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The BurmaNet News: March 1, 1999



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

The BurmaNet News: March 1, 1999
Issue #1217

Noted in Passing: "I want revenge. The Burmese army forced my family and
the people of our village into a concentration camp at gun-point." -
Antonio, Karenni child soldier (see THE NATION: THE LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM)

HEADLINES:
==========
AP: MYANMAR OPPOSITION SPEAKS OUT 
THE NATION: THE LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM 
BKK POST: JUNTA SLAMMED ON HUMAN RIGHTS, DRUGS 
BKK POST: INTERPOL ENDORSES JUNTA'S DRUG PROPOSALS 
AWSJ: SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN BURMA 
THE STRAITS TIMES: HIGH LEVEL MEETING IN YANGON 
ASIAN AGE: TOP INDIAN OFFICIAL IN BURMA FOR TALKS 
BKK POST: THE NEED FOR GREATER DIALOGUE 
THE NATION: THE TALK IN THAILAND IS BURMA 
THE NATION: BURMESE REFUGEES TO BE MOVED 
ANNC: UN BRIEFING ON WOMEN'S HEALTH IN BURMA
****************************************************************

ASSOCIATED PRESS: MYANMAR OPPOSITION SPEAKS OUT 
25 February, 1999 

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's state-controlled press is spreading rumors
of mass resignations in pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the
dissident said Thursday.

Suu Kyi, head of the embattled National League for Democracy, told foreign
journalists that some resignations were forced under threat of jail and
others were fabricated and submitted by people who were not party members.

``Immense pressure is subjected on our people everywhere,'' said Suu Kyi,
winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

For several months, the media - all of which is controlled by the military
government - has been reporting the resignations of members of the NLD
across Mynamar, also known as Burma.

The propaganda war heated up last year when Suu Kyi and her colleagues
declared they were creating an alternative parliament to symbolically
represent the legislature voters elected in 1990.

The NLD won a landslide victory in those elections, but the military, which
has ruled since 1962, never allowed the legislature to meet.

The government reacted to the new moves by detaining more than 100 party
officials who were among the would-be lawmakers and reportedly tried to
coerce them to resign from the party.

The government's next move was to report the resignations of NLD members at
the grassroots level and the alleged voluntary closings of local party
offices.

Lately, the government has publicized what is alleged to be a grassroots
campaign to recall and deprive NLD victors of their seats from the 1990
election with so-called no-confidence motions.

Suu Kyi said the motions included forged signatures and party
identifications which were clearly bogus.

``You can see this is all organized by the authorities,'' Suu Kyi said.
``We don't take these seriously at all except as to the pressure to which
our people are subjected.'' 

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

THE NATION: THE LONG ROAD TO FREEDOM
28 February, 1999 by Dean Chapman 

THE KARENNI PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAGING A WAR OF RESISTANCE AGAINST BURMESE
COLONISATION FOR 50 YEARS. ONCE AN INDEPENDENT NATION, THE KARENNI STATE
HAS NOW BEEN SWAMPED BY BURMA'S BRUTAL SOLDIERS WHO ARE SYSTEMATICALLY
TARGETING CIVILIANS, TO DESTROY ANY SUPPORT FOR THE KARENNI ARMY AND END
ANY YEARNINGS FOR KARENNI INDEPENDENCE. REFUGEES CONTINUE TO ARRIVE IN
NORTHWEST THAILAND WITH STORIES OF FORCED RELOCATION, MURDER, AND STARVATION.

The Burmese army soldiers said that if we didn't relocate they would cut
our throats and burn our village. At first we fled to the forest but they
found us hiding." The terrified villagers were forced at gun-point to a
relocation camp in Shadaw township. The miserable journey took seven days.
Some villagers brought their livestock but the Burmese troops soon
appropriated it.

Shelter for hundreds of down-trodden families arriving in Shadaw was
non-existent. Some found temporary cover from the monsoon rains beneath the
town's stilted houses or in an old school building, but most slept on the
cold ground.

"There was no toilet in the camp so we went to the toilet anywhere and
caught many diseases." The sick went to the hospital where "they were given
injections, but only one needle was used for 10 people. The villagers had
to drink from a ditch which had sewage in it and 120 people died in one week."

Wells were sunk but the authorities, apparently fearing an epidemic, "put
pesticide in the wells without prior warning, killing five adults and 10
children." The authorities later repeated this but this time it was thought
to be a deliberate poisoning resulting in over 50 deaths.

In the "cleared" areas the Burmese army is systematically looting and
burning all villages, destroying farms, rice stores and paddy, killing
livestock while executing anyone they come across. The de-populated areas
have become free-fire zones -- anyone and everyone is shot on sight.

The Burmese junta's plan, "Uprooting the region", has been so incisive in
applying pressure on the Karenni independence movement that the junta has
expanded the programme to include at least two thirds of the state's
territory.

When Burmese troops raided a village in Mawachi township, in the expanded
relocation area, they captured nine people, six of whom were children.
Their hands were tied behind their backs. An elderly widow was the first to
have her skull smashed with a huge wooden pestle, normally used for
pounding rice. Four of her children watched in horror. They were battered
to death in the same brutal manner.

Such stories of gross human rights violations are almost impossible to
verify in one of Burma's "black zones" - areas completely off-limits to
foreigners.

But such reports surface with frightening regularity.

Antonio was 12 when he joined the Karenni army. His reasons for wanting to
fight were unequivocal; "I want revenge. The Burmese army forced my family
and the people of our village into a concentration camp at gun-point."
Antonio didn't have to wait long for revenge. In the two battles for Ember
Hill he killed at least six Burmese soldiers.

"One shot, one kill, no fear" is how Antonio's CO described the teenager's
discipline during battle. Antonio was proudly wearing the blood-splattered
bush hat of the young Burmese soldier he picked off in the battle. The
baby-faced Catholic happily acted out the exchange of fire in which he shot
his enemy dead between the eyes. He said he wasn't afraid.

In peace talks the Burmese officer responsible for the offensive, Col Maung
Kyi, admitted to Karenni officials that the forces under his command
sustained over 1,000 casualties. A third are believed to have perished and
their deaths went unreported. Although Rangoon and Karenni representatives
signed a ceasefire in March 1995 the peace lasted less than three months
and hostilities have continued unabated ever since.

The long-neck women are perhaps the most well-known of the Karenni people
and their villages in Thailand are now an intrinsic part of the tourism
industry in the north of the Kingdom. The villages are often referred to,
by visitors, as human zoos but the Kayan take great offence at the
inference of them being animals. The Kayan also continue to suffer
brutality at the hands of Rangoon's lawless soldiers.

When Lah Jiang, the husband of a long-neck woman, tried to return to his
parents' home in the Karenni state, he was accused of illegally smuggling
cattle by Burmese troops. After being beaten he was imprisoned in Loikaw
jail, in the Karenni capital.

"I thought I'd never see my family again," recalled Lah Jiang, still deeply
traumatised by his incarceration, "and that I would die in jail."

He claimed over 700 prisoners were kept in the long, dark, airless concrete
buildings and that prisoners received bloody beatings from the guards. Many
prisoners had worms or defecated blood.

The severely sick were taken to the hospital never to return. Although a
handful of rice was given to the prisoners twice a day, prisoners starved
to death.

Lah Jiang served eight months before standing trial but the charges were
not proved. 

------------------------------

DEAN CHAPMAN is a freelance photographer based in England. He is the winner
of the European Publishers Award for  Photography 1998. A book called
"Karenni, the forgotten war of a nation besieged" has just been released in
Europe in  English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. Photo-exhibitions
of the work were shown in Newcastle, England, and in Rome last year.
Further exhibitions will be held in Milan and at the Nikon Ginza Salon,
Tokyo, in April. 

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

THE BANGKOK POST: JUNTA SLAMMED ON HUMAN RIGHTS, DRUGS 
28 February, 1999 

REUTERS

BURMA, AFGHANISTAN BOTH 'DECERTIFIED'

In two separate scathing reports released yesterday, the United States has
severely criticised the Burmese junta.

The US State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement said Burma is the world's largest source of illicit opium and
heroin.

And in another report, the US has criticised Burma's military government
for serious human rights violations including torture, arbitrary detentions
and rape.

"The government's longstanding severe repression of human rights continued
during the year (1998)," said the report, which was released yesterday.

"Citizens continued to live subject at any time and without appeal to the
arbitrary and sometimes brutal dictates of the military dictatorship.
Citizens do not have the right to change their government," it said.

The report said there were credible reports, particularly in ethnic
minority dominated areas, that soldiers committed serious human rights
abuses, "including extra-judicial killings and rape".

"Disappearances continued, and members of the security forces beat and
otherwise abused detainees," it said.

The report said some 200 members of parliament elected in Burma's last
democratic polls in 1990 had been detained since September 1998.

Those polls were won by a wide margin by the pro-democracy National League
for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, but the
military ignored the result, saying the country was not ready for democracy.

The drug report stated that 130,300 hectares were under opium cultivation
in Burma in 1998, capable of yielding up to 1,750 tonnes of opium gum.

The report criticised Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council
for failing to confront powerful drug traffickers in the country and for
making "little if any effort against money laundering".

"There is no evidence that the government, on an institutional level, is
involved in the drug trade. However, there are persistent and reliable
reports that officials, particularly corrupt army personnel posted in
outlying areas, are either involved in the drug business or are paid to
allow the drug business to be conducted by others," it said.

The United Nations recently issued figures in line with the US estimates
but said the opium production decline was due to adverse weather conditions
and not government intervention.

The US declared that Mexico and Colombia were cooperating in the war
against drugs, averting any sanctions against the two main narcotics
suppliers to the American market.

Only Burma and Afghanistan were "decertified," as they were last year,
triggering US economic sanctions against them. 

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

THE BANGKOK POST: INTERPOL ENDORSES JUNTA'S DRUG PROPOSALS 
26 February, 1999 

RANGOON, AFP

NATIONS IN BOYCOTT OF ANTI-DRUG CONFERENCE

Interpol issued a clear endorsement of Burma's anti-drugs policy yesterday
at the end of a heroin conference boycotted by some western nations to deny
legitimacy to the country's military junta.

Paul Higdon, director of Interpol's criminal intelligence unit, said he was
confident Burma was committed to shedding its pariah status as one of the
world's largest suppliers of opium.

"I am very confident that there is the political will on the part of the
Myanmar authorities," he said.

"There is a programme for the eradication of the opium poppy."

But Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said she doubted its
effectiveness and criticised Australia for attending despite the western
boycott led by Britain and the United States.

"It doesn't seem to have been a tremendous success as far as we can make
out," the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader and Nobel laureate
told reporters.

"I know of course that many countries boycotted the conference and didn't
attend so I cannot say we consider it one which was very successful."

She said Australia "is not working in coordination with the other
countries. "I do not know why exactly they decided it is necessary for them
to attend this conference and what benefit they hope to get from this," she
said.

Burma earlier provided a striking visual portrait of its anti-drugs efforts
when it torched millions of baht worth of seized drugs in a ceremony in
Rangoon.

Officials also took another swipe at the west, accusing nations boycotting
Interpol's international heroin conference of hypocrisy and of failing in
their responsibility to help its drug eradication drive.

Mr Higdon, who said at the of the conference that it was up to delegates to
"challenge" Burma on its drugs policy, said the government's presentations
at the conference were "open, candid, frank".

Burma will next year embark on a 15-year programme which it says will lead
to the total eradication of opium fields.

"It is not a programme that has been put together with chewing gum and
baling wire," Mr Higdon said.

"I am confident it will succeed," he said, adding that the conference would
lend enhanced credibility to Burma's anti-drugs efforts, even though its
purpose had been to improve cooperation of law enforcement bodies.

However, in a reference to the boycott, and some countries' refusal to fund
Rangoon's drug eradication measures, he said: "It could be done quicker
with outside help".

As well as reservations over the country's human rights record and its
refusal to hand over power to Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition which easily
won 1990 elections, boycotting nations say Burma's anti-drugs efforts do
not go far enough.

Burma's top anti-drugs officer Colonel Kyaw Thein told reporters that 1,386
hectares of opium fields had been destroyed since September, containing
15.25 tonnes of opium.

Over the last decade 371 tonnes of opium had been destroyed, he said
quoting official figures.

Burma earlier displayed results of their successful crackdown on drug
trafficking when thousands of kilogrammes of assorted drugs were consumed
by flames in front of junta First Secretary Khin Nyunt.

Interpol closed the conference by adopting 10 resolutions aimed at
coordinating the anti-drugs fight, involving cross border cooperation,
judicial efforts to battle narcotics and extradition treaties.

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

ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL: SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN BURMA 
25 February, 1999

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

Holding an Interpol conference on heroin trafficking in Rangoon was
certainly a novel idea. Apparently someone at the international police
organization figured that if you want to talk about heroin why not do it in
a country where a large chunk of the world's supply originates.

But it also is easy to see why some of the stalwarts of Interpol, which
facilitates cooperation among police organizations around the world, chose
to sit this one out. The U.S., Britain and France, among others, didn't
think it very appropriate to dignify the Rangoon regime with a conference
of this sort. Not only is the military regime's human rights record one of
the worst in Asia, but there are plenty of reasons to doubt its sincerity
when it says it wants to cooperate with international drug enforcers.

Given the Burmese government's effectiveness in suppressing political
opposition, who can doubt that it could be almost equally as effective in
patrolling the poppy fields, rounding up the country's drug kingpins and
putting them out of action. That is, if it wanted to. If Interpol thinks it
has some evidence that such an effort is being made, it should share that
information with the rest of us.

Certainly, the statistics don't show any diminution of the heroin flow out
of the Golden Triangle region that has for years been a major source for
the world. There is widespread speculation that much of the heroin and
other drugs from Burma move northward into China these days, for
distribution into the illicit channels that get it to users in Europe and
North America, not to mention Asia.

The Western countries giving this week's Interpol meeting a miss had good
reason to believe that Rangoon wanted the conference not just as a badge of
honor and recognition for the regime, but more importantly as a forum at
which it could direct blame for the drug trade away from producing
countries and onto the consuming countries. Indeed, that was precisely the
line taken by Burma's Minister of Home Affairs, Col. Tin Hlaing, at an
opening address to the conference. "These huge markets fuel a global
narcotics trade which threatens to affect many countries in the developing
world, including Myanmar," he said, using the country's modern name.

There is, unfortunately, enough truth in his statement to give it sting.
Without doubt, the U.S. under President Bill Clinton has made only a weak
effort to continue the efforts to educate young people about the evils of
drugs that were begun in the Reagan administration. Certainly, both the
U.S. and Britain could be doing more to discourage use.

But this charge is also a cop-out for Burma. Attracting the Interpol
meeting was another gambit in the charm offensive the regime has been
running. But, it will be truly surprising if any pledges of cooperation
that may be made there are ever fulfilled. Inexplicable economic,
statistics and a host of other pointers now strongly support the allegation
that narco-dollars help sustain the regime and its operations. That is only
one more reason to believe that whatever goes on in Rangoon this week,
Burmese overtures are not likely to be of substance, but rather are more on
the order of substance abuse.

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

THE STRAITS TIMES: HIGH LEVEL MEETING IN YANGON 
26 February, 1999 

TRADE and Industry Minister Lee Yock Suan called on Myanmar's Prime
Minister Senior General Than Shwe yesterday, underlining the warm relations
between the two countries.

Two other Singapore ministers -- Communications Minister Mah Bow Tan and
National Development Minister Lim Hng Kiang -- also attended the half-hour
call at Myanmar's Defence Ministry.

They were in Yangon for the third joint ministerial meeting to promote
bilateral economic co-operation between the countries.

Describing the state of current bilateral relations, Mr Lee noted that the
warm ties were "underscored by the close friendship, understanding and
trust between both sides".

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

ASIAN AGE: TOP INDIAN OFFICIAL IN BURMA FOR TALKS 
26 February, 1999 

AFP

New Delhi, Feb. 25: Indian foreign secretary K. Raghunath left on Thursday
for Burma to continue what a senior official describes as the "quiet
diplomacy" the two countries have been pursuing for some time. There was no
fixed agenda for Mr Raghunath's talks with Burma's deputy minister for
foreign affairs U Khin Maung Win, said the official, who did not wish to be
identified. "Everything on earth will be discussed. We don't have much
regular contact and it is not an institutional system of bilateral ties,"
he said.

Bilateral, political, economic, international and regional issues would be
discussed by the two sides, he added. This is first high-level Indian visit
to Burma since then minister of state for external affairs Saleem Sherwani
had visited Rangoon in November 1997 to inaugurate the Indian Trade
Exhibition.

Foreign secretary J.N. Dixit had made breakthrough visit to Rangoon in
March 1993 after a review by New Delhi of its policy towards Southeast
Asian neighbor with which the country shares a common land border. Mr
Dixit's visit was followed by that of his Burmese counterpart in January
1994. In December 1986, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had visited Burma,
but after the military takeover there the relations got strained as India
criticized the military junta. 

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

THE BANGKOK POST: THE NEED FOR GREATER DIALOGUE 
28 February, 1999 by U Win Aung 

BURMA'S TROUBLES CAN ONLY BE SOLVED THROUGH PATIENCE, UNDERSTANDING, AND
COMPROMISE FROM ALL SIDES.

Why are the western powers paying attention only to Aung San Suu Kyi and
her National League for Democracy (NLD)? There are other groups and persons
in Burma who are fighting for democracy and human rights, who deserve the
same kind of recognition and support as the NLD.

Those countries which truly want to help us regain our freedom from
military dictatorship should understand that no single party, the NLD or
any other, could lead us to achieve our democratic goals. We need to have a
united and concerted movement in fighting against military rule.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) now has only one
formidable political opposition party to deal with since other political
parties and activists are not recognised by the world. The military
government is free to concentrate on crushing the NLD, and once it succeeds
there will be no other democratic force left to put up a strong opposition
against it.

That is the kind of political scenario that I don't want to see in my country.

Right now, Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD are on the defensive politically.
The ruling generals have the upper hand and are exerting great pressure on
the opposition party by systematically liquidating the NLD's branch
organisations throughout the country. In November last year alone, hundreds
of members of NLD township organisations resigned en masse and reported
their resignations to the Government Election Commission offices.

It must be pointed out that the authorities put these NLD members under
"guest house detention" for more than two months before they tendered their
resignation.

It is obvious that the NLD is losing its strong supporters and its movement
is crippled. Government-sponsored rallies in every state in October last
year called for the expulsion of Aung San Suu Kyi from the country and a
ban on the NLD. SPDC officials later told foreign reporters that they had
no such plans.

On the other hand, the SPDC will try its best to weaken the NLD and make it
inactive.

There will be a political vacuum in Burma if the above political
assessments become true. The fall of the NLD would bring all the democratic
struggles to an end since there is no other standing party to take over the
helm. This is not a healthy scenario.

We need at least two democratic parties in Burma so that we may have a
healthy political balance among the parties. We have to lay down the strong
basics in the early stages of the process and we need the help of the
world's nations to be able to do so.

At a press conference held in November last year, Aung San Suu Kyi
reiterated that she would not accept any talks with the SPDC that would
exclude her participation. I want to ask Aung San Suu Kyi to reconsider her
stand. The Burmese people are in the lowest stage of their life. They are
getting dismayed about the uncompromising situation in the country and are
also becoming disappointed with the failure by both sides to find answers
to the problems. Burmese people believe that both the military government
and the NLD are hard-headed and unwilling to give top priority to the
suffering of the people.

By agreeing to start talks with the military government unconditionally,
Aung San Suu Kyi would be putting pressure on the government to have a
dialogue with her party. Agreeing to use mediators might be a good idea
too. The only thing that matters to the people of Burma is to find the
quickest solution to the problems that are making their life difficult. It
does not matter who does the talking or who takes part.

Whenever we discuss the Burma situation, locals and foreigners like to
argue, "This is not in compliance with the law." I feel sorry for those who
like to make such arguments because there is no law in Burma at the moment.
If you have authority then you have the law. If you do not have authority
then you do not have the law. That is the way of life for us at present.
When you do not have laws to protect your rights, what do you do? This is
the question that the Burmese are asking each other these days and it seems
nobody could come up with a good answer.

Some hardliners would argue that force should be met with force and that
dictators could be removed by force only. It might be true, but the Burmese
people are tolerant and peaceful and would resort to force only as the very
last means. Our religion forbids it, our culture forbids it. We hate to
raise any harmful hand against our kind. The military leaders may be taking
advantage of this national feeling in putting the country under their iron
rule. This is not fair. Why are the generals doing this to their own people?

There are two theories to answer this question. First, the generals are
fearful that they would have to answer for their wrong-doings committed
since 1988. Popular calls for the indictment of former military dictators
for the atrocities against their own people have put fear in the Burmese
military leaders' heads.

One of the top NLD leaders once told a reporter that there was a
possibility to hold a court hearing against the Burmese generals as they
did in Nuremburg, Germany, for the former Nazis. This kind of statement did
not help us at all.

I, for one, would like to assure the generals that I would not hold
anything against them for what they did in the past ten years or so in the
name of the State. My reason for forgiveness is quite simple: they are
humans and they are prone to human error and weakness. And I am quite sure
that the majority of our people feel the same way. The Burmese will forgive
and forget everything once the generals amend their mistakes and agree to
change things the way the public wants. This is the kind of public
assurance the military want to have from other political parties,
especially from the NLD, which has so far failed to do so.

Local and foreign observers of Burma must realise that the Burmese armed
forces are very proud of their standing, right or wrong. They could not be
put to their knees. Their motto is "We shall rather die fighting, than to
face defeat alive". This means the military junta will never accept defeat,
even politically.

Therefore we must be willing to give some grounds to the military
government to make a successful withdrawal from the political scene. This
might take some time and much patience on the part of local political
parties. The tense atmosphere in Burma is due to the fact that some of the
political parties and politicians are getting impatient with the military
ways of running the country and they want to do things their way.

In other words, the politicians want immediate changes and the military is
against them. The military wants a successful withdrawal, not a defeated one.

The second theory is that the present military leaders genuinely believe
their way to develop the country is right.

Regardless of the widespread corruption among the officials, high or low,
military and civilian, I would say the soldiers still hold good intentions
towards the people and believe what they are doing is the best for the
country. This is the most dangerous assumption to be taken by the de facto
government of Burma as it is evident that the country is in deep trouble.
So we have to convince the men in power that they have to make changes.
They have to talk to the people and the politicians.

As things stand now, it is almost impossible to have talks between the NLD
and the military government. Therefore, I would like to suggest that the
military government start talking to the other parties' representatives,
especially independent politicians and nationalists. To keep on neglecting
the true situation in the country and refuse to make changes would
certainly invite dissatisfaction, anger and finally unrest among the
people. This I do not want to see.

I want to see the military and the politicians working together in harmony
to help the people. I regret that both are not trying hard enough to do that.

* U Win Naing is an advocate of democracy and human rights in Burma. He was
a long-time political associate of the late Burmese Prime Minister U Nu.

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

THE NATION: THE TALK OF THAILAND IS BURMA 
26 February, 1999 by Edward Neilan 

CHINA'S STRATEGIC INTENTIONS TOWARD RANGOON HAVE REPLACED FINANCIAL
RECOVERY AS THE TOP TOPIC IN JAPAN, WRITES EDWARD NEILAN.

Bangkok - The three-and-one-half hour trip by motorised cruiser on the
mighty Chao Phraya river from the ancient capital of Ayutthaya to the
present capital of Bangkok gives one a refreshing respite from all the
Asian crisis talk that has been in the air.

I didn't spot a hedge fund or a floating debenture on the entire journey.

Seriously, Thai river life is prospering as always. It wasn't until the
vessel packed with European, Japanese and American tourists reached the
centre of the city and the empty skyscraper that is supposed to be the
luxury Sofitel hotel loomed 35 stories on the right bank, that it was even
hinted that something might be wrong with real estate and banking here.

Further down-river, The Peninsula from Hong Kong is new and setting high
occupancy rate records. On the other side, the Royal Orchid Sheraton
Towers, The Oriental (voted the world's best hotel nearly every year), and
the Shangri-la hotels may turn the economy around all by themselves -- the
upscale tourism business is that good.

Thais are pretty much tired of listening to the IMF (International Monetary
Fund) and other foreigners telling them what to do about their economy; the
baht devaluation in 1997 set off what is now known widely as  "the Asian
financial crisis".

The ensuing domino effect in the region was the basis for the frustrated
predictions of how to get back on track and what went wrong in the first
place.

There are 11 bills before the Thai parliament right now that more or less
jibe with a consensus of international correction plans and these are
expected at best to add to the already encouraging signs that the Thailand
comeback has begun.

Now the talk of Thailand is Burma. No one here calls it Myanmar or the
capital Yangon except the Japanese embassy. The ruling junta which hijacked
elections changed the names but almost no one uses them.

Everybody else, including all Thai newspapers, use "Burma" and "Rangoon",
respectively. Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and George Orwell would
approve.

One argument is whether Thailand should support Burma in upcoming talks
with the European Union as a display of Asean (Association of Southeast
Asian Nations) solidarity or give the cold shoulder to Rangoon in order to
get EU economic assistance.

Of course, Burma still is in international hot water over its drug-running
record and this is one thing US Secretary of State Madeline Albert will be
talking about when she overnights here in early March.

She'll tell the Thais to exert pressure on the Burmese and to follow US
economic recovery suggestions.

Frankly, I think she would get more out of a boat trip on the Chao Phraya
river than staying holed up in the new American Embassy which was built on
the model of a medieval fortress. It is a scary looking place, interrupting
the calm of Wireless Road and giving the US an armed camp image based on
some imaginary terrorist threat rather than the old sedate image.

Asean had been repeatedly warned by its dialogue partners that admitting
Burma to Asean in 1997 would have negative consequences for the
organisation's diplomatic relations.

Rita Patiyasevi, an analyst writing in Thailand's independent newspaper The
Nation said "Burma's economy is in ruins with the region's economic decline
affecting investment in the country. Burma's foreign currency reserve is
estimated to be below US$150 million."

It is against this backdrop that Japanese concerns have intensified.

For the Japanese, Burma's human rights excesses, drug dealings and the
furor over the EU meeting take a back seat to a more grand strategic
security threat which they see Chinese encroachment.

This is the view of a significant number of foreign diplomats and Thai
analysts here who count themselves as "Japan watchers".

Acknowledging that the Japanese foreign ministry puts a different spin on
the situation, these analysts say their explanation is the only way to
account for Japan's coziness with Rangoon's junta, over American objections.

Japan's invitations to junta members including training of army officers
and continued economic ties aims to blunt China inroads which include
building of port facilities along the Andaman Sea as part of economic
cooperation with Burma.

Chinese usage of Andaman Sea bases would pose a threat to Japan's oil
shipping lifeline to the Middle East.

EDWARD NEILAN is a Tokyo-based analyst of Northeast Asian affairs and a
media fellow at Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

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THE NATION: BURMESE REFUGEES TO BE MOVED TO NEW, SAFER SITE 
28 February, 1999 

TAK- Some 20,000 Burmese refugees in Mae Sot and Phop Phra districts of Tak
province will soon be moved to a new, safer site near Up Pang district to
keep them from being targeted by armed ethnic rivals.

National Security Council (NSC) secretary-general Khajadpai Buruspat said
the NSC decision to merge the two camps into one was taken to reduce the
number of holding camps along the Thai-Burmese border and hence maximise
protection.

Located near the Mae Sot-Um Pang Road, Khajadpai said the 817-rail camp
will provide easier access for Thai border authorities and non-governmental
organisations going there to help the refugees.

Speaking after inspecting the new site the official said he expected the
refugees not to cause any problem. He added that measures would be taken to
help Thai villagers living the vicinity of the camp.

The refugees, mostly Karens loyal to Karen National Union (KNU) leader Gen
Bo Mya comprise more than 9,000 from Ban Huey Kalok in Mae Sot and 10,000
from Ban Mor Ker in Phob Phra.

Last year, in a spate of attacks on the refugees camps along the border,
their relatives were either abducted or killed by Burmese armed intruders
believed to be Buddhist Karen crossing into Thailand.

However, Khajadpai said he was optimistic that the dry-season fighting
between Burmese military troops and KNU fighters will not affect Thai
villagers as much as it did last year.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: UN BRIEFING ON WOMEN'S HEALTH IN BURMA 
26 February, 1999 from <burma1un@xxxxxxx> 

Briefing on "HEALTH AND WOMEN UNDER MILITARY RULE IN BURMA":

In parallel with the 43rd Session of the UN Commission on Status of Women,
Burma UN Service is going to organize a briefing on "HEALTH AND WOMEN UNDER
MITARY RULE IN BURMA" at UN Church Center, 777 UN Plaza, New York (Corner
of 44th Street & 1st Avenue), Conference Room, 10th Floor, on Wednesday,
March 3, 1999, 1:00-3:00 p.m. 

Main speakers are Dr. Khin Saw Win (Former Physician of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate),Naw May Oo (President, Karen National
League) and Dr. Win Myint Than (A physician who cared for refugees women
and children on the Thailand Burma border for many years). Presentations
will be made on "Women and Reproductive Heath", "Health Vs Conflict: Rape,
Violence and Psychological Impact on Women", and "Women and HIV/AIDS". All
Burma activists are cordially invited for this briefing.

Burma UN Service Office, New York
Tel: (212) 3380048

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