BurmaNet News June 12, 1997

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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"    
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The BurmaNet News: June 12, 1997       
Issue #747

Noted in Passing:

There's no danger to foreigners in Burma, just to citizens," 
- a resident of Burma
(THE WASHINGTON POST: THE OTHER LOST WORLD)

HEADLINES:       
==========  
SLORC: MYANMAR NEWS RELEASE VOL. 9 NO.9
KNU: RESPONSE FROM THE KNU NEWS, INFORMATION 
ASIAWEEK: AND THEN THERE WERE TEN
THE WASHINGTON POST: THE OTHER LOST WORLD
NATION: ACADEMICS, NGOS CRITICISE POLICY ON BURMA
NATION: NO AUTOMATIC ENTRY FOR ASEAN MEMBERS IN ASEM
NATION: BURMA FORMALLY TOLD OF ADMITTANCE TO GROUPING
NLD-LA (YOUTH): STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF U TIN SHWE
THAILAND TIMES: BURMA SEEN AS ESSENTIAL LINK   
-----------------------------------------------------------------

SLORC: MYANMAR NEWS RELEASE VOL. 9 NO.9
May 29, 1997  (slightly abridged)

                             Myanmar News Release
                             ****************************
Vol. 9                                    May 29, 1997                  No.9

"THE VIEW FROM THE EMBASSY OF MYANMAR  IN OTTAWA"

( As there have been increasing media coverage in Canada of the "Karen"
problem in "Burma" in recent weeks the following is a chronological of the
last remaining insurgencies in Myanmar with some suggestions on what 
the international community  could do to solve it )

"The Kayins ( Karens ) in the Union"
                First and foremost, it must be made absolutely clear that the 2 
million plus loyal Kayins of the Union of Myanmar have nothing to do 
with the KNU ( Karen National Union ) the small separatist armed 
insurgent group. Therefore, it is equally important to stress that  the 
western media's use of the  generic   term " Karen " when referring to the 
KNU is misleading and unjustified.
                The Kayin patriots within the Union, always an absolute and 
overwhelming majority of their nationality, are among the most loyal, 
friendly and talented of the ethnic nationalities of Myanmar. They have 
achieved high positions in government ( the second president of the Union 
was a Kayin, the military and among professional groups such as doctors, 
engineers etc., since the country's independence in 1948.
                As a matter of fact, there are more Kayins currently living
in the delta regions of Yangon, Aye-yar-waddy (Irrawaddy) and Bago (Pegu) 
Divisions of the Bamar territories ( Made up of the seven Divisions from 
which the anglicized term "Burma" was probably derived ) than in the 
present day Kayin State. There has been so much admixture and 
assimilation of the national races over so many centuries that even the " 
divide and rule " policies of the colonialist past (1824- 1948) could not 
get all the Kayins of the Union to move back into the State named after 
them.
                But then why should they ? This is their country and to the 
Myanmar people, the so-called " ethnic " differences seem to be something 
artificial ( since all of the national races are Mongolian in ancestry ) and 
the names of " States " and " Divisions " are being retained simply because 
(1) they have existed for centuries, (2) have been recognized in both of the 
country's post-independence constitutions ( of 1947 and 1974 ) and (3) that 
much of the Nation's administrative structures have been based upon them.
                In other words, Myanmar nationalities have always been part of
"one race" and "one people" freely migrating, living and intermingling 
within the borders of Myanmar-Naing-Ngan (Myanmar nation) since the 
Bagan (1044-1287 AD ) and subsequent dynasties of Taungoo ( 1287-1759 
AD ) and Konbaung ( 1759-1885 AD ). Throughout history they have 
fiercely defended together the integrity of the Nation by repulsing huge 
foreign armies and putting down many traitorous rebellions till the first 
Anglo-Myanmar war of 1824, being only once before in history the nation 
succumbed to the overwhelming hordes of Kublai Khan's Mongol armies. 

But the legacies of colonialism, before and during World War
II, caused the national races to briefly look upon each other with mistrust and 
suspicion leading them to re-emphasize on state borders, and re-kindled 
the issues of autonomous rule and even outright separation by force-of-
arms. This was further aggravated by the incessant efforts of post-war 
mercenaries ( e.g. the Campbell -Tulloch case of 1949) and self-interest 
group abroad, who actually blinded them of their great and glorious past as 
one nation.
                The KNU was the most militant and extremist separatist group 
to emerge after independence, whose " pro- colonialist " sentiment kept 
them apart from the " pro-independence" nationalities. None of the great 
Kayins who fought for the country's independence would even consider 
lending their support to the KNU and some of them even tried in vain, 
with great risk to themselves, to mediate between the Union government of 
1949-50 and the Karen National Defence Organization (KNDO-- the 
military arm of the KNU) that had occupied Insein, and adjacent District of 
then Rangoon and rearing to attack the capital city. Within a few years, 
after being driven out of most of the city and districts they occupied by the 
re-organized armed forces (the Tatmadaw), history clearly has on record 
that the KNU resorted to widespread terrorism, namely, mining passenger 
trains, blowing up buses and bridges, burning villages, looting and 
executing villagers, killing and maiming innumerable numbers of innocent 
civilians. These atrocious acts cost them the remaining support which led 
to the beginning of their downfall some 20 years ago, having to withdraw 
to the remotest jungle hideouts of Kayin State close to the Thai border. It is 
now somewhat ironic that they are the ones pointing fingers and accusing 
the security forces of the very atrocities that they have committed all along.
                Although it is true that other insurgencies of varying colours 
sprouted all over the country soon after the independence, it must be 
pointed out that each movement had its reason of its own for its origin. 
Those " multicoloured" insurgencies were extremely costly and destructive, 
stifling socioeconomic development of the nation for several decades. The 
government of the State Law and Order Restoration Council after 1988, 
therefore, decided to end the insurgencies by any means as a top priority. 
Since not all movement were "separatist " in their original objectives each 
one required a different solution for their plight and problems.But the 
common denominator that probably determined their return to the legal 
fold was that the Tatmadaw, while demonstrating its military superiority 
also magnanimously offered the insurgent leaders a dialogue for peace and 
stressed to them how underdeveloped their regions have remained over the 
years and what could be achievable together as the united country.  As a 
result, the Kachin Independence Organization ( KIO ), for example, led by 
highly educated and experienced Kachin patriots returned to the legal fold 
to enter into an intensive rehabilitation and development programme for 
their scenic and resourceful State with massive cooperative assistance from 
the central government.

	But so far the KNU, after several rounds of peace talks, kept 
rejecting the very terms that the other 15 groups had found acceptable. The 
loyal Kayin majority of Myanmar and even the grass roots KNU supporters 
in remote jungles have become disappointed and severely disillusioned 
since every evidence indicates that other newly peaceful states are 
beginning to enjoy increasing prosperity that came with the peace.  The 
KNU leadership, however, has kept on blatantly ignoring the will of the 
majority, hanging on to the false and fragile promises of foreign based 
special-interest groups and the vestiges of colonialism old and new. All 
ASEAN governments, and most of all, the Thai government clearly knows 
the realities of the KNU problem and are ever more convinced that the 
future of the KNU lies with other nationalities within the Union of 
Myanmar.  Further terms on autonomy, if so desired by the KNU, many
only be sought by democratic constitutional means within the national
convention represented by all other national races and political parties (
except the National League for Democracy that walked out soon after their
General-Secretary resumed her position in 1995), without infringing on the
integrity of the Union.
                It is most likely, that the problem of so-called refugees (
actually temporarily displaced persons ) in Thailand, the skirmishes of the KNU 
with the government security forces, and with its own breakaway groups 
such as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Organization ( DKBO ) and even 
further splits among its own ranks will be automatically resolved if the 
KNU, as the last remaining group, would also see the light like other 
former insurgencies did.
                The details of the events concerning the " Karens " as reported 
in the western media have been conflicting, confusing and could well be 
mind boggling to the readers. But there is no doubt that much of the KNU 
soldiers, have already returned to trade-arms-for-peace, as most of the 
other insurgent groups have done.  The discontented KNU foot soldiers 
have also begun to recapitulate on thier long and costly " unwinnable war " 
against successive central governments and are breaking away, leaving the 
KNU leadership in limbo. With a notorious history of having formed 
alliances-of-convenience, even with the Burma Communist Party at one 
time, the KNU leadership has now decided to hide under the cloak
of democratic and quasi-religious movements and is now intensely seeking
international attention and sympathy. Bo Mya, the hard liner, and his 
foreign supporters, if they sincerely care about the plight of the KNU 
families, should now abandon their positions and make way in favour of 
the more pragmatic and flexible leadership of the KNU who may resume 
negotiations for peace and rejoin the majority.
 
It is also time for the western media to stop politicizing what has been 
basically and essentially a  "family" affair - a family divided by legacies 
of colnialism for half a century but finally on the verge of realizing the 
"people's dream " of being one race, one people and one nation again - 
in time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of the 
Union of Myanmar. After all, "Peace may not be everything - but 
without peace, everything is nothing !"

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

KNU: RESPONSE FROM THE KNU NEWS, INFORMATION AND 
RESEARCH DEPARTMENT TO "THE VIEW FROM THE EMBASSY 
OF MYANMAR IN OTTAWA"
June 8, 1997

             OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADAUARTERS
              KAREN NATIONAL UNION, KAW THOO LEI

         With reference to "The View from the Embassy of Myanmar in 
Ottawa" dated May 29,1997, the Karen National Union, the political wing 
of Karen resistance in Burma, and its News, Information and Research 
Department have to say that the "View" is a standard propaganda that has 
been used by the racist chauvinist military regime in Rangoon, the so-
called State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). 
             In a brief response to this, we would like to begin by saying
that like all the propaganda of the SLORC and the racist chauvinist regime
before it, the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) regime, it is a mixture
of a few facts with a great deal of fiction and misleading half truths.
             The reality is that the Karen population outside of the present
Karen State, which was created in 1945, is not less than 6 million. The
majority of them live in Inter-mingled patterns with other peoples, such as
Baik-tha, Ta-weh-tha, Mon, Burman, Karenni and Shan, in the 
Tanessarim Division, Irrawaddy Division, Pegu Division, the Mon State, 
Karenni Land (Kayah State) and the Shan state. The Karen population in 
the Karen State itself is barely a million. A large section of the Karen 
people aspires to nationhood.
             The Karen in the Irrawaddy and Pegu Division were brutally
subjugated by the BSPP regime, with military operations from 1964 to 
1975, in a similar manner as the ongoing offensive against the KNU and 
the Kaen civilians. However Karen as people, have never lost their sense of 
ethnic identity, wherever they are, even though they have to live 
coweringly under the repressive rule of SLORC military regime. They look 
up to the KNU as the organization truly representative of their free will 
and aspirations.
                 The persecution the Karen and other ethnic nationalities by
the militant section of the Burman dated far back to the days of Burman
feudalism. The British colonialists did not have to formulate any
divide-and-rule policy. They just maintained the ethinic divisions that had
already been there because of persecutrion or misrule. In fact, the British
incorporated the free territories of the ethnic peoples into their
British-Burma and placed them under a similar system of administration 
and created a semblance of one nation state out of their new possesssions. 
The initial Burma as the British found it at the time of their annexation in
1885, was a little more than part of the Irrawaddy valley and Sittang 
valley.
                       At the time of the country's independence from Britain
in 1948, the political power passed into the hands of the ethnic Burman
majority. Had not Gen. Aung San, an ethnic Burman and regarded as the 
father of Burma's independence, who had a deep insight of the ethnic 
problems and with a strong attitude of compromise and flexibility with 
regard to the questions of non-Burman ethnic nationalities, been 
assassinated , the situation could have been completely different. U Nu who 
inherited power, was weak-willed and a little more than a figurehead. The 
actual power soon passed into the hands of arch racist chauvinists and 
militants like Gen. Ne Win and his cohorts. Using the Burma Army as his 
power base, Gen. Ne Win seized power in 1962. His policy towards the 
non-Burman nationalities was simple and clear. It was forced assimilation 
through total subjugation and annihilation, to set up the 4th Burman 
Empire. 
                        The problem of racist chauvinists is their blind
faith in the Burman history written by court historians who described the
power and grandeur of Burman kings in glowing terms. The propaganda 
churned out during the anti-colonialist period further enhanced the feeling 
of racial superiority of the Burman patriots with limited education or 
insight.
                     Karen rebellion started in January 1949, in self-defence
and in reaction to attacks from the pocket army of Gen. Ne Win, known as
Burma Territorial Force, on Karen villages and populations in Tanessarim, 
the Irrawaddy delta and Insein town.
                     The Karen had legitimate fear of total annihilation or
wholesale subjugation and enslavement as a result of horrible experience of
atrocities at the hands of the Burma Independence Army. There was not a 
word of compromise either from U Nu or other Burman leaders at peace 
negotiations. Negotiations broke down because of the insistence on total 
surrender by the other side. The Karen sees it as the hungry tiger asking 
the deer to shed its antlers for peace. The SLORC military junta has 
nothing different to offer. On the other hand, it is more savage, ignorant 
and more deeply influenced by terrorism, militarism and what we called 
racial chauvinism.
                       The KNU knows that the majority of Burman is peace
loving, tolerant and humane. That is why it has no problem cooperating 
with the pro-democracy forces, which are overwhelmingly Burman, 
ethnically speaking. The KNU advocates genuine federalism and 
democracy, with multi ethnicity similar to that of the Swiss federation, 
rather than irrational fear, war, subjugation and separatism. The Karen 
resistance has an armed wing organized out of the Karen civilians 
specifically for self-defense against the SLORC's troops, which have been 
raining death and destruction upon the innocent Karen, indiscriminately. 
The Karen are being widely persecuted by the SLORC on political, ethnic 
and, in some cases, on religious grounds and, as a result, they have to bear 
the atrocities and oppression more than the other grups opposing the 
SLORC. The armed resistance of the Karen people is not to gain political 
power or to retain it. That is why the KNU regards the SLORC's demand 
on it to renounce the "armed revolutionary program" as irrelevant and even 
ludicrous.
                        The cease-fire agreements the SLORC has reached with
the16 groups, being a trick, are tenuous and will have no lasting effect on
peace. Of the 15, only the KIO and the Mon  can be said of having some
political and ethnic orientation. The rest, except the Wa, are small in size
and with hardly any political conviction. They are groups that have been in
opium culture and trade together with the BSPP, previously, and the 
SLORC, at the present. It is said that the KIO agreed to the cease-fire 
under the Chinese pressure and guarantee, and it has never accepted the 
legal-fold condition. The trick of the SLORC is to reach cease-fire 
agreements with as many groups quickly so as to crush the KNU with its 
overwhelming military might and then crush the other smaller groups one 
by one, subsequently.
                          The so-called "national convention" touted by the
SLORC is a sham body stacked with SLORC's handpicked delegates. It is 
said that 80% of the delegates of the convention are from the pro-SLORC
organizations or groups under the total control of the SLORC. Judging by 
the principles for the "future state constitution" it has laid down, there is 
not a whit of doubt that the convention is a device strictly controlled by 
SLORC for the perpetuation of military dictatorship.
                           The SLORC propaganda would have us believe that
the civil war and the social instability in the country are a family problem.
The death of probably more than a million Karen caused directly by the 
civil war, in nearly half a century of resistance, the shooting to death of
thousands of demonstrators in pro-democracy movements since Gen. Ne 
Win seized power in 1962, the flight of thousands of refugees into 
Bengladesh and Thailand on account of persecution, the exodus of 
thousands working as illegal immigrants because of extortion and slave 
labor by the SLORC troops, the severe oppression of legitimate political 
parties and etc. have caused a serious concern for the International 
Community.
                         It is true that the civil war in Burma has greatly
stifled the economic development of the country. The successive regimes,
since the time of independence, has to allocate an ever larger amount of the
state budget for terrorizing and the killing of innocent civilians, the
destruction of villages and the livelihood of the villagers. The SLORC is
said to be spending more than 60% of the country's budget on its war effort
and its effort to keep the civil population under control.
                           The contry is now in such a state that billions of
dollars and at least one or two decades of hard labor would be necessary ofr
the rehabilitation and development of the country so as to make it reach the
stage where it can stant on its own two feet. By coddling with and being
subservient to militant China, the SLORC has dangerously disturbed the
traditional balance of power in the region. 
                           That is why, the KNU has been carnestly calling
for the resolution of the political problems, that has been the underlying
causes of the civil war and instability in Burma, by political means. In
other words the KNU is convinced that it is urgently necessary to resolve 
the problems of the country, by peaceful means through dialouge, for 
genuine and lasting peace with the participation of the three main groups, 
namely, the ethnic nationalities, the pro-democracy forces and the SLORC. 
In the present situation, there is no other means but this three-way or 
tripartite dialogue, as called for by the United Nations as well, which can 
realistically find a comprehensive and permanent solutions to the problems 
of the country.

KNU and KNU News, Information and Research Department.
June 7, 1997.                     

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

ASIAWEEK: AND THEN THERE WERE TEN
June 13, 1997 (abridged)
In July, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos will join ASEAN. 
Are they ready?

By Robin Ajello and Roger Mitton / Kuala Lumpur

MYANMAR'S MILITARY JUNTA IS acting downright charitable these 
days. Having jailed scores of opposition politicians in recent weeks, the 
State Law & Order Restoration Council has magnanimously let many of 
them go. The regime can afford to be nice for a change. Next month, the 
so-called CLM nations --Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- will sign up for 
the region's most exclusive club, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

It is also worth remembering that when Malaysia, the Philippines, 
Singapore,Thailand and Indonesia set up ASEAN in 1967, Southeast 
Asia was divided into two Cold War blocs: communist Laos, Cambodia 
and Vietnam, versus the  other essentially pro-Western nations (apart from 
non-aligned Burma). ASEAN was formed to promote regional peace and 
prosperity, but also it was a bulwark thrown up against the Soviet "dominoes." 

Until the Cold War ended, the main fear was that the CLM nations would 
fall permanently under the sway of the Soviet Union. Today, the fear is of 
Chinese hegemony. Vietnam was accepted in part to provide a buffer against 
the People's Republic. The decision to admit Myanmar was partly an effort 
to keep the resource-rich nation out of the Chinese orbit. That may explain 
why U.S. officials did not act especially perturbed when ASEAN announced 
its decision on Myanmar, despite Washington's anti-SLORC rhetoric.  

With Myanmar inside the tent, free-trade policies will continue in Yangon,
and gradually ASEAN's influence will start to kick in. At least that is the
theory. Another one is that military ties will strengthen between Myanmar
and the rest of ASEAN (and the West by extension). This is considered a 
good thing because SLORC has been buying truckloads of Chinese arms. Not 
that the junta will cut its links to old friend Beijing anytime soon, if ever.

"There is also the fear Myanmar and Cambodia will fall into Thailand's
sphere of influence," says Filipino political scientist Carolina Hernandez.
Indeed, ever since Thai ex-PM Chatichai Choonhavan talked about turning
battlefields into a marketplace, there have been persistent worries that
Bangkok hopes to dominate Indochina and turn it into a "baht bloc." As for
Laos, it is practically a Thai province already. ASEAN may dilute Thai
influence. 

So while the ASEAN leaders publicly congratulate each other for 
expanding their regional clout, privately they know that the bigger the 
organization the messier it can get. The first casualty may be ASEAN's 
much-hyped consensus. A Jakarta official believes "a six-four split" may 
emerge  between old and new members.

The first test for the new ASEAN will be how it deals with the SLORC
conundrum. It is notable that the new members will not be paired with 
ASEAN dialogue partners, which include Western nations. Moreover, 
the existing members have ensured that it will be at least nine years 
before Yangon  hosts a meeting attended by Western powers. 

Still, North American and European officials will come face-to-face with a
Myanmar delegation in KL next month. Says a Western diplomat: "They 
may have to give up the traditional golf games after the meetings because 
most of the dialogue partners won't play with SLORC generals."

The fact is, few ASEAN leaders have much time for the SLORC men 
either. Nor are they completely immune to the West's stated views on the 
regime.

Behind the scenes more is going on than is immediately apparent. 

Consider Mahathir's quiet approach to SLORC. He sent trusted chum, 
tycoon Ananda Krishnan, to Yangon to try to talk sense to leader Khin 
Nyunt.  Ananda told him there would be less rancor about joining ASEAN 
if his regime made a show of talking to Suu Kyi or appeared less repressive.
 It didn't work, but such efforts may continue. 

"We know we are going to get clobbered by the international media," says
Jakarta strategist Jusuf Wanandi. "We think it is worth it because it is
easier to deal with them if they're inside." That said, it would be naive to
expect ASEAN to wield much more influence over Myanmar. Many 
members are in no position to do so. This is especially true of the 
Indonesians, who will be wary of interfering, says activist Chandra 
Muzaffar because they "don't want people to say things about East 
Timor and so on."

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

THE WASHINGTON POST: THE OTHER LOST WORLD
June 5, 1997
By R. Jeffrey Smith

RANGOON -- The peeling paint and crumbling facade of the main ticket 
office of Myanma Airways did not keep me from buying a plane ticket. Nor 
did the pile of soot and debris on the front steps or the missing ceiling light 
bulbs inside. It was instead the sudden appearance of a large rat scurrying
behind the dusty wooden counter, beneath the feet of two employees who
remained completely unperturbed.

No computers were in evidence in the dim office, and the flight schedule 
and names of passengers on the airline's half-dozen turboprops were 
recorded only in script on a thick sheaf of tattered paper an agent had 
crammed onto a clipboard.

The promotional message of the Burmese national airline seemed clear: 
Take the train, or don't travel.

Providing meaningful, modern service remains a foreign concept to 
Myanma Airlines and to many other state-owned companies in this 
unusual country, which is run by a 21-member committee of generals who 
won their positions by demonstrating military prowess rather than 
management skills. Electrical power is erratic, the telephone lines crackle 
and ownership of computers,  printing machines, video recorders and faxes 
is all tightly controlled by the government.

Many other curiosities here point up the nation's longstanding political and 
economic isolation, which stems from widespread disapproval of the 
military regime's notorious abuses of human rights -- including its 
imprisonment of hundreds of dissidents -- and its refusal to recognize a 
1990 election won by a pro-democracy opposition party led by Nobel Peace 
Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The consequence is that visiting this country is a bit like entering a time 
machine and turning the dial back about four decades, to an era with few 
conveniences or consumer goods, no efficient modes of transportation and 
communication, no substantial domestic manufacturing industry and no 
appreciable tourism.

The nation's 45 million citizens -- roughly the population of California and 
Florida combined -- function on a unique Burma Standard Time, a half-
hour behind neighboring Thailand and an hour and a half behind 
Singapore, two of Burma's largest trading partners. Due to the nation's 
many economic deprivations, the Burmese currency, known as the kyat, is 
virtually worthless outside the country. Even Thai banks will not routinely 
accept it.

Clothing fashions also set Burma apart. Virtually all men in Burma wear 
longyis, an ankle-length sarong that began to lose favor in neighboring 
nations around the turn of the century. Many women in Burma, lacking 
access to modern sunscreens or cosmetics, paint the cheeks on their faces 
with a milky paste produced by grinding the bark of a native tree, the
thanaka.

Most automobiles here have their steering wheels on the right, as a legacy 
of British colonialism and the nation's contemporary trade with Japan. But 
since the 1970s, all cars have been driven on the right side of the road, 
greatly hampering visibility and bringing extra drama to trips on the 
nation's narrow, pothole-strewn highways. (A soothsayer supposedly
urged the lane change on the military's superstitious leadership.)

Residents report that the gasoline available here is so poorly refined that 
auto engines must undergo major repairs every six months or so. Public 
transportation consists largely of pickup trucks that roam the streets with 
someone standing on the back calling out a destination. A common mode 
of local transportation is the trishaw, a bicycle hitched to a sidecar with
seats facing in both directions; a 30-minute trip can be purchased for 
around a dollar.

An overnight ride aboard the "express" train between Mandalay, the 
nation's second-largest city, and Rangoon affords all the comforts of a 13-
hour nonstop stint on a trampoline, with a malfunctioning air conditioner 
and bedbugs to provide additional assurance that sleep remains elusive. 
The nation's acute shortage of foreign currency is demonstrated by the dual
fare structure for Burmese citizens and tourists; the former are charged 
around $5 while foreigners are assessed 10 times as much for the same 
experience.

The trip makes clear that outside the country's few urban centers, life 
appears unchanged in many respects from what it was a century or more 
ago. Small groupings of thatched-roof huts dot the landscape, with no sign 
of plumbing and no electricity beyond a single light bulb or two. The 
average per capita income of Burma's citizenry is in fact $100, making it 
one of the poorest countries in the world.

According to the United Nations, which provides the only significant 
humanitarian aid in Burma, three out of four children do not complete 
primary school, 50 percent of the rural  population has no access to safe 
water, malaria is "rampant and is the single leading killer" and HIV is 
spreading at an explosive rate. Burma, said one recent report, has an
"increasing rural population of landless agricultural workers who depend 
on already depleted forests to supplement wages from casual labor."

Here in Rangoon, the steaming sidewalks are thronged with hawkers 
selling tea, ice drinks, noodles, fruit, fabrics, jade, cassette tapes and wood 
objects, but so few tourists come here to buy anything that anyone in 
Western dress is regarded as a conversation-stopping curiosity. A handful 
of new 10- or 12-story buildings tower above crumbling colonial-era flats 
with red tin roofs and peeling blue or tan paint.

But the economic engine behind much of the capital's new construction is 
widely said to be the thriving drug trade in northern Burma -- home to the 
world's chief supply of heroin. As one Western diplomat said, "No self-
respecting narcotics trafficker would be without a hotel in this town." The 
government made laundering easy by formally deciding a few years ago to 
ask no questions about the origin of funds used in real estate investments.

The free flow of information is obviously seen by the military junta as a 
threat to its already-tenuous grip on the nation's citizenry, not a vital 
lubricant of educational and economic progress. So bookstores here have 
few original volumes and mostly lend, rather than sell, rudimentary
photocopies of state-approved literature. The sole newspaper available in 
English is the New Light of Myanmar, which devotes page after mind-
numbing page to denouncing Aung San Suu Kyi and the United States. 
(Myanmar is the name the junta gave the country in 1989.)

"She has devoted her life and body to a englishman of colonial race and is 
making efforts to lose back Myanma's independence," reads a typically 
awkward passage, referring to Suu Kyi's marriage to an Oxford educator. 
Another Stalinesque article lists four tenets of the "People's Desire" as seen 
by the junta, including: "Oppose those relying on external elements,  acting 
as stooges. . . . Crush all internal and external destructive elements as the 
common enemy."

The evening television news is no more informative, delivered as it is by a 
state functionary who stares blankly at the camera and speaks in a 
monotone. A typical segment consists of a lengthy video of military leaders 
handing offerings to monks at a pagoda or greeting workers at some new 
municipal facility, while a narrator lets viewers know that the generals
"inspected . . . and gave appropriate instructions."

Although the official propaganda is relentless, Burma's citizenry appears 
remarkably unaffected by it. There is no cult of personality surrounding the 
generals of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), as the 
junta calls itself -- as there is surrounding the authoritarian leadership of
North Korea.  Instead, many citizens privately laugh at the official media 
and praise Suu Kyi once they are confident no one is eavesdropping.  
Vendors at various state-owned tourist attractions sometimes waive fees if 
tourists say they don't want to feed money into SLORC's coffers.

If a visitor says he is from America, the reaction is often a smile and 
occasionally a few brief words of praise for Washington's confrontational 
approach to the Burmese leadership, including the administration's ban last 
month on most new U.S. investments here. Even American movies are 
popular -- "Independence Day" has been showing for months in a 
downtown theater.

Crime at least is not a worry for travelers here. "There's no danger to 
foreigners in Burma, just to citizens," is how one resident described the 
atmosphere. As he spoke, several men with short haircuts -- evidently 
plain-clothes military intelligence agents -- edged closer and fixed us with 
hard, intimidating stares.  Repression is the one occupation the junta 
clearly appears to have mastered.

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NATION: ACADEMICS, NGOS CRITICISE POLICY ON BURMA
June 11, 1997
YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK

THAILAND's foreign policy towards Burma came under fire from Thai
academics and non-government organisations (NGOs) yesterday for
seeking to exploit its neighbour's economic potential while
ignoring the lack of its political, social and human rights developments.

They urged policymakers to review their stand on Burma and
consider all aspects of the situation there.

Public input on policies towards Burma should be allowed in view
of the country's approach towards its Western neighbours, they said.

However, the Thai side defended current policy, arguing that it
is well-formulated and implemented on the basis of Thailand's
national interests and security concerns.

Deputy Army chief of staff Lt Gen Chokechai Hongthong and
National Security Council chief Gen Boonsak Kamhaengrittirong
said the Army's consistent engagement and close relations with
the Burmese generals had earned the junta's trust in the Thai
Army and had helped resolve mutual border problems,
such as territorial claims, refugee issues and the illicit drug trade.

During his term as defence minister, Prime Minister Gen Chavalit
Yonghchaiyudh was the first to lift international sanctions on Burma.

The critics countered that Burma's ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc) is more comfortable dealing with
their Thai military counterparts than the Thai government, the
make up of which is inconsistent.

These two contrasting views were prominent throughout a lively
one-day seminar on "Thai-Burmese Relations in the 21st Century"
held yesterday. It was the first seminar organised by the House
Foreign Affairs Committee's subcommittee on Thai-Burmese
relations in the next century.

The seven-member sub-committee, led by Democrat MP MR Sukhumbhand
Paribatra, plans to submit its report to the government for
future use in formulating Thailand's policy towards Burma.

Sujit Boonbongkarn, dean of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of
Political Sciences, said fellow academics from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) think that Burma's admission will
weaken the economic grouping's credibility.

With Burma on board, Asean's relations with its dialogue partners
would be jeopardised when both sides meet during annual Asean
regional forums and post ministerial meetings.

Sujit said a bigger Asean, with 10 members, does not necessarily
mean a better Asean, as it will be harder to reach a consensus on
important issues affecting each country's national interests.

Both Sujit and fellow Chulalongkorn University academic Gothom
Arya, representing local human rights' group Forum Asia, were
sceptical that Burma's admission would help overcome bilateral
problems with Thailand.

They said that apart from military relations, there is a need to
promote contacts and ties in other areas of Thai and Burmese
society including academics, religious figures, cultural troupes,
social workers and the people.

Invited to discuss the impression created abroad by Thailand's
policy on Burma, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Surapong Javanama
said the international community is disappointed as Thailand's
support for Burma's admission was based purely on economic
concerns and neglected the country's democratic progress.

Surapong said the rest of the world is also sceptical of Asean is
argument that membership would help bring about political and
human rights improvements in Burma, saying Slorc has, over the
past five to six years, refused to introduce any democratic
reforms or engage the democratic opposition in dialogue for the
sake of national reconciliation.

He added that in a broader perspective, having Burma in Asean
does not help to resolve pending Thai-Burmese bilateral problems
and on the contrary, Thailand's bargaining power will be further
weakened.

According to Charnvit Kasetsiri of Thammasat University's Faculty
of Arts, political turmoil and human rights abuses in Burma have
caused a massive influx of refugees into Thailand.

Thailand will, in the long run, have to shoulder "a heavy social
cost" creating "an explosive problem" as the illegal immigrants
pose greater social and health-care burdens to the country, he said. 

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

NATION: NO AUTOMATIC ENTRY FOR ASEAN MEMBERS IN ASEM
June 11, 1997  (slightly abridged)

THE European Union (EU) has informed Thailand that any new
members to either the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) or the EU would not get an automatic right to join the
Asia Europe Meeting (Asem) to be held in England in April next
year, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Apinan Pavanarit, director general of the European Affairs
Department, said the message was conveyed during the fourth
meeting of senior officials from the Thai-European Commission.

"On the question of new membership, the European Commission
indicated that the EU has not yet reached a common stand on this
issue. As regards the modalities, however, there would be a
consensus on the 'double-key approach' and membership would not
be automatic," Apinan said.

The double-key approach means that any new member would have to
be approved by both regions. Asem comprises the seven Asean
countries plus China, Korea and Japan, as well as 15 EU members, he said.

Meanwhile, the Student Federation of Thailand has urged the
government to reconsider its support of Burma's entry into Asean,
saying the country should achieve democracy through dialogue with
opposition parties and hold new elections before membership is accorded.

The group's secretary-general, Suriyant Thongnu-iard, said a
three-point letter submitted to the government yesterday
questioned Asean's May 31 decision to admit Burma together with
Laos and Cambodia this July.

He said the group strongly opposes the decision due to the
Rangoon military junta's brutal acts against democratic forces
and its continued human rights violations.

The students also urged the government to review its constructive
engagement policy with Burma, Suriyant said. The federation feels
the policy condones the economic exploitation of Burma and
exacerbates Rangoon's human rights violations and use of violence
to crush the democratic movement, he said.

The letter further entreated all Asean governments to push for a
dialogue between the ruling Slorc and the National League for
Democracy (NLD) - led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi - and
armed ethnic insurgency groups. It also stressed the need for
elections as soon as possible.

"Only then will Burma's admission into Asean be legitimate and
widely accepted," the letter stated.

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NATION: BURMA FORMALLY TOLD OF ADMITTANCE TO GROUPING
June 11, 1997   REUTER

RANGOON - Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
arrived yesterday to formally notify Burma of its admission next
month into the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean),
government officials said.

Badawi, accompanied by Asean Secretary-General Ajit Singh, was
scheduled to meet senior Burmese military government leaders late
yesterday.

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NLD-LA (YOUTH): STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF U TIN SHWE
June 10, 1997

U Tin Shwe (Monywa), a 67-year-old, member of Central Committee of the
National League for Democracy (NLD) and In-charge of Mandalay Division of
Organizing Committee of the NLD, had been imprisoned by military government
since 1990, died of heart disease at Rangoon General Hospital on June 8,
(Sunday) 1997.

After the SLORC tookover power in 1988, U Tin Shwe (Also known as Monwya Tin
Shwe) was among the members of NLD professional group led by Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi as well as one of the founding members of the NLD. He was arrested
in 1990 for allegedly attending a secret meeting in Mandalay aiming to form
the parallel government and persuading others to attend. He was  a member of
Central Committee of NLD and In-charge of Mandalay Division Organizing
Committee of NLD when he was arrested.

Early this year, U Hla Than, an elected NLD's MP from Coco Island
constituency of heart disease due to the insufficient medical care during
his long imprisonment. These untimely deaths of the political prisoners
raise that the lives of the remaining prisoiners under SLORC's detention
must be concerned.

News & Informmation Department
National League for Democracy-Liberated Area (Youth)

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

THAILAND TIMES: BURMA SEEN AS ESSENTIAL LINK IN NEW 
ECONOMIC GROUPING 
June 8, 1997
Subslug: Report by Thanatchaporn Kunarangsi and Rutchanee Uerpairojkit

Bangkok--A new regional economic grouping was launched last Friday to
boost trade and investment between South and Southeast Asia. Ministers from
the Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation
(BIST-EC) group signed a declaration in Bangkok which will extend existing
regional links and organizations in the South Asia region.
The new body, encouraged by regional visits from Deputy Foreign
Minister Pitak Intrawityanunt, aims to encourage economic ties with other
regional groups such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC).
As director-general on Economic Affairs, Kobsak Chutikul said BIST-EC
would grant Burma an observer status, and added that he was confident
Rangoon would be admitted as a full member at the expected ministerial
meeting next year.
"The South Asian sub-region is considered a blind-spot which is
constantly neglected by the outside world," Kobsak said, adding that
Thailand endeavors to boost trade and investment with the other countries
located along the Bay of Bengal.
He added that Burma which separates Thailand and the Indian
subcontinent would be an important member of BIST-EC in providing a
landlink between the two subregions in terms of trade and transport
cooperation.
"Burma is the link that we cannot afford to overlook, irrespective of
what their human rights track record is," said the director-general, adding
that the Asian Highway Number One will link Thailand's Laem Chabang
Industrial Estate to Tak's Mae Sot district all the way to Burma and the
South Asia region.
When Burma is granted membership, the group may call itself BIMSTEC or
Pancha-Paki. However, the group will most likely name itself the Economic
Community of Southern Asia (ACSA) or the Bay of Bengal Economic Community
(BBEC), which will later include other countries situated in the Bay of
Bengal such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Thai Ambassador to Bangladesh Sunthorn Vidhyameth said that
Thailand's "Look-West" policy and the confluence of India and Sri Lanka's
"Look-East" policy will have a positive pull on investors who are keen to
exploit the region's rich natural, resources which include natural gas,
oil, coal and marine resources.
"Thai businessmen have to forge closer cultural and economic ties with
the region if we are to expand our business opportunities," said Sunthorn,
adding that infrastructure is still undeveloped in the region, but will be
developed through investment projects guided by BIST-EC.
India's Minister of State Saleem Iqbal Shervani remarked that he
wanted to consolidate the BIST-EC declaration by boosting inter- regional
tourism by setting up a "BISTEC airline." He said, for example, that
tourists could be transported to famous religious pilgrimage sites by
national carriers of member countries.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka's Deputy Foreign Minister D P Wickremasinghe said
tourism will attract infrastructure development, adding that over time
other sectors will expand regionally in the field of transport, industry,
agriculture, and human resources.

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