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

The BurmaNet News 12 January 1998





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

The BurmaNet News: January 12, 1998
Issue #910

Noted in Passing:

It's time for Asean to start talking about the social dimension,
especially with regard to human beings.

A Chulalongkorn University economist (see BKK POST: "LOOKING AFTER OUR OWN
IN THIS TIME OF CRISIS")

HEADLINES:
==========
BKK POST: THAIS IN TALKS TO RESUME FRONTIER TRADE 
BKK POST: LOOKING AFTER OUR OWN IN THIS TIME OF CRISIS
THE NATION: GAS PIPELINE STUDY RESULTS TO BE GIVEN
BKK POST: MOEI: THE EVER SHIFTING RIVER
ANNOUNCEMENT: A PHOTO EXHIBITION: BURMA STORY IN KYOTO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------

BKK POST: THAIS IN TALKS TO RESUME FRONTIER TRADE
12 January 1998
Mae Sot, Tak

MILLIONS OF BAHT OF DEALS PUT ON HOLD

Thailand is negotiating with Burma to resume border trade after
two months of border closure halted millions of baht worth of
business transactions.

Pothipong Lamsam, the deputy commerce minister, said concerned
agencies would travel to Rangoon soon to persuade the authorities
there to lift an order issued in November to close three border
passes at Tachilek opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district,
Myawaddy opposite Mae Sot, and Kawthaung opposite Ranong.

Rangoon reasoned that the closure would enable it to streamline
its border trade formalities and set new orders requiring that,
all business transactions be made through the bank in order to
meet international standards.

The proposed change came at the November replacement of Burma's
former trade and commerce minister Lt- Gen Tun Kyi by Maj Gen
Kyaw Than.

But Mr Pothipong said he wanted the implementation of the
business via-bank requirement to be delayed as both sides
needed time to prepare for the new system.

Mr Pothipong was recently accompanied by Pichet Panvichartkul,
deputy finance minister, Gen Boonsak Kamhaengritthirong, the
National Security Council secretary-general, and senior officials
on a trip here to observe border trade activities and assess the
impact of the closure.

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

BKK POST: LOOKING AFTER OUR OWN IN THIS TIME OF CRISIS
12 January 1998 (abridged)
by Sarttdet Marukatat

THEY HAVE SERVED THEIR PURPOSE, NOW THEY ARE SUPERFLUOUS. THE NEEDS OF
THAIS OUTWEIGH THOSE OF OUR FOREIGN WORKFORCE, AND SO IT'S COME TIME TO GET
TOUGH AND SHOW THEM THE DOOR.

The government has to do more than just threaten to send illegal
foreign workers home if it wants to save jobs for our own
unemployed, who are expected to reach 2 million this year as the
economic crisis continues to take a firmer hold.

According to non-government labour watchers, the government has
to lay down clearly defined measures and ensure the close
coordination of everyone involved, especially those agencies
along the country's borders, if it is serious about the plan.

Labour and Social Welfare Minister Trairong Suwannakhiri has
vowed to act decisively, including refusing to renew work permits
for foreign workers and taking stiff legal action against
employers who ignore regulations.

A committee made up of officials from various ministries, the
National Security Council, the Police Department and the Armed
Forces also was set up recently to map out measures to tackle the
matter.

Wichai Thosuwonchina, the chairman of the House Committee on
Labour and Social Welfare, supports tougher action against
illegal alien workers, telling a recent seminar that "the
Government needs to have a stricter policy on foreign labour".

'The problem will intensify after permits for the last group of
registered workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos expire in August
and are not renewed.

Official estimates put the number of workers from these three
countries at 700,000, with only 320,000 of them registered
properly.  But non-government organisations place the figure at
more than 1.1 million, most of them Burmese.

Critics blame the government for failing to draw these people out
from hiding and into government control as decided upon by the
cabinet in June 1996. The decision was rushed and authorities had
no time to prepare or coordinate work, they say.

The same thing could happen to the expulsion plan if the
committee comes up with no clear measures for a concerted
crackdown by government agencies, especially the authorities who
control cross border movements.

Pae, a worker from Mon State in Burma, told the seminar at which
Mr Wichai also spoke he was trucked to a sugar cane plantation in
Kanchanaburi after a four-day walk from his home to the border at
Three Pagoda Pass. There he met recruitment agents and paid them
4,500 baht.

"I saw policemen talking with the 'farm owner frequently but I
didn't have to hide when they came," he said.

Now Pae is in Bangkok as an illegal alien looking for work
despite the threat of expulsion from the government.  "I will
return after I can earn and save money for my family," he said.

With more and more factories and firms closing down, labour
experts say Thais will become less choosy and accept the, jobs
they once shunned such as working on trawlers and in rubber
plantations.

"The pressure for them and their families to survive will
possibly be on them to do jobs they previously turned down," said
a report prepared by the National Advisory Council for Labour
Development sent to the government and the NSC late last year.

Another stumbling block for the expulsion campaign is the tough
stance taken by the Burmese government, whose row with ethnic
insurgents has led to Rangoon's refusal to accept the return of
workers who can't prove their Burmese nationality.

Thailand hopes a body set up last month by Foreign Minister Surin
Pitsuwan and his Burmese counterpart, can overcome this problem
as it also affects Burmese refugees in border camps.

The readiness of the government to use all its instruments
effectively will determine the success of the expulsion campaign,
said Worawit Charoenlert, a Chulalongkorn University economist.

The long-term solution will depend on close cooperation between
Thailand and its neighbours to keep alien workers in check,
either by having labour agreements with each country or by making
the issue of regional concern and taking it to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.

Close cooperation on labour movement will help protect foreign
workers here as well as Thai labourers working in other Asean
member states, as some suffer unfair treatment and poor working
conditions, said Mr Worawit.

"It's time for Asean to start talking about the social dimension,
especially with regard to human beings," he said.

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

THE NATION: GAS PIPELINE STUDY RESULTS TO BE GIVEN
12 January 1998

RESULTS of environmental and economic impact studies on the
controversial Yadana gas pipeline will be released today and will
end the controversy surrounding the matter, Industry Minister
Somak Thepsutin said yesterday.

The government suspended construction of the pipeline last week
and ordered the studies because of intensified opposition by
activists and villagers.

Somsak said the studies will be presented to Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai, who will have a final say on whether construction of the
pipeline will be allowed to resume.

The studies were conducted by representatives of the project
operator, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT); groups of
environmentalists who oppose the project and non-partisan
lawyers.

'The studies are expected to be complete on Monday.  I believe
the conclusion will be that there will be only a small impact on
the environment and that it will please both supporters and
opponents of the pipeline,' Somsak said.

Several groups of environmentalists have claimed that a
six-kilometre portion of the pipeline in Kanchanaburi province,
which also is routed through Burma's territory, would destroy
dense reserve forests and would be located too close to rural
communities.

The environmentalists repeatedly demonstrated against the
pipeline, while the PTT, which is responsible for construction,
denied their charges.

"Those conducting the studies also examined the contracts the PTT
has with the subcontractors, which are expected to be completed
as soon as possible.  This is because if the suspension is
prolonged, the PTT will have to pay compensation," Somsak said.

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

BKK POST: MOEI: THE EVER SHIFTING RIVER
11 January 1998
SUPAMART KASEM
MAE SOT, TAK

The seasonal changing course of the Moei River has sparked border
conflicts several times over the past decade.

During 1961-1976 the river was allowed to run its course without
man's interference. When islets took shape and connected to the
land on either side after shallows formed, people on both sides
took turns in exploiting the area. This phenomenon become a part
of their lives for generations.

Problems occurred after Myawaddy authorities tried to divert the
course of the river by driving wooden poles along the river bank
in 19 areas in 1978. The interference caused massive soil erosion
and the loss of hundreds of rai of agricultural areas on the Thai
side. To prevent further destruction, Thailand began to plant
stakes in the river.

The row flared up to an intense ;confrontation in 1981 when Burma
refused to halt its pole-driving  work in six areas opposite Huay
Muang village in the Tambon Tha Sai Luad of Mae Sot district. In
retaliation, Thailand began to plant wooden poles in six areas
between Huay Muang and Rim Moei village.


On April 4, 1982, Burma dispatched 12 soldiers across the river
from Myawaddy to Huay Muang to set fire to Thai workers' houses
and dismantled 70 wooden poles. Meanwhile, Burma continued to
drive stakes on their side, despite protests from Thailand.

At the end of the- year, Thailand sent a memo of protest after'
100 Burmese crossed over to attack workers at Rim Moei. The
workers escaped with no injury. This time, the protest led to
negotiations.

By this time, Burma had planted wooden poles in 24 areas and
Thailand 16. The operations often led to constant conflicts. At
the 9th Regional Thai-Burmese Border Committee meeting in April
1994, it was agreed that the pole-driving operation would be
replaced by a conservative method. The planted wooden poles would
be left to decay.

But while Thailand had complied with the agreement by switching
to build a rock dam on the river bank, Burma violated the deal by
continuing to plant new wooden poles and strengthening the old
ones regardless of Thailand's protests.

In 1996, Burma planted poles and built a concrete dam under the
Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge and encroached on the Moei River
to divert the current in 39 places. The wooden poles caused
siltation in the lower stream that become land connected to
Burmese territory, while hundreds of rai of Thai soil along the
river was eroded.

Burma continued to plant more poles between the channel and
islets in its territory to create siltation so that the land will
connect to Burmese bank and it can claim sovereignty over the
land according to the 1868 agreement.

On June 7, 1995, Burma ordered a halt of the construction of
Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge on the Myawaddy side, even though
the work was only five percent from completion. It accused
Thailand of allowing private companies to set up 16 concrete
buildings and 100 stalls on the land connected to an islet near
the bridge.

Burma then demanded that Thailand should rectify the problem by
dismantling the buildings and the stalls so that work on the
bridge could be resumed.

Thailand yielded to the pressure and allowed the dredging
operation that resulted in 100 rai connected to Thai side turning
into an islet in the Moei River. But Thai protests to Burma to
stop driving stakes and to dismantle concrete embankments have so
far fallen on deaf ears.

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

ANNOUNCEMENT: A PHOTO EXHIBITION:  BURMA STORY IN KYOTO
11 January 1998
brelief@xxxxxxx

A Photo Exhibition:  BURMA STORY
by Yuzo Uda, 
talented photo journalist

January 20th -- 26th
10:00 - 4:00 (closed on Sunday)

Kyoto YMCA
Sanjo Main Building, 1F Lobby
Yanagi no banba kado
Nakagyo ku
Kyoto
Tel: 075-231-4388

Sponsored by:
Kyoto YMCA 
Kyoto YWCA  
Amnesty International, Kyoto

For further information,  contact:
Kyoto YMCA, International Section,  Tel: 075-231-4388
Amnesty International, Kyoto, Kyoto Tel: 075-711-0491 (Yoshikawa-san) 

PLUS

Special Lecture, Saturday, January 24th 
by Yuzo Uda, photojournalist

"BURMA TODAY"
3:00 - 5:00 in the Mana Hall
of Kyoto YMCA

http://www2.gol.com/users/brelief/Index.htm

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