Northwest Drops Heroin Hotel

[dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Reply-To: "W. Kesavatana-Dohrs" <dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>


F R E E   B U R M A   C O A L I T I O N
zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	http://FreeBurma.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NORTHWEST AIRLINES DROPS "HEROIN HOTEL" PROMOTION

Minneapolis, May 2, 1997-- Northwest Airlines has ended a controversial
promotion which offered bonus miles to frequent flyers who stayed at the
Traders Hotel in Rangoon, Burma. 

According to company documents and press reports, the Traders is
part-owned by Lo Hsing Han, once known as "King of the Golden Triangle,"
and now identified by the State Department as a "narco-trafficker." Lo's
son and business partner in the Traders Hotel, Steven Law, is barred from
the US due to suspected involvement in the drug trade. 

Burma produces and exports the majority of the world's heroin, and the
State Department reports that more than 60% of the heroin seized in the US
comes from Burma. 

An April 29 letter from Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, which manages
Traders, says "Our office received notification the Traders Hotel, Yangon
(Rangoon)  has been withdrawn from Northwest Worldperks Frequent Flyer
Program on April 14, 1997." 

Northwest's decision was hailed by opponents of Burma's military regime. 
"We respect Northwest's recognition that US companies ought not to promote
businesses owned by known narcotics traffickers," says Dr. Sein Win of the
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Burma's
democratic government in exile. 

Burma (also called Myanmar) is increasingly identified as a
"narco-dictatorship."  US Assistant Secretary of State for International
Narcotics Affairs, Robert Gelbard, said on Feb. 28, 1997 "Drug money is so
pervasive in the Burmese economy that it taints legitimate investment. 
Since 1988, some 15 percent of foreign investment in Burma and over half
of that from Singapore has been tied to the family of narco-trafficker, Lo
Hsing Han." 

Wente Vineyards of California severed a relationship with Lo's company
last Fall under pressure from activists.  Oil company Unocal is facing a
shareholder resolution seeking an investigation into drug money-laundering
allegations against its Burmese military partner in a pipeline project. 

"In military-ruled Burma, drug money is taking over.  We are likely to see
more and more controversy over investments tied to people who poison the
world with heroin," says the NCGUB's Win. 

President Clinton announced a ban on new US investment in Burma April 22,
saying Under this brutal military regime, Burma remains the world's
leading producer of opium and heroin, and tolerates drug trafficking and
traffickers in defiance of the views of the international community." 

The Shangri-La/Traders web site (www.shangri-la.com/Shangri-La/Dir.html) 
now notes that the Northwest promotion has been terminated. According to
the web site, United Airlines and Canada Airways also provide frequent
flier miles for a stay at any of their hotel properties, including the
Traders Rangoon. 

In related news, Qantas-owned tour operator Jetabout, which last year took
41,500 visitors to Asia, has dropped Burma entirely from its itineraries,
saying the country's image does not provide "the right climate for holiday
travel and investment."

										
END

Contact:   National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma,
202-393-7342    
Larry Dohrs, Free Burma Coalition, 206-784-5742  
Roberta Barry, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, 310-665-2000