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BKK Post (14-10-99)Chuan halts Chet

Subject: BKK Post (14-10-99)Chuan halts Chettha's Burma trip

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<font size=5><b>Chuan halts Chettha's Burma trip<br>
</font><font size=3>Wassana Nanuam<br>
</font><font size=5>T</font></b><font size=3>he prime minister has
blocked a trip to Rangoon by Gen Chettha Thanajaro who planned to ask
Burmese leaders to re-open the border and lift the ban on Thai
trawlers.<br>
Chuan Leekpai, who told Gen Chettha, Maj Gen Sanan Kachornprasart's
adviser, to wait for some positive signs from Rangoon, wanted problems
with Burma handled through diplomatic channels, a source said.<br>
Mr Chuan's decision marks a break from the practice of relying more on
close personal ties between Thai and Burmese military leaders than
diplomatic channels in tackling bilateral problems.<br>
The source said Burmese military movements along the border were troop
rotations but troops would stay on 24-hour alert as a precaution.<br>
Burma normally deploys about 15 battalions at a major border point, said
the source, who ruled out a major offensive against Burmese ethnic rebels
but admitted the possibility of skirmishes.<br>
Meanwhile, Banchong Vipakkij-anan, chairman of the Fisheries Association
of Ranong, said yesterday the fishing industry and related businesses had
been pinning their hopes on the former army chief's ability to convince
Burma to reopen its waters to Thai fishing boats with concession
rights.<br>
Kachadpai Burusphat, the National Security Council chief, said during
this visit to the Maneeloy holding centre for Burmese students in Suan
Phueng district, Ratchaburi, that security would be tightened at the
centre.<br>
Authorities were co-ordinating with Canada and Australia on resettling
the Burmese students in a third country.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
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</font><font size=5><b>US assured on the fate of exiles<br>
</font><font size=4><i>Removal call sparks fear of tough stance<br>
<br>
</font></i><font size=3>Post Reporters<br>
</font><font size=5>T</font></b><font size=3>hailand yesterday reassured
the United States it has not toughened up its position on asylum seekers
despite the National Security Council's recent call for the removal of
dissident Burmese students taking refuge in Thailand.<br>
M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the deputy foreign minister, yesterday gave
the assurance to US Assistant Secretary of State Julia Taft, who was in
Thailand as part of a tour that also took her to India and Nepal.<br>
Mrs Taft repeated Washington's offer to continue assistance for refugees
in Thailand and to increase the number of resettlement opportunities for
Burmese students.<br>
M.R. Sukhumbhand did say there would be a new emphasis on enforcing
Burmese students' stay in the Maneeloy holding centre.<br>
A group of dissidents calling themselves the &quot;Vigorous Burmese
Student Warriors&quot; seized the Burmese embassy in Bangkok two weeks
ago. The incident led to the souring of Thai-Burmese relations. Kachadpai
Burusphat, the NSC secretary-general, last Friday called on the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to send the 2,700 Burmese students
under its care in Thailand to a third country without seeking their
consent first. His call sparked fears Thailand was ditching its
longstanding humanitarian policy of giving asylum to displaced
people.<br>
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