Brunei.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday August 24, 2:01 PM
Nippon M'bishi Oil To Transfer Oil Devt Ops To 100% Unit TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Nippon
Mitsubishi Oil Corp. (J.NPO or 5001) said Friday it will completely transfer its
oil and natural gas development operations to its wholly-owned unit, Nippon Oil
Exploration Co., effective Oct. 1.
Currently, the energy development business is handled by both the parent
and subsidiary.
Through the move, Japan's leading oil refiner said it aims to consolidate
energy development related assets, technology, information and know-how
management resources into the unit.
Nippon Mitsubishi Oil will take advantage of a revision last year to a
commercial law designed to enable firms to spin off divisions.
Under the related procedures, Nippon Oil Exploration will issue 100 new
shares to be allocated to Nippon Mitsubishi Oil.
The refiner group produces oil and gas in the North Sea, Vietnam, the U.S.,
Canada, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar. It has gas development projects underway
in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
In its oil and gas development operations, Nippon Mitsubishi Oil had a
parent pretax profit of Y1.18 billion in the year ended March. The profit
accounts for 3.6% of its total parent pretax profit for the year.
The parent's related assets from its 12 oil and gas development project
firms total Y22.85 billion in book prices, it said.
Nippon Oil Exploration posted a parent pretax loss of Y311 million on
revenue of Y81 million in the year ended December 2000.
Japan intends to abolish the government-funded Japan National Oil Corp. as
part of ongoing reform steps related to special public corporation.
With JNOC's strong financial backing likely to disappear, Japanese private
oil development firms are expected to increase their reorganization efforts.
At 0533 GMT on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nippon Mitsubishi Oil's shares
were up 2.3% at Y710, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was 0.6%
higher at 11197.93.
------------------------------------------------------------------ BBC - Friday, 24 August, 2001, 07:25
GMT 08:25 UK
Megawati visits Burma Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri is holding talks with Burma's
military junta on the fifth leg of her eight-day regional tour.
She arrived in Rangoon early on Friday and was met by top leader Senior General Than Shwe. There was no red-carpet welcome as Burma considers this a working visit.
Following meetings this afternoon Megawati will fly on to Thailand.
The Indonesian leader is visiting all nine fellow member states of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).
She arrived in Burma from Cambodia where she spent the day on Thursday,
first in the northern Cambodia tourist town of Siem Reap, and then in the
capital Phnom Penh.
At Phnom Penh's international airport, Megawati was greeted by King Norodom
Sihanouk, who said her visit strengthened the warm ties between their countries.
The King was a close friend in the 1950s and 60s of Megawati's father,
Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno.
"Our country and Indonesia have always been close friends, since the time
when Megawati's father was still alive," he told reporters at the airport.
"Her visit further strengthens bonds and future co-operation in all
domains. The significance of her visit is great."
Speculation banned
But in rare comments about his health, he told reporters he was too ill to
make a return visit to Indonesia.
"I am very weak," he said. "I feel very difficult and very weak.
"They (the Indonesians) and my beloving children understand about my
health."
The King has suffered from colon cancer and diabetes for many years.
However he rarely talks about it, and there is an official ban in Cambodia
on speculating about his health.
Itinery
Megawati arrived Siem Reap early on Thursday after a brief trip to Laos.
She visited some of the 9th-14th century Hindu and Buddhist temples of
Angkor, and then flew to Phnom Penh where she was given an official state
welcome.
No agreements were signed during the visit.
Megawati's tour is aimed at convincing regional leaders of her ability to
tackle Indonesia's deep-rooted problems, and to shore up relations between
Indonesia and her Asian neighbours.
Indonesia is a founding member of Asean and is regarded as one of its most
important member states.
After returning from her whirlwind trip, Megawati will travel to Bosnia and
the United States, where she will meet President Bush, and address the United
Nations General Assembly.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The People's Daily
Thursday, August 23, 2001, updated at 08:17(GMT+8)
Myanmar, Laos Issue Joint Communique to Promote Cooperation Myanmar and Laos issued a joint Communique here Wednesday at the end of a
four-day official visit by Lao Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachith, saying that
his successful Yangon visit has set a firm base for enhancing the ongoing
cooperative activities of the two countries.
During the visit, the Communique said, Boungnang had fruitful exchange of
views on bilateral, regional and international issues with Senior-General Than
Shwe, Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council and Prime
Minister.
The two prime ministers reviewed with satisfaction the significant progress
on the bilateral relations, agreeing that there exists a variety of
opportunities for expanding cooperation in the economic, trade, cultural and
technical fields.
Than Shwe reaffirmed Myanmar's independent and active foreign policy,
guided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and maintaining friendly
relations with all countries, especially neighboring ones with firm commitment
to closer cooperation with the members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).
The two prime ministers shared the view that a regional community,
comprising all Southeast Asian nations under the ASEAN umbrella, will establish
durable peace and security and elevate the well-being of the people of the
region, the Communique noted.
The Communique disclosed that the upcoming 6th meeting of the two
countries' Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation will be held in Vientiane.
It also disclosed that Than Shwe had accepted Boungnang's invitation to
officially visit Laos.
Boungnang arrived here Sunday at the invitation of Than Shwe.
------------------------------------------------------------------ THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 23, 2001 Repressive governments able to tame Internet By David R. Sands The world's tyrants are proving surprisingly Net-savvy.
Touted as unstoppable forces for free _expression_ and democracy, the
Internet and the World Wide Web have so far compiled an unimpressive record for
political change in some of the world's most authoritarian regimes, according to
a new study released by the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.
"People have made a lot of broad assumptions that closed regimes could
never tame the Internet, that it was just technologically impossible," said
Shanthi Kalathil, a former Asian Wall Street Journal reporter and co-author of
the study. "We found that a lot of those assumptions don't hold up, certainly in
the short term."
Focusing on China and Cuba, Miss Kalathil and fellow Carnegie researcher
Taylor C. Boas found that one-party states have become increasingly
sophisticated in controlling political _expression_ on the Internet and limiting
access to the Internet for hostile domestic critics.
Chinese chat-room administrators, for example, routinely employ monitors
known as "Big Mamas" to screen and purge politically sensitive material.
While Fidel Castro's regime has strictly limited who can own a computer and
who can obtain an Internet account, China's rulers have tried to tap into the
commercial potential of the Web while strictly patrolling the flow of
information.
The Ministry of Public Security in Beijing even hosted a "Security 2000"
trade fair in November for U.S. companies that specialize in blocking and
anti-hacking computer software.
T. Kumar, director of Asia policy at the Washington office of Amnesty
International, said his organization's Web site is routinely blocked in China.
China's Internet explosion has produced only a mixed result for human
rights groups, he said, and other authoritarian regimes are closely watching
China's example.
"For the time being, the government has been very successfully blocking
critical discussions on the Internet inside China," Mr. Kumar said.
"The danger is that if China can get away with this, other regimes will
certainly follo," he said.
Miss Kalathil and Mr. Boas say the cheerleaders for Internet democracy have
overstated their case.
"We do not claim that all authoritarian regimes will successfully control
the Internet -- or even that the successful regimes of today will maintain their
control in the long run -- but we do argue that at present effective control of
the Internet is much more prevalent than conventional wisdom would suggest,"
they write in their study.Not everyone agrees.
Dissenters point to the success of student protesters in Slobodan
Milosevic's Yugoslavia, who used the Internet as an effective early organizing
tool in the campaign that finally ousted the Balkan strongman late last year.
Even in China, where Internet users now number an estimated 22 million and
are expected to quadruple by 2004, the Falun Gong spiritual movement stunned the
Beijing regime with public protests in April 1999 coordinated almost entirely
over the Internet.
Intense Internet chat room criticism is also credited with forcing an
unprecedented public apology from Chinese President Zhu Rongji in March after an
explosion at a schoolhouse in rural Jiangxi province killed almost 40 children
and wounded dozens more.
But the Carnegie study found the Beijing has subsequently cracked down
effectively on domestic Falun Gong Internet use, staged show trials of
dissidents who published over the Internet, and is weighing "proactive" measures
including a national Intranet designed exclusively for domestic use and thus
more susceptible to central state control.
Cuba, the authors found, has taken a different tack, using its decades of
experience controlling traditional mass media outlets to confront
cyberdissidents.
Internet access is strictly controlled, and the country's only commercially
available public Internet service is a single, expensive cybercafe in
Havana.
"Cuba has been extremely effective in pretty much stopping the Internet as
a political tool entirely for now," said Michael Wilson, director of Latin
American and Caribbean programs at the D.C.-based International Republican
Institute, which promotes democratic movements abroad.
"The average citizen in Cuba caught with unauthorized access to the
Internet almost surely faces political repression," Mr. Wilson said.
The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are also developing censorship
programs for Internet use.
The military junta in Burma is following the Cuban model in sharply
limiting who can even own a computer and an Internet account.
The Carnegie authors note that China sent a delegation to Singapore in 1995
to study technology that prevents access to external Web sites not sanctioned by
the government.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Star
Friday, August 24, 2001
Plans for medical-tourism trail By Zulkifly Mohamad The state government plans to introduce a medical-tourism trail as part of
its efforts to promote health tourism among locals and foreigners.
State Tourism, Culture, Arts and Women Development Committee chairman Datuk
Kee Phaik Cheen said yesterday the trail, along the lines of the Penang Heritage
Trail, would incorporate the eight private hospitals in the state.
She said the proposed trail would be promoted initially among Asean
countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines.
"Tourists seeking medical treatment here can rest in any of the
international hotels while recuperating," she said at the opening of Gleneagles
Medical Centre's RM50mil new wing and upgraded facilities by Yang di-Pertua
Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas.
Present were Abdul Rahman's consort Toh Puan Majimor Shariff, centre
chairman Datuk Seri Goh Eng Toon and state executive councillor Dr Teng Hock
Nan.
About 300,000 foreign tourists seek treatment at various hospitals in
Penang every year.
Kee said local private hospitals were just as good as those in Singapore in
terms of well-trained staff, medical specialists and state-of-the-art
facilities.
Goh said the centre now had 250 beds compared with 70 when it was set up in
1973.
"Our workforce has also increased simultaneously and we now have a team of
34 resident medical specialists and 340 supportive staff.
"Our vision is to be the centre of excellence for all the disciplines of
medicine including paediatric, geriatic care, oncology and haematology," he
added.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Nation
Thamarak sets agenda for China drug meet
Published on Aug 24, 2001
PM’s Office Minister Gen Thamarak Isarangura said he would focus on the
control of precursor chemicals, monitoring of the trafficking of drugs, and
stricter enforcement at the upcoming fournations drug meeting in China.
Thamarak will be leading a team from the Office of the Narcotic Control
Board, as well as officials from the interior and foreign ministries, to the
meeting in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.
Drug czars from Laos and Burma will also take part in the meeting, which is
aimed at strengthening regional cooperation.
Thamarak said more new drug routes are being explored and used, pointing to
the use of the Mekong River, and that more and more methamphetamines are being
cheaply produced in clandestine labs in border areas with Burma and Laos.
The issue of curbing the flow of precursor chemicals, making it more
difficult to transport and purchase these items, will be high on the agenda.
More and more of these precursor chemicals are produced and trafficked out of
China and smuggled into neighbouring countries where the clandestine labs churn
out millions of methamphetamine tablets on a weekly basis.
Besides ephedrine, other precursors such as caffeine and amphetamine
related chemicals coming into the country will be placed under tighter control,
Thamarak said.
The four countries have agreed to exchange drug envoy as part of boosting
cooperation. He criticised the Thai Civil Service Commission for dragging its
feet with the posting of a nominated representative.
Both the current and previous Thai governments have declared war on drugs
and proclaimed it to be a threat to national security.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - August 24,
2001.
Wa taking smuggled cars in barter deals
with local help
Anucha Charoenpo
Northern police have stepped up measures against car-smuggling gangs from
Malaysia after being told by informers that most stolen cars were being
delivered to the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the key drugs producer and
trafficker in Burma.
Pol Maj-Gen Somkid Boonthanom, the Chiang Rai police chief, said about 50
Burma-bound vehicles with Malaysian registrations had been seized in Chiang Rai
over the past 10 months.
Police in Mae Sai, Mae Fa Luang, Chiang Saen, Muang, Wiang Kaen and Mae
Chan districts of Chiang Rai have set up roadblocks to check on suspected
vehicles heading for the Burmese border.
Pol Maj-Gen Somkid said the gangs were engaged in a barter deal and a lot
of methamphetamine pills were being brought into the country in exchange for the
stolen cars.
He cited a case in which a former Phayao policeman, Pol Sgt Banleng
Panjakhan, was arrested and charged with trafficking in a million
methamphetamine pills, in June this year.
He allegedly confessed that he had been employed by a gang of smugglers to
deliver a stolen car to the UWSA in exchange for the drugs.
It was estimated about 500 stolen cars were being smuggled in from Malaysia
every year by Thai-Malaysian gangs with the help of corrupt customs officials in
both countries who were also profiting from the racket.
He said he would contact Malaysian authorities to help trace the gangs'
movements and activities in a bid to crack down on the practice.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post August 24,
2001.
FOREIGN LABOUR - Employers seek further reprieve But minister firm on enforcing the ban Penchan Charoensuthiphan Businesses relying on foreign labour have pleaded for further reprieve as
the deadline for enforcing a ban on employment of illegal foreign workers
approaches.
Many employers of foreign labour have petitioned the Labour Ministry to put
off crackdowns on illegal workers until all foreigners hired for specific jobs
allowed by the state are registered, said Deputy Labour Minister Ladawan
Wongsriwong yesterday.
Among the petititioners were representatives of Tak's chamber of commerce
and industrial council, she said.
However, Dej Boonlong, the labour minister, said yesterday the grace period
ending on Aug 31 would not be extended further.
Crackdowns on illegal foreign workers would start immediately after the
registration period expired on Sept 29, he said.
Employers in Tak had given him a list of more than 20,000 foreign workers
they wanted to register, he added.
Mr Dej said details of the ministry's proposal on foreign labour control
would be discussed at today's National Security Council meeting and then
forwarded to cabinet for acknowledgement.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, as the NSC chairman, had already
endorsed the ministry's plan to start cracking down on illegal foreign workers
and their employers after Sept 29.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Indonesian President Ends Visit to
Myanmar
Xinhuanet 2001.08.24 16:45:00 YANGON, August 24 (Xinhuanet)
-- Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri left here for Thailand
Friday afternoon after ending her brief visit here which was aimed at promoting
bilateral ties and cooperation between Indonesia and Myanmar.
During her stay, Megawati met with Senior-General Than Shwe, chairman
of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and prime minister,
and the two leaders exchanged views on strengthening of bilateral
cooperation.
Meanwhile, Friday's official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar said in an
editorial that Myanmar and Indonesia, as members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), have been able to further enhance friendship and
cooperation in many areas.
It added that Megawati's working visit will further enhance the existing
friendship and promote bilateral cooperation between the two
countries.
Myanmar was the fifth leg of Megawati's nine-nation ASEAN tour after
the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar ASEAN Women's Association
Formed in Yangon
Xinhuanet 2001.08.24 10:38:20 YANGON, August 24 (Xinhuanet)
-- A Myanmar ASEAN Women's Friendship Association (MAWFA) has been formed by the
Myanmar government here to promote understanding, cooperation and friendship
among ladies of the community of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations ( ASEAN) in the host country.
The MAWFA was established on Thursday with Dr. Daw Khin Win Shwe,
wife of First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, as the chief patron, the wives of foreign
minister and deputy foreign minister as members of the board of patrons,
and wives of ambassadors of the ASEAN countries along with wives of the
directors-general of Myanmar Foreign Ministry as part of the executive
committee.
The New Light of Myanmar reported Friday the formation of the MAWFA
also aims at promoting awareness of ASEAN, greater interaction among the
people of ASEAN as well as its wider participation in ASEAN activities,
adding that it also hopes to encourage cultural and social exchanges among
member states.
Myanmar was integrated as a full member in July 1997 into the ASEAN
which also comprises nine other Southeast Asian countries -- Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Megawati arrives in
Yangon
YANGON, Aug. 24, Kyodo -
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, accompanied by a large entourage
including Foreign Minister Nur Hassan Wirajuda, arrived in Yangon from Phnom
Penh on Friday.
Myanmar leaders, led by Sr. Gen. Than Shwe, chairman of the ruling junta,
welcomed the Indonesian delegation at the airport.
After a brief airport ceremony, the delegation was conveyed in a motorcade
to the state guest house.
Soon after arrival, Megawati and entourage held talks with Than Shwe and
other junta leaders at the parliament building.
The Indonesian delegation is to leave Yangon only four hours after arrival.
Megawati is making quick visits to the other nine members of the
Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN).
ASEAN groups Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore,
Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Times of India
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2001
Chinese Vice FM in Yangon for goodwill
visit
BANGKOK: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Yangon late
Thursday for an official goodwill visit, state-run television reported.
Wang, heading a group of senior foreign ministry officials, was welcomed at
the airport by his Myanmar counterpart, Khin Maung Win, TV Myanmar said in a
dispatch monitored here.
Wang and his delegation are expected to call on Myanmar military junta
leader Senior General Than Shwe and other senior figures on Friday and hold
talks with foreign ministry officials.
China was the first country to recognise Myanmar's military regime after it
seized power in a bloody coup in September 1988. Since then, senior Myanmar and
Chinese officials have kept up frequent visits.
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