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BKK POST,February 19, 1998. Banhar
- Subject: BKK POST,February 19, 1998. Banhar
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 00:11:00
February 19, 1998. Banharn in rare admission
Former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa yesterday admitted
that during his time as interior minister in 1996 he approved
requests to open border passes to allow the import of Burmese
logs.
He defended his decision on the grounds that such requests were
usually submitted by a committee comprising representatives of
the National Security Council, Regional Army Headquarters and
Forestry Department.
The former premier claimed the committee was responsible for
screening requests before forwarding its recommendations for
the NSC to make a decision which was sent to the Interior
Ministry for final approval.
The Chart Thai leader said he only acted on recommendations
by concerned authorities, but sometimes put the requests on hold
for up to two months for authorities to recheck them.
He admitted there had been reports of Thai logs being sent to
Burma and re-imported as Burmese logs. So the matter should
be investigated seriously and Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai,
who is also defence minister, must closely look into it, Mr
Banharn said.
He said police, military and forestry personnel should join forces
to protect forests. They should be fully equipped and an aerial
inspection of forest areas should be made every seven days.
Chart Thai deputy leader Boonchu Trithong said all logs
imported from Burma after 1992 can be assumed as being
originally Thai logs.
Mr Boonchu, who entered the logging business before entering
politics, said that after 1992 the Burmese government never
granted a logging concession to any Thai company.
He said that to prove logs are imported from Burma, importers
must have a certificate of origin and a letter of credit showing
payments through the Bank of Thailand to the Burmese
government. He added that without these documents the logs are
from Thailand.