[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BurmaNet News: November 28, 1995 #2



Received: (from strider) by igc4.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.16 ) id PAA16334 for conf:reg.burma; Wed, 29 Nov 1995 15:01:33 -0800
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 1995 15:01:33 -0800
Subject: BurmaNet News: November 28, 1995 #290


------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: November 28, 1995
Issue #290

HEADLINES:
==========

KNU-SLORC NEGOTIATIONS LOOK SET FOR NEXT MONTH
ANDAMAN CLUB JOINS BANGKOK AIRWAYS TO PUSH ISLAND RESORT
SUU KYI TO SHUN MILITARY-BACKED CHARTER MEETING
UN-BURMA TALKS
ETHNIC GROUPS URGE BOYCOTT OF BURMA MEET
KAREN IN BID TO ROB THAI POLICE
KNU, SLORC NEGOTIATIONS LOOK SET FOR NEXT MONTH
SUU KYI TO SHUN MILITARY-BACKED CHARTER MEETING
UN-BURMA TALKS
BURMA BANK OFFICE
BURMA STUDYING INDONESIAN SYSTEM
DECISION TO QUIT AS SHAN LEADER MAY BE MERELY A 'SHOW'
TEXACO PROVIDES UPDATE ON ITS PLAN FOR GROWTH.
EUROPE BUILDS TIES WITH BURMA

***************

THE NATION: KNU-SLORC NEGOTIATIONS LOOK SET FOR NEXT MONTH
November 28, 1995
Yindee Lertcharoenchok

After nearly five decades of armed revolt, the Karen guerrilla
forces are now set to enter ceasefire negotiations with the
ruling Burmese junta, scheduled for next month. The Karen
National Union (KNU) and the junta, known as the State Law and
Order Restoration Council (Slorc), have agreed during a secret
rendezvous in Mae Sot on Oct 11 to start the truce dialogues,
but the two sides have yet to fix the actual date, venue, and
respective negotiating teams, said a senior KNU official.

"The talks will take place soon. It could be the second week of
next month," said the Karen official, who asked not to be
identified. Speaking over the weekend, the Karen official
revealed that the KNU had already appointed a four-member
negotiating team led by Maj Gen Maung Maung when the group held
its congress in August.

The KNU, he said, is awaiting a reply from the Slorc as to its
delegation, venue and date of the meeting. While the KNU wanted
the talks to take place in Rangoon, the Slorc proposed the Mon
State capital of Moulmein as the meeting site. The official said
both sides could eventually agree to meet in Pa-an, the capital
of Burma's Karen State.

He said the KNU was "very happy" with the Oct 11 meeting between
KNU leader Gen Bo Mya and a three-member delegation led by Lt
Col Kyaw Thein of the Directorate of Defence Service
Intelligence. Kyaw Thein was one of the key Slorc participants
in Rangoon ceasefire talks with 15 other ethnic groups.

The Karen official added that the Karen group on Oct 10 held a
meeting with a group of six mediators. During the meeting, the
Slorc team assured the KNU that Rangoon would not launch a
military offensive against Karen strongholds but said small
skirmishes might take place because both sides still have troops
on patrol, noted the Karen official.

"The [Oct 11] meeting is the very, very first stage of peace
talks. The Burmese team spoke very frankly... We are very happy
with it," he said. The Karen group, he said would not rush the
negotiation process and would try to proceed step by step.

He added that the KNU has learned from the experiences of other
armed ethnic groups that have already reached ceasefire
agreements with Rangoon. The official accepted that the KNU was
struck a serious blow when it lost its 21-year-old Manerplaw
headquarters in January to the Slorc, but said the group bounced
back and remained united as an ethnic front.

He added that several Karen leaders and the Karen population had
initially blamed Bo Mya for the fall of Manerplaw but realised
afterwards that the incident was a Slorc conspiracy.

"Everybody blamed him [Bo Mya] for the fall of Manerplaw and had
doubts in him, but everything was later cleared up... KNU
leaders and the Karen people were all sad about it, but the most
unhappy person was Gen Bo Mya. In fact, he sacrificed so much
for his people and chose to stay in the revolution," he added.
(TN)

***************

THE NATION: ANDAMAN CLUB JOINS BANGKOK AIRWAYS TO PUSH ISLAND RESORT
November 28, 1995
Nongsuda Tirawatanawit

Andaman Club Co Ltd, a Thai company investing in a Burmese
island, plans to set a joint marketing promotion with Bangkok
Airways Co to attract foreign tourists from Samui and Phuket
Islands to its newly-opened resort.

The company, an affiliate of Ves Group, owns the 205-room low-
rise Andaman Club resort on Thahtay Kyun Island (Richman's
Island) in Burma, near Thailand's Ranong province. With a 30-
year land concession for the 1,800-arce (about 3,000 rai) island
from the Burmese government, the company plans to make the
resort the centre of marine tourism destinations in the nearby
islands of both Burma and Thailand, said Vikrom Aysiri, the
company's president.

"In the future, when there is no further political conflict
between Thailand and Burma, this resort island will also become
another major destination for travellers between the two
countries," Vikrom said.

Vikrom said he is negotiating with Bangkok Airways, the only
airline operator at Ranong airport, to promote the resort as an
extension of Phuket and samui Islands. Currently, Bangkok
Airways files four flights a week from Bangkok to Phuket, via
Ranong, using 70-seat ATR72-200 aircraft.

>From a private pier in Ranong, the resort's speed boats and a
yacht take guests to the island within 10-15 minutes. The joint
marketing with Bangkok Airways is expected to help the resort
attract foreign tourists from two prominent destinations in
Thailand.

So far, Thai tourists are the major group of clients at the
resort, and they are mainly lured by existing joint packages.
The three-day package costs Bt6,800 per head for single
occupancy or Bt5,250 for double occupancy, and includes round-
trip air tickets Bangkok-Ranong on Bangkok Airways, two nights
stay with breakfasts and immigration fee.

Accommodation is contained in 191 room and 14 suites. Other
hotel facilities includes a duty-free shop, Chinese restaurant,
lounge, cocktail bar, cafe, and two games rooms equipped with
gambling machines. The investment for the resort's accommodation
was around Bt660 million.

Vikrom said he is also building an 18-hotel golf course and a
marina on the remaining part of the island. The golf course,
which will cost around Bt50 million, will be completed in the
next two years.

He claimed his company is one of only two foreign investors to
which the Burmese government has granted land concessions to
develop resorts in the islands. The other is a Malaysian firm
which has a licence to develop a resort on Burma's Pulo Basin
Island.

Andaman Club was established five years ago with a registered
capital of Bt200 million in Thailand. Vikrom, who is also a
major shareholder in Chiang Rai Island Resort Hotel Co which
owns Dusit Island Resort Chiang Rai, and his family, hold the
majority stake in the Andaman Club.

Krung Thai Bank Plc holds five per cent share of the company and
provided the financial support. Previously, Vikrom had two
investment projects in Burma; a wood cutting concession which
has expired, and a jewellery factory in Rangoon called Myanmar
Gems Enterprise Co which is a joint venture with the Burmese
government.

Meanwhile, the company is also negotiating with Myanmar Holding
Co_ a company owned by the Burmese government that controls
development of Burmese islands in the south_ to hire and develop
small chalets on another island-called St Lux. (TN)

***************

BKK POST: SUU KYI TO SHUN MILITARY-BACKED CHARTER MEETING
November 28,1995
Reuters, Rangoon

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she would stay
away from a military-sponsored National convention drafting a
new constitution for impoverished Burma but that her party would
attend the opening.

"I am not involved in the National Convention as an individual,"
the 50-year-old secretary-general of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) party said yesterday at her lakeside Rangoon
home.

Suu Kyi was freed unconditionally by the ruling military junta
in July after serving six years of house arrest. "The NLD will
be attending the opening ceremony tomorrow to find out what the
National Convention convening committee has to say," she said,
adding the party would then decide whether to take part in the
process.

Suu Kyi had previously threatened that the NLD would boycott the
convention if it continued in an "undemocratic" manner. Nearly
700 delegates, mostly hand-picked by Burma's ruling State Law
and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), will assemble today for
the fifth session of the convention, which has been meeting
sporadically since January 1993 to draft guidelines for a new
constitution.

Many diplomats had hoped Suu Kyi and the NLD would make a
definitive statement on its participation before the opening.
They said if the party did not make a decision, it could be
playing Slorc's game. The junta, they said, was hoping Suu Kyi
would forgotten or dismissed as ineffective if nothing came of
her repeated but unanswered calls for dialogue.

In previous constitutional talks, some NLD members and other
"elected representatives" participated in a very limited way,
making up only about 15 per cent of the total delegates.

Aye Maung, a member of the National Convention convening
committee and director-general of the Multi-party Democracy
Election Commission, said yesterday only the people previously
appointed as delegates could take part in the process.

he and two other commission members said Suu Kyi was not
recognised as the leader nor even as a member of the NLD. The
party stripped her of the post of secretary-general in 1991
after it came under intense pressure from the military. She was
later expelled from the party altogether. n 1991 the junta
passed a regulation that froze the number of members and makeup
of executive committees for all parties. 

"As far as the commission is concerned, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U
Kyi Maung and U Tin Oo were expelled from the party and remain
so," said Aye Maung. Kyi Maung and Tin Oo were two other former
senior party members who were released from prison in March and
recently reappointed to top party jobs.

Suu Kyi said the NLD feels the convention as its stands is not
democratic. "We do not think the National Convention in its
present from is going to help achieve either national
reconciliation or multi-party democracy or a constitution that
people can support and trust." Suu Kyi, who previously had
called the convention process a "sham", said the NLD had always
felt frustrated by the lack of democracy in the constitution-
writing process. (BP)

***************

BKK POST: UN-BURMA TALKS
November 28, 1995

A United Nations delegation has met a senior Burmese junta
member in Rangoon to discuss the repatriation of exiled ethnic
minorities, according to state-run Burmese radio. The senior
officials from the United Nations' High Commissioner for
refugees and the UN representative to Burma talked with Burmese
Immigration and Population Minister Lt-Gen Maung Hla, Radio
Rangoon said without elaborating.

The delegation would offer to monitor the voluntary repatriation
of about 20,000 Mon refugees from Thailand, the UNHCR
representative to Thailand, Ruprecht von Arnim, said in Bangkok
last week. Mon refugees fled attacks by Burmese troops under the
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council. The Mon and
other ethnic groups in Burma's border areas have resisted
central rule by military governments for more than four decades.
(BP)

****************************************************************


ETHNIC GROUPS URGE BOYCOTT OF BURMA MEET

YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK
The Nation/28.11.95

BURMA'S armed ethnic groups yesterday urged all parties concerned
to boycott the National Convention which today resumes the task
it started in early 1993 of drafting a new national constitution.

In a statement released yesterday, the National Democratic Front
(NDF), an umbrella organization of about 10 ethnic groups, urged
the junta, officially known as the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC), to abandon the "sham" national
convention "which was held against the aspiration of the masses".

It added that the NDF shared the view of Burma's pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi who last week called the convention
"totally unacceptable" and threatened that her party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), might boycott it.

"This declared attitude of the National League for Democracy is
just and right. In addition, it is also in accordance with the
aspiration of the ethnic nationalities and colleagues of
democracy that oppose the military regime," the NDF statement
said.

The NDF, which was formed in 1976, has called for a "tripartite
dialogue" involving the SLORC, pro-democracy forces and ethnic
groups, saying that there exist today two political problems in
the country _ the question of equality and self determination,
and the question of human rights and democracy.

"To resolve these two problems, the NDF reckons that one has to
adopt a 'tripartite dialogue' policy that has been accepted both
at home and abroad. Only then, the problems shall actually be
resolved," said the statement.

The NDF urged the SLORC to "think over seriously" and decide
whether to follow the path that would end the country's five-
decades of civil war, or the path that would deepen the war and
bring agony and poverty to the country and the Burmese people.

"As for the NDF, it shall stand shoulder to shoulder with ethnic
nationalities and democratic forces and every organization that
opposes the SLORC, to make a synchronized struggle and urge all
parties concerned to strike against this sham National Convention
by various means," it ended.

The Karen National Union (KNU), also an NDF member, yesterday
released a separate statement expressing its opposition to the
National Convention, a gathering held on and off since January
1993 of about 700 SLORC-picked delegates to draft a constitution.

It urged the SLORC to abolish the body and pave the way for a
genuine national convention by declaring a nationwide ceasefire,
scrapping all unjust laws and orders, and starting a "tripartite
dialogue".

The KNU said the SLORC-organized national convention had gone
against the people's will and had no public support. "During the
procrastinating period of nearly three years, in convening this
convention that has no one's support, many delegates were put
into custody and some delegates abandoned this convention due to
loss of confidence in it and came to the revolutionary areas," it
said.

*****************************************************************

KAREN IN BID TO ROB THAI POLICE

The Nation/28.11.95

MAE SOT -- One day after a grenade attack on a tourist bus, a
group of unidentified armed Karen forces yesterday attacked two
Thai policemen in an attempt to rob them.

The violence yesterday was the fifth incident in the past month
and took place one day after a grenade, hurled on to a passing
coach by a group of unidentified people, killed one and wounded
10 passengers on board.

Lt Col Sombat Buareung, deputy police chief of Tha Song Yang
police station, said yesterday that a group of armed Karen forces
assaulted Sgt Paiboon Srisopha and Sgt Viraphol Khongyod while
the two stopped their car on Tha Song Yang-Mae Sariang highway.

The group was trying to steal the police walkie-talkie equipment
and pistols which Paiboon put in the car when he saw the
attackers, who then opened fire on the police. One attacker was
shot dead in return fire.

Sombat said he believed the attackers were Karen and not Burmese
because they spoke Karen language.

In Bangkok, Police Department Chief Gen Pochana Boonyachinda
yesterday pressed his concern about the frequent attacks that
take place along the Thai-Burmese border in Tak province.

*****************************************************************

KNU, SLORC NEGOTIATIONS LOOK SET FOR NEXT MONTH

YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK
The Nation/28.11.95

AFTER nearly five decades of armed revolt, the Karen guerrilla
forces are now set to enter ceasefire negotiations with the
ruling Burmese junta, scheduled for next month.

The Karen National Union (KNU) and the junta, known as the State
Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), have agreed during a
secret rendezvous in Mae Sot on Oct 11 to start the truce
dialogues, but the two sides have yet to fix the actual date,
venue, and respective negotiating teams, said a senior KNU
official.

"The talks will take place soon. It could be the second week of
next month," said the Karen official, who asked not to be
identified.

Speaking over the weekend, the Karen official revealed that the
KNU had already appointed a four-member negotiating team led by
Maj Gen Maung Maung when the group held its congress in August.

The KNU, he said, is awaiting a reply from the SLORC as to its
delegation, venue and date of the meeting. While the KNU wanted
the talks to take place in Rangoon, the SLORC proposed the Mon
State capital of Moulmein as the meeting site. The official said
both sides could eventually agree to meet in Pa-an, the capital
of Burma's Karen State.

He said the KNU was "very happy" with the Oct 11 meeting between
KNU leader Gen Bo Mya and a three-member delegation led by Lt Col
Kyaw Thein of the Directorate of Defence Service Intelligence.
Kyaw Thein was one of the key SLORC participants in Rangoon
ceasefire talks with 15 other ethnic groups.

The Karen official added that the Karen group on Oct 10 held a
meeting with a group of six mediators.

During the meeting, the SLORC team assured the KNU that Rangoon
would not launch a military offensive against Karen strongholds
but said small skirmishes might take place because both sides
still have troops on patrol, noted the Karen official.

"The [Oct 11] meeting is the very, very first stage of peace
talks. The Burmese team spoke very frankly.... We are very happy
with it," he said.

The Karen group, he said, would not rush the negotiation process
and would try to proceed step by step.

*****************************************************************

SUU KYI TO SHUN MILITARY-BACKED CHARTER MEETING

Rangoon, Reuters
Bkk Post/28.11.95

BURMESE opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she would stay
away from a military-sponsored National Convention drafting a new
constitution for improverished Burma but that her party
would attend the opening.
"I am not involved in the National Convention as an individual,"
the 50-year-old secretary-general of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) party said yesterday at her lakeside Rangoon
home.

Suu Kyi was freed unconditionally by the ruling military junta in
July after serving six years of house arrest.

"The NLD will be attending the opening ceremony tomorrow to find
out what the National Convention convening committee has to say,"
she said, adding the party would then decide whether to take
part in the process.

Suu Kyi had previously threatened that the NLD would boycott the
convention if it continued in an "undemocratic" manner.

Nearly 700 delegates, mostly handpicked by Burma's ruling State
Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), will assemble today
for the fifth session of the convention, which has been meeting
sporadically since January. 1993 to draft guidelines for a new
constitution.

Many diplomats had hoped Suu Kyi and the NLD would make a
definitive statement on its participation before the opening.

They said if the party did not make a decision, it could be
playing SLORC's game. The junta, they said, was hoping Suu Kyi
would be forgotten or dismissed as ineffective if nothing came of
her repeated but unanswered calls for dialogue.

In previous constitutional talks, some NLD members and other
"elected representatives" participated in a very limited way,
making up only about 15 percent of the total delegates.

Aye Maung, a member of the National Convention convening
committee and director general of the Multi-party Democracy
Election Commission said yesterday only the people previously
appointed as delegates could take part in the process.

He and two other commission members said Suu Kyi was not
recognised as the leader nor even as a member of the
NLD.

The party stripped her of the post of secretary - general in 1991
after it came under intense pressure from the military. She was
later expelled from the party altogether.

In 1991 the junta passed a regulation that froze the number of
members and makeup of executive committees for all parties.

"As far as the commission is concerned, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U
Kyi Maung and U Tin Oo were expelled from the party and remain
so," said Aye Maung.

Kyi Maung and Tin Oo were two other former senior party I members
who were released I from prison in March and recently reappointed
to top party

Suu Kyi said the NLD feels the convention as it stands is not
democratic. "We do not think the National Convention in its
present form is going to help achieve either national
reconciliation or multi-party democracy or a constitution that
people can support and trust."

Suu Kyi, who previously had called the convention process a
"sham", said the NLD had always felt frustrated by the lack of
democracy in the constitution-writing process.

*****************************************************************

UN-BURMA TALKS

Bkk Post/28.11.95

A United Nations delegation has met a senior Burmese junta member
in Rangoon to discuss the repatriation of exiled ethnic
minorities, according to state-run Burmese radio. The senior
officials from the United, Nations' High Commissioner for
Refugees and the UN representative to Burma talked with Burmese
Immigration and Population Minister Lt-Gen Maung Hla, Radio
Rangoon said without elaborating.

The delegation would offer to monitor the voluntary repatriation
of about 20,000 Mon refugees from Thailand, the UNHCR
representative to Thailand, Ruprecht von Arnim, said in Bangkok
last week.

Mon refugees fled attacks by Burmese troops under the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council. The Mon and other ethnic
groups in Burma's border areas have resisted central rule by
military governments for more than four decades.

*****************************************************************

BURMA BANK OFFICE

Bkk Post/28.11.95

THE Banque Francaise du Commerce Exterieur opened a
representative office in Burma on Friday. The staff of nine will
handle business with Burma that was previously carried out by the
Bangkok office.

Compiled from Agence France Presse and Radio Vientiane.

*****************************************************************

BURMA STUDYING INDONESIAN SYSTEM

REPORT:
Agence France Presse and Associated Press
Bangkok

Bkk Post/28.11.95

INDONESIAN DEFENCE Minister Gen Edi Sudrajat met top Burmese
military leaders during a four-day visit to Rangoon last week.

The minister, who arrived on Wednesday, held talks with senior
Burmese junta members including its chief, Gen Than Shwe,
state-run Burmese radio said.

Gen Than Shwe, head of the Burmese Defence Services, is also
prime minister and chairman of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council, the official name of the regime.

The meeting at Rangoon's defence ministry was attended by SLORC
vice-chairman Gen Maung Aye, chief of staff (army) Lt-Gen Tin Oo,
military intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, Foreign Minister
Ohn Gyaw and Indonesian diplomats in Rangoon, Radio Rangoon said
in a broadcast monitored in Bangkok.

It gave no details of the meeting, which was also attended by
military attaches from both sides.

Burma's leaders are believed to be studying Indonesia's form of
government, in which the military has a dominant political
role, with the intention of adapting it to their own country.

Indonesia will host the foreign ministers' meeting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year.

Burma is expected to attend as a guest of the host country, as it
did at two previous annual meetings. The Burmese foreign minister
was guest of Thailand at a meeting in Bangkok last year and guest
of Brunei at a meeting last July.

Rangoon acceded to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in
Brunei. Burma's accession enables the country to apply for ASEAN
membership.

Burma's National Convention, which been meeting on and off since
1993, reconvened on Monday last week to resume work on drafting a
new constitution. The convention has been criticised by many
quarters, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as a
stage-managed affair designed to enshrine military rule.

The basic principles for the proposed constitution included some
which were not in line with a truly democratic state, Suu Kyi,
who was released from six years of house arrest in July, said on
Wednesday.

At issue is a clause which guarantees the military a "leading
role in the political life of the nation". Military leaders have
said the clause is non-negotiable.

*****************************************************************

DECISION TO QUIT AS SHAN LEADER MAY BE MERELY A 'SHOW'
       (Khun Sa puzzles pundits)

REPORT: Subin Kheunkaew and Nussara Sawatsawang
Ho Mong
Bkk Post/28.11.95

IT'S DIFFICULT to believe Khun Sa's announcement last week that
he will no longer lead the Shans' independence struggle.

Analysts are split over two theories: that Khun Sa is staging a
show to test the loyalty of his followers; and that new factors,
domestic and international, have forced him to reconsider his
position

Khun Sa said he was stepping down because of the defection of a
close aide, Gun Yod, along with a significant number of soldiers
from his Mong Tai Army, and because he was branded a Chinese.

These reasons are hard to swallow because of his charisma, power
and wealth. He is estimated to spend 200 million baht a month to
maintain his headquarters at Ho Mong.

On the day he stepped down, during a religious ceremony to mark
the completion of a new "Solidarity of the Shan" pagoda in Ho
Mong, no one took his place .

Khun Sa's top aide, Zao Gun Jade, chairman of the Central
Executive Committee which apparently took over the Shan State
Restoration Council three months ago, was ill, conveniently. So
Khun Sa handed over power "to the people and the Buddhist monks".

But an insider confirmed the rift between the Chinese and Shan
factions of the Shan liberation movement had affected Khun Sa,
who is half-Chinese, half-Shan.

What has affected him even more is his seemingly decreased
commitment to the struggle for independence.

Gun Yod's defection earlier this year has reinforced feelings
among the Shan that 40 years of struggle is a long time,
especially when there is no freedom in sight, and that perhaps
Khun Sa is In the struggle for other reasons.

"For a period, he has not mentioned the struggle for Shan
independence, and people noticed it," an observer said.

Khun Sa admitted during an interview with Inside Indochina that
1,000 soldiers defected with Gun Yod, another 2,000 went to the
Shan State Army and just over 2,000 more to the Wa.

He was estimated to have 8,000 soldiers before the defections.
The Shan State Army is a breakaway from Khun Sa's Shan State
Restoration Council, while the Wa are a long-time rival in the
Shan State. A few years ago, the Wa began challenging his drug
dealings with their own.

"People and soldiers got confused. Who is the leader and who is
on the right side?" the same observer said.

Zao Gun Jade has reportedly been sent to Khun Sa's outposts in
the northern part of the Shan State to boost the morale of
soldiers and followers, and also to try to persuade Gun Yod to
return.

Another observer said that whether or not Khun Sa was staging a
big show, he realised international pressure on him and his drug
trafficking was serious.

The Thai Army has sealed the border with the Shan State, which
previously served as a supply route, and the United States Drug
Enforcement Administration has opened a small office in Rangoon.

A few months ago, another close aide of Khun Sa went to Germany
and the US to lobby for help from members of Shan com munities
who are known to have connections with politicians and
high-ranking officials in those countries. The communities
believe these officials could help in their struggle against
Rangoon. The one condition made clear was that the Shan
liberation movement must clear its image by dissociating itself
from Khun Sa and drug trafficking.

In response, Khun Sa formed the 11-member Central Executive
Committee, with Zao Gun Jade as chairman, to take over the Shan
State Restoration Council and its military arm.

The committee sent letters to the United Nations and the Thai
government, seeking help to put an end to drug trafficking and
expressing its readiness to put its  administration and army
under the UN. Last month, it also sent a letter to the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council calling for a temporary
ceasefire. None of these letters have drawn a reply.

With Zao Gun Jade reportedly in hospital in Thailand, and unable
to attend last week's power handover ceremony, it appears the
show is partly over.

"It was a win-friends party," one of Khun Sa's subordinates told
Inside Indochina.

But it was satisfying for Khun Sa to see that donations of yellow
robes to the monks came from Hsi Paw, Lashio and Pang-long,
cities where Gun Yod has been trying to establish himself.

The subordinate said that, in the end, Khun Sa's money talked
most effectively.

Khun Sa has always claimed he is not an active drug trafficker,
but that he collects taxes. He has many times offered to stop all
dealing if the US can pay him and help him set up an independent
Shan State.

In the interview with Inside Indochina, he predicted that if he
was not around someone else would take over the lucrative trade
in opium and amphetamines.

Khun Sa forecast the leadership question in the Shan State would
be settled in 5-10 months. For the time being, the absence of
horses on the dirt roads of Ho Mong is a stark reminder to Khun
Sa of the increasing difficulty he faces in obtaining supplies.

*********************************

TEXACO PROVIDES UPDATE ON ITS PLAN FOR GROWTH.
	(Company Cites Strides in Achieving Objectives)

DATELINE:  WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.

Nov. 28--Texaco Inc.
    Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Alfred C.
DeCrane, Jr., said that, through the combined, determined efforts of
its employees worldwide the company has shown significant progress in
achieving its primary objectives to increase earnings and shareholder
value.

    DeCrane, along with members of Texaco's senior management
team, addressed more than 200 security analysts at the company's
executive offices today, and said that the company has made
substantial gains towards meeting the goals outlined in its plan
for growth -- a plan designed to double pre-tax earnings before
the end of the decade to almost $ 2 billion dollars, and to
achieve a return on capital employed of 12 to 13 percent.

    When we developed and announced our plan for growth in mid-
1994, we knew that 1995 would be a critical time to build the
momentum we need and to make certain we were on a solid course to
achieve top quartile performance," said DeCrane.  "At the end of
our first full year of this effort, I can report that our plan
has been translated into actions -- actions which have led to
earnings improvements and significantly increased value for our
shareholders." Citing specific examples of growth and improved
performance, DeCrane noted:

    - Production is some 36,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day
ahead of last year's aggressive target for 1995, with a 35
percent-plus increase targeted from 1.1 million boepd to some 1.5
million boepd by year 2000.

    - Total cash costs have been reduced by about $ 1 billion in
the last three years, reflecting operating efficiency gains,
sales  of non-core assets and a reduction in overhead expenses of
more  than $ 400 million.

    - Non-core assets that were not competitive and did not offer
the prospect of becoming competitive were sold for more than $
1.4 billion.

    - Realized cash from the sale of those assets is being
redirected to focused areas of growth, including expanding core
oil and gas fields, focused exploration drilling and targeted
marketing initiatives.

    DeCrane also stressed that one of the key components to
Texaco's improved profitability is its use of innovative
technology.  By using proprietary 3D seismic imaging and 3D
visualization and employing advanced horizontal drilling
techniques Texaco is reducing its upstream development and
production costs.  

    Noting that Texaco continues to be an industry leader in
reserve replacement at fully competitive finding and development
costs, DeCrane highlighted some of the high-impact prospects the
company is now exploring and delineating, including: the Tarim
Basin in China, OFFSHORE MYANMAR, the Gorgon and Chrysaour fields
offshore Australia, the deep water in the Gulf of Mexico and
offshore Angola.

    Commenting on the downstream aspects of the business, DeCrane
said: "By broadening the marketing of CleanSystem3 to Latin
America, we have improved our sales by more than nine percent,
exceeding that region's current demand growth. And our joint
venture in Scandinavia (Texaco/Norsk Hydro) also is a success,
with earnings already more than 100 percent above what the two
companies alone would have produced."

    DeCrane pointed out that while the company's refining
efficiency and reliability has improved, the excess supply
throughout the world continues to keep downstream margins
suppressed.  "We know we must approach this problem differently.
In fact, we must make our own margins -- through joint ventures,
strategic alliances and different sourcing and selling of raw
materials and products.

    "We have made great strides in meeting the goals set forth in
our plan for growth, but we know we have more to achieve,"
DeCrane added. "Our plan shows us where we intended to be and
where we need to go. We are proud of our progress and confident
of our future.  Texaco has a new spirit, reflected in the plans
and performance of all of our employees."

    CONTACT: David J. Dickson, 914-253-4128
                        J. Michael Trevino, 914/253-4175
                        Cynthia B. Michener, 914-253-4743
                        Yorick P. Fonseca, 914-253-7034

Copyright 1995 The Financial Times Limited;   

*********************************

EUROPE BUILDS TIES WITH BURMA

BYLINE: By TED BARDACKE
DATELINE: RANGOON

    Several European countries, including the UK, France and
Germany, are promoting trade and investment with Burma, despite
official EU and UN condemnation of the regime's poor human rights
record.

    The UK government has appointed new staff to its Rangoon
embassy to deal with increasing interest in Burma shown by
British companies.   UK companies are now eligible for financial
assistance to participate in official trade missions to Burma.
The UK is the sixth largest foreign investor in Burma with nearly
Dollars 70m of actual investment.

    The French government has been helping oil company Total with
its Dollars 1.2bn gas pipeline project from the Andaman Sea to
Thailand and Germany is considering the resumption of official
loans to assist German companies competing for Burmese government
contracts and concessions, according to Burmese officials.

    The increased activity follows the release of democracy
activist and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in July after nearly
six years of house arrest. At the weekend she urged foreign
investors to proceed cautiously and to consider only investments
that will benefit the Burmese people rather than help the regime.

Copyright 1995 The Financial Times Limited;   

*****************************************

FOR REFERENCE: 1994-5 PUBLICATIONS ON BURMA
November, 1995

1994 PUBLICATIONS ON BURMA

TITLE       A Burmese appeal to the UN and US  
AUTHOR      Win, Kanbawza.
PUBLISHER   Bangkok  : CPDSK Publication, [1994?] 59 p.
SUBJECT     United Nations--Burma., Burma--Politics and government.
            Burma--Economic conditions.

TITLE       A Report on the location of Burmese artifacts in museums
AUTHOR      Blackburn, Terence R.
PUBLISHER   Gartmore, Stirlingshire, Scotland  : Kiscadale, 1994., 79 p.
SUBJECT     Art objects--Burma., Burma--Antiquities--Catalogs.

TITLE       Australia's relations with Colonial Burma  : 1886-1947  
AUTHOR      Selth, Andrew.
PUBLISHER   Clayton, Victoria  : Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash
University,1994. iii, 22 p
SUBJECT     Australia--Foreign relations--Burma., Burma--History--1824-1948.

TITLE       Burma debate.
CORPORATE   Open Society Institute. Burma Project.
PUBLISHER   Washington, D.C.  : Open Society Institute, 1994-v.
SUBJECT     Burma--Periodicals.

TITLE       Burma  : encountering the land of the Buddhas.
AUTHOR      Everarda, Ellis.
PUBLISHER   Stirling, Scotland  : Kiscadale, 1994., 114 p.  : ill.
SUBJECT     Burma--Description and travel--Pictorial works.

TITLE       Burma in revolt  : opium and insurgency since 1948
AUTHOR      Lintner, Bertil.
PUBLISHER   Boulder  : Westview Press, 1994., xv, 514 p.
SUBJECT     Minorities--Burma., Opium trade--Burma.,Politics and
government--1948-Burma--History--Autonomy and independence movements., 
Ethnic relations.

TITLE       Burmese crafts  : past and present  / Sylvia Fraser-Lu.
AUTHOR      Fraser-Lu, Sylvia.
PUBLISHER   Kuala Lumpur  ; New York  : Oxford University Press, 1994.
SUBJECT     Art objects--Burma., Art objects, Buddhist--Burma.

TITLE  Comparative study of the two military juntas: Thailand and Burma : a
            Burmese perspective. - 2nd ed.
AUTHOR      Kanbawza Win.
PUBLISHER   Bangkok  : C.P.D.S.K. Publications, 1994. 74 p.  : ill.
SUBJECT     Military government--Burma., Thailand.

TITLE       Culture shock!  : Burma
AUTHOR      Saw Myat Yin.
PUBLISHER   Singapore  : Times Books International, c1994. 207 p. : ill. ;
SUBJECT     Etiquette, Description and travel, Social life, customs in Burma

TITLE       Hard travel to sacred places
AUTHOR      Wurlitzer, Rudolph.
PUBLISHER   Boston  : Shambhala, 1994. v, 161 p.  ; 20 cm.
SUBJECT     Wurlitzer, Rudolph--Journeys--Cambodia, Thailand, Burma.
            Buddhism--Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Description and travel.

TITLE    Inked over, ripped out  : Burmese storytellers and the censors  
AUTHOR      Allott, Anna J.
PUBLISHER   Chiang Mai  : Silkworm Books, 1994.,124 p.  ; 19 cm.
SUBJECT     Burmese fiction--20th century--History and criticism.
            Authors, Burmese--20th century--Political and social views.
            Burmese fiction--Authorship--Political aspects,Psychology in
literature, Censorship, Burmese fiction--20th century--Translations into
English.,m Burma--Politics and government--1988-

TITLE       Mandalay  : travels from the Golden City.
AUTHOR      Strachan, Paul.
PUBLISHER   Gartmore, Striling  : Kiscadale Publications, 1994., xii, 226 p.
SUBJECT     Burma--Description and travel.

TITLE       Mawchi  : mining, war and insurgency in Burma
AUTHOR      Crozier, L. A.
CORPORATE   Griffith University. Centre for the Study of Australia-Asia
Relations.
PUBLISHER   Queensland  : Centre for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations,
Faculty ofAsian and International Studies, Griffith University, 1994., 113 p.
SUBJECT     Crozier, L. A., Australians--Burma., Insurgency--Burma--Mawchi--
History.  Mawchi (Burma)--History., Burma--Politics and government--1824-1948.
  Burma--Politics and government--1948-

TITLE       Mountbatten  : the private story
AUTHOR      Hoey, Brian.
PUBLISHER   London  : Sidgwick  and  Jackson, 1994., x, 272 p.
SUBJECT     Mountbatten of Burma, Louis Mountbatten, Earl, 1900-1979.
            Admirals--Great Britain--Biography., Viceroys--India--Biography.

TITLE       Return via Rangoon  : a young chindit survives the jungle and
Japanese captivity.
AUTHOR      Stibbe, Philip.
PUBLISHER   London  : Leo Cooper, 1994. xv, 232 p.
SUBJECT     World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Burma. World War,
1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, Japanese., World War, 1939-1945--Personal 
narratives, English.

TITLE       Thailand  and  Burma handbook.
PUBLISHER   Bath, England  : Trade  and  Travel Publications, 1994-v.
SUBJECT     Thailand, Burma--Description and travel--Guide-books.

TITLE      Twilight over Burma  : my life as a Shan princess, foreword by Bertil Lintner.
AUTHOR      Sargent, Inge.
PUBLISHER   Honolulu  : University of Hawai Press, 1994. xxiv, 216 p.  :
SUBJECT     Kya Seng, Sao, Sargent, Inge., Shans (Asian people)--Kings and
rulers--Biography. Shan State (Burma)--Politics and governemnt.

1995 PUBLICATIONS ON BURMA

TITLE       Burma the golden
AUTHOR      Klein, Wilhelm., Pfannmuller, Gunter.
PUBLISHER   [Bangkok]  : Insight Topics, 1995. 168 p.  : col. ill.
SUBJECT     Buddhism, Description and travel--Pictorial works.
                Religious life and customs--Pictorial works.

TITLE       Constructive engagement in the Burmese context
AUTHOR      Kanbawza Win.
PUBLISHER   Bangkok  : CPDSK, 1995., j, 210 p.
SUBJECT     Burma. SLORC, Democracy--Burma., Politics and government--1988-

TITLE       Cultural sites of Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia  
AUTHOR      Dumarcay, Jacques. Smithies, Michael, 1932-
PUBLISHER   Kuala Lumpur  ; New York  : Oxford University Press, 1995. xi,
SUBJECT     Monuments, Antiquities, Civilization--Burma.Thailand.Cambodia.

TITLE       Freedom from fear  : and other writings
foreword by Desmond Tutu ; edited with an introduction by Michael Aris. -
AUTHOR      Aung San Suu Kyi. Aris, Michael.
PUBLISHER   London  : Penguin Books, 1995., xxxi, 374 p.
SUBJECT     Aung San suu Kyi, Burma--Politics and government.

TITLE       Norman Lewis omnibus  
AUTHOR      Lewis, Norman.
PUBLISHER   London  : Picador, 1995. 834 p.
SUBJECT     Lewis, Norman--Journeys--Asia. Indochina--Description and travel.
            Burma--Description and travel, India--Description and travel.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G)
and the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ}  

The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma.
Articles from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, the wire
services and the Internet as well as original material are published.               

The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is
also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l
mailing lists. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, send 
an e-mail message to: majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx   
   
In the body of the message, type "subscribe burmanet-l"
(without quotation marks) Letters to the editor, comments or
contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------------
BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST

BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different 
topics related to Burma. If you have questions on any of the 
following subjects, please direct email to the following volunteer 
coordinators, who will either answer your question or try to put you 
in contact with someone who can:

[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]

Arakan/Rohingya/Burma     volunteer needed 
Bangladesh Border	
Campus activism: 	zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi]   wcsbeau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx     
Buddhism:                    Buddhist Relief Mission:  brelief@xxxxxxx
Chin history/culture:        plilian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Fonts:                  		tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
History of Burma:            zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kachin history/culture:      74750.1267@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Karen history/culture: 	Karen Historical Society: 102113.2571@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mon history/culture:         [volunteer needed]
Naga history/culture: 	Wungram Shishak:  z954001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burma-India border            [volunteer needed]
Pali literature:            	 "Palmleaf":  c/o burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx
Shan history/culture:        [volunteer needed]
Shareholder activism:       simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
Total/Pipeline		Christopher Dietrich: cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
Tourism campaigns:      	bagp@xxxxxxxxxx     "Attn. S.Sutcliffe"   
World Wide Web:              FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx
Volunteering:           	christin@xxxxxxxxxx  

**********************