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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: June 28, 2000
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
June 28, 2000
Issue # 1565
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
NOTED IN PASSING:
*Inside Burma
AFP: MYANMAR DRUG TRAFFICKERS PLAN TO CHURN OUT CHEAP ECSTASY: SOURCE
SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: A TRIP TO THE BORDER
MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: THE JUDICIARY LAW, 2000 PROMULGATED
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR: MYANMAR JUNTA DEMANDS SURRENDER OF CORDLESS
PHONES
*Regional
BANGKOK POST: CHUAN TO VISIT REFUGEES
*International
REUTERS: U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO VISIT MYANMAR
FREE BURMA COALITION: BONO OF U2 PENNED WALK ON, A SONG ABOUT AUNG
SAN SUU KYI'S STRUGGLE
*Economy/Business
SYNDICALISME HEBDO (FRANCE): [ARTICLE ON TOTALFINAELF, YADANA]
REUTERS: POLL-THAI OIL FIRM PTTEP A STRONG BUY
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AFP: MYANMAR DRUG TRAFFICKERS PLAN TO CHURN OUT CHEAP ECSTASY: SOURCE
BANGKOK, June 28 (AFP) Drug warlords accused of churning out heroin
and amphetamines from their factories inside Myanmar are poised to
begin mass production of cheap ecstasy, narcotics control sources
told AFP.
The United Wa State Army (UWSA), stung by Thai military strikes
against its opium poppy plantations and offensives to stamp out the
new trade in amphetamines, are now being forced to diversify again.
"They have had to act because Thai officials have taken serious
action on the border to fight against drugs," the source said.
Within weeks they are expected to begin producing ecstasy, and move
it out of Myanmar along effective new smuggling routes currently used
to flood Thailand with amphetamines, he said.
The Wa plan to slash the price of an ecstasy pill by more than half
to about 200-300 baht (5-8 dollars) to reach a much wider market. But
it is feared cost-cutting will make it much more poisonous than pure
ecstasy.
"Hundred percent pure ecstasy is not so harmful but these pills will
not be pure and could be very dangerous," said the expert, who is
familiar with Thailand's anti-drugs program on the northern border.
The poor quality, however, is expected to largely prevent the Wa
from trafficking their ecstasy into third countries, he said.
Instead, they will send millions of pills over the southern border
with Thailand and target the growing numbers of teenagers here who
are experimenting with illegal drugs.
At the current price of 800 baht (20 dollars), ecstasy brought in
from Thailand's southern neighbour Malaysia and sold in Bangkok's
ritzy nightclubs is out of the reach of most Thais.
Nevertheless, ecstasy is fast catching on in Thailand -- authorities
seized 24,205 tablets last year, up from 4,517 tablets in 1998.
But while ecstasy may be the business of the future, and the battle
against heroin is yesterday's war, authorities say amphetamines are
without doubt the most serious drugs problem now facing Thailand.
The Wa Army does a roaring trade in the stimulant -- Thailand
estimates that 600 million tablets of "ya baa" or "crazy drug", as it
is known here, were trafficked over the border last year.
More than forty amphetamines factories are believed to be operating
along the stretch of Myanmar's border that runs along Thailand's
three north-eastern provinces.
But since Thai authorities began clamping down on amphetamines, now
regarded as the top national security threat, traffickers have had to
blaze a new trail to get their product across the border.
To bypass the Thai military's heavy presence in the northern
provinces, the gateway to the overland route to Bangkok, the UWSA is
now sending shipments by plane or boat over the Andaman Sea, the
source said.
They arrive in Ranong, a town on the southern-most border between
the two neighbours, and are then trucked up north to the Thai
capital.
Alternatively, the traffickers travel east and slip into Laos before
moving south and crossing into Thailand, he added.
The new air and sea routes are also proving more effective by
minimising losses caused by the bone-shaking overland journey.
The source told AFP that up to half of every shipment was arriving
smashed and unusable, forcing the traffickers to sometimes smuggle in
component chemicals and cook them up inside Thailand.
"Amphetamines are extremely easy to make. You can mix the chemicals
in a space as small as a van, which is very hard for us to detect,"
another anti-narcotics expert said.
The United States has identified Myanmar, and fellow rogue state
Afghanistan, as the world's "headquarters for the heroin business".
And it has also expressed concern over the growing threat of
amphetamines manufactured by the Wa, the most feared of Myanmar's
rebel insurgencies.
The UWSA, cobbled together from the remnants of the Communist Party
of Burma, has become the most powerful of several ethnic rebel
groups, allegedly thanks to profits from the drugs trade.
Many Western nations have accused the country's military rulers of
condoning drug trafficking by armed ethnic groups such as the Wa Army
in return for ceasefires.
However, the junta claims it is doing its best, and accuses the
international community of offering only criticism, and no help or
financial assistance, in fighting the drugs trade.
____________________________________________________
SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: A TRIP TO THE BORDER
28 June 2000
No: 6-12
I was up in Chiangrai 26-27 June. And here are a few things I learned
there that I would like to share with you.
Bribing To Pass Exams
There in Maesai, I ran into a girl I once knew 15 years ago. She got
married and has a 6 year old daughter who is at school in
Laikha. "Before I left for Tachilek some months ago, I asked my
daughter what she would like me to buy for her," she said. "And
could you imagine what a 7 year old replied? She said she didn't
want anything for her, but she would like me to buy something for
her teacher, because she's afraid without a present to sweeten up
her teacher, she wouldn't pass her exams. That's how our education
system has deteriorated."
It was in Maesai also that I received a letter form one of my old
friends, Liangsy (not his real name). He wrote that he wasn't
worried much about his son not passing his exams, because he's a
member of the Union solidarity and Development Association and also
a member of the school's musical band (he plays a flute). Still, he
had to bribe K.15,000 to the headmaster so his son could continue
studies in his school (in Taunggyi) that boasted the highest turnout
in the 10th standard exams.
Wa on the border
Many friends I saw there spoke about oeve Wa cousins.
Moengzay told me that the Was had just acquired license to buy 300-
automobiles from Thailand. "They'll be spending at least B.150
million, but nobody's complaining," he said.
An old friend from the Shan State Army South, who is active in the
area opposite Chiangrai, spoke about Wa relocations affecting the
local people who were there first. "They don't force out the people
from their homes and lands like the Burmese do," said he. "But they
take all unoccupied pieces of land. They are also buying up the
local girls as wives."
Another friend from the ex-Mong Tai Army who is now a businessman
told me he saw about 2,000 families in Ho Talang, a village bitween
Monghsat and Tachilek, alone. "That's as many as the number of new
Wa families in Mongton Township," he said, adding that he wasn't up
in Mongyawn, so he wouldn't try to estimate how many Wa settlers
were there.
S.H.A.N. received reports earlier that 50,000 households i.e. almost
the whole population from the Wa region near the Chinese border,
would be relocated in Mongton and Monghsat townships, opposite
Chiangmai and Chiangrai provinces.
Wa Taking up Road Construction Security
The friend, who was in Mongton recently, confirmed Wa troops
replacing Burmese unit at Loihtwe, a strategic mountain opposite
Muangna village, Chiangdao District, Chiangmai. "Some of them even
wandered into Thai territory one time, but were believed to be
pushed back by the Thai security forces," he said.
One Wa officer he met was reported to have said the Wa fighters would
be responsible for the security of road construction from Mongton to
Homong, about 120-150 km distant. "He said he hoped he didn't
encounter any disturbances from Yawdserk, because if he did he would
nave no choice but to retaliate," he said. "I'm sure this is the
ploy the Burmese are using to create hostility between Wa and Shan."
So far there is no comment from the SSA. (Sao Sengsuk, leader of the
Shan Democratic Union, commented: "It is also to create hostility
between the Wa and the world community and eventually to use it to
crush the Wa.")
Killings and Drugs
A monk in Ban Thoedthai, Mae Faluang District, Chiangrai, confirmed
his meeting with a Shan monk from Kunhing about the killings in the
township. "More than 60 of them were killed at the same spot," he
said. "It's a pity I couldn't remember the exact location and
further details for you."
However, he told me he was in southern Shan State during the dry
season and saw thousands of people engaging in poppy cultivation.
Vast poppy fields from Phra Kaohsu (Nine Buddha Images) to SanLoiMaw
in Hopong and in Loima-Loiyay, between Mongpawn and Loilem, were
seen by him and other fellow travelers.
The quality, as reported earlier by S.H.A.N., does not match to that
grown along the Thai-border. Whereas 10 kg of opium in the
hinterland could produce only 1 kg of heroin, it needs just 6-7 kg
of border opium to produce the same amount of heroin, according to
informed sources.
BY: KHUENSAI JAIYANE
( Khuensai Jaiyane is Director of the S.H.A.N)
____________________________________________________
MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: THE JUDICIARY LAW, 2000 PROMULGATED
Information Sheet
No. B-1425 (I) 28th June, 2000
The State Peace and Development Council has promulgated The
Judiciary Law, 2000 as The State Peace and Development Council Law
No 5/2000, on 27 June, 2000.
____________________________________________________
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR: MYANMAR JUNTA DEMANDS SURRENDER OF CORDLESS
PHONES
June 20, 2000, Tuesday, BC Cycle
Yangon
The Post and Telecommunications Department of Myanmar (Burma) has
announced that all users of non-registered cordless phones in the
country will face three years imprisonment or a fine of 30,000 kyats
(3.50 dollars) or both, local newspapers reported Tuesday.
On Monday the department ordered all illegal users of the cordless
phones to surrender the devices within 30 days.
___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________
BANGKOK POST: CHUAN TO VISIT REFUGEES
W E D N E S D A Y, J U N E 2 8, 2000
Bhanravee Tansubhapol
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai will on Sunday inspect the country's
largest Burmese refugee camp to find ways to help the estimated
120,000 displaced Burmese living in Thai camps, a government source
said yesterday.
Mr Chuan will visit Mae La camp in Tak's Tha Song Yang district,
which houses more than 30,000 Burmese refugees.
He would assure the refugees, mostly Karen, that Thailand was
concerned about their plight and would encourage the international
community and Rangoon to work together to find a solution to the
problem.
Mr Chuan will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and
Jahanshah Assadi, chief representative in Thailand of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Last March, Deputy Foreign Minister MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra led
Bangkok-based diplomats to visit three refugee camps in Mae Hong Song
and Tak provinces.
The European Union said it would extend more help to NGOs who look
after the refugees, the source said.
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
REUTERS: U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO VISIT MYANMAR
YANGON, June 28 (Reuters) - The new U.N. special envoy to Myanmar,
Razali Ismail, is to begin a three-day visit to Myanmar on Thursday
to hold talks with the ruling military and the opposition, diplomats
said Wednesday.
``He is arriving here tomorrow and is expected to meet both the
representatives of the ruling State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) and opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) during his
stay here,'' an Asian diplomat told Reuters.
Razali Ismail, a former U.N. representative from Malaysia, was
appointed in April as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's special
envoy to Myanmar with a mandate to promote human rights and to
restore democracy in the country which has been ruled by the military
since 1988.
Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung said in May he was optimistic
about Razali's visit.
``Mr Razali is from the same region, Asia, and so he has an
opportunity to understand more about the region, the problems and the
mentality of the people,'' Win Aung said at the time.
He said Razali Ismail's predecessor, Alvaro De Soto, was not so
familiar with the Asian region and did not understand Asian ways
because he was from the Latin America.
Alvaro de Soto visited Myanmar several times to mediate between the
SPDC and the NLD but his visits produced no tangible success.
``We can hope to have a better understanding and communication
between us. We can see eye to eye with each other and also discuss
(in a) more friendly way,'' Win Aung added.
But there appears to be little common ground between the ruling
generals and the NLD, which won the country's last general election
in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern.
The SPDC has said several times it will not talk with NLD
representatives as long as they were led by Nobel Peace Prize winner
Aung San Suu Kyi.
The NLD has repeatedly declared it will not go to the negotiating
table without Suu Kyi.
____________________________________________________
FREE BURMA COALITION: BONO OF U2 PENNED WALK ON, A SONG ABOUT AUNG
SAN SUU KYI'S STRUGGLE
Tuesday, June 27, 2000
We have some good news to share. According to Beaudee Zaw Min of
Euro-Burma Office, lead singer Bono of U2, the world famous Irish
Band has composed a song about Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi. It will be included in their forthcoming album. The band was
also the co-winner of awards from Dublin City Council back in March
of this year. U2 was originally known for their political
consciousness and anti-consumerist philosophy of its members.
Whoever pulled this off, FBC concert organizers take our hats off!!
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
SYNDICALISME HEBDO (FRANCE): [ARTICLE ON TOTALFINAELF, YADANA]
[Translation]
Syndicalisme hebdo is the newspaper of he CFDT (Confederation
Francaise Democratique du Travail/ French Democratic Labour
Confederation : one of the main french trade unions)
8th june 2000
The Junta who have been in power since 1988 in Burma ( renamed
Myanmar) have set up an obligatory system of forced labour. In this
way, it violates the international conventions that the country has
ratified. Faced with the persistent violations of the international
convention, the ILO reunited at a conference on the 30th may turned
to the 33rd article of it's constitution for the first time in its
history. The ILO recommended to the conference to take action "that
appeared to them appropriate to assure the fulfilment of the
recommendations drawn up by a commission of enquiry". the later,
lanced in 1998, established facts on 6000 pages, after having heard
almost 250 people. Take note that the procedure of the commission of
enquiry had been lanced only one time before, against Poland under
the regime of Jaruzelski. Already last year, the conference adopted
a resolution excluding de facto Burma. The executive council of the
ILO had therefore taken a step forward. In fact the resolution in
2000 risks opening up a reexamination of the relationships between
Burma and all the other members of the ILO, the UN and other
international organisations. From year to year the reports on this
country become more and more dreadful. Beside the persistence of
forced labour (men, women, children and prisoners) the military
conducts the displacement of population, summary executions.. the
obligations are of all sorts : fines, imprisonments (the law
authorizes the conscription of work forces) beatings, rapes
deprivation of food, water and rest....the forced labour is of
private or public nature : porterage (mainly for the armed forces),
building infrastructures, but also demining in combat zones. Finger
pointed at the investors
France will of course be questioned during the conference. The french
company Total Fina Elf is in fact the number one investor in Burma.
It has built a gaz pipeline in order to exploit the gaz field in the
Yadana region. Witnessed account of different forms of forced
labour : land clearing, building roads, tunnels and bridges since
1994. Total justifies itself by throwing back the responsibility on
the national authorities. But the company could not have been
ignorant of the rounding up, requisitions, populations relocations
and destruction of villages. Other investors have also been accused.
the British government have for example insisted ( without success)
that Premier Oil company pull out of Burma. Interrogated in April at
the National Assembly, the French government had not questioned
Total's presence in Burma. It had only asked the oil producer "to do
something about the conditions of its insertion" in the country. The
CFDT, on its side, has called repeatedly to the group leadership who
have responded : " without a banning by the United Nations, the
company will follow its investments" according to Francois Renucci
who is responsible for the petroleum branch inside the Chimics and
Energy Federation (aie CFDT is a trade union divided by branches by
sectors of activity). Furthermore, this federation has been offering
Total for a year and a half to sign an international ethical code
under the control of ICEM, the international union of Chimics- Energy
and Mining. Finally, Aung San Suu Kyi Nobel peace price winner and
speaker of the democrats remarks that the gaz pipeline, the most
important project undertaken in the country "has become an object of
pride for the dictatorship and has permitted it to legitimize its
power". This opponent never ceases to repeat that "aid and foreign
investments only reinforce the military spirit who, only themselves
and a small nest of business men profit from." Philippe Roau
____________________________________________________
REUTERS: POLL-THAI OIL FIRM PTTEP A STRONG BUY
By Umesh Pandey
[Abridged]
BANGKOK, June 27 (Reuters) - High oil prices, rising domestic
consumption of electricity and a cheap valuation has made Thai
upstream oil company PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) a strong
buy, a Reuters poll of brokerages shows.
Eighteen of 20 brokers surveyed by Reuters recommend their clients
buy the stock. Only one has it as a sell.
Seventeen brokerages surveyed by Reuters gave an average medium-term
target price for PTTEP of 307 baht per share.
Based on Barra's The Estimate Directory net profit forecast for
PTTEP in 2000 of 3.81 billion baht and of 5.54 billion for 2001, this
would theoretically give a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.5 times for
2000 and 18.1 times for 2001, according to Neil Semple, energy
analyst at ABN AMRO Asia Securities.
The share was unchanged at 189 baht at 0652 GMT on Wednesday.
..Problems with one of its sources of gas, the Yadana field in
Myanmar, has become a headache for PTTEP.
PTTEP's parent, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), has
agreed to take 380 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) of Yadana gas
for the first three years and 550 mcfd thereafter.
But delays in building a 3,200 MW power plant at Ratchaburi in
Thailand by state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
has put the Yadana gas deal on hold.
Under the terms of contract, PTT ought to pay about $260 million for
the Yadana gas this year, but payments have been delayed as PTT has
not been able to take the agreed amount.
``The greatest risk associated with PTTEP is still the Yadana gas
payments... We expect the stock to trade in a narrow range until the
Yadana gas issue is settled once and for all,'' said Nithi Wanikpum,
analyst at Merrill Lynch Phatra Securities.
HELP FROM RISING OIL PRICES
But despite problems with the Yadana project, analysts say rising
oil prices are likely to help the company's bottom line.
____________________________________________________
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