[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BurmaNet News: May 24, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         May 24, 2001   Issue # 1809
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*AFP: UN Envoy Razali To Visit Burma 1-4 Jun, Likely To Hold Talks With 
Suu Kyi
*Bangkok Post: Four Muslim Leaders Die in Clashes
*The Dawn: 10 die in Myanmar communal clashes 
*AFP: Myanmar agrees to ILO probe of measures against forced labor 
*Xinhua: Some 131 Fires Occur in Myanmar in April

MONEY _______
*Xinhua: Myanmar Cooperatives to Take Part in Kunming Trade Fair

GUNS______
*The Nation: Burmese Shelling a 'Deliberate Act'
*AP: Myanmar general castigates 'superpowers' 

DRUGS______
*Bangkok Post: Tough talking on drugs, weak stomach on border
*Bangkok Post: Shan Seek World Attention

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Reuters: Thailand to close Myanmar student camp by year-end
*The Nation: Burma insults former King
*AP: Villagers protest against Myanmar shelling of royal project 
*AFP: Thai-Myanmar relations deteriorating: Thaksin 

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*The New light of Myanmar (SPDC): Let's cultivate Alaungphaya spirit
*Xinhua: Myanmar Links Sovereignty to Development




					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



AFP: UN Envoy Razali To Visit Burma 1-4 Jun, Likely To Hold Talks With 
Suu Kyi

May 23, 2001


[FBIS Transcribed Text] YANGON, May 23 (AFP) -- UN special envoy to 
Myanmar Razali Ismail is to visit Yangon next week at a critical stage 
of the eight-month-old dialogue between the junta and democracy leader 
Aung San Suu Kyi, sources said. "He will come from June 1 to 4," a 
source in Yangon told AFP. "His program is not known but he is likely to 
see Aung San Suu Kyi." The green light for the Malaysian diplomat's 
fourth trip to Myanmar comes after months of delays which had raised 
concerns about the future of political reforms in the military-run 
country. Razali, who brokered landmark talks between Aung San Suu Kyi 
and the military regime which began last October, has been denied 
permission to visit since January as the dialogue entered a delicate 
decision-making phase. 

Sources close to the secret talks said earlier this month that the 
process had ground to a halt as dissenting factions within the junta 
began to baulk at the prospect of ushering in far-reaching reforms. 
Diplomats in Yangon said it was too soon to know whether the junta's 
decision to allow Razali into the country was an indication that the 
national reconciliation process was back on track. 

"This is a good sign but we will have to see what kind of feedback he 
gets when he gets here," one said. "Certainly, coming after the 
indications that his next visit would not be on the cards for several 
more months, if they have decided to let him in there must be a little 
bit more flexibility." Razali's visit ends just a day before the 
International Labor Organisation (ILO) convenes its annual meeting where 
it is expected to roundly condemn the Yangon junta's record on forced 
labour. 

The ILO's governing body last November issued an unprecedented call for 
its members to review their ties with Myanmar -- a move aimed at 
tightening the sanctions load that has already helped cripple the 
economy. Bitterly disappointed, the junta shot back by declaring it 
would "cease to cooperate" with the ILO, in an apparent declaration that 
a technical mission which had visited in October would not be allowed to 
return. However, a four-man team again led by Francis Maupain of France 
was allowed to travel to Yangon last week to negotiate an accord on the 
eradication of forced labour with the junta, the ILO confirmed 
Wednesday. 

The team was permitted to visit between May 17 and 19 to negotiate the 
text of an accord under which the military government will independently 
monitor the eradication of forced labour. The renewed contact with the 
ILO is another sign that a political shift is under way in Myanmar, and 
that the junta is willing to take some modest steps towards improving 
its relationship with the international community. An ILO official in 
Bangkok said the mission was likely to return to Yangon within the next 
few months to implement the guidelines developed during the May visit. 
"In late summer or early fall they will go back and follow up and 
implement these terms of reference," he said.




___________________________________________________




Bangkok Post: Four Muslim Leaders Die in Clashes

 Wednesday, May 23, 2001



Supamart Kasem

At least four Islamic spiritual leaders were killed in Burma and 
hundreds of Muslims forced to flee after clashes last week between 
Buddhist and Islamic residents.

One Muslim, who managed to escape, said a curfew was imposed in Pegu 
division after riots in Toungoo district on Friday and in Swa and Pyu 
districts on Sunday.

The fighting erupted after Buddhist monks and their followers raided 14 
mosques in Toungoo district while Muslims were praying, a source said.

Four spiritual leaders died when the raiders cut their throats and the 
owner of a nearby restaurant was beaten to death.

Four mosques and more than 100 houses and shops in the town were burnt 
down, forcing all Muslims to flee to nearby Kyauktaga, Zeyyawaddy, Yeni 
and Myohla districts.

Buddhists also attacked Muslim passengers on Rangoon-Mandalay buses 
arriving in Toungoo and set fire to more than 100 houses owned by 
Muslims outside the town.

A curfew was imposed on Toungoo and security forces were sent to control 
the situation.

The source said nearly 1,000 Muslims became homeless after their houses 
were burnt down in similar riots in Thagaya and Pyu districts on Sunday. 
A curfew was then enforced all over Pegu division.

On Monday, a Muslim spiritual leader in Rangoon told BBC Radio the 
situation had returned to normal and riots followed the destruction of 
an ancient mosque in the town.



___________________________________________________





The Dawn: 10 die in Myanmar communal clashes 


YANGON, May 23: Fighting between Muslim and Buddhist residents broke out 
in Taungdwingyi town in upper Myanmar, the latest in a spate of 
religious clashes that have reportedly left at least 10 people dead, 
eyewitnesses and diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.  

Clashes between the predominantly Buddhist population of Taungdwingyi, 
450 kilometres north of Yangon, and a Muslim group were reported by 
eyewitnesses on Tuesday night.  

It was unclear whether anyone was killed in the latest clash, but 
similar attacks on Muslims in the townships of Taungoo, Yadashe and 
Nyaunglebin, all in upper Myanmar, have left at least 10 people dead, 
according to diplomatic sources.  
"We've heard reports of 10 to 30 people killed and up to 40 homes 
destroyed," said a Western diplomat in Yangon. "It was a pretty big 
rampage by the Young Buddhist Monks."  

The clash in Taungoo was sparked on May 16, when Muslim youths allegedly 
taunted Buddhist nuns who were making their rounds in the city with 
begging bowls, according to sources in Yangon.  

Enraged Buddhists attacked the Muslims, who fled into a mosque with the 
Buddhists in hot pursuit. Sources said that the city was wracked by 
religious clashes for two days, leaving at least 20 people dead, 
including two Buddhist monks and a Muslim religious leader.  

Myanmar's military junta has placed Taungoo under a night curfew, and 
deployed troops to other towns to prevent similar clashes.  
Myanmar's state religion is Buddhism, but the ruling junta claims to 
allow religious freedom and allows its many minority groups to practise 
their religion of choice, including Islam, Christianity, Brahmanism, 
ancestor worship and animism.  
Rumors abounded in Yangon about who was behind the clashes. "The rumor 
behind the rumor is that regional military commanders have been 
organizing the attacks on Muslims to get people's minds off their 
economic hardships," said a diplomat.  
The ruling State Peace and Development Council had yet to issue an 
official statement on the clashes. Similar clashes, pitting Buddhists 
against Muslims, occurred in Sittwe, on Myanmar's western coast near the 
border with Bangladesh, in February.




___________________________________________________



AFP: Myanmar agrees to ILO probe of measures against forced labor 

GENEVA, May 24 (AFP) - Myanmar, under fire from abroad over charges of 
forced labour, will allow the International Labor Organisation (ILO) to 
make an independent probe into government efforts to end the abuse, an 
ILO official said. 

 It was earlier reported from Bangkok that an ILO team had made an 
unpublicised visit to Myanmar last week to negotiate an accord with the 
ruling junta on eradicating forced labor. 

 ILO team leader Francis Maupain, outlining the accord, told AFP here 
the object of this month's mission had been to discuss modalities of an 
ILO assessment of measures announced by the Yangon government following 
an earlier ILO visit in October. 
 "The Burmese authorities have agreed to discuss the modalities of this 
objective evaluation," he said. 
 The International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU), linking more 
than 221 labour unions in 148 countries, said last year that nearly one 
million people were subjected to forced labour in Myanmar, particularly 
in building roads, railways and military installations. 

 The army has been singled out as a main offender due to its practice of 
using villagers, often from ethnic minorities, as porters. 

 Last November, the Geneva-based ILO called on its members -- workers 
and employers' groups, and countries -- to review ties with Myanmar and 
take steps to ensure these ties did not support forced labour. 

 Maupain said an ILO team would return to Myanmar, probably in late 
summer when it would be easiest to travel around the country. 

 Asked about the atmosphere of the Yangon talks this month, the official 
said: "It's never easy, but we do have agreement." 

 Following the ILO visit to Myanamar in October, the Burmese interior 
minister issued an order banning forced labour. This was later backed up 
by a military directive in November. 

 But the ILO considered the measures indaequate and impossible to 
verify, and invited members to reconsider relations with Yangon. 

 The junta retorted that it would cease to cooperate with the ILO, in an 
apparent declaration that the monitoring mission would not be allowed to 
return. 

 Sources in Yangon said earlier the ILO team had been permitted to visit 
on May 17 to 19. 

 "An ILO technical team came last week to Yangon," a senior spokesman 
for the military government confirmed in a statement. "I cannot 
elaborate on the content and results at this stage." 

 The renewed contact with the ILO is another sign that a political shift 
is under way in Myanmar, where top junta leaders have been meeting with 
opposition leader 

Aung San Suu Kyi in secret for the past eight months. 

 If it can convince the ILO and foreign governments 
that it is making headway on the issue of forced labor and taking steps 
towards democratic reforms, the junta may be able to start peeling back 
sanctions and start developing the creaking economy. 

 A report on the agreement reached this month in Yangon will next month 
go before an ILO general assembly in Geneva. 




___________________________________________________



Xinhua: Some 131 Fires Occur in Myanmar in April


YANGON, May 25 (Xinhua) -- A total of 131 fires broke out in Myanmar in 
April this year, causing a loss of 197.47 million Kyats (about 564,200 
U.S. dollars) worth of property, according to the country's Fire 
Department Friday. However, it declined to disclose the casualties in 
the fire. Most of the fire cases in Myanmar were generally due to 
negligence, while the others resulted from electrical faults and the 
rest from arson. 

Although the rainy season has set in all over the country which will 
last until the beginning of October, the Myanmar authorities are urging 
the people to continue to take fire prevention measures and to have 
buildings, factories, warehouses and hospitals well inspected and get 
fire equipment ready. Myanmar's fire prevention services are carried out 
through over 540 fire stations and by over 71,300 firemen, according to 
the department.














______________________MONEY________________________



Xinhua: Myanmar Cooperatives to Take Part in Kunming Trade Fair


YANGON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-seven Myanmar cooperatives will take 
part in the Kunming Trade Fair 2001 scheduled to be held in China's 
southwestern city of Kunming from June 6 to 10, according to the Myanmar 
Ministry of Cooperatives Thursday. The Myanmar cooperatives, with a 
110-member-strong delegation, will open 19 booths at the fair to display 
their products such as gems, traditional handicrafts, lacquerware, 
wood-work, gold embroidery and sculptures. 

There is so far a total of 18,159 cooperative societies in Myanmar which 
were formed since the country promulgated its Cooperatives Law in 1992 
in line with its market-oriented economic system. 

The cooperatives in Myanmar contributes 2.1 percent to the country's 
national gross domestic product. According to official statistics, 
Myanmar's foreign trade, including the border trade, totaled 4.086 
billion U.S. dollars in 2000, of which imports were valued at 2.567 
billion, while exports amounted to 1.519 billion. Myanmar's main foreign 
trading partners are Singapore, China, Thailand, Republic of Korea and 
Japan







_______________________GUNS________________________





The Nation: Burmese Shelling a 'Deliberate Act'

Wednesday, May 23, 2001



Commander Wattanachai says shells were fired to incite and distract Army

Five artillery shells were intentionally fired across the border from 
Burma yesterday, landing in the compound of the Royal Project at Doi 
Angkang in Chiang Mai's Fang district, according to Third Army Commander 
Lt Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong.

This prompted return fire and a strong protest from the Thai military, 
he said.

Wattanachai said the shells landed in the peach orchards of the Royal 
Project, which is situated near Hua Lone Hill, the scene of recent 
fighting between the Army and troops from the United Wa State Army 
(UWSA). There were no reports of casualties or serious damage. 

?It was a deliberate act,? said Wattanachai, adding that it was the 
first time that shells had fallen into the Royal Project, which is less 
than a kilometre from the border.

The commander said that the Army had returned fire with eight rounds of 
artillery in the direction from which it suspected the shells were 
launched. It also issued a strong protest about the violation of Thai 
sovereignty to the Burmese members of the Township Border  Committee.

Wattanachai said there was currently no fighting on the opposite side 
that could have spilled-over into Thailand. He said the area was now 
under Burmese control after the retreat of Shan rebels who had moved to 
other positions. He said he suspected that Burmese troops had intended 
to incite the Thai military in order to distract their attention from 
other border spots.

However, he said the overall border situation remained calm due to the 
rainy season.

Meanwhile, actress Preeyanuch Panpradab and her boyfriend, TV producer 
Noppol Komarachun, denied going to Loi Tai Lang, opposite Chiang Mai's 
Pang Mapha district, to join the Shan rebels' Resistance Day on Monday.

Preeyanuch said she was shooting a new TV series in Pathum Thani on 
Monday. ?I never thought of going there. How could I join the party, 
when I dare not go even to the border,? she said. 

Preeyanuch, whose novel Pai Keb Paen Din Thee Sin Chat (Liberation of 
the Lost Home) was inspired by the struggle of a Burmese minority group, 
acknowledged that she had received numerous letters from Shan and Karen 
people following the airing of the TV series Keb Paen Din, which was 
based on her novel.

She denied that her new TV series about the drug cartels would include 
scenes filmed in Shan territory.

Returning from Loi Tai Lang yesterday, veteran singer and songwriter 
Surachai Chantima-thorn said his trip had nothing to do with the dispute 
between Thailand and Burma. 

?I joined them as one of their friends who sympathises with their 
struggle. I see nothing wrong with my trip. Everyone has freedom of 
thinking,? he said.

He and a few friends from Caravan, the legendary folk-blues band, 
performed for the Shan soldiers for three hours. ?It was a very vibrant 
party, joined by several thousand people,? he said. 





___________________________________________________




AP: Myanmar general castigates 'superpowers' 


YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ The second-highest ranking general in Myanmar's 
military government has condemned the ``bully-tactics'' of superpower 
countries and said Myanmar will not give one inch of its territory. 

 Gen. Maung Aye's statements were reported in the state-controlled press 
Wednesday as tensions continued with neighboring Thailand over frontier 
disputes, ethnic minority rebels and drug trafficking. In recent months, 
the tensions have escalated into cross-border shelling and minor armed 
skirmishes. 

 Also Wednesday, the Thai military said that Myanmar gunners, in a 
``deliberate act of provocation,'' fired mortar shells into a royal 
development project in northern Thailand on Tuesday. 

 Maung Aye, deputy military commander and deputy chairman of the ruling 
State Peace and Development Council, was clearly referring to the 
problems with Thailand when he said that ``continued use of 
bully-tactics are seen in the present world.'' 
 ``Superpowers are trying to dominate small nations using various means 
including pretexts of human rights, democracy and drug eradication,'' 
said Maung Aye at a meeting with local officials in Sittway, 500 
kilometers (300 miles) northwest of Yangon, on Tuesday. 

 ``We have no intention to encroach on others' territory and we will not 
allow the loss of one inch of our territory,'' he said. 

 His remarks seemed to be directed not only at Thailand but also at the 
United States, a close ally of Thailand and a leading critic of the 
Myanmar government's poor human rights record and failure to stop the 
drug trade. 

 Thailand and the United States say that the junta gives a free hand to 
the Wa ethnic minority guerrilla group, which is believed to be a major 
producer of the illegal drug methamphetamine in the border area near 
Thailand. The drug has been declared by Thailand as its biggest social 
scourge. 

 Thai army recently dislodge Wa fighters from a hill 
claimed by both countries. 

 The hill is located near Doi Angkhang, the site of the royal 
agricultural project that was reportedly targeted by Myanmar shells 
Tuesday. 

 Thai Army Col. Akadet Thongwarawit said he sent a protest note to his 
Myanmar counterparts charging that Myanmar forces intentionally fired at 
least five mortar rounds into the royal project in Chiang Mai province. 

 He said Thai gunners retaliated with warning shots across the border, 
adding that Thai troops would retaliate in the event of further border 
violations. 

 The Doi Angkhang project is one of numerous development efforts by Thai 
King Bhumibol Adulyadej to improve rural incomes and get hilltribe 
people to grow coffee, vegetables and other crops instead of opium. 

 Given the king's great popularity, the shelling was likely to spark 
tension and resentment against Myanmar, Krisada Boonraj, the local 
district chief, said in a telephone interview. 

 He said one shell landed less than 100 meters (100 yards) from a royal 
villa on the grounds of the project. No injuries were reported.





________________________DRUGS______________________




Bangkok Post: Tough talking on drugs, weak stomach on border

May 24, 2001.


Military stand-offs detracting from drugs effort, despite Thaksin's 
extravagant promises Anuraj Manibhandu and Achara Ashayagachat

The government would not accept the stalemate on the Thai-Burmese border 
as a barometer of its performance in foreign affairs. 

The dispute persists, however, and has not been helped by conflicting 
messages from ministers. 

While the government talks tough on drugs, it appears to lose its nerve 
when Burma violates its sovereignty. Such confusion may not be doing 
either cause much good. 

In the government's defence, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathiarathai 
says border skirmishes and exchanges of invective were around long 
before he and his colleagues took office. 

The disputes were at a local, not government level, he said, without 
mentioning Foreign Ministry protests against Burma's incursion into Thai 
territory at Hua Lone Hill on May 7. 

Rangoon has ignored the protest, and an earlier one after its push into 
Ban Pang Noon in early February, and keeps its border at Tachilek 
closed. 

Few would challenge the government if Thai Rak Thai Party leader Thaksin 
Shinawatra had not boasted about his ability to sweet-talk the generals 
into changing their ways even before he was installed as prime minister. 


During a post-election visit to the Bangkok Post on January 29, he said 
the government would persuade Burma that democracy was a good thing. He 
said Burmese leaders had wanted to talk with him for a long time but he 
had been in no position to make it happen. 

Ten days later, as he was installed as prime minister on Feb 9, Burmese 
troops thrust into Ban Pang Noon. 

On Feb 12, Mr Thaksin said he would go to Rangoon with Defence Minister 
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. Several conflicting statements later, on May 15, 
Mr Surakiart said the prime minister would postpone the trip until 
Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung visited Bangkok. 

The government's first mistake was its vow to use personal relations to 
mend ties with Burma, says Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate 
foreign affairs committee. 
The border stand-off had thrown into sharp relief the defence minister's 
tiffs with the army, especially its Third Region in the North. 

Gen Chavalit, known for an accommodating stance towards the junta since 
his controversial repatriation of Burmese students in 1988, did not 
endear himself to the troops by suggesting that Hua Lone hill was not 
worth the effort. 

Chaiyachoke Chullasiriwongse, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn 
University, said he was worried about the differences. Co-ordination was 
lacking, he said. 
While the foreign minister was in Rangoon trying to mend ties, he said 
army radio broadcast an interview with a Shan leader which Rangoon 
probably took as evidence of 

Thai support for the Shan, whose fighters are embroiled in the border 
conflict along with the Red Wa, which the junta backs. 

M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, former deputy foreign minister, said 
conflicting remarks by the minister and Third Army Region commander 
Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong had caused "disarray". 

The Democrat-led government had never condemned the junta in Rangoon, 
and Thai-Burmese relations had deteriorated "right after the workshop" 
in Chiang Rai presented Mong Yawn as a drugs production centre. 

Surapong Jayanama, former East Asian Affairs department head for the 
ministry, said Burma was a military state with a militarist mindset. The 
government should convince Burma to co-operate by applying "a strong 
gesture, not by appeasement", he said. 
"Unity in our society is important. We have to show a more collective 
stand," he said. Diplomacy with Burma could only be effective with the 
public support inherent in a democratic system and military back-up. 

The government's failure to break the border stalemate could be 
explained by the higher priority it sets on fighting drugs-though one 
could argue that drugs and the border amount to one and the same thing. 

Mr Surakiart said the border was not unimportant, but the biggest issue 
in Thai-Burmese relations was drugs. 

The government could also argue that most of the shared 2,400km border 
has been left undemarcated for years. 

But critics could say that no other government has been confronted with 
such a long border stand-off, which even beats the rifts on the border 
with Cambodia during the civil war there 20 years ago. 

Burma, which has procrastinated on the demarcation issue, seems to be 
testing the government's resolve. A joint boundary committee is 
effectively on ice. The issue peaked during talks in China, the United 
States and Burma, just three of the 14 countries the minister says he 
has visited in three months. 

To claim real success, Mr Kraisak said, the minister must secure Burma's 
signature on a drug-fight memorandum of understanding that has been in 
the pipeline for years. 
Drawing China into the drugs fight with Thailand and Burma was another 
good move, he said. 

Zhu Rongji, the Chinese premier, and Mr Thaksin over the weekend agreed 
to include Laos as a fourth participant, and to involve heads of 
government, not just foreign ministers. China offered to host the 
meeting of prime ministers in Kunming. Laos' inclusion came as a 
surprise but Mr Surakiart said he had broached the matter with his Lao 
counterpart, Somsavat Lengsavad, during a visit to Vientiane. 
Mr Kraisak also believed Japan, a major provider of humanitarian aid to 
Burma, should be included in a collective drive against drugs. Beyond 
drugs, the government's foreign dealings have followed its economic and 
business orientation. 

Mr Thaksin has yet to deliver on his promise to help Thai fishermen, 
half of whom went out of business after Burma closed its waters in 
October 1999 when its embassy in Bangkok was seized by exiles. He is 
also under pressure from Malaysia to get the gas pipeline going, 
although Mr Surakiart said talk of rapid progress in three months was 
Malaysia's interpretation of a turn of phrase. 

But the prime minister has made much of deals he made with Mr Zhu, 
including pledges to buy Thai rice and rubber, and consider tariff 
breaks for dried lamyai. 

The return favour China seems to expect is worrying. Mr Zhu repeated 
China's wish to invest $1 billion in paper production from eucalyptus 
trees to be planted in Thailand. Will this government yield where the 
Chuan Leekpai government resisted on such an environmentally sensitive 
issue? Citing headway with neighbours and a diplomatic drive supportive 
of the government's bid for economic recovery, Mr Surakiart argues his 
mission is succeeding. 

If third-party diplomatic pressure (from China or Japan, for example) 
succeeds in bringing Burma around to the drugs fight cause, well and 
good. 

But the confusing messages the government sends on border incursions and 
drugs can only be to Burma's advantage. People could be forgiven for 
questioning its sincerity. 
Meanwhile, Rangoon gives with one hand while it takes with the other. 




___________________________________________________





Bangkok Post: Shan Seek World Attention

 Wednesday, May 23, 2001



Gravity of situation is in Burma, they say

Subin Khuenkaew and Nauvarat Suksamran

A Shan State Army leader has called on the world community to help stamp 
out drug production in Burma and end the problem once and for all. 
Col Yod Suek, chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State, made 
the call during celebrations to mark Shan Resistance Day at a base 
opposite Mae Hong Son's Pang Ma Pha district.

While praising the world community for helping Thailand in its fight 
against drugs, Col Yod Suek said they should focus on drug manufacturing 
in Burma.

?It is good to help Thailand, but it is just a transit point. The 
gravity of the situation is in Burma where the drugs are  produced.

?However, our campaign against drugs, a means to total independence from 
the Burmese junta, hasn't received any support,? he said. 
The SSA was willing to co-operate with any country that wanted to stamp 
out drugs, he said. His forces had been successful so far in their fight 
against drugs.

Col Yod Suek said it had always been the SSA's policy to combat drugs 
and border clashes with Burmese troops were part of that campaign. 
?We were fighting drugs before Thailand stepped in, and we'll continue 
doing it,? he said.

Singer Surachai Chantimathorn showed up at the Shan base for the 
celebrations, attended by almost 1,000 people, to sing them 
nationalistic songs.

Mr Surachai, also known as Nga Caravan, said he was there to lend moral 
support and study the life of Shan people who have been fighting 
suppression for decades.

?I've been performing in Indochina for a long time. I express what I've 
seen through songs and writing,? he said.



___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				



Reuters: Thailand to close Myanmar student camp by year-end

BANGKOK, May 24 (Reuters) - Thailand hopes to close a border camp for 
exiled Myanmar students by the end of the year after sending the 
refugees to other countries, a senior Thai official said on Thursday. 
 Bhairote Brohmsarn, a deputy permanent secretary at the Interior 
Ministry, told Reuters Thailand was trying to send all 

 498 Myanmar students at the Maneeloy camp to other countries. 

 ``We are trying to send the remaining students to the third countries 
and hope to close the camp as soon as possible, possibly by the 
year-end,'' Bhairote told Reuters. 

 The camp, around 150 km (95 miles) west of Bangkok, was set up in 1992 
to host pro-democracy student activists who fled Myanmar after 
crackdowns by the military in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It once 
held as many as 3,000 refugees. 

 The Myanmar military held elections in 1990, which were won by the 
National League for Democracy of Aung San Suu Kyi. But the military 
ignored the result and many opposition supporters fled the country. 

 Bhairote said Thailand had coordinated with the U.N. High Commissioner 
for Refugees to relocate the students to the United States, Canada, 
Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia. 

 He said about 50 students in the camp had not yet been found a country 
to go to. 

 Thai security authorities last year said they hoped to close the camp 
early this year. 

 Maneeloy is one of 11 refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border 
housing a total of around 140,000 refugees. 

 U.N. agencies have voiced concerns about living conditions in some 
camps. But Thai officials have defended them, saying conditions there 
are no different from villages nearby. 

 Bhairote said Thailand also planned to close down a small refugee camp 
near the Thai-Laos border, after all 38 people there had been sent to 
other countries. 





___________________________________________________



AP: Villagers protest against Myanmar shelling of royal project 

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Villagers shouting anti-Myanmar slogans 
demonstrated in northern Thailand Thursday to protest against shelling 
by Myanmar troops that narrowly missed a royal villa. 

 About 3,000 villagers from various communities gathered outside the 
town hall in Fang in Chiang Mai province, waving national flags and 
banners and shouting anti-Myanmar insults through loudspeakers. 
 They demanded that the government take tougher action against Myanmar 
troops. 

 Border tensions between Myanmar and Thailand have escalated into a 
series of skirmishes in recent months, plunging their relations to the 
lowest level in years. 

 The Thai military lodged an official protest on Wednesday, saying 
Myanmar gunners, in a ``deliberate act of provocation,'' fired mortar 
shells into the Doi Angkhang royal development project in Chiang Mai 
province on Tuesday. 

 ``Myanmar troops fired mortars on a highly respected place like the 
compound of the royal project. It is unacceptable to Thai people,'' 
protest leader Phanit Kamolrattan told The Associated Press in a 
telephone interview from Fang. 

 He claimed that Myanmar troops have fired more than 10,000 shells into 
Thailand during the past month. ``I think it is time for Gen. Chavalit 
Yongchaiyudh as defense minister to do something or resign,'' Phanit 
said. 

 The Thai army said Myanmar forces intentionally fired at least five 
mortar rounds, one of which landed less than 100 meters (yards) from a 
royal villa on the grounds of the project. No injuries were reported but 
Thai gunners retaliated with warning shots, the army said. 

 The Doi Angkhang project is one of numerous development efforts by the 
highly popular Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej to improve rural incomes and 
get hilltribe people to grow coffee, vegetables and other crops instead 
of opium.






___________________________________________________




The Nation: Burma insults former King

 May 24, 2001.
NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR:
Sa-nguan Khumrungroj 

Burma's state-run New Light of Myanmar on Monday attacked a Thai King 
who ruled Siam in the mid-19th century, distorting a Thai academic's 
work to accuse the monarch of wrongdoing. 

Due to legal implications, The Nation is unable to quote verbatim from 
the article titled "Never been enslaved, but real slave", which appeared 
in Monday's edition of New Light of Myanmar. It was penned by Ma Tin 
Win, of Burma's Institute of Education. 
Quoting at length the research by Thai historian Rong Syamananda as a 
pretext to |heap criticism on this particular king, Tin Win chose to 
interpret Rong's scholarly and respected work - which detailed Siam's 
negotiations with Britain on August 16, 1855 - in ways that appear 
designed to serve Bur-ma's ongoing propaganda campaign against Thailand. 


Tin Win also compared the differences between Burma's and Siam's 
response to colonial pressures. She concluded that Burma was smarter in 
dealing with Britain because Burma refused to give extra-territorial 
jurisdiction to Britain following its defeat in the first Anglo-Burmese 
war. 

The New Light of Myanmar is the official mouthpiece of the Burmese junta 
leaders, known as the State Council of Peace and Development.  

In response to this serious allegation, and others made on Saturday and 
Sunday by the same mouthpiece, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai 
yesterday instructed Thai ambassador Oum Maolanond to lodge an oral 
protest to U Thaung Tun, Burmese Director General of the Political 
Department of the Foreign Ministry, according to the ministry's 
spokesman, Norachit Singhaseni. 

The spokesman said that these articles were not conducive to 
Thai-Burmese relations. "It will inevitably cause damage to bilateral 
ties. The Royal Institute is the most revered institute in Thailand. To 
engage the Royal members in such a way is unfitting and will not help 
boost ties," Norachit said. 

This is not the first time the New Light of Myanmar has attacked a Thai 
monarch. In the past few months, it has criticised Thailand and Kings in 
general without naming names, as it did in the past few days. 

During the previous government, the strongest protest by top leaders and 
summons of Burmese envoys were common. 

On May 19 last year, the junta's mouthpiece threatened to expose Thai 
officials engaged in drug-trafficking "including those of Royal blood". 
In response, former foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan confronted Gen Khint 
Nyunt on June 6 at Don Muang Airport. 
Thailand raised this issue again at the Asean Summit last November in 
Singapore. Former deputy foreign minister MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra also 
summoned previous Burmese ambassador U Hla Maung when Burmese troops 
violated Thai territory. 
Thai-Burmese relations have undergone severe tests under the Thaksin 
government. Border clashes and other forms of agitation have been 
frequent along the 2,401-km border. Since coming to power, Thai leaders 
including the prime minister, Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh 
and Foreign Minster Surakiart Sathirathai have expressed a desire to 
visit Burma. Surakiart did go recently, but failed to achieve any 
tangible results. 

Thaksin also said he would visit Burma to improve ties. Yet no Burmese 
leaders have visited Thailand. Burmese Foreign Minister U Win Aung said 
he would pay a return visit to Thailand but has so far given no 
timeframe for such a trip.


___________________________________________________




Xinhua: Thai FM Orders Protest Against Myanmar for Controversial Article


BANGKOK, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai 
has instructed the Thai ambassador in Rangoon to lodge a strong protest 
to Myanmar government over a controversial article in a Myanmar official 
newspaper that is said to have insulted a much revered Thai monarchy, 
the Thai News Agency reported Friday. Surakiat was quoted as saying that 
the state-run New Light of Myanmar on Monday published an article, which 
attacked a Thai King in the mid-19th century, distorting a Thai 
academic's work to accuse the monarch of wrongdoing. 

He also ordered the Thai foreign ministry to summon the Myanmar 
ambassador in Bangkok to receive a memorandum on the protest, which is 
considered an act of the strongest protest in a diplomatic way. The 
minister said he had called on the Myanmar government to step up efforts 
to ease the misunderstanding and give an assurance that the event would 
not happen again. Surakiat said he had also assigned officials to stop 
spreading the distorted article since it has an English version and 
could be reached on the net. The incident, he said, had caused a 
widespread discontent among Thai people, and it could inevitably cause 
damage to bilateral relations and impede efforts by governments of the 
two countries to normalize the ties. After the incident, the Thai 
government is reportedly reviewing its stance towards Myanmar. 




___________________________________________________





AFP: Thai-Myanmar relations deteriorating: Thaksin 

BANGKOK, May 24 (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra admitted 
Thursday that the troubled relationship between Thailand and 
neighbouring Myanmar was deteriorating further. 

 "All the problems have contributed to increasing misunderstanding. We 
have to talk -- if not there is no way to resolve the growing distrust," 
Thaksin said. 
 A simmering row centred on the drug-infested border region flared again 
this week when the state-run New Light of Myanmar published an article 
criticising Thailand's revered monarchy. 

 The Thai government lodged a sternly worded aide memoire over the 
article, a day after it issued an official protest over a shell attack 
Tuesday which targeted a royal-initiated agricultural border project. 

 "The articles have gone beyond the accepted bounds and norms of 
behaviour by thoughtlessly affronting the most revered institution of 
the Thai nation and people," the aide memoire said. 

 The comments were designed to "incite hatred" between the people of the 
two countries and were certain to "cause severe damage to Thai-Myanmar 
relations and the momentum of rapport hitherto established by our 
governments." 

 Thaksin said he would spend the next two days reviewing policy towards 
Myanmar, and conceded that its stance needed to be adjusted as soon as 
possible. 
 "There are two parts of the policy -- the first is security along the 
border and the second is international relations. They should be tuned 
so that they move in the same direction," he said. 

 The premier said the Thai government agencies dealing with Myanmar 
needed to be better coordinated and improve their access to information 
so that they were better equipped to map out correct policy. 

 The New Light of Myanmar Monday launched an attack on King Mongkut, who 
ruled Siam in the mid-19th century, in an article entitled "Never been 
enslaved, but real slave". 

 King Mongkut was popularised in the various musical and film versions 
of "The King and I", which have always been banned here out of deference 
to the monarchy. 

 The Thai parliament debated the article, which was splashed on the 
front page of the local press, in a closed door session Thursday. 








___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________




The New light of Myanmar (SPDC): Let's cultivate Alaungphaya spirit 


Wednesday, 23 May, 2001 






We have seen on TV, heard from radio and read in the dailies that the 
people  are presenting gifts to the Tatmadawmen discharging duties in 
border areas at  the risk of their lives to ensure perpetuation of 
sovereignty. As the gifts  are stuck with the words " cultivate the 
Alaungphaya Spirit" and "apply the  strategy of Alaungphaya" let along 
the soldiers, ordinary citizens who have  read the words are vitalized 
with high degree of patriotism.  King Alaungphaya (a) King Alaungmintaya 
not only founded the Third Myanmar  Empire with significant glory, but 
also taught a good lesson to the Siamese  (Thais), who made shameless 
intrusion on regions in Myeik and Taninthayi when  national solidarity 
was weak. 

His son, King Hsinbyushin, too, decisively and  totally defeated the 
Siamese (Thais) to stop them from intruding into others'  territory 
again. What is Alaungphaya spirit? The Headman of Moakhsobo  Village, 
Alaungphaya selected 68 skilled cavalry men and began to reunite the  
nation which broke up into pieces with all the physical and spiritual  
abilities. But he never accepted anyone as master and never relied on  
anybody. He never considered accepting foreign assistance. He built the  
nation and crushed all the enemies with his own efforts and the internal 
 strength. What is the strategy of Alaungphaya? The brilliant military  
strategy of Myanmar was shown during the Hainggyi Island incident. All 
the  battles, strategies and tactics of Alaungphaya were the milestones 
in the  history. The battles were launched with gallantry based on 
physical and  mental ability. The courageous spirit and strategies of 
Alaungphaya who never  intruded into others' territory, and never 
yielded to any alien intrusions on  Myanmar are still in the hearts of 
Myanmars.  

The Myanmar soldiers are encountering the wicked Siamese (Thai) troops 
and  drug trafficking insurgents in remote border areas. Thus, all the 
people  should boycott Siamese (Thai) goods and provide gifts to the 
Tatmadawmen in  assisting the Tatmadaw. It has already been publicly 
announced that  consumption of the monosodium glutamate and soft drinks 
such as Red Bull  brand soft drink produced with wicked intention by the 
Siamese (Thais) will  harm the intellectual and physical growth; thus it 
is a shame for anyone who  continues to consume the Siamese (Thai) goods 
out of low know-ledge. It will  be like encouraging the enemy and will 
lead to weakening of nationalism. As  it is the national cause, no one 
should remain indifferent.   We hate the colonialist as we had to live 
for nearly 100 years under them. We  are still opposing the 
colonialists. But we must be always aware of the  nearest enemy who is 
the colonialists' lackey. It is required to assess and  face the Siam 
(Thailand) which has always seen Myanmar as its enemy  throughout 
history. All should revitalize the Alaungphaya spirit. It is  required 
to teach the students and youth to know about the bad neighbour and  to 
render assistance in uplifting the youths' physical and spiritual  
strength. Despite the good-neighbourly practices we are exercising, it 
is  showing aggressive attitude; if Siam (Thailand) continues to adopt 
this  attitude, we will have to prepare ourselves to react it in 
appropriate manner.  The wicked and crooked practices of Siam (Thailand) 
are many. It is raising  and using multi-insurgents at the border to 
smuggle out various kinds of  natural resources from Myanmar. Siam 
(Thailand) in collusion with drug  smugglers is trying to gain large 
amounts of profits. 

It is putting all the  blame on Myanmar. It has been long since news are 
coming out that Siam  (Thailand) is stealing land to dam streams at the 
border. It has become the  centre of prostitution business. Petpon 
located in Bangkok, the seat of the  Siamese (Thai) government, is 
infamous for its brothels. How can the army,  police and civilian 
personnel of a nation like that be sincere and of good  character. It is 
ridiculous that the nation of thieves is telling the beads.  Siam 
(Thailand) has no ability of its own, and nor has maintained cordial  
relations with its neighbours and has instead, yielded to the domination 
of  the white men from afar. The only result is the thriving 
prostitution and  drug business and having to deal with the neighbours 
as the enemies in accord  with its masters, wish. And yet it is not 
repentant.  

If the recent border clashes are studied, the insults and intrusions of 
Siam  (Thailand) can be seen clearly. It made aggressive attacks on 
Myanmar side to  force the Myanmar troops to leave O-7 hillock, which is 
owned by Myanmar and  always run by Myanmar troops, on 11 February. 
Cowardly, Siam (Thailand) used  heavy weapons fire power. The worst is 
that it fired heavy weapons shells on  Tachilek. It also attacked the 
Pachee outpost at an unguarded moment with  over 200 men using excessive 
heavy weapons fire power on 22 April. 

Only about  20 Myanmar soldiers were stationed at the outpost for area 
security. Siam  (Thailand) also shelled BP-1 camp with over 500 heavy 
weapons rounds from 23  April to 25 April. Though its troops managed to 
seize the Pachee outpost at  unguarded moment, The Siamese (Thai) troops 
had to carry their bodies and  retreated into their territory. The 
Siamese (Thai) troops had practically  experienced the Alaungphaya 
spirit of Myanmar Tatmadaw in BP-1 battle. The  Myanmar Tatmadaw managed 
to recapture the Pachee outpost on 3 May.  

By witnessing the incidents, Siam (Thailand) should understand that the  
Myanmar Tatmadaw never intrudes into any other's territory and that it 
always  crushes the intrusions with Alaungphaya spirit. We have no 
racial hatred and  never entertain ill will towards Siam (Thailand). 
When Siam changed its name  to Thailand, the Myanmars as the civilized 
people called the nation Thailand.  But the Siamese (Thais) cannot call 
the official name "Myanmar" but instead  they are calling us "Phama" or 
'Burma". Moreover, the anti-Myanmar media gain  strength. A Siamese 
(Thai) film named "Banrajan' is about the Siamese (Thai)  resistance 
against the Myanmar army during the reign of King Alaungphaya.

 The  film shows Myanmars as cruel infidels. What the Siamese (Thais) 
should know  is that the true Theravada Buddhism has flourished most in 
Myanmar throughout  the successive eras. The Myanmar-Siamese wars during 
the reign of King  Alaungphaya were to teach Siamese (Thais) a good 
lesson as they were  intruding into Myeik and Taninthayi regions. 
Siamese (Thais) greed for the  ownership of Taninthayi peninsular is not 
less than that for Kengtung.  It can be found clearly in history, that 
the Siam (Thailand) has always  intruded into the Myanmar territory 
whenever Myanmar was weak. It can be  found in Siamese history that King 
Anawrahta, the founder of the First  Myanmar Empire, conquered all the 
Cochinchina region in addition to winning  the entire Siam (Thailand). 
King Bayintnaung defeated Siam (Thailand) for  many times. Till now, 
Siamese (Thais) are worshipping King Bayintnaung as a  divinity. King 
Alaungphaya and his son King Hsinbyushin conquered the entire  Siam 
(Thailand). Every time when the calibre of the leader and the people of  
the different nations are tested, the better ones always win. If Siam  
(Thailand) can take this as a lesson, it should stop all its aggression 
on  Myanmar. As Siam (Thailand) is insulting others under the influence 
of its  masters, it is like one against many in the community. It does 
not need to  insult its neighbouring countries, if it wants to promote 
patriotism. 

Siam  (Thailand) should crush its narcotic drug traffickers and try to 
change its  positions as being the centre of prostitution and to free 
itself from the  life of a total lackey of its masters. It will gain 
nothing by launching  programmes to hate Myanmar instead of trying to 
guard against corruption,  bribery and loss of culture. The only thing 
it will gain is the sour  relations with Myanmar. Moreover, I would like 
to warn Siam (Thailand) that  it will be given a good lesson by Myanmar 
with the Alaungphaya spirit.  . 


Author : Htet Aung 




___________________________________________________




Xinhua: Myanmar Links Sovereignty to Development

YANGON, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar can exist as a sovereign nation only 
when its economic, political and social sectors develop on all fronts, 
said Wednesday's official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar. Quoting 
the country's senior leader General Maung Aye, the paper pointed out 
that there are independent countries, sovereignty of which is not firm 
or perpetual. Meeting with local administrative officials of Western 
Rakhine state during his inspection tour on Monday, Maung Aye, Vice- 
Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council, Deputy 
Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services and Commander-in- Chief of 
the Army, said his government is striving on all fronts to enable the 
country to stand firmly as a sovereign nation and to protect it from 
falling under the domination of the big nations. He warned that his 
government will not let an inch of the nation's territory be lost, 
saying that at the same time it has no wish to intrude into or occupy 
other's territory. 

He also pointed out that at present, the practice of hegemonism is 
existing in the world with the big nations applying various means to 
dominate the small nations by giving human rights, democracy and drug 
elimination as excuses. He pledged that Myanmar is exerting its utmost 
efforts to stand firmly on its path and get abreast with other nations, 
while building all sectors including the political, economic and social 
fields. He reaffirmed Myanmar's foreign policy that it maintains its 
cordial relations with other countries in accordance with the Five 
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the ten principles of Bandung 
Conference. Myanmar regained independence and became a sovereign nation 
in 1948.












________________


The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive 
coverage of news and opinion on Burma  (Myanmar) from around the world.  
If you see something on Burma, you can bring it to our attention by 
emailing it to strider@xxxxxxx

To automatically subscribe to Burma's only free daily newspaper in 
English, send an email to:
burmanet-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to The BurmaNet News in Burmese, send an email to:

burmanetburmese-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


You can also contact BurmaNet by fax:

(US) +1(413)604-9008

(Japan) +81 (3) 4512-8143


________________


Burma News Summaries available by email or the web

There are three Burma news digest services available via either email or 
the web.

Burma News Update
Frequency: Biweekly
Availability: By fax or the web.
Viewable online at 
http://www.burmaproject.org/burmanewsupdate/index.html
Cost: Free
Published by: Open Society Institute, Burma Project

The Burma Courier 
Frequency: Weekly 
Availability: E-mail, fax or post.  To subscribe or unsubscribe by email 
celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx
Viewable on line at: http://www.egroups.com/group/BurmaCourier
Cost: Free
Note: News sources are cited at the beginning of an article. 
Interpretive comments and background
details are often added.

Burma Today
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail
Viewable online at http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma/today.html
To subscribe, write to pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Cost: Free
Published by: PD Burma (The International Network of Political Leaders 
Promoting Democracy in Burma)




________________

==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?b1dbSX.b1CGhI
Or send an email To: burmanet-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This email was sent to: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxx

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================