BurmaNet News: February 27, 1996

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The BurmaNet News: February 27, 1996
Issue #351

HEADLINES:
==========
BKK POST: CHETHA SAYS BORDER TO BE REOPENED BEFORE BANHARN?S 
VISIT TO RANGOON
BKK POST: BANDITS FROM BURMA ROB 15 THAI VEHICLES
BKK POST: SLORC LIKELY TO GET RESPECT IT DESERVES
BKK POST: BURMA ?COULD CALL IN RESERVES?
BKK POST: YADANA NATURAL GAS FIND TURNS MON LEGEND INTO 
REALITY
BKK POST: SUU KYI ASKS REGIME TO FOCUS ON SCHOOLS, NOT 
TOURISM
BKK POST: ROLLING STOCK DEAL
BKK POST: BURMA BANK OPENS
BKK POST: FRENCH BANK IN RANGOON
FEER: BACK-DOOR TO BURMA
--------------------------------------------------------------
BKK POST: CHETHA SAYS BORDER TO BE REOPENED BEFORE BANHARN?S 
VISIT TO RANGOON

February 27, 1996
By Wasana Nanum, Mae Sai, Chiang Rai

Army deputy commander Gen Chetha Thanacharo yesterday said  
the border checkpoint here, opposite Burma?s Tachilek would  
be reopened before Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa  
officially visits Rangoon.

Gen Chetha gave his assurance after lunch with Burma?s  
regional army commander Maj Gen Tin Htut at Tachilek where  
the border has been closed since March 21 last year.

?The border has been closed a long time. Now it is the right  
time to reopen it. ?It would be certainly reopened before our  
prime minister makes his official visit to strengthen  
bilateral ties,? said the army deputy commander.

Prime Minister Banharn has not yet decided when he would make  
the visit while Burma was hopeful the Thai premier could come  
between March 18-20. Gen Chetha flew to Mae Sai yesterday and  
walked across the border to Tachilek where he had a two-and- 
a-half hour meeting with Maj Gen Tin Htut at a military  
outpost.

Military sources said Gen Chetha last Friday met Lt-Gen Khin  
Nyunt, first secretary of Burma?s State Law and Order  
Restoration Council, in Burma where the junta strongman told  
Gen Chetha of Rangoon?s wish to see an improvement in the  
relationship.

The army deputy commander said he did not think anyone would  
gain anything if the mistrust and tension along the common  
border was not resolved. Gen Chetha said it would be useless  
foe either side to blame the other over problems in the area  
as it would lead to more confrontation.

?Our bilateral relationship is much more important than  
anything else and we should try strengthen it,? said Gen  
Chetha. Gen Chetha said he had told Maj Gen Tin Htut, Burma?s  
Eastern Forces commander, to swiftly contact local Thai  
officials posted along the border if problems occur. 

Commenting on the 43 million baht compensation claim made by  
Burma over the killing of three Burmese during Khun Sa?s Mong  
Tai Army assault on Burmese forces early last year, Gen  
Chetha said Rangoon had asked for understanding on the issue  
as it was Burmese people who suffered from their relatives?  
death.
 
Burma has insisted that Thailand must take direct  
responsibility over the incident as they claimed that Khun Sa 
?s forces launched it assault from Thai soil. Thai  
authorities deny this. 

Gen Chetha said the issue has already been raised for  
discussion earlier in Burma, adding that payment might have  
to be made but the amount of money to be paid would not be as  
high as the Burmese demand.

?We have not discussed the amount of money to be paid as it  
would lead to more problems. ?Burma wants to see us show our  
sympathy to its suffering people,? said Gen Chetha.

He is scheduled to make a trip to Koh Song, opposite Ranong  
Province, tomorrow where he will meet Burma?s Southeastern  
Forces? Commander Maj Gen Ket Sein. Gen Chetha said he was  
optimistic the trip would lead to the opening of Ranong?s  
border checkpoint. (BP)

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

BKK POST: BANDITS FROM BURMA ROB 15 THAI VEHICLES
February 27, 1996

A band of about 20 bandits crossed the border from Shan State  
of Burma and robbed about 15 vehicles on Pang Mapha Mae Hong  
Son Highway and made of with over 200,000 baht in cash and  
valuables on Sunday night.

The bandits from Burma blocked the highway in Pang Mapha Sub- 
district, about 49 kilometres from Muang Mae Hong Son, with  
logs at about 7 p.m. They stopped around 15 cars and  
motorcycles and robbed the passengers.

Mae Hong Son Governor Somjate Wiriyadamrong said after an  
investigate tour of the scene of the crime yesterday that he  
had ordered the provincial police, border patrol police and  
rangers to trace and waylay the robbers who were believed to  
have field in the direction of Ban Mae Lan, about 15  
kilometres from the Thai-Burmese border.

The authorities found a spent AK-47 shell in the area where  
the bandits who were armed with M16 and AK47 assault rifles  
and RPG rocket launchers staged the robbery. However, nobody  
was hurt by the bandits who reportedly spoke Shan and Burmese  
languages in their radio communications. (BP)

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

BKK POST: SLORC LIKELY TO GET RESPECT IT DESERVES
February 27, 1996
 
The only person ever elected as the leader of Burma has  
continued to work, quietly, to install democracy in the  
nation. The campaign has turned hard again for Aung San Suu  
Kyi and her followers.

Nearly eight years have passed since the ruling State Law and  
Order Restoration Council (Slorc) seized power in a brutal  
and bloody coup. Nearly six years have gone by since Mrs Suu  
Kyi won election as her country?s head of government while  
under house arrest.

Another four years have passed since she won the Nobel Peace  
Prize and it has been seven months since she was released  
from her prison by Rangoon authorities. 

During that time, the ruling military junta has worked at two  
tasks: to consolidate power and to improve its image. It has,  
lamentably, received help in both these tasks from  
neighbours, not least of all Thailand.

Burma will sit as an equal among the 10 Asia nations at next  
week?s Europe-Asia summit in Bangkok. It should not be lost  
on either participants or observers, however, that Burma  
deserves the title of ?least equal? among all the countries  
represented at this important summit. Its leaders will  
receive the diplomatic protocols accorded to all heads of  
government. They will not be accorded the same respect.

In Rangoon, Mrs Suu Kyi is nominally free. She also is  
isolated to a major extent by a Slorc campaign of arrests and  
intimidation. Rangoon has tried to walk a fine line in its  
foreign and domestic policy.

No one can ignore, however, that much sham lies behind the  
smiles and diplomatic niceties the regime will bring to the  
Bangkok meeting. Foreign leaders and diplomats have been told  
by the junta they are unwelcome in Burma if they intend to  
speak to Mrs Suu Kyi. Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating 
_a friend of Asean and Southeast Asia _ has been singled out  
as a would be guest who can forget about plans to visit  
Rangoon.

The release of Mrs Suu Kyi from house arrest last July was a  
cause for celebration. It was also a strong test of the  
Rangoon regime?s good will. Since then, Slorc has failed this  
test. Instead of proceeding to talk with Mrs Suu Kyi about  
the future of Burma, the junta shunned her.

Instead of holding negotiations with pro-democracy advocates  
in Burma, the regime rammed through a constitutional  
convention. Instead of encouraging discussion of visions for  
their country, Slorc arrested those who dared to spread their  
ideas.

As a few realists predicted last year, Rangoon released Mrs  
Suu Kyi in the cynical belief her gains and goals would die  
in oblivion. She has had no access to the government- 
controlled media, and cannot travel to meet her supporters.  
The same regime which at least met with ?The Lady? during her  
imprisonment now refuses all contact with her. The question  
now is what happens next in Burma?

Mrs Suu Kyi has wisely counselled the many Burmese  who  
favour democracy and a free political system to keep a check  
on their emotions. The memories of the army?s brutal  
suppression of 1988 remains fresh in her mind. 

It is clear that Slorc is prepared to gun down more thousands  
of unarmed Burmese in case for democracy to the streets. ?The  
Burmese people know how to bide their time,? Mrs Suu Kyi said  
recently. It is important for them, and for Burma, that they  
continue to do so.

This does not mean that all those who cherish freedom must  
remain silent, however. Government and private citizens must  
continue to press the Burmese junta to listen to their own  
people. Our own government, while continuing formal  
diplomatic relations with the Rangoon regime, should 
reconsider its so-called ?constructive engagement? policy.

It has proved to be not very constructive, and it seldom  
engages Burmese leaders in meaningful discussion. As citizens  
of a free country, we should impress on our authorities we  
wish the same good fortune for our neighbours. 

The truth is Burma?s politically recalcitrant government  
continues to hold power through the barrels of its guns.  
There is only one way it can gain the respect it seems to  
desire.

It must engage its political opposition, including Mrs Suu  
Kyi, in meaningful discussion. If it merely continues its  
brutal methods of arrests, and intimidation and worse, Slorc  
will only get the respect it earns. And that is very little.  
(BP)

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

BKK POST: BURMA ?COULD CALL IN RESERVES?
February 27, 1996

Burma?s reserve forces could be called in to help ward off  
foreign aggression, according to Gen Maung Aye, deputy  
commander-in-chief. He told senior officers at the Defence  
Services Academy in Mandalay last week that the Tatmadaw  
(three armed forces) might not be sufficient.

The reserves are police, fire brigades ad red Cross teams.  
Every Burmese is responsible for national defence. He said  
economic, military and political forces were essential for  
the establishment of a peaceful, modern and developed nation. 
(BP)

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

BKK POST: YADANA NATURAL GAS FIND TURNS MON LEGEND INTO 
REALITY
February 27, 1996
Report: Naovarat Suksamran, Pictures: Courtesy of Pisanh 
Paladsingha

Mon legend says a tarlike substance will be discovered in  
their land, propelling their race to international  
recognition before the end of this year. 

This month, along with predictions by Laung Phor Uttama, a  
highly revered monk among the ethnic Mon, Karen and Burmese  
gained weight when the New Mon State Party and Rangoon?s 
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council signed a peace 
agreement last June. 

Like many other races forced into the union led by the 
Burmans, the Mons had long been battling for autonomy from 
Rangoon. The agreement ended the armed struggle.

The peace pact was largely motivated by Rangoon?s plan to lay 
a pipeline that will take natural gas from Yadana, the largest 
known gas field in the Gulf of Martaban, to Thailand.

The pipeline has to pass through an area held by the Mons, and 
the agreement is seen as reflecting the mutual interests of 
the Mons and Slorc in prospering from the contract.

Natural gas, as the Mons see it, is similar enough to the 
much-awaited ?tar?. Along with other races from Burma, the 
Mons have assimilated in Thailand for three generations, 
forming communities mostly in suburban Bangkok and united by 
at least 300 Mon temples.

Not wanting to forsake their identity, some Thais of Mon 
origin are informing others about their race and culture. 
Among them are cinematographer Pisanh Paladsingha, a Thai of 
Mon origin who founded the Mon News Agency to spread 
information about the history of Mons in Thailand, their 
independence struggle and culture.

Among the activities are a Mon-English dictionary, the 
Tripitaka (a type of Buddhist script) in the Mon language, and  
publication about the history and struggle of the Mons in the 
last five decades.

The Mon News Agency also produces a monthly newsletter 
distributed free to Mon communities in Thailand and social and 
human rights organisations abroad. Between 5,000 and 8,000 
copies are circulated each month, with subscriptions totalling 
1,000.

The agency is funded by donations from Mon-Thai businessmen, 
monks and readers. ?I once tried to persuade the New Mon State 
Party of the need for public relations. But it was not 
convinced,? said Mr Pisanh, who remains in close touch with 
his compatriots. He denies receiving any financial aid from 
the party for his activities, although it has made the offer.

Mr Pisanh is on the watchlist of the Thai military 
intelligence which suspected him of involvement in the Mon 
insurgenc. he grew up in a war environment, being told by his 
Mon grandmother in photharam district, Ratchaburi, of how his 
ancestors fled war to seek refuge in Thailand.

?Grandma told me that of all the Mons fleeing to Thailand, 
only half of them _ the luckey ones _ made it, given the 
hardships en route,? he said. Mr Pisanh wrote memories of his 
childhood in an article that appeared in Dao Siam newspaper in 
1990. The article was reprinted in the new agency?s monthly 
newsletter.

Although his Mon identity was deeply ingrained his up-
bringing, it never crossed his mind that he should be doing 
something to help the Mons until an incident occurred at 
Bangkok airport while he was working as a tour guide. Several 
flights were landing when one of his friends said jokingly: 
?Hey, when is it your air Mon?s turn to land??

That remark pricked his conscience. He became involved in Mon 
activities at their national day celebration in 1977 at the 
New Mon State Party?s headquarters across from Three Pagodas 
Pass in Kanchanaburi.

He became  acquainted with Mon leaders in Burma and maintained 
contacts with them while they were fighting the Burmese 
government. Contributing in whatever small was possible, Mr 
Pisanh, who want then still active in the cinema industry, 
brought Thai movies to Mon audiences in kanchanaburi for the 
first time.

Mr Pisanh is as well-versed with a pen as he is with a camera. 
His first literary work was ?50 Days of Bloody battle at 
Krueng Thor?, which depicts the longstanding fight between the 
Mons and Rangoon.

?Initially, it was extremely difficult to find a medium for my 
writing,? he said, recalling intensive lobbying of publishers. 
Eventually, he became a regular contributor to the Khao Piset 
political weekly. His writing relates solely to the Mons in 
Thailand and Burma.

His public speeches put him in the spotlight as a Mon 
nationalist crusader, but also aroused the suspicions of the 
Thai security authorities. Mr Pisanh said he was not worried 
by this. ?After all, time has proven there?s no motive for 
what I?ve been doing all these years, except the Mon blood in 
me.?

Referring to the peace pact with Rangoon, he said: ?The New 
Mon State Party still needs capable people to help rebuild the 
nation. The principles of cooperation to bring this about are 
reflected in the 17 clauses of the agreement, and also during 
talks for joint business ventures between the Mons and the 
Rangoon government.?

Rangoon had invited Thais of Mons origin to invest and do 
business in Burma, he said. Mr Pisanh?s dream is to translate 
and old Mon saying, ?The lion shall bring the crown to the 
swan?, into reality. According to Mon belief, the swan 
symbolises the Mon, and the lion foreign races. For Mr Pisanh, 
the Mon race will become known when the flying swan, which the 
Mons have long used as their emblem, adorns the aircraft of 
?Air Mon?. (BP)

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

BKK POST: SUU KYI ASKS REGIME TO FOCUS ON SCHOOLS, NOT 
TOURISM
February 27, 1996
AFP

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi attacked the ruling 
junta?s focus on tourism in remarks published last week, 
urging more investment in schools and hospitals instead of 
hotels.

?It is true that many hotels have come in. But what progress 
has there been in the field of health and education?? 
Singapore?s Business Times quoted the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize 
winner as saying in a recent interview.

She said health and education ?are the two best indicators of 
the living standards of our people,? and a study of the two 
sectors would show ?whether or not there has been any real 
development?.

Mrs Suu Kyi, freed from nearly six years of house arrest last 
July, also questioned the morality of promoting tourism in her 
impoverished country, ruled since 1988 by a junta that took 
over from longtime dictator Ne Win. The British-educated 
opposition leader said the ?great mushrooming of hotels? had 
?not done any service because it has affected the morals of 
the people for the sake of entertaining and making money.?

She said her countrymen felt that ?a lot of our young people, 
especially young girls, are going astray?. Burma has been 
engaged in a hotel-building frenzy as part of preparations for 
a tourism-promotion programme called Visit Myanmar Year in 
1996. Singaporean firms have been active in the new hotel 
developments.

The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council has enjoyed 
a measure of success in drawing foreign investment despite its 
image of brutality. The Slorc  has refused to honour the 
results of the May 1990 general election won over-whelmingly 
by the opposition.

Mrs Suu Kyi repeated her call for foreign investors to go slow 
on putting their money into Burma, saying: ?I don?t think my 
release is enough to indicate that there has been 
any real change in the situation?.

While questioning tourism employment figures released by the 
junta and complaining about inflation, she conceded that a 
handful of people had done well for the past five or six 
years.

?But you should try to look at the hospitals where people go 
in Burma. Then you will find out how much development there 
has been and whether, if you were a citizen of Burma, you 
would think that is something that you would be satisfied 
with,? she said. (BP)

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

BKK POST: ROLLING STOCK DEAL

February 27, 1996

Myanmar  Railway has agreed to pay US$28 million for rolling 
stock from Invest-Import Yugoslavia. The purchase is part of 
the Rail Transport Ministry's plans to expand the country's 
capacity to carry goods nationwide. Myanmar Railway wagons 
from Yugoslavia in 1956, 103 in 1974 and 600 in 1985. The 
latest purchase is Burma's first one since Yugoslavia was 
turned into a rump state by the breakaway of several 
republics. (BP)

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

BKK POST: BURMA BANK OPENS

February 27, 1996

MYANMA Livestock Breeding and Fisheries Development Bank Ltd 
was inaugurated in Rangoon on February 15. Minister for Trade 
Tun Kyi told the opening ceremony the bank would provide 
financial assistance to meat and fish producers and other 
enterprises. Plans are under way to modernise office 
automation and services. The bank's total capital is two 
billion kyats. It plans to issue up to 400,000 share 
certificates, each worth 500,000 kyats. (BP)

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

BKK POST: FRENCH BANK IN RANGOON

February 27, 1996

THE Banque National de Paris opened a representative office in 
Rangoon on February 13. The ceremony included Finance and 
Revenue Minister Brig-Gen Win Tin; International Bank and 
Finance (Asia-Pacific) senior vice-president Francis Vincent; 
Central Bank of Myanmar governor Y Kyi Aye and his officials; 
French charge d'affaires Olivier Vaysset; and BNP chief 
representative Michel Daniel. The bank received its licence in 
December 1994. (BP)

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

FEER: BACK-DOOR TO BURMA

29 February 1996

LARGE Western companies may have a problem investing in Burma 
because they face protests and shareholder resolutions back 
home. But not if they have links with Israeli companies. 
Telerad, a subsidiary of the Israeli conglomerate KOR, has 
helped Canada's Northern Telecom get around the problem. 
Telerad is making 70% of the switching equipment for Burma's 
telephone system. 

Nortel has a long standing research tie-up with Telerad and 
last year bought 20 % of the company. "Telerad's deal in Burma 
allows Nortel to be in a market it would be otherwise hard to 
reach," says an Israeli businessman in Bangkok. (FEER)


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