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[theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Ma
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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: March 15, 2000
________________ THE BURMANET NEWS _________________
/ An on-line newspaper covering Burma \
\_________________ www.burmanet.org ___________________/
Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Issue # 1487
To view the version of this issue with photographs, go
to-
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$238
_______________________________________________________
NOTED IN PASSING:
"The [regime's policy of large-scale displacement of
certain ethnic groups, the continued practice of forced
labour for military camp work and portering and related
human rights violations remain the main cause of refugee
movements."
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Myanmar Rajsoomer
Lalah (See AFP: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABJECT
POVERTY IN MYANMAR)
_______________________________________________________
*Inside Burma
ASIAWEEK: MAI GETS IT WRONG
BANGKOK POST: SICK KHUN SA EXPECTED TO RETURN HOME
SSA: ANOTHER RAID ON HEROIN FACTORY
AFP: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABJECT POVERTY IN
MYANMAR
THE NATION: HISTORIAN TRIES TO SAVE LANGUAGE
THE IRRAWADDY: THE NEW FACE OF THE KNU
THE IRRAWADDY: SILENT MIGRATION
*International
FEER: MYSTERY BURMA TALKS
MIZZIMA: INSURGENCY AND VIOLENCE ON THE RISE IN INDIA'S
NORTH EASTERN STATES
BANGKOK POST: YOU DON'T GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
*Other
ACTIONS BIRMANIE: NEW ELEMENTS ON BIRMANIE.NET WEBSITE
YALE: NEW BOOK--"THE 1988 UPRISING IN BURMA" BY DR. MAUNG
MAUNG
___________________ INSIDE BURMA ______________________
ASIAWEEK: MAI GETS IT WRONG
(Asiaweek, March 17, 2000)
In December, Myanmar forced Thai Airways International to
cut back it's weekly passenger load of about 3,500
between Yangon and Bangkok to the jointly aggreed cap of
2,500. The Thais had quitely upped the number to 3,500
and were doing well-it's a lucrative route for them.
Myanmar thought that if Thai Airways' capacity was
reduced, passengers(most of them tourists) would be
forced to fly Myanmar Airways International. It didn't
worked out that way. Instead of opting for MAI,
travellers apparently opted out. The clearst result of
the decision? Hotels in the tourist centres of Yangon,
Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake are complaining of falling
occupancy rates.
Related link:
MAI schedules: http://www.myanmars.net/mai/
_______________________________________________________
BANGKOK POST: SICK KHUN SA EXPECTED TO RETURN HOME
March 15, 2000
Favourite house being prepared
Subin Khuenkaew and Cheewin Sattha
Khun Sa is next month expected to return to his former
stronghold in Homong, opposite Mae Hong Son, to live out
the rest of his days.
Following months of speculation about his return, sources
among border security authorities and the former drug
warlord's followers, said a house in Homong, known to be
one of his favourites, is being cleaned and renovated in
anticipation of his return in early April.
A family member said Khun Sa, or Chang Shi-fu, is
paralysed on the right side and can hardly speak. "He
wishes to spend his final days in Homong. This is the
place where he lived his most successful years," the
relative said.
Homong is 40km inside eastern Shan State, Burma. Opposite
Muang district, the area was once an advanced settlement
along the Thai-Burmese border, with a hospital,
telephones, a hotel and even a karaoke bar.
Before his capitulation to the Burmese military junta in
early 1996, Khun Sa built a stupa 3km south of Homong and
had told close aides it was to be his final resting
place.
Homong has been under the control of Burmese soldiers
since early 1996.
A source at the Office of Narcotics Control Board said he
was aware of the rumours but could not confirm them. He
said that it would be difficult for Khun Sa to regain his
status as a drug warlord with the United Wa State Army
now firmly in control of the drugs trade in the Golden
Triangle.
The charismatic Khun Sa, half-Chinese half-Shan, once
controlled most of the opium and heroin trade in the
drug-producing area where the borders of Burma, Laos and
Thailand meet.
Early this month, the South China Morning Post quoted an
unidentified source as saying the State Peace and
Development Council, the ruling junta in Rangoon, had
given permission for his return to Homong.
_______________________________________________________
SSA: ANOTHER RAID ON HEROIN FACTORY
SSArmy News
March 14, 2000
Another raid on a heroin refinery
According to the SSA's policy against narcotics, our men
from Khun Sarng Ton Hoong's column made a raid on a
heroin refinery at Wan Kharng Par (half way between Ho
Mong and Pieng long). The raid took place on 10th March
2000, from 18:00 to 18:45 hr. This refinery has been
under the protection of SPDC's 221 IB and is only 25
minutes walk from its garison. The owner of this refinery
is known to be ''Ai Lieng" and the following items were
captured in this raid.
1. Pure heroin (still in processing to become flakes) -
7.7 Kilograms.
2. Opium juice (still in boiling stage) - 110 Kg.
3. Opium byproducts (1 large bag) appx. - 60 Kg.
4. Opium residue (sot zua) - .6 Kg.
5. Acids (30 litres per container) - 6 containers.
6. Ether - 2 bottles.
7. Quick lime (50 kg per sack) - 5 sacks.
8. Honda generator - 1 pcs.
9. Gas 10 - tanks
10. Large cauldron 5 pcs.
11. Large frying pan for opium - 1 pcs.
12. Hong fee set - 1 set.
13. Suction pump - 1 pcs.
14. Glass funnel and large glass bottle - 1 set.
15. Long glass tube - 1 pcs.
16. Sieve - 1pcs.
As this refinery is settled near the SPDC's 221 IB camp,
the captured items which could not be evacuated were
burnt or destroyed togetherwith the 2 refinery-huts by
our troops.It is also known that besides the protection
of this refinery, the SPDC troops also supply them with
chemicals.
Supreme Command
Shan State Army
_______________________________________________________
AFP: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND ABJECT POVERTY IN
MYANMAR
GENEVA, March 14 (AFP) - Two international reports on
Myanmar condemned Tuesday widespread human rights
violations and the large-scale dipslacement and
mistreatment of some ethnic groups.
"The adoption by the government of Myanmar of military
solutions to political problems ... continues to generate
a pattern of gross and systematic human rights
violations," a UN report released in Geneva said.
"Myanmar's ethnic and religious minorities such as the
Karen, Karenni, Shan and Rohingyas continue to suffer
severe abuses including arbitrary arrest, killings,
forced labour in the army and trafficking of women," said
the report compiled by special rapporteur Rajsoomer Lalah
in January.
"The policy of large-scale displacement of certain ethnic
groups, the continued practice of forced labour for
military camp work and portering and related human rights
violations remain the main cause of refugee movements."
Meanwile, an Amnesty International report compiled by
four Danish doctors and a representative of the
DanChurchAid group who in 1979 and 1999 examined Myanmar
refugees in Thailand, also found evidence of human rights
violations. The 997 refugees had been "subjected to
forced labour and porter service, forced relocation from
their villages, arbitrary arrest, and physical assault,
including torture and killing," said Dr Hans Draminsky
Petersen. Refugees from 1999 "reported just a massive and
systematic violations of human rights, and there was
nothing to suggest that the situation had improved
during the two intervening years."
Most of the refugees examined were from the Shan, Karen
and Mon ethnic groups, the report said.
The UN report also raised the issue of political
prisoners, saying that there were thought to be about 800
in 1998. It also estimated that about one million
children in Myanmar suffer from malnutrition, and that
there was an increasing use of heroin and an alarming
spread of HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile in Yangon, UN Assistant
High Commissioner for Refugees Soren Jassen Petersen held
talks on Tuesday with senior members of the Myanmar
military junta.
Myanmar watchers say the officials likely discussed the
repatriation of Rohingyas from Bangladesh. Soem 250,000
refugees fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar, although many
returned under a 1991 UNHCR-Yangon agreement.
_______________________________________________________
THE NATION: HISTORIAN TRIES TO SAVE LANGUAGE
March 15, 2000
Once a master race, the Mon people now have no country
and are desperately trying to save their language with
help from a Rangoon historian, writes
Peter Janssen of the Deutsche Presse-Agentur:
RANGOON - When the Mon New State Party agreed to end 48
years of armed insurgency against the central Burmese
military regime in June 1996, the Mon people notched up
yet another defeat in their long history of losses.
Over the past five centuries the Mon have arguably lost
two countries - Burma and Thailand.
Believed to be the first settlers in the agriculturally
rich central plains of Burma and Thailand, the modern Mon
are now a people without a country, and pretty soon they
may lose their language as well.
Rangoon-based Mon historian Nai Pan Hla, 76, is
struggling to stop his mother tongue from joining the
growing list of dead languages.
"Some people say I'm a madman," said Nai Pan Hla. "But I
don't want my language to disappear in my lifetime."
Since returning to Burma in 1998 from a 10-year
professorship in Japan, Nai Pan Hla has been teaching
ancient and modern Mon script and literature to 45 senior
academics in Rangoon and has 62 high school pupils in
Moulmein, now the main city in the Mon State of Burma.
"I think Mon will be a dead language within 40 years," he
said. "Everywhere in the world the minority language is
swallowed by the majority one."
The looming demise of the Mon language in Burma threatens
to further erase the cultural contribution of one o he
once-most powerful and widespread civilisations in
mainland Southeast Asia.
The Mon, part of the Tibetan-Khmer ethnic group believed
to have originated in the Yangzi River Valley of China,
were the first known inhabitants of the central plains
and sojuthern coastlines of modern-day Burma and
Thailand.
They became the dominant Khmer people in Cambodia, whose
modern language is similar, but incomprehensible to
Burmese-Mon.
Mon founded Burma's capital Rangoon, originally called
Dagon. Mon Buddhists built the spectacular Shwe Dagaon
pagoda, a towering structure, standing 99 metres high on
a hill overlooking the capital, originally calling it
"Kyaik Dagon" in Mon, ro "Dagon Pagoda".
Dagon itself is a Mon word meaning "three hillocks",
describing the city's three distinctive peaks.
In Thailand, the Mon were the first known settlers in the
central plains, before being slowly assimilated by the
southern migration of the ethnic Thais.
"The population of Ayutthaya, Thailand's old capital, was
half Mon and half Thai," said Nai Pan Hla, an ethnic Mon
himself who spent 40 years working for the Archaeological
Department of Burma's Ministry of Culture.
Many prominent Thais still claim Mon heritage, among them
former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, whose ancestor
was a governor of Martaban in Burma, a city which no
longer exists.
While the Thais assimilated the Mon peacefully, their
fall from power in Burma was a bloody one.
In the 16th century, Pagan's King Tabin Shwe-ti, the
second Burmese monarch to unite the country's plethora of
ethnic minorities under single rule, conquered the Mon
cities of Pegu, Martaban and Prome.
His campaign was a brutal one according to historical
accounts.
Fernao Mendes Pinto, the famous Portuguese adventurer who
was in Myanmar in 1542 during the sacking of Prome, gave
this lurid eye-witness accunt:
"The inhumanities committed were beyong imagination. The
King ordered all the dead children that lay up and down
the streets to be brought, and causing them to be hacked
very small, he gave them mixed with bran, rice and herbs
to his war elephants to eat."
Despite their wars against the Mon, the Burmese people
obviously shared much in common with the Mon. In Pagan,
the traditional seat of power for the Burmese ethnic
group, ancient Mon script was used for Royal edicts and
temple inscriptions up until the 12th century.
Burmese kings only started to use their own script in
1113, when King Anawrahta came to power.
The early Burmese also used Pyu script, a Burmese
language that is now extinct, as are the Pyu people as a
distinct ethnic minority.
Burma's military junta claims there are eight major races
today in their country and some 135 different ethnic
groups, making a racial melting pot they often use to
excuse their heavy-handed grip on power.
"In fact there is only one real race in Burma, the Asian
race," said Nai Pan Hla. "What distinguishes the ethnic
groups are their different languages and dialects, and
their cultures."
Some ethnic minorities in Burma have managed to preserve
their language and culture by openly opposing all things
Burmese in their traditional territories.
Not so the Mon. "The Mon State is in name only. If you
visit the 10 cities in the Mon State in Burma you will
not hear anyone speaking Mon," complained Professor Nai
Pan Hla.
"The Mon mix easily with the Burmese people. The other
ethnic groups, like the Kachin, Karen and Shan, can keep
their languages because they don't mix with the Burmese,
but they will all eventually be assimilated as well," he
predicted.
_______________________________________________________
THE IRRAWADDY: THE NEW FACE OF THE KNU
Vol.8 No.2 Febraury 2000
The KNU leadership reshuffle looks to solidify internal
support as well as present a more refined view to the
rest of the world, report Aung Zaw and Moe Gyo.
Southeast Asia's longest running insurgency, the Karen
National Union (KNU), recently chose a new leader. Saw Ba
Thin Sein aka Ba Thin replaced Gen Bo Mya, ending his
twenty-four year rule. Accompanying the leadership change
is the advancement of a group of younger leaders elected
to the executive committee.
The KNU has seen better days during the past fifty-two
years of struggle against the Burman-dominated ruling
junta in Rangoon. In the past five years, it has suffered
several military setbacks and internal divisions,
including the loss of several key bases and a defection
of Karen Buddhists who later formed the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army. The DKBA is allied with the Rangoon ruling
junta. However, the leadership reshuffle looks to
solidify internal support as well as present a more
refined view to the rest of the world.
"In the last four years we were weak in exercising
collective leadership, some leaders acted on their own
[without respecting the organization]," a senior KNU
officer told The Irrawaddy.
In any event, KNU officials are happy with the recent
shake up. "Before we never had a chance to enter the top
ranking positions but we now have a chance to do that,"
said central executive committee member David Htaw.
"Unlike previous times, Bo Mya was quite reasonable and
appeared to accept the leadership changes," a senior KNU
leader said. In the past, the KNU leader refused to step
down. "But this time he accepted the vote," he said with
a smile.
But while the KNU has a new head, its body retains many
of its old leaders. Bo Mya is now vice president and
retains his positions as defense minister, chairman of
the Democratic Alliance of Burma and president of the
National Coalition of the Union of Burma. As one former
member of the Thai National Security Council (NSC) notes,
"This is not a big change at all as the new leader is of
the same generation."
One issue that has plagued the KNU has been the lack of
younger leaders in high ranking positions. But this has
changed. The new executive committee contains members of
the second generation of the KNU who have been involved
in the struggle for a long time but were too young to be
involved in its inception over half a century ago.
Among the new figures coming to power in the recent
reshuffle is Saw Satila, who will head the Religious
Affairs department. This move has surprised KNU watchers,
as he is a devout Buddhist and a former monk. Clearly, by
allowing a Buddhist Karen to head the religious
department, the Christian dominated KNU is wooing its
splinter groups, such as the DKBA.
Indeed, the DKBA has given the KNU a hard time: Thai-
based Karen refugee camps have come under fierce attacks
from DKBA rebels. Senior Karen leaders have been
abducted, harassed and killed by them. And pro-DKBA
Karens remain in the refugee camps.
The KNU is not only wooing the DKBA but also looking
abroad for support. "The leadership change is to improve
the KNU's international image. Ba Thin has good English.
"They [the KNU] want to appear more sophisticated," said
Burma watcher Bertil Lintner. Ba Thin, 73, has a career
path different from many KNU leaders. After serving in
the army, he has since served as head of the education
and culture department and as general secretary of the
KNU.
But will Ba Thin have a chance to show his diplomatic
skills? "It is still difficult," said a senior Karen
leader who was recently appointed to a higher post.
Shortly after the reshuffle, analysts were surprised at
the absence of Ba Thin from the Karen revolutionary day
ceremony held in the KNU-controlled area in the jungle.
All leaders except Ba Thin attended the ceremony and Bo
Mya gave the speech instead. "We wonder who is the real
leader," said a journalist who attended the ceremony. KNU
leaders insist that they now practice collective
leadership, but they also admitted that after serving
under Bo Mya for decades, Ba Thin may find it difficult
to show he is now in charge.
But soon after taking his new position, Ba Thin made some
interesting gestures. One of his first pronouncements was
a "politics before military" policy, which emphasized
strengthening the KNU organization. He also called for
all Karen factions to be united. So far, Ba Thin's soft
and gentle attitude has won him many supporters.
Previously, border-based dissidents expressed concern
that the KNU would soon enter into cease fire talks with
Rangoon. Some speculated that the recent KNU Congress was
selecting delegates to go to Rangoon for peace talks this
April. Senior KNU leaders have remained tight-lipped. But
one insider said that while the matter was discussed
during the conference, no decision has been made.
"Our cease fire policy with Rangoon won't change much,"
KNU's secretary general Padoe Mahn Shar said, adding that
Ba Thin's strategy would be moderate. "But he [Ba Thin]
is not pro-cease fire," Mahn Shar stressed.
According to a KNU insider, the organization wants to
keep channels open with Rangoon. Major Soe Soe who has
been acting as a KNU liaison officer keeps contact with
Rangoon. "There is always a line of communication," said
a KNU observer in Mae Sot, a border town with Burma.
So far, Rangoon's demands that the KNU lay down its arms
and abandon armed struggle have been rejected by the KNU.
Padoe Mahn Shar maintains that the KNU must keep their
weapons. "Our position is for the SPDC to stop oppression
against the KNU. They should make meaningful peace talks
with Karen and meaningful dialogue."
"Their position is to ask the KNU to enter the legal fold
but the legal fold is rule by martial law,"he added.
Thus it seems that even as the KNU remains embattled, the
change in leadership does not signal a change in the
KNU's policy of armed struggle, but is, rather, an
attempt to strengthen itself internally and improve its
international image so that it is in a better position to
broker a cease fire on its own terms. But it appears
unlikely that Rangoon would accept their cease fire
terms.
The KNU and Burmese have been engaged in intermittent
negotiations since mid-1995, but [the talks] have broken
down over the issue of arms. "The Karen have seen the
example of the Kachin's cease-fire. They want to keep
their weapons," says one KNU veteran.
The KNU's apparent steadfastness continues despite
mounting pressure. In the mid 1980s, the KNU was able to
field tens of thousands of soldiers and finance their
insurgencies with tax revenue from border trade. But
since their loss of territory in the mid 1990s, they have
limited funding, as they have lost revenue from logging
and trade and can't buy arms.
Analysts suggest that the KNU, which has lost its
strategic hills including its headquarters, is in deep
trouble.
But some Karen leaders believe otherwise. "It is a lot
easier [for us] to control as we do not need to take care
of our territory," said David Htaw. In the past, the KNU
controlled a large amount of territory, which it would
protect in set piece battles. "We now have no ammunition
we cannot fight the powerful Burmese army," he admitted.
THE THAI POSITION
Over the past decade, growing economic ties have brought
the governments in Rangoon and Bangkok together. Along
with this narrowing of the gap between the historic
rivals, the demise of the communist threat to Thailand
has prompted Thai security policy makers to withdraw
their tacit support for the KNU.
For several decades, the KNU provided a buffer zone
insulating part of Thailand's border from the Burmese.
The KNU's service as an auxiliary fighting force freed up
Thailand's limited military manpower to address other
security concerns such as Thailand's communist insurgency
and other neighboring communists in Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia. But these threats have dissipated, and "[the
Thais] have forgotten who protected them for almost fifty
years," said one KNU veteran.
This change in the region's geopolitical environment has
altered the utility of the KNU for Thailand. And for many
Thai policy makers, the KNU's presence on the border
represents a large number of refugees rather than the
military ally that it once was. Many officials in Bangkok
hope to relieve themselves of the burden of refugees.
In the past few years, the Thai Army and the NSC have
pressed the KNU return to the "legal fold" by closing
down ammunition supply routes and confiscating arms
caches hidden inside Thailand. The intention was to push
KNU to strike a deal with Rangoon.
But the Thais have learned a lesson from the fragile
peace deals in the recent past such as the Karenni, DKBA,
and other Karen factions, including God's Army. In the
past, the Thais pressured the Karen and its splinter
groups into cease fire on a piecemeal basis. But after
pushing the KNU's 4th and 6th Brigades into a ceasefire,
they realized that while they can foster a cease-fire,
the refugees remain and border incursions continue. The
recent hospital seizure in Ratchaburi by rebels with ties
to God's Army has complicated their policy assessments.
Since the KNU leadership reshuffle, the Thai government
has not yet pressured the KNU to make a cease fire deal
with Rangoon. While the Thais leaned on the KNU to reach
a deal in the past, the Thais now recognize that there is
a risk. "They [Thai government] want the KNU to strike to
deal with Rangoon but not as group by group," said a
senior KNU officer.
However, over 100,000 Karen refugees live in Thailand and
remain a major concern of the Thais, who are at odds
about how to deal with the refugees. Says one UNHCR
worker in Mae Sot, "Even if there is a repatriation it
will take at least three years." But this will be
difficult because of the instability inside Burma.
Thus, how long the KNU will last is also dependent on the
current Karen leadership as well as Thais. Meanwhile,
Thai officials and the Army are not interested to see the
KNU rushing to Rangoon. But realistically, they do not
also see that the KNU is about to enter a cease fire deal
with Rangoon.
"They [Thai] still want us to be on the border," said a
senior KNU officer. Presumably, for Thais keeping Karen
troops along the border is much safer than Burmese
troops.
A KNU agreement with Rangoon does not augur well for
Burma's dissidents on the border. "If they go, we
[democratic forces] will be in deep trouble," said a
Burmese dissident based in Mae Sot. "The day they [KNU]
strike a deal with Rangoon, our movement [here] is over,"
he said.
So far Karen, Burmese democrats and Thais do not see any
sincere peace gesture coming from Rangoon. And while the
KNU may reopen talks with Rangoon, they will most likely
proceed slowly. Definitely, Burmese dissidents who have
forged strong links and an alliance with the KNU will ask
Padoe Ba Thin and Bo Mya to hang on. They need each
other. With new leadership KNU is entering a new ball
game with Rangoon, its allies and splinter groups. They
are all watching.
*******************************************************
THE IRRAWADDY: SILENT MIGRATION
Vol.8 No.2 February 2000
A massive population transfer in Wa-controlled territory
has alarmed Thailand, writes Aung Zaw.
Since late last year, 90,000 ethnic Wa have moved to the
Mong Yawn area opposite Thailand's Mae Ai district. Wa
leaders, who reached a cease-fire deal with the Rangoon
regime in 1989, engineered the move. The United Wa State
Army (UWSA), which has 20,000 troops, is known as the
world's largest drug trafficking armed group.
"This [Wa migration] is a threat to Thailand," said a
source familiar with the Wa situation. He added that
without Rangoon's approval, the Wa wouldn't come.
So what is the real motive?
By the end of last year, 50,000 families had already
moved to the Mong Yawn area. According to truck drivers
in the area, more than 100,000 Was and ethnic Chinese
would be moving there. "More are coming," the source
added.
Sources have also confirmed that these internal migrants
include Chinese from mainland China.
At least 3 out of 10 people who have moved to Mong Yawn
are Chinese. Some could be former People's Liberation
Army soldiers who have come to Mong Yawn to give training
in how to use military equipment, Shan observers said. In
the past, China's military engineers and soldiers came to
the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) headquarters in
Pansaning for training. The CPB collapsed in 1989 and the
Wa set up the UWSA and reached a cease-fire deal with
Rangoon.
But in Rangoon, some generals might not be happy to see
the Wa and Chinese resettlement in Mong Yawn. "Maung Aye
faction definitely won't be happy with it," said a
source.
Maung Aye, number two in the ruling junta, did not strike
a cease-fire deal with the Wa. But his rival, Lt Gen Khin
Nyunt, reached a deal with former CPB rebels and has so
far maintained relatively good relations.
"The Wa now pose a threat to Rangoon," said a border
source.
According to Hong Kong-based Asiaweek magazine, the Wa
recently acquired modern weapons including shoulder-
launched anti-aircraft missiles.
If Maung Aye is upset and worried about the Wa build-up,
he's not alone. The Thai government and generals are
worried, too.
Thailand is uneasy with the Wa resettlement on the border
and the production of millions of methamphetamine
tablets, or "mad pills". Over the past few years, the ex-
communist Wa leaders have steadily expanded their heroin
empire and become known as Asia's biggest drug
trafficking group.
After druglord Khun Sa surrendered to Rangoon, the Wa
quickly took over his stronghold and the expansion
continued along the Thai-Burma border. Alarm bells are
ringing in Bangkok.
Recently, Thai army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont and
senior officer Gen Mongkol Ampornpisit visited Mae Ai
district, opposite the Wa-controlled territory, to assess
the situation. Last year, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai
accompanied the Thai army chief on a tour of the area.
In August, the Thais shut down the Ban San Ton Du
official checkpoint opposite Mong Yawn in order to stop
the flow of drugs. In addition to that, in their
strongest statement to date, high-ranking Thai officials
slammed Burmese army officials for their involvement in
the drug trade and accused Rangoon of ignoring the
expansion of drug trafficking activities by the Wa.
With the expansion, the production of mad pills in Wa
territory has increased by millions. The closure could
not halt the flow of drugs, as there are many illegal
routes. Besides, officials on both sides of the border
are known to be involved in the business.
Pornpimol Trichot from Chulalongkorn University said that
Wa pose a threat to Thai national security and Thai
people. "We know we can't solve this problem overnight
but more and more of our children becoming drug addicts."
In Thai newspapers, more and more drug seizures have been
seen. Thai drug enforcement authorities and the US Drug
Enforcement Agency (DEA) have nabbed some drug dealers
and seized millions of mad pills and heroin. But their
actions do not stop the drugs from coming into Thailand.
Professor Chairachut of the political science department
of Chulalongkorn University said that Thai officials are
also involved in the drug business. Thus, the crackdown
is not hitting the real big-time drug dealers.
Back in Rangoon, Col Kyaw Thein of anti-narcotics program
recently surprised foreign media and analysts by saying
that the regime has punished military officers who were
implicated in drug trafficking. It was the first time
Burma acknowledged its officers' involvement in the drug
trade. Sources in Rangoon also said that many of those
punished for drug-related offenses were closely connected
with Maung Aye. This may spell more trouble for Khin
Nyunt.
But analysts have argued that as long as former druglords
such as Khun Sa and Lo Hsing Han are given amnesty and
allowed to do business, the junta's war on drug means
nothing.
Back in Mong Yawn, Wei Xueigang, the ethnic Chinese
senior leader of the UWSA continues to build up his
empire. In October last year Lt Gen Khin Nyunt visited
Wei's headquarters. Wei was indicted in an eastern New
York Federal Court, and the US State Department has put a
US$2 million bounty on his head.
Last year, Rangoon hosted an Interpol conference on
heroin trafficking. Western nations boycotted the meeting
and activists slammed Interpol for handing the junta an
opportunity to whitewash its own involvement in the drug
trade.
So far, Rangoon's war on drugs is gaining no kudos.
Whatever moves they make are greeted with skepticism.
Neighbors have lost confidence in Burma as promised
cooperation has failed to materialize. The shaky cease-
fire deal with the Wa, drug trafficking and other
conflicts along the Thai-Burma border are threat to
regional stability, noted Chulalongkorn's Pornpimol
Trichot.
"Not God's Army but the UWSA is the real threat to our
society," said the Thai analyst.
___________________ INTERNATIONAL _____________________
FEER: MYSTERY BURMA TALKS
Bertil Litner
Far Eastern Economic Review
16 March 2000
An informal, closed-door conference on Burma, held in
Seoul on March 5-6, probably has the generals in Rangoon
worried, No official announcement has been made about the
outcome. But a Western diplomat based in Bangkok
describes the meeting of 14 countries--comprising Japan,
Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, several EU members,
Canada, Australia and the United States--as a
"brainstorming session" aimed at finding ways to
restore momentum to the United Nations' efforts to bridge
the political impasse between Burma's military government
and the country's democratic opposition. While the
attendance of fellow Asean members at the meeting has
angered Rangoon, even Burma's closet allies agree that
something has to be done to break the decade-long
deadlock.
After several unproductive visits to Rangoon, the UN's
special representative to Burma, Peruvian Alvaro de Soto,
has been given a new job in Cyprus, UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan has said he will name a new envoy; it's
possible that the meeting was called to discuss what his
approach to Rangoon should be. In late 1998, a similar
meeting was convened near London. Press reports at the
time said the Burmese junta had been offered $1 billion
in aid--provided it began a dialogue with the opposition.
While attendees denied this, they said they had discussed
"hard stick, big carrot" tactics to force talks.
The approach doesn't seem to be working. When Annan
visited the Thai capital in February, he called for
Burma's military rulers to restore democracy as a first
step toward being eligible for international aid.
However, Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung proposed the
opposite: He said aid was needed first--to spur economic
growth, which must precede democratization. Given these
totally different ways of looking at the problem, the
current stalemate is likely to continue.
_______________________________________________________
MIZZIMA: INSURGENCY AND VIOLENCE ON THE RISE IN INDIA'S
NORTH EASTERN STATES
New Delhi, March 15, 2000
Mizzima News Group
Insurgencies continue to fester and violence has been on
the rise in recent months in the North Eastern States of
India, according to Institute for Conflict Management. In
its newly launched website on terrorism in South Asian,
Institute for Conflict Management has stated
that insurgency-related violence has been on the rise in
the North Eastern States of India except in Mizoram State
which effectively resolved insurgency through dialogue in
1986.
"While insurgency in Mizoram has largely subsided,
security forces continue to battle with terrorism in
Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura. Despite a cease-
fire between the security forces and several
insurgent groups in Nagaland there have been reports of
violence," noted the Institute in its websitae:
http://www.icm-stap.com, which was launched on March 11.
Tripura is the worst violence-hit state amongst the North
Easten States in recent months and total 78 violent
incidents have been reported in the first five weeks of
this year. Total 47 insurgency-related violence
incidents have been so far reported in Assam while 39
incidents and 24 incidents are reported in Manipur and
Nagaland respectively during the first five weeks of
2000.
Moreover, over-all number of violence in Manipur, Tripura
and Nagaland had shown an increasing trend during 1999.
Though total number of incidents in 1999 had come down to
447 as against 735 last year in Assam State, it has
recently witnessed a number of dreadful incidents
including a killing of Assam PWD and Forest Minister Mr.
Nagen Sharma by the United Liberation Front of Assam
(ULFA) on February 27.
In Assam alone, total 23 major and minor insurgent groups
are operating while 15 such groups are operating in
Manipur State. Many of these groups are also active in
other neighboring states.
In its fight against terrorism and to combat increased
activities of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) in these North Eastern States, Indian government
has stepped up its security measures. In
Manipur alone, Indian Army had deployed over 20,000 men.
The government has also befriended the neighboring
countries like Burma and Bhutan in seeking their
cooperation to flash out base camps of these insurgent
groups from their territories.
It further stated that estimated 21 ULFA camps are
situated in Bhutan while a number of National Socialist
Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) camps are based in Burma's
remote territory bordering with India. There
were reports that Indian and Burmese government troops
have recently launched joint operations against ULFA and
NSCN (Khaplang) militants in Indo-Burma border areas.
Meanwhile, Bhutan government has also initiated steps
towards closing training camps of Indian insurgent groups
on its soil and issued a stern warning that anybody
helping the ULFA would be tried under the 1992
National Security Act. At least two Indian insurgent
groups, the ULFA and National Democratic Front of
Bodoland (NDFB) have their camps in
Bhutan.
The Institute for Conflict Management is a non-
governmental organization in India, set up by K.P.S.
Gill, former Director General of Punjab Police to engage
directly in the search for solutions to the widening
sphere of conflict and violence in South Asia which is
one of the most
volatile regions in the world.
_______________________________________________________
BANGKOK POST: YOU DON'T GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
March 15, 2000
Thai electricity users are paying high prices to cover
the cost of gas we do not receive. Something could be
done about it, but this might be seen as an admission of
another example of typical government bungling.
Pipob Udomittipong
The price of electricity has been rising dramatically in
line with the increased cost of fuels such as oil and
natural gas. Since nearly half our electricity is
produced from natural gas, higher gas prices mean higher
prices for consumers.
One of the main reasons for the expensive gas prices is
the disadvantageous contracts the Thai government has
signed with foreign petroleum companies. Eighty percent
of the gas purchased from foreign companies is burned for
power production, so these contracts have a significant
impact on consumer prices.
The Yadana gas project uses natural gas from the Andaman
Sea off Burma which is shipped to a Thai power plant via
a 500km pipeline.
Repeated delays have put the project almost two years
behind schedule, and Thai consumers are paying for gas
they are still not using. The government negotiated a
take or pay contract, and Thai consumers are bearing the
cost through unnecessarily high utility prices.
This is one of the many examples of government
mismanagement and putting the country at a long-term
disadvantage that jeopardises national interests.
The nature of the purchase contract means that constant
payments have to be made regardless of the amount of gas
taken or the needs of buyers. Even though the Petroleum
Authority (PTT), the main energy procurer, has not
received any gas from Burma, it has to pay the amount
agreed to in the contract in advance. Delivery should
have begun more than one and a half years ago.
Prasert Bunsampun, president of PTT Gas, said the PTT has
paid up to $55 million (two billion baht) to the Yadana
consortium led by Total-Fina of France and Unocal of the
United States. The power plant which will use the gas
also is not completed, so the PTT is now thinking about
seeking a review of the contract, according to Mr
Prasert, which could save the Thai public as much as $990
million (37.5 billion baht) over the next decade.
The contract requires that the purchase ceiling price
rise steadily based on estimates made during the economic
boom years. Despite the adjustment in projected demand in
2005 from four billion cubic feet per day of gas to 2.68
billion cubic feet, the PTT is paying advances for
nothing and this is hurting its financial position.
As a result of these advance payments and the
recapitalisation of several PTT subsidiaries that have
been hit hard financially, the spending deficit of all
state enterprises including the PTT will increase.
In other words, the late delivery of gas from Yadana has
worsened the financial situation of all state enterprises
and has reduced their net profit. Thai consumers are
bearing the brunt of this financial burden as people pay
more for electricity.
The Electricity Generating Authority (Egat) uses a fuel
adjustment factor to calculate the price of electricity.
If gas prices rise, this factor rises, and so too do
electricity rates. The burden has been passed on to the
people, who should not take responsibility for the
government's poor decision making.
The contract signed by the PTT and the Yadana consortium
forces us to buy gas at a fixed incremental rate for 30
years. It does not matter whether our demand for gas
rises or falls. We have to purchase the gas or pay
advances for gas we do not use. Even though we have found
other cheaper fuels, we cannot make use of them as we
must abide by this long-term fixed contract.
The long-term contract puts us at financial risk due to
foreign exchange fluctuations. Fluctuations have already
occurred and the exchange rate of the baht has gone from
25 to one US dollar to almost 40 baht in just over two
years.
Recently, Suwat Liptapallop, the industry minister, said
the government had to pay $75 billion for gas that we are
unable to use as a result of the poor contracts
surrounding the Yadana and Yetagun fields (the other gas
source from Burma) and seven other sources in the Gulf of
Thailand. He ordered the revision of all the contracts,
an attempt that may be opposed by the various
consortiums.
The price of gas from the Yadana and the Yetagun fields
is almost 50% more expensive than that of domestic gas
and that purchased from Unocal from the Gulf of Thailand.
The high price of the Yadana gas was reported as early as
September 1994, when Savit Bhodivihok, the minister
attached to the Prime Minister's Office, flew to Rangoon
to sign the memorandum of understanding before the sales
contract was signed officially in February 1995.
Conservation groups which have campaigned against the
Yadana project have suggested to the government that, in
light of the economic crisis, the project should be
postponed without breaching the terms of the contract.
This recommendation was based on the findings of a legal
committee appointed by the prime minister to review the
purchase contract. According to these findings, the
government, as the buyer, can cite the force majeure
clause to delay the commencement of delivery without
being fined. Details of the findings can be found in the
report submitted to the prime minister on Jan 12, 1997.
Conservation groups have proposed a number of times that
the economic crisis could be cited as force majeure to
delay construction. This was rejected by the PTT and the
government. They claim there can be no flexibility and
the country badly needs energy. Both claims have been
proven specious.
First, late in 1999, the PTT successfully negotiated a
reduction in the advance payment to the Yadana
consortium. Secondly, the country now faces a power glut.
The reserve margin of electricity is now more than 50% of
the actual need despite the fact that several generators
have halved output.
Ironically, Mr Suwat is bragging about his idea to revise
the contracts just as the conservation groups have been
suggesting for some time.
The construction of the Yadana pipeline has greatly
affected local villagers as well. Their property has been
damaged by the use of explosives, and the market value
has declined because no one wants to live near the
pipeline, which may cause fatal accidents at any time as
well as damage their farms.
The PTT also has not followed the recommendation of the
Committee to Review the Yadana Conflict appointed by the
prime minister. The committee said the PTT should provide
proper damages to affected villagers immediately, but the
PTT has ignored the locals and has not paid fair
compensation.
The Yadana project also has led to extensive logging and
the looming extinction of endangered species such as
elephants, hog-nosed bats and the smallest crabs in the
world. The project also required the laying of hundreds
of pipes (1m in diameter) in class A1 watershed areas,
the most important forest classification in Thailand. The
Yadana project has involved extensive and gross human
rights abuses and the impediment of democracy in Burma.
Two lawsuits are pending in the United States against
Unocal with the plaintiffs claiming they suffered abuse
including forced labour, rape, torture and looting as a
result of the pipeline and security measures imposed by
the Burmese military to protect the company's investment.
But it appears the PTT cares very little about its
mistakes and the impact on the national interest. As the
sole supplier of oil and gas, it enjoys all the profits
and passes any burden on to ordinary people.
Pipob Udomittipong is with the Kalayanamitra Council,
which has been campaigning with local groups in
Kanchanaburi and others in opposition to the Yadana gas
pipeline.
Bangkok Post (March 15, 2000)
______________________ OTHER _________________________
ACTIONS BIRMANIE: NEW ELEMENTS ON BIRMANIE.NET WEBSITE
Have a look on the Belgian website "Actions Birmanie"
http://www.birmanie.net
You'll find new elements of information concerning :
- TotalFina & the junta ;
- A meeting in Brussels of European MPs (members of PD
Burma) involved in
the support of Burmese democrats ;
- The public questioning, by the President of the main
Belgian students association of the French Prime
Minister, of the Chairman of the European
Commission and of the Chairperson of the World Health
Organisation ;
- And many other things ;
As Belgian citizens are able of compassion, here are
quotations of the most interesting pieces of information
concerning TOTAL. Some parts of the Belgian paper (in " 7
on en parle, Documents " are written in English, too.
******************************************
- The first contract signed by TOTAL with the junta
concerning Yadana is dated July 1989 !
Quotation from " ENERGIES ", nø39, Spring 1999 (a
publication from Total). Page 50, author : Jean-Michel
Beuque, "Directeur general" of TOTAL Indonesia
"When the Bonkot project was launched, domestic energy
demand was growing so fast that the estimated production
from the Gulf of Thailand was not expected to meet
demand, so exploration campaigns were launched to find
additional gas. Total took exploration blocks in
partnership with Shell on Thailand's Khorat plateau, but
struck no oil. The company also took up onshore
exploration blocks in the Gulf of Thailand not far from
Bonkot, but still without success".
"But Group planners kept coming back to Myanmar and in
the end, the Group's early experience there turned out to
be very useful because, in 1983, the national energy
company MOGE discovered a gas accumulation offshore in
the Gulf of Martaban. The field was ideally located for
gas export to Thailand. By the end of 1989, Total had
reopened negotiations with the petroleum authorities in
Yangon, fortunately finding many familiar faces still
there since the first contact 15 years earlier".
"In July 1989, after long negotiations in a context of
tough competition, the Group was awarded exploration
rights on two separate permits. Engineers quickly
completed a 3 D seismic campaign and drilled four
delineation wells in the same area they had explored in
1983. The result was the Yadana gas field".
For more, see
http://www.birmanie.net
_______________________________________________________
YALE: NEW BOOK--"THE 1988 UPRISING IN BURMA" BY DR. MAUNG
MAUNG
March 2000
Yale Southeast Asia Studies announces release of a new
publication:
The 1988 Uprising in Burma
By
Dr. Maung Maung
Publisher: Yale University Council on Southeast Asia
Studies
Monograph Series, Volume #49
306 pp. (1999). Cloth (Library), $35.00; Paper, $22.00
A personal account of a critical turning point in Burmese
history by someone closely involved in the events. Dr.
Maung Maung, former president of the Socialist Republic
of the Union of Burma, presents a set of reminiscences
covering his part in events in Burma from the end of the
war up through the day of the military take-over on
September 18, 1988.
Editorial Comments: "Dr. Maung Maung's The 1988 Uprising
in Burma is an `insider's` account of the events leading
up to the consideration of the referendum. The subsequent
martial law and elections are given lasting historical
importance by the unique vantage point of Dr. Maung
Maung. His own historical memory and connections together
with the `flashbacks` to the `40s, `50s, and`70s are also
valuable, though some of this ground will inevitably have
been covered in his previous work." -James C. Scott
*****************************
To Purchase / Order:
Contact: The Council on Southeast Asia Studies
Yale University
P.O. Box 208206
New Haven, CT 06520-8206
U.S.A.
Tel: 203-432-3431; fax: 202-432-9381
e-mail seas@xxxxxxxx
also see: www.yale.edu/seas/Monographs.html
http://www.yale.edu/seas/Monographs.html
________________
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