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Bangkok Post(18/11/99)
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<font size=4><b>Junta demands rise in airspace fee<br>
<i>Aviation dispute set to cloud Surin visit<br>
<br>
</font></i><font size=3>Nusara Thaitawat and Amornrat Mahitthirook <br>
</font><font size=5>R</font></b><font size=3>angoon is demanding a bigger
slice of the revenue from air travel between Thailand and Burma, or a
major reduction in the number of seats on offer, an informed source
said.<br>
Burmese aviation authorities told Thai Airways International to hand over
12% of the revenue from its profitable Burma route.<br>
If not, the number of seats available each week on the service, flown by
THAI and Myanmar Air, must be reduced by about 1,000 to 2,500, the source
said.<br>
The ultimatum has been issued as Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan prepares
to leave on a visit to Burma tomorrow.<br>
A delegation from the Civil Aviation Department, headed by its new
director-general, Sawat Sitthiwongse, is due in Rangoon today. Burmese
authorities have rejected a written "provisional understanding"
between THAI and Myanmar Air made two years ago which raised the number
of seats per week to 3,800.<br>
They said that was 300 more seats a week than a formal agreement
concluded about four years ago between the civil aviation authorities of
the two countries. The number of seats was not a matter to be decided
between airlines, they said.<br>
THAI currently operates 14 flights per week on the Burma route, using an
Airbus, and Myanmar Air two, using smaller planes.<br>
THAI earns US$16 million a year from its Burma flights, of which it
claims only 5% is profit. The route is one of its most lucrative as there
is no competition from other airlines.<br>
Rangoon's demand for 12% of THAI's revenue was in total disregard that
there are costs involved and only 5%, or $800,000, was net profit, the
source said.<br>
Senior officials involved in the talks are playing down the issue, as any
comment could further sour the already deteriorated relations between the
two countries.<br>
An informed source said THAI was expected to table a proposal to help
find passengers for Myanmar Air, and a more equitable profit sharing
formula.<br>
Talks have been ongoing since early this year. One source said Burmese
authorities have made it clear that the issue has to be settled without
further delay.<br>
The delegation, which is due back in Bangkok on Saturday, is composed of
senior officials from THAI, the Civil Aviation Department of the
Transport Ministry, and the Economic Affairs Department of the Foreign
Ministry.<br>
Burma closed its land and maritime borders with Thailand in the aftermath
of the occupation of its embassy in Bangkok on Oct 1-2 by Burmese
dissident students.<br>
Thailand gave the raiders safe passage to the border after they released
all hostages. Burma has demanded their apprehension and trial.<br>
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</font><font size=4><b>Camp to be rid of trouble-makers<br>
<i>Unruly exiles will be kept at police school<br>
<br>
</font></i><font size=5>T</font></b><font size=3>rouble-making Burmese
students at the Maneeloy holding centre will be separated from the rest
and detained at the police private school in Bang Khen, an Interior
Ministry source said yesterday.<br>
Security at the camp in Ratchaburi province was stepped up and students
were banned from leaving the centre without permission. Officials also
speeded up the installation of barbed wire around the camp.<br>
Two incidents took place on Tuesday night involving Burmese student
exiles from the camp, according to reports from camp authorities.<br>
In one, a student was shot and wounded after he allegedly stole a duck
from a villager. He is now being held on a theft charge.<br>
The shooter surrendered to police and applied for bail, while the wounded
student is still in hospital.<br>
In another incident, village defence volunteers fired two rounds into the
air after a scuffle with students who refused to be searched. The
volunteers demanded a search after seeing one with a gun, which turned
out to be a toy.<br>
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said the scuffle between Burmese students
and volunteers resulted from more stringent controls on the students'
movements.<br>
The students might not yet be used to the stricter measures, he
said.<br>
In Nakhon Si Thammarat, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan stressed that the
Burmese students were living in Thailand because of the mercy of its
people and the international community.<br>
The Foreign Ministry's international organisations department chief,
Surapong Posayanond, is to hold talks with the representative of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees very soon, he said.<br>
The UNHCR assists about 1,000 Burmese refugees living at Maneeloy.<br>
"If these [Burmese] people do not want to settle down and get
prosperous or further their education in a third country, they will have
to stay put in the holding centre without causing further disturbance to
their hosts, particularly Thai officials," Mr Surin said.<br>
He said such problems would lead to quicker processing of Burmese
refugees seeking resettlement in a third country.<br>
Sources said most of the 1,000 Burmese exiles at Maneeloy had registered
for third-country resettlement. But there remain an additional 1,700
Burmese refugees waiting to be processed. <br>
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</font><font size=4><b>Soldiers wounded<br>
</font><font size=5>M</font></b><font size=3>ae Hong Son-Two soldiers
were seriously wounded yesterday in an explosion while clearing mines
along the border with Burma.<br>
Mst-Sgt Charoen Kaewthum, 42, lost his right leg and Sgt Suksan Butkham,
36, suffered multiple wounds when they set off the mine near tambon Na Pu
Pom, Pang Ma Pha district.<br>
More than 20 villagers and soldiers have been killed or wounded by mines
believed planted by Burmese soldiers, Third Army officers said.<br>
<br>
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<br>
</font><font size=5><b>Policy criticised<br>
T</font></b><font size=3>he repatriation of Burmese workers should be
halted until it is safe for them to return, Amnesty International
Thailand said yesterday.<br>
The Rangoon junta was placing the workers in danger by refusing to admit
them, said Suvimol Thevasilchaikul, director of the agency.<br>
Mrs Suvimol said the government was violating the Declaration of Human
Rights, which is signed in 1948. The prime minister and interior minister
signed in support of the declaration on its 50th anniversary in
1998," she added.<br>
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