BurmaNet News: November 4, 1994

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

************************** BurmaNet ************************** 
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
************************************************************** 
BurmaNet News: Friday, November 4, 1994
Issue #52

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Contents:

BURMANET: TWO REFUGEES KILLED BY SLORC TROOPS ALONG THAI BORDER
UNATTRIBUTED: CALL FOR ACTION ON SIAM SOCIETY TRIP
BURMANET: INVITATION TO WRITE
SCB: COPYRIGHT IN BURMA 
BURMANET: CORRECTION

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BURMANET: TWO REFUGEES KILLED BY SLORC TROOPS ALONG THAI BORDER
November 4, 1994

According to a representative of the Karen Refugee Committee, two
Karen refugees from the Don Pa Kiang refugee camp in Thailand
were shot and killed by SLORC troops on Saturday, October 29th. 
The refugees were riding in a long-tailed boat on the Moei River
which divides Thailand from Burma.  The spokesman said that three
refugees set out in a boat for the Burma-side of the river "to
make charcoal and find vegetables."  On their return trip to the
camp, SLORC troops opened fire, killing two men.  The third
jumped into the river and was able to swim to safety.

According to another border source, the battalion involved in the
shooting has recently rotated into the area and is still unaware
of an unwritten protocol on the river, which dictates that SLORC
troops not open fire so close to the Thai border.

The bodies have been recovered by the Karens and according to the
spokesman, the two men are survived by their wives and children,
who remain in Don Pa Kiang camp.

Don Pa Kiang is a half-hour drive north of the town of Mae Sot. 
With a population of 2,700 refugees, it is one of twenty camps
housing some 55,000 Karen refugees.  Another 20,000
Burmese/Tavoyan, Mon and Karenni refugees shelter in 11 other
camps strung along the border.  The number of refugees inside
Burma is believed to dwarf the number on the Thai side, with some
estimates running as high as one million displaced persons.

The Refugee Committee spokesman stated that two other refugees
had been killed in shootings on the Burma-side of the border
during the previous rainy season.  Refugees cross the border to
gather food or bamboo, plant small crops or gather food to
supplement their subsistence rations the receive from the camp.  
The refugees are provided with rice, fish paste and salt by
international and Thai non-governmental agencies.  Regulations
promulgated by Thailand's Ministry of the Interior prohibit the
refugees from engaging in agriculture or taking jobs, although
they are allowed to grow small `kitchen garden' plots directly
adjacent to their huts.  The refugees can also forage in the
surrounding forests but due to extensive deforestation on both
sides of the border, the amount of food which can be gathered by
foraging is somewhat limited.

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UNATTRIBUTED: CALL FOR ACTION ON SIAM SOCIETY TRIP
November, 1994

[BurmaNet received the following article by e-mail but without
attribution.  If attribution becomes available, it will be posted
in a later issue  --Editor]

Changes...

People these days are doing a lot of talk about the political
changes in Thailand, where a new foreign minister has been
appointed and a host of other ministers have been outright
replaced. This, of course, has serious consequences for Burma,
Thailand being one of the strongest advocates of policies like
"constructive engagement" (or is it to be called "constructive
dialogue" now, as I spied one local newspaper journalist refer to
Thai policy?).

While everybody is speculating and waiting, knowing that Thai
policy has already been laid down and will probably be followed
no matter who's in charge, Thaksin has already assured the world
that he would initiate no major policy changes, but focus on
"trade" as the key to foreign relations. The new FM's lack of
political experience compared to his predecessor -- the seemingly
Burma-unfriendly Prasong who was former NSC chief and primarily
concerned with national security over purely business interests
-- will bring to the Government in its place a solely
businessman's background. Good or bad change? No one knows, just
like they couldn't predict what that 1992 democracy-loving
Prasong would do once he had got into power two years ago.

There are changes taking place here and there that often don't
get reported on. These changes, while insignificant in their own
right, show how acceptability of SLORC and "Myanmar" has crept
not just into the commercial, national security and governmental
levels, but the average person. Ultimately, it is these unseen
changes which will cumulatively make or break international
policy, and one must not allow them to be overlooked or
understated as a threat to the future peace and prosperity of
Burma.:

________________________________________ 
THE SIAM SOCIETY

Additional Programme for November & Outbound Trip for December
1994

Excursion:

Friday, 25 November 1994 to Sunday, 27 November 1994

AN EXPEDITION TO MAE HONG SON WITH A CRUISE DOWN THE SALWEEN
RIVER ALONG THE THAI MYANMAR BORDER.

The Travel Section of the Siam Society announces its new
excursion programme, allowing members to observe and study the
unique unspoiled cultural and natural heritage of the Mae Hong
Son region.

The trip will take one through the Mae Hong Son valley, dotted
with elaborate temples and stupas, to the Salween River which
flows through mountainous scenery and forms the border of
Thailand with Myanmar. members will get a varied overview of the
region, concerning its cultural and natural heritage.

[abridged]

THUNG BUATONG (SUNFLOWER BLOSSOM) - SALWEEN RIVER

Early morning proceed to Khun Yuam District. Visit Thung Buatong
Doi Mae U-Kho (Buatong are wide, yellow flowers similar to
sunflowers but much smaller. They can be found in abundance at
Doi Mae U-Kho in Khun Yuam District. From the beginning of
November to mid December each year, Buatong are in full bloom
splendidly covering the whole range of mountains.) Afterwards,
proceed to Salween River at Ban Mae Sam Laeb.

Cruise down the Salween River by big long-tailed boat then arrive
at the Sob Moei Confluence where the Moei joins the Salween. Turn
left into the Moei River and cruise up stream to Ban Than Song
Yang in Tak Province. (A cruise from Ban Mae Sam Laeb to Ban Tha
Song Yang takes 3-4 hours and passes through fascinating
landscape of mountain ranges, gorges and fertile forest.) Arrive
at Ban Than Song Yan in the late afternoon, the proceed to Mon
Krathing Resort for overnight.

THA SONG YANG - MAE SOT - BANGKOK

At dawn, proceed to the summit of Mon Krathing Hill where we will
observe the sunrise over the misty fog in the valley below. After
breakfast proceed to visit Mae U-Su Cave in Mae Ramat District
and go on to the famous Rim Moei Border Market for shopping.

[abridged]

______________________________________

One wonders just exactly how much cultural information will be
given; will anybody mention what's so special about the
confluence of the Moei and Salween? Will anybody educate the
hearty weekend adventurers as to the environmental impact of the
proposed dam projects all along the Salween? (Perhaps a better
sales pitch would be, "See It As It Was Before It Was Spoilt").

Of course, your voice counts. Groups like these are heavily
dependent on their reputations and public acceptance. Without
that they become clubs of disreputable and lose members who don't
wish to be tainted or associated with public scandal and
indignation. 

It's not to late to say something to the Siam Society, to see
what aims are on this tour. One mustn't only discourage their
trip, but talk to the organizers about including some additional
facts about Myanmar and the locations the tour will be visiting
close to. Mention Manerplaw, point out the SLORC army bases,
remind them about all the refugees forced across the border and
why. Help the guides to avoid misinformation. There are ways to
comment in a non-political, unbiased manner, and with your
encouragement the Siam Society might just see that, taking the
time to be aware of and include facts about the situation just on
the other side of the frontier, or perhaps the Siam Society would
have the good sense to even cancel the trip. Your voice could
help.

The Siam Society, The Travel Section:

(++66-2) 260-2830-2 (++66-2) 258-3491

(++66-2) 258-3491 (fax)
************************************************************** 
BURMANET: INVITATION TO WRITE

A BurmaNet subscriber writes:

     I noticed that the online Burmese activist community is
     quite shy, comparing to other Burmese expatriates, and seems
     to be operated in not conjunction with other established
     groups. It may be good to open an opinion section within
     BurmaNet and Statements and News releases from those groups
     getting broadcasts. And of course, BurmaNet may not formally
     endorse those messages. What is your opinion on this?

BurmaNet accepts articles and essays concerning Burma from any
source and has to date, not turned away any submission.  Anyone
wishing to write an article to be distributed with the BurmaNet
News should send it to the strider@xxxxxxxxxxx address.  If you
don't want to use your real name, adopt a pen name.  Articles
will not be endorsed by BurmaNet but will be published without
alteration.

************************************************************** 
SCB: COPYRIGHT IN BURMA 
L.Aye@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nov  3, 1994

In article (9410052357.AA17306@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Coban Tun writes:

>>let me know.. If you want one, I can find for you as well (but
it might
>>take time). By the way, is there any copy right law in Burma?
>              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>             I think NOT. Just look at all the pop star. They
all
                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>             take western tunes and Burmanized it...

Coban

I don't think you should make that kind of general statement. Not
ALL pop stars copy Western tunes. OK, I don't deny that it
doesn't happen; in fact, it is quite common. But there are a
great no. of artists who do very well writing and singing their
own tunes.

One artist in particular, Khin Maung Toe, from MaZimaHlaing
(Medium wave) band, refused to sing Western tunes. Then there are
Sein Htee Seing, Myo Kyawt Myang, J Maung Maung, Moon Aung, to
name but a few.

You see, the thing is pop stars make very little money from the
albums. Unless they have a producer (who pays for the recording
costs) and most of them don't, you have to pay for the cost
yourself. The cost of hiring a studio (and there's only a few
such as Oasis, Lynn, May and now Studio-D) for an album is
anything between 200,000-400,000 Kyats. You then hope that the
album will sell enough to break even, let alone make a profit.

The people who make the money from all this are the distributors,
i.e. the people who actually sell the tapes. They sell a tape for
about 90-100 Kyats (where a blank tape costs about 50-60 Kyats),
leaving them with 40 Kyats. The only money the artist (i.e. the
singer, and not the musicians or the song writer who get paid
one-time fee) gets is from sale of the tape cover, which is about
7Kyats each. This means that the distributor makes about 33 Kyats
while the artist gets 7Kyats per tape.

So, most of the artists have a second profession, to supplement
their income; Khin Maung Toe has a ckicken farm in Mandalay, for
example. The way that most singers make a living is by singing in
concerts and stage shows which are held all over the country.

Unlike their Western counterparts, who make millions from a
single album allowing to spend time, sometimes years, to write
original songs, the artists in Burma, who make very little money
from the sale of an album, ended up making as many albums as they
can (sometimes 2 or 3 in a year). This puts a great strain our
their talents and forces them to release albums consisting of
only Western songs.

If you insist on singing only original songs then there's always
a pool of songwriters but you'll have to pay a lot; a typical
songwriter fee is about 5000K per song and an album consists of
about 15 songs making a total cost about 75,000K. Not many people
can afford that much on song writing fees.

I sympathise with their situations, but I don't see a way out of
this. Unless copyright law is implemented nothing will change, I
don't think.

Anyway, just had to get it out of my chest; there's always
something deep underneath the surface.

Cheers,

--
Leonard Kywa oe Aung Aye        |Internet: lka@xxxxxxxxxxx
School of Computer Science,     |Jant:  lka@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, |tel: +44 (0)21 414-3705
Birmingham, West Midlands B15 2TT, England, UK 
                               |fax:+44 (0)21 414-4281

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BURMANET: CORRECTION
November 4, 1994

In issue #46 (Narcotics Issue, October 30) BurmaNet relayed a
report that the current closure of the Thai border opposite Khun
Sa may have been the result of pressure by the U.S. government. 
Further checking by BurmaNet does not bear out the earlier
report, which should be viewed as probably mistaken.

************************************************************** 
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 AW: ASIAWEEK
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt.=US$1 (APPROX), 
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BIG: BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
 BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
 CPPSM: C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND 
 FEER: FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW
 JIR: JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
 KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
 Kt. BURMESE KYAT; 110-120 KYAT=US$1 BLACK MARKET
                   6 KYAT=US$1 OFFICIAL
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-OWNED NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
 S.C.B.:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP 
 S.C.T.:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
 SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
 USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
 XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY 
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