The BurmaNet News, July 15, 1997

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The BurmaNet News: July 15, 1997        
Issue #772

Noted in Passing:

If Asean prefers to deal with the much reviled military junta over that of
the democratically elected NLD in Burma, why should Hun Sen ­ who to all
intents and purposes is an elected leader ­ be snubbed? 

--Editorial (The Nation: Hun Sen has Asean Caught in a Quagmire)

HEADLINES:        
==========   
NATION: BURMA, P PENH SITUATION TO TOP FORUM AGENDA
KNU UPDATE: ONE OF THE THURA SURRENDER
ABSDF: THAI ARREST 10 BURMESE AT REFUGEE CAMP
NATION: RANGOON DENIES PLAN TO VOID 200, 500 KYAT
AWSJ: BURMA?S DISEASE-CAUSING GENERALS
SCMP: MALAYSIAN SCRUTINY OF BURMA BID GROWS
SUARAM: PRESS STATEMENT ON CAMBODIAN ADMISSION
KYODO: BURMA'S ASEAN ACCESSION MAY HINDER EU-ASEAN
THE NATION: HUN SEN HAS ASEAN CAUGHT IN A QUAGMIRE
THE NATION: MEKONG PANEL ON HOLD OVER FIGHTING
BKK POST: ROUTINE RAID EXPOSES NEW DRUG BASE 
NICARAGUA NETWORK: RALPH LAUREN PULLS OUT OF BURMA
----------------------------------------------------------------- 

NATION: BURMA, P PENH SITUATION TO TOP FORUM AGENDA
Jul 12, 1997 

THE situation in Burma and Cambodia will top the agenda at the Asean
Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur on July 27, a senior Foreign Ministry
official said yesterday. 

Foreign ministers from 20 countries and a representative from the European
Union will discuss these and other security concerns affecting the region,
said Pisan Manawapat, the deputy director general for East Asia. 

US Secretary of State Madeline Albright sent a letter to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) confirming that she will attend and said she
particularly wants to discuss the issues of Cambodia, Burma and the Korean
peninsula. 

He also said that other topics which will be raised include the South China
Sea, the expansion of Nato and the Japan-United States security pact. 

Asean members will also call on the five declared nuclear powers ­ the
United States, Britain, France, China and Russia ­ to sign the protocol
attached to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty, which came
into force on March 27. 

Asean regards the treaty as an important mechanism to achieve a "zone of
peace, freedom and neutrality". It was tabled at the United Nations on June 26. 

Participants in the ARF include Asean members, observers and dialogue partners. 

Asean currently comprises seven countries ­ Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Laos and Burma are scheduled
to join at the 30th Annual Ministerial Meeting, immediately before the ARF.
Observers are Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. 

Dialogue partners are the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Russia,
New Zealand, Australia, India, China and the European Union. 

Pisan stressed that the ARF will be conducted in a positive atmosphere with
participants able to raise any issues concerning security in the region. 

He said the ARF, inaugurated in Bangkok in 1994, has gained recognition as
the only forum to involve all major powers. 

"It has progressed in confidence, building a mechanism aimed at enhancing
the security of the region. But it is still in the confidence-building stage
and far from becoming a conflict solution," he said. 

Each participating country will send three leading delegates to the ARF.
Asean foreign ministers decided earlier this month in Hong Kong that a
military or security representative from each country will participate,
along with the foreign ministers and permanent secretaries. 

Maj Gen Ronachuck Swasdikiate, director of intelligence at the Defence
Ministry, is expected to attend along with Foreign Minister Prachuab
Chaiyasan and Permanent Foreign Secretary Saroj Chavanavirat. 

It is unclear who will represent Cambodia at the forum. Despite Asean's
decision to postpone Cambodia's membership indefinitely, Phnom Penh can
still attend as an observer.(TN) 

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

KNU UPDATE: ONE OF THE THURA SURRENDER
July 12, 1997

On 4.7.97, Company commander Capt Thura Aung Kyaw Oo and his men Yan Naing
and Thiha from company No.(2), LIB(44) surrendered to KNLA and ABSDF joint
column in Taungoo district area, with two G-3 rifles, one set of ammo
equipment, four magazines and (65) rounds of ammo.

KNU information center

KNLA = Karen National Liberation Army
ABSDF = All Burma Students' Democratic Front
Capt = Captain
LIB = Light Infantry Battalion

Note :    Thura is the military title.

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

ABSDF: THAI ARREST 10 BURMESE AT REFUGEE CAMP
July 12, 1997

Date July 12,1997
Thai Arrest 10 Burmese Students at TAMHIM Refugee Camp

On July 9,1997 Thailand's 9th Army Division arrested 10 ABSDF students at
TAMHIM Refugee Camp in Thailand's Ratchburi district.

10 students were among a group of 22 who had been arrested by the Thai
authorities on April 12, 1997 for entering Thailand illegally. At the time
of arrest,they were on their way to Bo Wi refugee camp on the Thai-Burma
border in order to escape the SLORC offensive against the KNU's 4th Brigade.

On July 9,1997 the 10 students were released from the Ratchburi Police jail
after serving their sentence. They were set free near TAMHIM refugee
camp.Afew hour later the army arrested within the camp.

The 22 students who were arrested on April 12 were beaten at by the army and
their belongings confiscated.Five of them were released on July 4,and 
another hatch of 15 students were released a day later.Ten of them went back
to the refugee camp where they were subsequently arrested.

The students are refugees fleeing the fighting and they were returning to
the refugee camp because they had nowhere else to go. 

TAMHIM is a large camp with a population of over 7,500. The Thai authorities
have restricted the movement of the refugee since the beginning of last month.

All Burma Students' Democratic Front(ABSDF)

For more information please contact - 01-654 4984,
 01-923 1687

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

NATION: RANGOON DENIES PLAN TO VOID 200, 500 KYAT NOTES
July 14, 1997
Associated Press

RANGOON - Burma has denied rumours it will void 200 and 500 kyat notes
because of counterfeiting as the value of the currency plummeted to a record
260 kyat to the dollar, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said
yesterday.

Responsible officials denied rumours that 200 kyat and 500 kyat currency
notes will be replaced with new ones following rumours that fake 200 and 500
kyat notes were circulating around," said a brief report in the paper.

Voiding currency is an extremely sensitive issue in Burma.

In 1987, the government demonetised 25, 35, and 75 kyat notes, offering no
compensation to people who held them.  The move eliminated 60 to 80 per cent
of the money in circulation and wiped out the saving of millions of people.

Anger over voiding the currency contributed to the nation-wide uprising
against military rule in 1988. 

The government said the reason was to deplete the fortunes of smugglers and
black marketeers, but economists pointed out that those groups usually dealt
in dollars or Thai baht.

Several historians believe the reason for the demonetisation was an
obsession with astrology and numerology by Gen. Ne Win, the military ruler
at the time.

Ne Win believes his lucky number is nine, and the new currency denominations
of 45 and 90 kyats were both divisible by nine.

The kyat, meanwhile, continued its plunge against the dollar.  As of Sunday
it took 260 kyat to buy one US dollar, up from 210 kyat just a week before.

About this time last year, the kyat was trading at 160 to the dollar.

Officially, the kyat trades for six to the dollar, but only state
enterprises use the official rate.  The rest of the country uses the black
market rate.

Economists have speculated that the kyat is plummeting because of meager
exports by state enterprises, such as timber, beans and pulses.

When state enterprise exports don?t meet government expectations, foreign
currency reserves fall and the government must buy up dollars to pay its
foreign debts because the kyat is basically considered worthless as an
international currency.  Burma has at least $5.5 billion in foreign debt,
while its currency reserves were believed to have plunged to about $80
million in recent months.

To buy up dollars, the government has been printing more kyat, economists
said, causing inflation to rise above 40 per cent a year.(TN)

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

AWSJ: BURMA?S DISEASE-CAUSING GENERALS
July 11-12, 1997
By CESAR CHELALA

One of the many tragedies within Burma's appalling human-rights situation,
but one which receives relatively little attention, is the decrepit health
condition of the population. Unless the international community forces out a
military regime more responsive to its own interests than to those of the
Burmese people one can only anticipate a continuous deterioration of the
present situation.

Currently, only 64.6% of the Burmese people have access to basic health
services, which explains poor national health indicators.  The national
infant-mortality rate in 1995 was 105 for every 1000 live births, with wide
regional variations.  This compares with 34 in Vietnam, 27 in Thailand, and
11 in Malaysia.  According to Unicef, one million children are malnourished,
9% to 12% of them severely so.  The high rate of babies with birthweight
below 2,500 grams probably reflects the high malnutrition levels among
pregnant women.

There is also widespread lack of essential medications.  The Expanded
Program on Immunisation, which protects children against major infections,
doesn't cover all children in the country or even a substantial majority.
Unicef reports that maternal mortality rates for 1990 were an astronomically
high 580 per 100,000 live births compared with 80 in Malaysia and 10 in
Singapore.  Most maternal deaths in Burma are due to induced abortions,
largely conducted clandestinely, and to unsanitary conditions.

These high maternal mortality rates make it imperative to increase access to
natal wards and contraceptive devices for those who want them.  During
periods of conflict between the government and minorities, health workers in
border areas have been detained for rendering medical care, and civilians in
those areas have been denied the most basic medical attention.

The need for health workers is all the more pressing because AIDS is an
important public health problem in the region in general and in Burma in
particular.  In 1996 it was estimated that approximately 500,000 people in
Burma had been infected with HIV.  Of an estimated 160,000 drug addicts,
mostly heroin users, at least half are said by experts to be infected with HIV.

Burma is also a source of recruitment for Thai prostitution rings, which
makes Burma a weak point in the efforts to combat AIDS in Southeast Asia.
Despite the prevalence of intravenous drug use and prostitution, there's
almost a complete lack of knowledge about AIDS and HIV among the population.

Burma's neighbours share in the risk, as HIV infection spreads quickly along
drug trade routes.  There has been a rapid expansion of the epidemic from
the poppy growing centers of northern Thailand to neighbouring areas of
Burma, China, India and Laos.

The U.S. group Physicians for Human Rights has gathered information
indicating that the Burmese security forces have violated internationally
accepted principles of medical neutrality.  A U.S. State Department
human-rights report describes how, during the August 1988 demonstrations
against the junta, government troops fired into a group of doctors, nurses
and other citizens in front of Rangoon General Hospital.  Several doctors
and nurses who were pleading with the troops to stop the shooting were
killed or wounded.  At least one Red Cross worker was shot while attempting
to help wounded people.  Also of concern is the denial of medical care to
those imprisoned or forced to act as porters for army troops in border areas.

About 1,000 political prisoners are currently held in Burma, some of whom
are health professionals.  One of them, physician Ma Thida, is the recipient
of the 1996 Reebok Human Rights Award and of the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith
award, which honours writers or journalists who have courageously defended
freedom of expression.  Dr. Ma Thida is a writer and political activist who
was a campaign assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi.  In October of 1993 Dr. Ma
Thida was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "endangering public
tranquillity, having contact with unlawful organisations, and distributing
unlawful literature." It is believed that Dr. Ma Thida was punished for
being among several physicians who treated civilians during the
pro-democracy demonstrations of 1988, and for her outspoken work for the
National League for Democracy (NLD).  She is being kept at Insein prison in
Rangoon.

A report by Amnesty International reveals that Dr. Ma Thida is held in
solitary confinement, her prison cell has little light, and she has no
access to reading materials.  She has had tuberculosis, and in the past year
has developed three ovarian tumours which require surgery.  Because of lack
of access to her or information about her health, it is not  known if
surgery has been performed to remove the tumours.

What little we know about her comes from Amnesty.  Burma's jails are mostly
inaccessible not only to human-rights and humanitarian organisations but, in
many cases, to the families of the detainees as well.

It is estimated that there are 4800 prisoners in Insein prison, most of whom
are without adequate medical attention, in conditions that Amnesty
International indicates often amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment. Civilians have been repeatedly maimed or killed by land mines
placed by the military.

The Burmese military is trying to paint Burma with a veneer of normalcy.  In
recent years, the military regime has opened the economy and eagerly sought
foreign investment.  At the same time, however, the junta has kept a tight
control on domestic political expression, in the hopes that protests would
wane and the main opposition party, the NLD, would become marginalized.

But there has been a change in the international community's stance toward
Burma, which makes the goal of forcing out the generals appear within reach.
The growing international discontent with Burma rulers may induce
multinational companies to follow Pepsico's example and pull out of Burma.
No new investments can come from America since May, when U.S. President Bill
Clinton announced sanctions against the military junta.  What doctors will
find once the generals lose power nobody knows,  but the scant signs that we
have indicate that they will face an uphill struggle.(AWSJ)

Dr.  Chelala is a member of the International Advisory Board of Physicians
for Human Rights.


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

SCMP: MALAYSIAN SCRUTINY OF BURMA BID GROWS
July 14, 1997
Ian Stewart 

Kuala Lumpur - Burma is coming under closer scrutiny in Malaysia as a
potential member of the Association of South-east Asian Nations.

The move for a closer look, after Asean's watershed decision to defer
Cambodia's admission, has not only spurred non-governmental groups to
reaffirm their opposition to Burma's entry, but has prompted
establishment commentators to suggest that the Burmese should improve
their domestic affairs.

Malaysia strongly supported the membership of Cambodia, Laos and Burma in
order to expand Asean to 10 countries, which would form the core of the East
Asian Economic Caucus proposed by Malaysian premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But now that Cambodia's entry has been deferred indefinitely, there is
less of an imperative for Laos and Burma to be admitted.

The Sunday Star newspaper described how the Cambodian episode seemed to have
"marred Asean's zest to group all 10 Southeast Asian states" on
July 24 when foreign ministers begin their 30th ministerial meeting.

Chandra Muzaffar, head of the Just World Trust, said if the use of force
was Asean's concern in deferring Cambodia's entry, then Burma's
admission should be delayed. He said the Burmese military junta used
force to stay in power and prevent the elected National League for
Democracy from forming the government.

Laotian Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad confirmed his country's
desire to join Asean, Thai media said.

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

SUARAM: PRESS STATEMENT ON CAMBODIAN ADMISSION
July 11, 1997

PRESS STATEMENT FROM SUARA RAKYAT MALAYSIA (SUARAM) 

11th July 1997

Cambodian Admission exposes ASEAN Hypocrisy

The postponement of Cambodia's admission into ASEAN today finally exposes
the hypocritical rhetoric and practices of ASEAN. 

1.  The question of "constructive engagement".

The recent event in Cambodia indicates the failure of ASEAN diplomatic
efforts of the last 20 years. If ASEAN had failed to convince Cambodia
political forces to co-exist peacefully, how would the  "constructive
engagement" with Burma work? 

We once heard ASEAN leaders say that they will deal with the government of
Burma regardless of whoever is in power. We also remember ASEAN foreign
ministers unanimously say that only by "engaging", one can change the
situation. Why is there now a change of position? Why is ASEAN not
"engaging" with Cambodia?

2.  The question of being "against the use of military forces to take power".

ASEAN had stated that it is due to the use of military forces in Cambodia
that they are postponing its membership. 

The truth is  that ASEAN has NEVER insisted on the criteria that a
member-government should be democratic nor does it abide by the criteria of
non-usage of violence in maintaining power. 

Afterall we just have to cite examples -- the violent military takeover in
Burma; the brutal annexation of East Timor and the massacre of one-third of
its population by the Indonesian military-government; the sufferings of the
Filipino people under Marcos dictatorship; and the massacre of hundreds of
Thais by the Thai military in 1992. 

Were any of the ASEAN members questioned, their membership reviewed or
suspended? No. 

In fact, for example, there had been a series of military coups in Thailand,
but all the coup leaders enjoyed recognition by other member states of
ASEAN. Furthermore this has not stopped the present admission of Burma into
ASEAN.

This suggests that ASEAN has double-standards when dealing with issues in
the region. 

3.  The question of "non-interference"

While ASEAN countries repeatedly state that they would not interfere in the
internal affairs of another country, such as on the dismal human rights
abuses of the Burmese and East Timorese people; in this case it has already
done so by not recognising Hun Sen's government. By this action, ASEAN has
indirectly suggested that it supports a coalition-led government or a
government-led by Prince Ranariddh, over Hun Sen's Cambodia People's Party. 

This indicates that ASEAN has 'favourites'; just as it will support the
military dictatorship of SLORC in Burma over the elected government of Aung
San Suu Kyi. 

All the above are due to one fundamental basis -- because ASEAN places
economic priority over the values of human rights and democracy. If ASEAN
were to stand up as a credible regional grouping in the world, it has to
start developing a consistent human right standard in its diplomatic dealings. 

Released by: 
Elizabeth Wong
SUARAM
---------------------------------------------------
		
FIGHTING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Suara Rakyat Malaysia - SUARAM
(Voice of the Malaysian People)
add: 11, Jalan 1A/71E, Jalan Carey, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor,Malaysia
tel: 60-3-7943525
fax: 60-3-7943526
email: wkpeng@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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

KYODO: BURMA'S ASEAN ACCESSION MAY HINDER EU-ASEAN TIES
July 11, 1997 [abridged]
Miu Oikawa Dieter

BRUSSELS - The planned accession of Myanmar to the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) later this month is likely to strain relations between
ASEAN and the European Union(EU), which has been trying to place increasing
importance on the region. 

Dick Gupwell, secretary general of a Brussels-based think tank, says the
European Commission and the European Parliament have been quite clear in
expressing the EU institutions' dissatisfaction in having Myanmar admitted
to the seven-member Southeast Asian body. 

''It has been made clear the EU is not happy with that, and it's also going
to complicate EU-ASEAN relations,'' said Gupwell of the European Institute
for Asian Studies. 

The EU, which bases its economic cooperation and all other aspects of its
relations with ASEAN on the EC-ASEAN Cooperation Agreement, had no problems
extending the accord to Brunei when it became an ASEAN member in 1984. 

It is also in the process of extending the agreement to Vietnam, which
became part of an ASEAN in 1995. 

But Gupwell predicts Myanmar's membership will ''complicate matters'' for
the extension of the EC-ASEAN accord because no hurdles are foreseen for
broadening the agreement to the other two, Laos and Cambodia. 

He made the remarks before ASEAN's decision in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to
indefinitely postpone Cambodia's entry to the regional grouping ''in light
of unfortunate circumstances which have resulted from the use of force'' in
Phnom Penh. 

Gupwell also said,''So long as there is such a military regime as it is
currently constituted in Burma (Myanmar), I don't think Burma is going to be
broadened to the EC-ASEAN Cooperation agreement.'' He added that the EU's
executive body, the European Commission, is unlikely to propose the
extension of the accord to Myanmar since there will be no support from
member states. 

''Were the internal situation in Burma to be different, the EU institutions
would very much welcome the accession of Burma to ASEAN,'' he said. ''Burma
has its natural place in ASEAN.'' 

Also complicating the matters is the planned second ASEM summit meeting in
London early next year. 

The EU foreign ministers, in discussing the implications for the EU of the
country's entry to ASEAN, agreed in late June that the accession should not
give automatic membership to ASEM. 

''They made it clear that they will not risk inviting, from their side,
Burma to join the ASEM process,'' said Gupwell. ''I don't think that, for
many reasons, the British government will allow the representative to come
to Britain.'' 

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

THE NATION: HUN SEN HAS ASEAN CAUGHT IN A QUAGMIRE
Jul 14, 1997 [abridged]
Editorial

Last week, in a major policy reversal, Asean was driven to issue an
uncharacteristic statement ­ it demanded the return of the democratically
elected government in Cambodia.

Such a new-found adoration for democracy among Asean leaders is laudable.
But, of course, it reeks of double-standards. 

If Hun Sen's swift swoop on his coalition partner, First Prime Minister
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, is said to be a coup, how would one describe the
refusal of Rangoon's generals to hand over power to the popularly elected
National League for Democracy? 

Asean leaders have only themselves to blame for the renewed crisis in
Cambodia. Just last month they showed no aversion whatsoever to dealing with
whoever is in power by embracing Burma into Asean's fold even though the
ruling junta is an illegitimate regime. Such a signal from Asean must have
emboldened Hun Sen as he plotted to oust Ranariddh. 

Hun Sen has shown, time and again, that he is a shrewd politician. By
launching the coup, he has forced Asean's hand. If Asean prefers to deal
with the much reviled military junta over that of the democratically elected
NLD in Burma, why should he ­ who to all intents and purposes is an elected
leader ­ be snubbed? 

"Why can't the international community not accept it [Ranariddh's ouster]?"
Hun Sen asked yesterday. "I would like to know." 

Indeed, so would we. 

If there is anything Cambodia and Burma can learn from some of the
authoritarian Asean regimes, it is how to organise elections in which the
result is already known, and yet still retain some measure of international
respectability. 

Surely, what has gone wrong for Asean is its double standards, inconsistency
and hypocrisy, its blind pursuit for economic gain over human rights and
democracy, and its bull-headedness in defending what to many is a morally
repugnant "constructive engagement" policy. (TN) 

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

THE NATION: MEKONG PANEL ON HOLD OVER FIGHTING
Jul 14, 1997 [abridged]
Kulachada Chaipipat 

A JOINT committee meeting of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) scheduled for
today and tomorrow has been postponed indefinitely due to the absence of the
Cambodian delegates, a senior MRC official said yesterday. 

The meeting of MRC member countries Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam was
to have been followed by the MRC's second dialogue meeting with
representatives from China and Burma on July 16. 

He added that the commission will reschedule the meeting when Cambodia's
political situation stabilises. The MRC Secretariat had been planning a move
from Bangkok to Phnom Penh. 

China and Burma have been reluctant to officially join the MRC but last year
agreed to open a dialogue with the organisation.(TN)

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

BKK POST: ROUTINE RAID EXPOSES NEW DRUG BASE IN BORDER AREA
July 14, 1997
Somsak Suksai, Lampang

Traffickers thrive in no man's land

It was supposed to be a routine operation against amphetamine dealers by the
Border Patrol Police's special task force unit 32 in Chiang Mai's Chiang Dao
district two weeks ago. But the arrest of suspect Chu Long and the 10,000
amphetamine tablets found in his possession opened a new trail in the
multi-million baht drug trade leading to the disputed Thai-Burmese border
area of Doi Lang.

Chu Long, a Chinese Haw who lives in an area straddling Chiang Dao and Chai
Prakan districts, admitted to police investigators that he was hired as a
courier by a friend named Bancha Saengli and the drug originated in Doi Lang.

According to profiles of drug dealers at the Northern Narcotics Control
Center (NNCC) in Chiang Mai, Bancha is also a Chinese Haw, married to a
hilltribe woman living in Ban Papae, Pai district, Mae Hong Son. He never
stays in one place for long, moving between Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Burma.

Bancha is considered "a top dealer" in the North with links to the
"Charayont group," the "Wei Brothers" and a group led by two influential
kamnans in Chiang Rai. Together the three groups represent the latest
network in the lucrative amphetamine trade along the Thai-Burmese border.

The "Charayont group" is believed to have been active for at least five
years and includes members of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), and noted
experts in the production of heroin and amphetamine mixed with heroin.

The "Wei Brothers" include Wei Hsueh-long, Wei Hsueh-kang and Wei Hsueh-yin,
Yunnanese Chinese involved in both drug trafficking and espionage for the
Kuomintang-CIA spy network since they fled to Burma's Shan State after the
communist victory in China in 1949.

Wei Hsueh-kang, the middle brother worked as a treasurer in the 1970s for
Khun Sa, the half-Chinese half-Shan opium warlord and self-proclaimed leader
of the Shan independence movement who capitulated to Burma in January 1996.

He was put in jail at Khun Sa's former headquarters in Ban Hin Taek, Chiang
Rai after being caught cheating, but managed to escape overseas only to
return later to start his own heroin empire with his two brothers. Wa
fighters were recruited to form an armed force to protect their business.

There are reports that Bancha also has close ties with suspected key drug
dealer Li Yun-chung who is currently in the United States to stand trial for
masterminding the largest heroin shipment ever seized - 486 kg - in US history.

Bancha, Li and a girlfriend from Taiwan reportedly jointly invested in a
rubber glove factory in Samut Sakhon.

Following his arrest, together with alleged accomplice Cha Chung-chang at
the factory in July 1996, Li reportedly asked Bancha to take care of his
business - both legal and illegal, trusting his "right links" and personal
skills.

Li's business include the rubber glove factory, drug trade, and a gems
cutting factory and a jewelry store located near Thapae Gate in Muang
district, Chiang Mai, which he took over from Khun Sa after his surrender.

Bancha eventually expanded to take charge of Khun Sa's other bigger gem
cutting factory in Tachilek, across from Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai.

A source in the special task force unit 32 said Bancha is involved only in
the production of amphetamine and heroin, while the supply of chemicals,
such as ephedrine, needed in the refining process is left to the "Wei Brothers."

The chemicals originate in China and are shipped on the Mekong River to
Mongmom in Laos located in the so-called Golden Triangle area, before being
smuggled into Thailand, the source said.

He said the area, where the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos meet and
once known as the source of Southeast Asia's best heroin, has been replaced
by Doi Lang, and that Bancha is the man who opened up the new territory.

Formerly under the control of Khun Sa, Doi Lang, a mountainous terrain
straddling Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district and Burma's Shan State has for
decades been the natural gateway for trade, mostly unofficial, between the
two countries's ethnic minorities, drug dealers, adventurers, corrupt
personalities and dare-devil businessmen.

Since Khun Sa's capitulation, Thailand and Burma have been locked in a
dispute over Doi Lang. Troops from both sides have stepped back from the
area pending settlement, turning it into an ideal production base for drug
dealers.

But Bancha's move to Doi Lang is more the result of a conflict between U Sai
Lin, alias Lin Mingxian, one of the two leaders of the National Democratic
Alliance Army Military and Local Administration Committee (Eastern Shan
State), and his father-in-law Phueng Kya-shin of the Myanmar National
Democratic Alliance (Kokang group). These two groups, UWSA and the New
Democratic Army, all had broken away from the Communist Party of Burma (BCP)
in 1989.

Sources said U Sai Lin favoured the establishment of a drug free zone in
Region 4 of Shan State, an area located on the border with China's Yunnan
province while his father-in-law favoured to stay in business, with Region
1, now under the control of UWSA, producing drugs as the main source of income.

The southern part of Region 4 was successfully declared "drug free,"
witnessed by the diplomatic community in Burma last May, while Phueng
continued with his drug trade. But the conflict between the two sides in the
rest of Regions 4 and 1 are yet to be resolved, forcing Bancha, who has
close ties with U Sai Lin to relocate. "The conflict between and within
these groups has had a direct impact on the influx of amphetamine and
ephedrine into the country the past two to three years," said Banpot
Piamdee, director of the NNCC, which is under the Office of Narcotics
Control Board (ONCB).

"The indication is for the situation to worsen even further," he said.

The NNCC has mobilised help from the ONCB, the Border Patrol Police, the
Army's Mekong Task Force, and provincial police forces from Tak, Mae Hong
Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, which all border Burma.

These forces consider the areas around the Golden Triangle and Doi Lang as
most sensitive as they are under the control of armed UWSA and Chinese Haw.

However, Thai authorities are at the receiving end of the drug trade because
production is on the other side of the border, under their nose but out of
their reach. Statistics keep rising of arrests of couriers and drugs coming
through Chiang Rai in the past one and a half years, Mr Banpot said.

In the past six months, some 300,000 amphetamine tablets were intercepted in
Mae Sai, all originating from either Doi Lang or the Golden Triangle, he said.

Pointing at a map of Thailand, Mr Banpot said the North is the production
base, Cambodia's Koh Kong province across Trat, a transit point for shipment
to the international market and chemicals, while money-laundering is carried
out in Koh Song of Burma, across Ranong.

According to information obtained by the ONCB, billions of baht have been
laundered in Koh Song through gambling at the casino, and investment in a
shipyard and hotel resorts.

The same occurred in Chiang Rai and adjacent areas in Burma not long ago
where hotels and other investments clearly exceeded the demand. However,
sources said the casino business is bad these days.

These recent developments only serve to reflect the sophistication and
resilience of the drug trade. Experts said no matter what new ideas drug
traffickers come up with to try to stay in business, Thailand will continue
to remain a major transit route. (BP)

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NICARAGUA NETWORK: RALPH LAUREN PULLS OUT OF BURMA July 14, 1997

Labor Alerts/Labor News
a service of Campaign for Labor Rights
Action Update:  Ralph Lauren and Warnaco End Manufacturing in Burma!
 
Summary:  Polo Ralph Lauren Company has stopped doing business in Burma
"until conditions have changed" according to a company spokesperson.
Warnaco, which owns and manufactures the Chaps Ralph 
Lauren Label that was produced in Burma, confirmed the end to all of its
production in Burma.  The Burmese National League for Democracy, which won
over 82 percent of the popular vote in 1990 in an election that was
overturned by the military, is calling for a total economic boycott against
the country.
 
Background:  A previous Action Alert noted that Ralph Lauren and 
Warnaco were manufacturing in Burma while grave labor and human rights
violations were (and are still) occurring at the hands of the brutal 
military dictatorship of the country.    As the repression escalated, 
there was an increase of U.S. apparel imports from Burma, and Ralph 
Lauren was in a position to earn hundreds of millions of dollars. 
Warnaco had recently pulled out of the White House Task Force to 
Eliminate Sweatshop Abuses because they were afraid independent 
monitoring of factories and contractors would damage them 
competitively if trade secrets became public (this in a company that 
makes garments, not spy satellites).  
 
Concerned individuals were asked to write to Polo Ralph Lauren about 
the abuses of the Burmese government and urge the company to take a 
stand for democracy by removing their company's name from any 
association with the dictatorial government there.
 
Along with refusing to do business in Burma until democracy is 
restored, the Polo Ralph Lauren Company has recently been 
participating in discussions with the White House Task Force to 
Eliminate Sweatshop Abuses. They are not yet a participating member.
 
[Unfortunately, J. Crew, Lee, and Arrow Shirts are still producing in 
Burma.]
 
Action for Consideration:  You may wish to write or fax the Polo Ralph 
Lauren Company congratulating them for their removal of their business 
from Burma and encouraging them to better monitor their business 
practices in the future.
 
Letters or faxes can be sent to:
 
Mr. Ralph Lauren, Chairman
Polo Ralph Lauren
650 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022
fax: 212-888-5780
 
For more information contact Maggie Poe at the National Labor 
Committee, 275 7th Ave. New York, NY 10001, (212) 242-3002.  For 
information about the Burma democracy movement, contact the Free Burma
Coalition at (608) 256-6572, e-mail: zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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