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

BurmaNet News: December 21, 1994



Received: (from strider) by igc2.igc.apc.org (8.6.9/Revision: 1.5 ) id WAA01841; Wed, 21 Dec 1994 22:49:21 -0800
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 1994 22:49:21 -0800

 ************************** BurmaNet **************************  
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" 
**************************************************************   
BurmaNet News: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 
 
Issue #84 
 
**************************************************************  
Contents: 
 
1 BURMANET: ALT.KAREN NEWSGROUP CREATED 
2 SCT: TEACHING ENGLISH IN THIALAND/BURMA? 
3 EFOB: CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF PAUL STRACHAN'S IRRAWADDY RIVER TRIPS. 
4 ABSDO: PRESS RELEASE ON STUDENT ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRALIA 
5 BURMANET: POSTING FONTS 
6 REUTERS: MUTINY THREATENS KAREN REVOLUTION 
7 NATION: CUDDLING UP TO THE SLORC    
8 NATION: JAPANESE SURVEYING BURMA    
9 NATION: SCENT OF PROFIT DRIVING JAPAN'S MOVES IN BURMA  
10 NATION: COMMITTEE SET UP TO PROMOTE MEKONG TOURS    
11 BKK POST: PROPOSAL FOR REGIONAL NARCOTICS COMMITTEES  
12 BKK POST: TEMPORARY CHECKPOINT WITH BURMA APPROVED    
13 NATION: RIGHTS CONVENIENTLY OVERLOOKED  
14 NATION: ARRESTS CRIPPLED DRUG WARLORD'S EMPIRE  
15 AP: DEMOCRACY SCORES SOME POINTS IN ASIA  
16 NATION: ON THE WRONG TRAIL  
17 BKK POST: STRUGGLING AGAINST THE THREAT OF DESTRUCTION  
18 NATION: BURMESE PROBLEMS HINDER THAILAND'S BID TO PROTECT FOREST 
19 NATION: ON THE WRONG TRAIL  
20 NATION: BURMESE PROBLEMS HINDER THAILAND'S BID TO PROTECT FOREST 
 
 
**************************************************************  
BURMANET: ALT.KAREN NEWSGROUP CREATED 
December 22, 1994 
 
A BurmaNet subscriber reports that the Alt.Karen newsgroup has been 
formed.  Alt.Karen (yes, with uppercase) was recently created by someone 
apparently at Netcom, but who has since abandoned it.  It seems to have 
been named after a woman named Karen, but as the creator has abandoned 
it, it is now being used to post information about the Karen of Burma.  If
it becomes more 
 widely read, it may be possible to change it from the
Alternate heirarchy to the soc.culture heirarchy (i.e. 
soc.culture.burma.karen).  If you are interested in discussing subjeccts
involving the Karen people of 
 Burma, please send a note to your system
operator to carry Alt Karen at your site. 
************************************************************** 
 SCT:
TEACHING ENGLISH IN THIALAND/BURMA? 
 
/* Written 8:49 AM Dec 16, 1994 by Steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in
igc:soc.culture.thai /* 
 ---------- "Teaching English in Thialand/Burma?" ---------- */ I am an
English teacher who will be 
 visiting Thialand for an extended holiday
during 1995. Does anyone now of any "good" language schools 
 at which I
might be able to get part time work? 
 
I would also be interested to hear from anyone who has taught in Burmese
refugee camps, I understand 
 that this possible on a voluntary basis? Any
contacts with TEFL'ers would be welcomed. 
 
Regards, -- Steve Brown Peterborough UK 
 
 
************************************************************** 
EFOB: CALL FOR BOYCOTT OF PAUL STRACHAN'S IRRAWADDY RIVER TRIPS. European

 Friends of Burma 
 
December 22, 1994 
 
 Most Burmese would not object to individual travellers who come to Burma,
stay with Burmese families 
 and spend their money locally. But Paul
Strachan's luxury river cruise on the Irrawaddy which were 
 advertised on
Burma Net on 17 December is an affront to the people of Burma: it is
colonial-style, rich 
 man's tourism of the worst kind.  
 
Imagine a bunch of rich foreigners, sipping drinks on the deck of a luxury
river liner and "observing" the 
 "exotic" countryside from a safe
distance! And where does the money go: US dollar 2,500 per head? This 
 is
not the kind of tourism Burma needs. Boycott these river trips and expose
those narrow-minded 
 businessmen who are behind it. 
 
European friends of Burma 
 
Text of original article: 
 
"The Irrawaddy is of all the rivers in Indo-China the greatest.... It is
no light undertaking to describe this 
 majestic creature. Its length and
volume, its importance as artery of the world, its rise and fall---- these

 are easily recorded facts. The beauty of its waters that mirror a sky of
varied loveliness, of its hills and 
 forests and precipitous heights, of
its vast spaces that calm to the most fretful spirit, of the sunsets that

 wrap it in mysteries of colour--- these are things for which words are
greatly inadequate." 
 VC Scott O'Connor 'The silken East', 1904 
 
 
 
 Irrawaddy Journey : Pagan to Bhamo 'Reconnaissance Voyage' on the
Irrawaddy Princess, that was 
 commissioned this year for river cruising
in comfort, will start in January, 1995.  
 
  The journeys will be organised and led by Paul Strachan who knows Burma
well after spending 2 years 
 there in the mid-eighties. Paul is the
founder-editor of Kiscadale Publications, that have published more 
 than
20 works on Burma's history, art and culture. He is also the author of a
well known book on the 
 temples at Pagan and recently published
'Mandalay-Travels from the Golden City'. This includes chapters 
 on
journeys he made on the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers, where in many
places he found that he was 
 the first foreigner people had seen since
the 1940s.  
 
 Irrawaddy Princess, a catamaran three-deck vessel, is offering good food
and accommodation on board. 
 Attractively finished in rattan and teak,
each double cabin has its own bathroom, aircon and private deck. 
 There
is an obervation lounge/bar (well stocked) to the fore and a dining room
aft. Above is a spacious 
 open deck where, nursing a cool refreshment,
the observer may enjoy river life from the depths of a 
 planter's chair.
The chef will offer a twice daily buff of Oriental dishes-- Burmese,
Indian and Chinese for 
 vegetarians and non-vegetarians - as well as
Western-style breakfast. European dishes wil be available by 
 special
request. 
 
        The voyage will take totally 15 days, starting Rangoon to Pagan by
French ATR72 plane and 
 sailing from Pagan to Bhamo for 404 miles. It
will stop at Pakokku, Sagaing, Ava, Mandalay, Mingun, 
 Tagaung, Katha,
Shwegu. 
 
        Each evening there will be a short talk on Burma's art and
culture, the history of the river, and 
 other subjects(?) by either Paul
Strachan or an accompanying guest lecturer. One of the upper deck 'state 
rooms' will be converted for the duration of the voyage into a library.  
 
    Price for January 1995 'Reconnaissance Voyage' will be 1,600 pounds
(about US$ 2,500) and will sail 
 with a minimum of 20 and max. of 30
people. Price includes all transport and accomodation, on water, 
 land
and air from the day one to the end with three meals a day on board.  For
booking and any 
 further information, please call or fax Paul Strachan. 
 
        Kiscadale Publications Gartmore, Stirling, FK83RJ Scotland, UK
Phone : 01877 382 
 776 Fax : 01877 382 778 
 
(Excerpt from the Kiscadale Publications' Irrawaddy Journey) 
 
 
 
***************************************************** 
ABSDO: PRESS RELEASE ON STUDENT ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRALIA 
 
ABSDO (Australia).  
PO Box 695, Woden ACT  2606,  
Australia.   
Phone:  61 (6) 286 2835.  fax 61 (6) 239 7260.   
E-mail: hazell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
 
December 1994 
 
The Press Release on the Australian students support for the struggle for
democracy in Burma 
 
        The eighth conference of the National Union of Students was
convened in the Ballarat (in the state of 
 Victoria, Australia), from 11
to 15 of December 1994.  It is the annual conference of the Australian 
students from campuses all around Australia to put amendments and adopt
new policies on internal and 
 international affairs concerning
educational, social, political, and other issues.  Three hundred student 
delegates from all campuses attended. 
 
 Burmese student, Maung Maung Than from All Burma Students Democratic
Organization (Australia) 
 (ABSDO)joined the conference and spoke about
the struggle for democracy in Burma and the Burmese 
 student movement on
the 14th of December at the conference, and put forward a motion of 
recommendations concerning policies towards Burma to be formally adopted
by the Conference.  Again 
 on Thursday 15th, he was again asked to speak
at the beginning of the debate on NUS policy for Burma. 
 
A student delegate from the University of New South Wales, Sai Htun Naing
Win, also spoke to the 
 conference in support of the motion.  The
conference unaminously adopted the motion on Thursday 15th 
 December. 
 
The four recommendations which were adopted by the NUS Conference were: 1. 
The release of Daw 
 Aung San Suu Kyi (Noble laureate and the leader of
pro-democracy movement) and Min Ko Naing (the 
 student leader who is
being tortured in jail) and all political prisoners.  
 
 
2.  The restoration of the democratically elected representatives of the
1990 elections and rejection of 
 the legitimacy of the SLORC regime.  
 
3.  To Urge the students to unite with Burmese students for democracy in
Burma 
 
4.  To encourage the establishment of student solidarity clubs on campuses
as well as a national 
 speaking tour on the movement for democracy in
Burma. 
 
 Source:  ABSDO (Australia), 21 December 1994. 
 
 
 
************************************************** 
BURMANET: POSTING FONTS 
December 22, 1994 
 
According to Professor Tom Bracket, fonts from Burma can be posted to a
site at Colgate University for 
 retrieval by others on the net.  To
upload fonts, ftp to Colgate.  The procedure is: 
 
 
 ftp  linux.colgate.edu    
 
login as anonymous with e-mail address as the password   
 
 cd  incoming   
 
 put <file name>    
 
 
******************************************* 
REUTERS: MUTINY THREATENS KAREN REVOLUTION 
December 20, 1994 
 
 	 MANERPLAW, Burma (Reuter) - Four hundred well-armed Karen guerrillas,
strips of red 
 monk's cloth tied around their heads, occupied a hilltop
monastry at a guerrilla-controlled river junction 
 in early December,
sparking one of the most serious crises in the Karens' 45-year war for
autonomy. 
 
 The mutiny, supported by vegetarian Buddhist monks and battle-weary
civilian followers of their pacifist 
 teachings, has thrown into question
the survival of the Christian-led Karen guerrilla force and the 
opposition alliance based at their headquarters in Manerplaw. 
 
 Burmese government forces took advantage of the mutiny to occupy and
attack key defensive positions 
 around Manerplaw, which lies nestled
against forest-clad mountains on the west bank of the River Moei, 
 which
marks the Thai-Burmese frontier. The Karen, one of the largest of Burma's
welter of ethnic 
 minorities, supported the British during World War II
and went into rebellion for greater autonomy in 
 1949, one year after
Burma's independence from Britain. Driven out of the Irrawaddy River delta

 and a central mountain range, Karen National Union (KNU) strongholds in
southeast Burma became the 
 target of regular dry-season offensives by
government forces in 1984.  
 
	 KNU leaders blame agents of the Rangoon junta, the State Law and
Order Restoration Council 
 (SLORC), for instigating this month's
unprecedented rebellion but admit the SLORC had fertile ground in 
 which
to sow seeds of dissension. 
 
 Many of the estimated 100,000 villagers in their zone are exhausted after
the long years of war, Karen 
 leaders said.  
 
	 ``They have helped us but it has been a very big burden for a very
long time,'' Senior Karen 
 commander General Maung Maung told Reuters in
an interview. ``They don't want the civil war 
 any more; they can't bear
it any more,'' another senior Karen official said. 
 
 
 Two years ago Buddhist monks from a vegetarian sect, widely respected in
central Burma, began 
 appearing in the Karens' zone, flush with donations
and preaching a simple but powerful message: follow 
 our teachings and
you will not have to get involved in the war. 
 
 ``The SLORC organized the monks on the plains and sent them up into the
hills. They organized Karen 
 monks to come and work like Buddhist
missionaries,'' Maung Maung said. 
 
 At the same time leaflets began appearing in frontline areas highlighting
alleged discrimination against 
 Buddhists by the KNU's Christian leaders.

 
Monks told villagers who followed their teachings they need not serve as
porters for either the SLORC or 
 the Karen. 
 
 In some areas SLORC troops stopped conscripting Buddhists as porters,
taking only Christian villagers, 
 while some Buddhists began insisting
that the Karen stop bringing weapons into their villages, KNU 
 leaders
said. 
 
 U Thu Sana, the local leader of the Buddhist sect, encouraged his
followers to build pagodas on frontline 
 mountains and ridgelines to
promote peace. Karen commanders found villagers wandering around their 
defensive postions and frontline arms caches, insisting on building
pagodas, which the guerrillas likened 
 to beacons for SLORC air strikes.

 
``They arrived to build these pagodas in the fighting time. Our officers
told them they could not do it, 
 some officers accused them of being
SLORC monks,'' Maung Maung explained. 
 
``The KNU leaders were right not to allow them to build these pagodas, it
was not discrimination,'' said 
 one Buddhist guerrilla allied to the the
KNU. 
 
But patience wore thin and tempers flared. Some Karen officers beat
Buddhist villagers infuriating some 
 of their own Buddhist troops who
make up 70 percent of the 5,000-strong force. 
 
 The appointment of a monk close to KNU leaders but little respected by
local Buddhists as chief abbot in 
 the Karen zone in August further
fueled resentment among both villagers and Buddhist guerrillas. 
 
 The anger finally erupted with the mutineers, supported by several
hundered villagers and vegetarian 
 monks, occupying the strategically
vital Thu Mwe Ta junction of the Salween and Moei rivers Dec. 2. 
 
 They demanded punishment for some KNU officers, freedom for Buddhist
missionaries and an end to 
 alleged injustice and interference from
Christians. 
 
The KNU agreed to all their demands and promised an amnesty. 
 
`They've had this perception that that Christian leadership has been
oppressing Buddhists. There has been 
 no such thing as religious
percecution but there have been cases where Karen officers were involved
in 
 apparent injustices,'' A KNU official said. KNU leaders say it is
time to introduce reforms. However, 
 with SLORC troops tightening the
noose around Manerplaw some observers wonder if reforms now might 
 be too
late for Burma's embattled Karen. 
 
 
*********************************************************** 
 NATION: CUDDLING UP TO THE SLORC    
Friday, December 16, 1994 
 
In his latest tirade, as reported by the Associated Press (Nation, Oct 7),
Malaysian Prime Minister 
 Mahathir Mohamad has again lambasted "Western
liberals" for reluctance to pursue a more militant 
 initiative in Bosnia,
as well as derided the "champions of human rights" who propose multi-party

 democracy and individual freedoms on a global scale.  
 
The West, through the United Nations, has imposed stringent sanctions,
supplied humanitarian aid, and 
 installed peacekeepers in the hope of
containing the conflict. The Security Council has sanctioned 
 selective
Nato bombing of Serbian sites despite the inherent danger to UN personnel
on the ground, not all 
 of whom are of Occidental origin.  
 
Massive military intervention would require a prolonged commitment of an
estimated 100,000 troops in a 
 terrain quite different from the desert
adjacent to the Persian Gulf; moreover, in contrast to Iraq which 
 was
all but isolated in the Arab world, the Serbs boast a traditional affinity
with the Russians, who despite 
 their weakened position internationally
harbour internally volatile reactionary elements. Europe is slow to 
forget that the first of two great wars this century was ignited by a
spark from Sarajevo. It is thus a very 
 difficult situation, as well as a
human tragedy on an immense scale. Yet a number of European countries 
have reacted positively to Bosnia refugees, while an uncensored Western
press continually prods the 
 conscience.  
 
How many refugees from Bosnia has Mahathir welcomed? And has the Malaysian
press highlighted 
 similar ethnic calamities in the Asian theatrenamely
Burma, East Timor, and to a lesser degree, Tibet?  
 
Mahathir is now eager to do business with the Slorc, despite even its
"ethnic cleansing" of Muslims forced 
 to flee to an already impoverished
Bangladesh. He has been silent on East Timor, where the crimes of 
Suharto have been compared in their magnitude to those of Pol Pot, and
Indonesian immigrants are 
 rapidly replacing the indigenous dead. And in
regard to what a Nation editorial has termed the "cultural 
 genocide" in
Tibet, not to mention widespread suppression of Chinese dissidents
internally, the Malaysian 
 prime minister, on a business trip, has
professed to be on the "same wave length" to Beijing in regard to 
 human
rights. And this outlandish self-appointed spokesperson for the developing
world accuses "Western 
 liberals" of hypocrisy!  
 
"No (one) civilization ... has a monopoly of wisdom as to what constitutes
human rights," he chimes, 
 conveniently ignoring that those principles
recorded in the declaration of 1948 were from the multi-
 cultured voices
of the United Nations, which prominently included the Soviet Union as well
as nationalist 
 China.  
 
And I will add the words of Xanana Gusmao: "It is a great shame that
Western nations or more precisely 
 the countries of the North, continue
to allow the regimes of the South, advocating cultural differences, to 
deny universal human rights standards..." (Nation).  
 
In response to Mahathir's assertion that economic success is dependent
upon strong governments with the 
 tinges of fascism, the mode of his
speech suggest, I shall quote Daw Aung San Suu Kyi: " ... the true 
development of human beings involves much more than a mere economic
growth. At its heart there must 
 be a sense of empowerment and inner
fulfilment. This alone will ensure that human and cultural values 
 remain
paramount in a world where political leadership is often synonymous with
tyranny and the rule of 
 a narrow elite ..." 
 
Why must Dr Mahathir be a collaborator with the likes of the murderous
Slorc while this internationally 
 recognized Southeast Asian spokesperson
is denied herfreedom? Could it be the Prime Minister of 
 Malaysia is
afraid to confront the unfettered words of this Nobel Peace Prize
laureate?  
 
I am one of those immoral people about whom the eminent Mahathir speaksone
who believes not only in 
 love, but also that love cannot thrive, or even
survive, in the absence of freedom? Could it be the prime 
 minister of
Malaysia is afraid to confront the unfettered words of this Nobel Peace
Prize laureate?  
 
And as long as the likes of Xanana Gusmao and Aung San Suu Kyi remain
incarcerated in Southeast 
 Asia, as long as an implied Asian morality
persists in the subjugation of women and the glorification of 
 power in
all its phoney omnipotence, this human being of Semitic inheritance, who
in his Asian domicile 
 evolves among the mysticism of the Orient, cannot
remain unmoved.  
 
Kenneth-David Tavalin Ban Don Yai [Thailand] 
 
*********************************************************** 
NATION: JAPANESE SURVEYING BURMA    
Friday, December 16, 1994  
AP/DW, Tokyo 
 
MITSUI & Co said yesterday a team of its officials are visiting Myanmar
this week to study future 
 business possibilities in the Southeast Asian
country. 
 
A spokesman for the major Japanese trading house said the company is
interested in Myanmar as an 
 undeveloped market with future potential,
which could follow neighbouring Vietnam as an attractive site 
 for
investments. 
 
The delegation is headed by Vice President Akira Utsumi, the spokesman
said. Mitsui currently has a 
 representative office in the capital city
Yangon, through which it imports small amounts of agricultural 
 products
into Japan, he said. 
 
*********************************************************** 
NATION: SCENT OF PROFIT DRIVING JAPAN'S MOVES IN BURMA  
Friday. December 16, 1994 
 
"Business opportunities seem to have triggered Japan's change of heart
toward Rangoon. Suvendrini 
 Kakuchi and Leah Makabenta of Inter Press
Service report." 
 
Japan is sprinting ahead of Western governments to re-establish ties with
Burma after officials here say 
 they detected signs that the military
junta - in Rangoon is considering relaxing : its grip on the nation.  
 
Indeed, some political analysts even say the resumption of official
relations with Burma may take place as 
 early as January next year.  
 
But the decision is already meeting heavy criticism from Burmese exiles
and Japanese analysts who say 
 Tokyo is rushing too fast to befriend
Burma's military leaders because of commercial concerns.  
 
In early November, the Japanese government announced that it was ready to
resume official development 
 aid to Burma--after a lapse of six years-in
the hope that it will lead to democracy in the Southeast Asian 
 nation. 

 
Officials said the move was prompted by '; the two recent meetings of
Burma's military leaders with Nobel 
 Peace laureate and Burmese
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for
the 
 past five years.  
 
The modest gesture has encouraged Washington, Slorc's harshest critic, to
embark on a new strategy 
 toward a constructive dialogue with Burma's
military government. Britain, another leading advocate of 
 the hardline
approach against Slorc has also sent senior officials to Rangoon.  
 
But while Burmese exiles believe the United States and Britain have merely
softened their policies toward 
 Rangoon a bit, they are worried over
Tokyo, once Burma's highest aid donor, which has used the occasion 
 to
renew its old friendly ties with the Rangoon.  
 
"Japan has jumped ahead of Western donors by taking the initiative. It is
something Tokyo has always 
 wanted to do," says Burma expert Ikuko Ida of
the Institute of Developing Economies.  
 
Burmese exiles and their small band of Japanese supporters disagree with
Tokyo's decision. They say it 
 may only lead Slorc to believe it can make
the world forget that the Burmese military is determined to stay 
 in
power despite having lost the 1990 elections to Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy (NLD).  
 
"If the international community wants real change in Burma, they should
exert more pressure, not less," 
 says Aung Htoo, first secretary of the
All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) in Bangkok.  
 
"The most important thing for Slorc is legitimacy," he adds. "If they
sense that all they need is to stage a 
 talk with Suu Kyi, they don't
have to pay attention to anybody anymore." 
 
Lawyer Toru Takahashi, who is fighting to have his Burmese client granted
refugee status in Japan, 
 agrees. He points out: "Nothing has changed in
Burma. Suu Kyi is still under house arrest. People are still 
 afraid to
speak out." Takahashi says Tokyo, which has just refused to grant refugee
status to his client and 
 11 other Burmese exiles, is merely protecting
Japanese business interest in its bid to resume aid to Burma.  
 
In 1983, Burma stood at fourth place in Japan's long list of aid
recipients. But in 1988, Japan decided to 
 follow the lead of Western
nations and cut off official aid to Burma after a bloody military
crackdown on 
 pro-democracy activists there resulted in the death of
hundreds of students and Buddhist monks.  
 
Still, Japan never stopped sending what analysts describe as "low-scale"
humanitarian aid to Burma, 
 racking up a total of 24 million yen (roughly
US$240,000) for the past six years.  
 
Now, a senior Foreign Ministry official says Tokyo will expand its
medical, water and other fields of 
 humanitarian assistance to Burma this
year.  
 
But while the ministry says full-scale aid, such as low-interest yen
loans, will depend on the measures the 
 junta takes to "settle" Suu Kyi's
predicament, experts predict that it will not be long before Tokyo moves 
to loosen official aid flow to Burma.  
 
*********************************************************** 
NATION: COMMITTEE SET UP TO PROMOTE MEKONG TOURS    
Saturday, December 17, 1994  
by Nongsuda Tirwattanawit 
 
KUNMING - Six countries along the Mekong River have agreed to set up a
joint marketing committee to 
 promote the Mekong as a tourist
destination.  
 
A tour package called 'Culture and Nature' will spearhead the first
promotion of the committee which is 
 the upshot of the fourth conference
on Subregional Economic Co-operation organised by the Asian 
 Development
Bank (ADB) and the United Nation's Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the 
 Pacific (ESCAP), held in Kunming, China this week.  
 
Delegates from national tourism units in China, Burma, Laos, Thailand
Cambodia and Vietnam will 
 propose this idea to their home governments.
The members of a joint marketing committee will then be 
 appointed to
work out strategies and details, which will be passed to the ADB's
ministerial level meeting 
 in April next year.  
 
China's participation is a sign of compromise in subregional economic
co-operation in tourism 
 development. China is still not a member of the
UN's Mekong Committee, which was set up earlier to 
 regulate the
exploitation of the Mekong rive r among member countries.  
 
Formerly, the insistence of the Chinese government not to join the Mekong
Committee had worried other 
 countries that the benefits from the Mekong
River would be lost if China, the source of the mighty river, 
over-exploited the resource by, for example building large dams or
changing the river's course.  
 
A lucrative tourism industry on the Mekong River is very interesting for
China and should remind the 
 government there to conserve the river's
nature, said Dr M Rahmatullah, ESCAP's director of Transport, 
Communication and Tourism Division.  
 
In order to guide the tourism development programme to preserve cultural
and natural conditions, the 
 feasibility studies on the Mekong River will
be coordinated with the ADB's Regional Technical Assistance 
 Project No
5535, Environment sector, launched in 1992. 
 
 In addition to ADB's and ESCAP's financial support, the Mekong's
co-operation projects are expected to 
 mobilize funds from member
countries and other international organizations such as the European
Union.  
 
Meanwhile, this week's meeting also established a plan to hold a
subregional forum by next year to discuss 
 cooperation between the
government sector and private sector interests such as airlines, tour
operators, 
 and hoteliers. 
 
The subregional tourism forum, planned to be held in Thailand, is aimed at
motivating governments of 
 newly-opened countries such as Burma and
Vietnam to delegate cross-border procedures in a bid to win 
 tourist's
interest, said the ESCAP director. 
 
Another project agreed during the meeting is a skill-training programme,
which will also seek financial 
 support from outside organizations. It is
expected to cover accommodation service training courses that 
 will
rotate around the various countries. Graduate students will then spread
knowledge in their own 
 nation. 
 
*********************************************************** 
BKK POST: PROPOSAL FOR REGIONAL NARCOTICS COMMITTEES  
Saturday, December 17, 1994 
 
 THAILAND yesterday proposed that an NGO committee on drug abuse control
be set up in each of four 
 regions-Asia Pacific, Africa, Latin America
and the Middle East. 
 
The proposal was made at the end of the five-day NGO World Forum on Drug
Demand Reduction in 
 Bangkok by Mr Somphorn Thepsitha, chairman of the
steering committee. 
 
Mr Somphorn suggested that the Social Welfare Council of Thailand act as
coordinator to form the NGO 
 Committee on Drug Abuse Control for the
Asia-Pacific region. 
 
The forum, which was attended by about 500 representatives from NGOs from
110 countries, also adopted 
 a Bangkok Declaration at the conclusion of
the conference. 
 
The Declaration calls for cooperation from the mass media in the
presentation of correct information to 
 the public to pro mote the
campaign to reduce drug demand, promotion of official and unofficial 
networks to reduce drug demand and all NGOs to realise the impact of drug
abuse. 
 
*********************************************************** 
BKK POST: TEMPORARY CHECKPOINT WITH BURMA APPROVED 
 Saturday, December
17, 1994 Mae Hong Son 
 
THE Interior Ministry has approved a request from the provincial authority
to open a temporary 
 checkpoint on the Thai-Burmese border in Khun Yuam
district.  
 
Governor Somjate Wiriyadumrong said Interior Permanent Secretary Aree
Wongaraya has approved the 
 request, and all working units have been
ordered to oversee the task.  
 
Practical measures to control the flow of people and goods will be
discussed next Thursday to prevent 
 illegal smuggling of war weapons,
drugs and immigrants into Thailand, he said.  
 
It is expected that the new checkpoint will foster good relations between
Thailand and Burma by boosting 
 trade and tourism on the Mae Hong Son
border.  
 
The checkpoint is expected to be opened on January 9 as a "New Year
present to the people of Mae Hong 
 Son," the governor said.  
 
Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of Thailand is planning to build a new
3,000-rai airport at Huey Pong 
 Sila.  
 
*********************************************************** 
NATION: RIGHTS CONVENIENTLY OVERLOOKED  
Saturday, December 17, 1994 by Desmond Tutu.  
Distributed by New York Times Syndicate   
 
"Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu comments that powerful Western
democracies should be doing 
 more to improve human rights in Asian
countries like Indonesia and Burma." 
 
FIRM international action against undemocratic regimes and abusers of
human rights has achieved some 
 spectacular successes this year. South
Africa is free and the military dictatorship in Haiti has been 
 removed. 
The world's most powerful democracies seem curiously hesitant, however, to
take 
 decisive steps to bring democracy and human rights to parts of
Asia.  
 
East Timorese students staged a daring sit-in at the US Embassy in
Jakarta, while President Bill Clinton 
 and other leaders were attending
the Asia-Pacific economic summit. They have focused the world's 
attention on the reluctance of democracies to challenge oppression
practiced by a potentially important 
 trading partner. 
 
Still, Indonesia is receiving international succor despite its illegal
occupation of East Timor. 
 
Moreover, there are disturbing signs of an easing of pressure against
Burma's military junta, which is till 
 holding under house arrest the
democratically elected leader of that country, Aung San Suu Kyi.  
 
In February last year, I joined the Dalai Lama of Tibet, former President
Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa 
 Rica, Betty Williams of Ireland and other
Nobel Peace laureates on a trip to Thailand. Our mission was o 
 draw
attention to the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was the Peace Laureate
for 1991.  In 1990, 
 her National League for Democracy won 392 of 485
parliamentary seats in an election. The military won 
 10 seats. But the
junta-called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc)-refused
to honour the 
 election results. 
 
In May 1993, after our visit to the Burmese frontier, we asked Clinton to
declare his support for the people 
 of Burma. He subsequently ordered an
interagency review of US policy. 
 
The United Nations also adopted its third consensus resolution on Burma
calling for the military to 
 respect the will of the people and for the
secretary-gener al to assist in implementing the resolution. 
 
Sadly, little has changed for Burma. Last week a newly released UN report
on Bu rma indicated that Slorc 
 has been prepared to negotiate with the
United Nations on some issues. 
 
But the regime continues to carry out torture, rape, forced labour, the
destruc tion of property, looting and 
 summary executions. 
 
More than one million people have been forcibly removed from their homes
withou t compensation in 
 Slorc's campaign against insurgents, the UN
report says. Gang rapes by soldiers are "not uncommon" and 
 troops have
also killed civilians who refused to move or to carry army supplies. 
 
Yet instead of stronger action against Slorc, we hear of nations moving
toward a policy of "constructive 
 engagement" with the regime. 
 
In South Africa, we know about 'constructive engagement". The Reagan
administra tion pursued a policy 
 with exactly the same name toward the
apartheid governmen t in the early 1980s. It was a disaster. 
 
The Clinton administration's strong stance on human rights in China
collapsed i n the interest of 
 improving trade. This seems to have been a
signal for the cha mpions of democracy in Burma to retreat 
 from their
previous policy of withholdi ng aid and trade in order to induce the
regime to reform. 
 
First, Australia began talking about adopting "benchmarks" and starting a
dialo gue with Rangoon. This 
 was followed by the European Union
supporting the "const ructive engagement" of the Association of 
 South
East Asian Nations (Asean). 
 
Britain has hosted trade fairs in Rangoon and justified trade with Slorc.

 
Two weeks ago, US Secretary of State Warren Christopher suggested Burma
had tak en "modest steps'' 
 toward reform. He was interpreted by
news-agency reports as indicating that the United States was easing 
 its
stance on Slorc. 
 
Japan too has joined in with a recent announcement increasing humanitarian
aid to Burma. Burmese 
 democrats suggest that the discovery of a large
reserve of na tural gas in the Gulf of Martaban may have 
 been the
catalyst for the chance of attitude. 
 
Ironically, it comes at a time when Asian nations are becoming more
concerned a bout the unacceptable 
 conduct of their neighbours in Burma.

 
For example, Singapore, a major business partner of the junta, has begun
callin g for political change. 
 Thailand's Chuan Leekpai has advised the
Burmese gener als to release Aung San Suu Kyi if they want to 
 resolve
Burma's problems. 
 
Former President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines and Kim Dae Jung
of-South Ko rea are convening a 
 forum of democratic leaders in the
Asia-Pacific region in S eoul next month, with Arias a participant. It 
will devote a full day to Burma. 
 
Some argue that changes are taking place in Burma. Slorc has begun a
dialogue w ith Suu Kyi. It has 
 agreed to discuss the concerns of the
international communi ty with the UN secretary-general. It is 
negotiating peace with ethnic armies an d says it is willing to cooperate
with the United Nations and the 
 US government in eradicating drug
trafficking. 
 
The regime is allowing non-government organizations and tourists into
Burma and introducing reforms 
 to stimulate Burma's economy. It claims to
be drawing up a new constitution to facilitate the 
 democratization of
Burma.  
 
But these changes do not necessarily mean the regime is about to
relinquish pow er and recognize the 
 democratic government. Suu Kyi has
appeared on Rangoon Tel evision twice with the generals of Slorc, 
 but
there was no sound track. We can not know whether there is substantive
dialogue unless she has direct 
 and unrest ricted access to the
international media. 
 
Talks with the United Nations, in the absence of a public agenda and
timetable, may simply mean the 
 military is buying time to entrench
itself. 
 
Some ethnic armies have signed military ceasefires, but since political
issues have not been discussed, 
 peace will not automatically follow. 
 
There are reports that human rights violations and atrocities have
increased in the ceasefire zones 
 because troops can now move about
freely without fear of b eing attacked. 
 
Most delegates to the constitutional convention are handpicked and Suu Kyi
has described it as "an 
 absolute farce." 
 
Real change came to South Africa only when sanctions were added to the
range of domestic and foreign 
 pressures which were brought to bear
against the apartheid government. 
 
Slorc has had six years to transfer power. How much longer are we going to
wait ? 
 
The world must act, now. 
 
***********************************************************  
NATION: ARRESTS CRIPPLED DRUG WARLORD'S EMPIRE  
Sunday, December 18, 1994  
by Tulsathit Taptim and Yindee Lertcharoenchok 
 
"Thai-US 'Operation Tiger Trap' nets 10 of Khun Sa's top men on trafficking charges" 
 
OPIUM warlord Khun Sa's drug trafficking organization has been crippled by
the arrest last month in 
 Thailand of 10 of his leading lieutenants, but
Thai and US anti-narcotics agents want to complete the task 
 and are
working secretly to crush the entire heroin cartel.  
 
The arrests climaxed two years of intense activity by a joint task force
comprising Thai police, military 
 and anti-drugs agencies, and agents
from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), state 
 department,
immigration and customs.  
 
 Code-named "Operation Tiger Trap", the investigation methodically tracked
down Khun Sa's trafficking 
 network after indictment warrants were issued
by the eastern district court of New York.  
 
The DEA, which requested the arrests and extradition of the suspects for
trial in the US, is now collating 
 and translating into Thai all relevant
evidence and documents.  
 
The information will be used in court here when the extradition requests
are he ard. Under the law, an 
 extradition hearing must be held within 60
days of an arrest.  
 
Thai intelligence sources said the arrests, which received little
publicity, we re deliberately played down 
 initially because police did
not believe they had enough evidence to prosecute the suspects under Thai
law.  
 
However a senior US Embassy official suggested the lack of fanfare was
because Thai authorities feared 
 retaliation from Khun Sa's organization. 

 
He said the United States wants the druglord's men to stand trial in the
US on charges of trafficking 
 1,000 kilogrammes of heroin into the US,
particularly New York city, over the past 20 years.  
 
The 10 traffickers were captured in separate raids last month in Chiang
Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son 
 and Bangkok and are being detained in
Bangkok under special surveillance.  
 
They have been identified as Na Tsaikuei, a wholesale heroin broker and
refiner y manager; Chao Fu-
 sheng, a sales representative for the
criminal organization and procurer of refining chemicals; Kuo Fa-
 mou,
finance specialist; Liu Feng-te , Khun Sa's chief representative in Mae
Hong Son, and his deputy 
 Chang Te-tsai;  Lo Te-ming, logistics manager
and one of Khun Sa's most trusted men; Meechai 
 Pathumanee, logistics;
Kao Chang-ping, drug sales representative; Ho Ming-te, refinery manager;
and 
 Chalee Yangwirikul, who has been Khun Sa's right hand man for many
years.  
 
The US official likened the impact of the 10 arrests to a "standing
eight-count " in boxing terminology.  
 
"It's the first time we actually reached them [Khun Sa's men] and we
grabbed half of the leadership,'' he 
 said during a briefing on Friday. 

 
The other half of the cartel remained in Burma and the US "is putting
together more resources to go after 
 him [Khun Sa]," he said.  
 
Half the work has been done, but it still remains to get the arrested men
to th e United States to face 
 criminal charges there. Thai police said
earlier that Thailand has extradited foreign suspects and 
 repatriated
convicts in the past, b ut never any Thais.  
 
It has still to be determined if any of the suspects were carrying genuine
Thai identity papers.  
 
The official said the US government is "upset" about the increasing amount
of heroin flowing into the 
 country and the high level of purity of
heroin appearing on the streets there, and wants to go after the 
 major
traffickers themselves.  
 
"Something has to happen. The seizure of drugs alone is not enough. We
have to get the kingpins, the big 
 fish," he said. 
 
About 100 police were involved in last month's arrests, including people
from the Office of the Narcotics 
 Control Board and the Police
Department's Narcotics Suppression Unit.  
 
The job had been done "so professionally and efficiently'' that "Operation
Tige r Trap" could serve as "a 
 model for the rest of the world".  
 
While Thai officers said they were still identifying and establishing the
nationalities of the arrested men 
 and that a court would make the final
decision on their extradition, the US official argued that all of them 
were "basically Chinese" and carried no ''official'' Thai documents.  
 
The US request for the arrests and the suspects' extradition was made
under two bilateral agreementsthe 
 1929 Extradition Act and the 1983
treaty relating to e xtradition.  
 
The US official was doubtful if the suspects could be prosecuted under
Thai law as the case "is very 
 complicated and sophisticated and you will
need more time to deal with it".  
 
The Thai conspiracy law, which was introduced and enacted only in 1992,
was ver y strong, he said, but 
 judges, prosecutors and police still had
to be trained t o "grab financiers and mafia chiefs real bad people, 
instead of small fish".  
 
 He ruefully acknowledged that new drug lords would spring up to replace
Khun Sa and his Mong Tai 
 Army if they are crushed.  
 
The biggest opium growers in the Shan State, where Khun Sa has his base,
are et hnic Wa. Until 
 relatively recently most of their crop was sold to
Khun Sa, whos e organization refined it into heroin, but 
 lately they had
begun processing the ir own heroin, he said.  
 
The Wa, who now produce only "a little bit less'' heroin than Khun Sa,
were bei ng financed by the Wei 
 brothers, who used to work with Khun Sa. 

 
If the Wei brothers could be prosecuted the Wa group could be readily
dealt wit h.  DEA Administrator 
 Thomas Constantine, during a brief visit
to Thailand early th is month, dubbed Khun Sa and his 20,000-
 strong army
as the most important "king pin mafia druglord in the entire globe".  
 
He targeted Khun Sa as "the individual primarily responsible for this
worldwide devastation of drug 
 addiction".  
 
Constantine added that it would require more than just the police force to
deal with Khun Sa and his 
 heavily-armed men.  
 
***********************************************************  
AP: DEMOCRACY SCORES SOME POINTS IN ASIA  
by Marcus Eliason Hong Kong, AP  
 
DEMOCRACY, some Asian leaders argue, belongs to a western value system
that is alien to Asian 
 culture.  
 
Tell that to Taiwan, which just held its most extensive elections ever. 
 
Or Nepal, which just swore in Asia's only elected communist prime
minister. 
 
Or Sri Lanka, which voted out its government and chose Chandrika
Kumaratunga as president after she 
 promised to bring peace to the
strife-torn island. 
 
As democracy was taking those strides, separate conferences in Malaysia
and Sou th Korea suggested the 
 debate is not simply a cultural clash
between Asia and t he West, but a schism within Asia itself. 
 
Although the Malaysian conference was devoted largely to rebutting western
conc epts of democracy and 
 civil liberties, the South Korean gathering
strongly endo rsed the democratic way and denounced those 
 leaders who
reject it. 
 
Inklings of change 
 
Even within Malaysia, where democracy functions under tight government
restrict ions, there are inklings 
 of change. 
 
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has long been a prominent opponent of what
he s ees as western 
 posturing and arrogance in pushing human rights and
democracy in Asia. 
 
But his deputy and likely successor, Anwar Ibrahim, has been sounding a
somewha t different line. The 
 other day, in a speech in Hong Kong, he
limited criticism of the West and concentrated most of his fire 
 on the
"altogether shameful" att itude of governments that use "Asian values" as
an excuse for corrupt and 
 autoc ratic rule. 
 
 Dr Kim Sang-Woo, a political scientist at the Kim Dae-Jung Peace
Foundation, a co-host of the South 
 Korean conference, said his group
rejected the conten tion of some leaders that democracy is alien to 
Asia. 
 
"What emerged at the forum was that democracy in the region is indeed
moving to ward the right 
 direction in many countries, but there are
those that are still very much stagnant," he said. 
 
The problems are evident in emerging democracies like Bangladesh,
paralysed by political bickering and 
 street protests, and Cambodia,
where the hopes over las t year's historic election have been dimmed by 
rural violence and the gagging o f dissent. 
 
South Korea, on the other hand, is largely a success story. After decades
of au tocracy, it has a freely 
 elected civilian president. Although Kim
Young-Sam's g overnment has been buffeted by strikes and 
 political
street unrest, and has res tricted some dissent, few believe democracy is
in jeopardy. 
 
The same goes for Thailand, a nation long accustomed to military coups.
Last we ekend, its coalition 
 government was unravelling, then days
later, after ousting one partner and bringing in an opposition 
 party,
the government again had the upper hand. But as Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai recently told 
 reporters: "Unpre dictability IS a certainty in
the democratic system. You used to ask about coup s: Now 
 you no longer
ask. It means you yourselves have more confidence." 
 
Taiwan's December 3 election of governor and mayors would seem to bear out
Pres ident Lee Teng-hui's 
 claim to have transformed a virtual
dictatorship into the world's first all-Chinese democracy. 
 
The contrast with the Communist Party regime across the Taiwan Straits is
strik ing. "Beijing can no 
 longer claim that democracy is an alien creed
to the Chine se. Taiwan has given them conclusive proof to 
 the
contrary," exulted the Easter n Express newspaper in Hong Kong. 
 
China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, icily refused to comment,
although its state-run news 
 media dismissed the election, dwelling on
the violence and corruption that occasionally marred it. 
 
Still, optimists believe that as China's economy develops and the middle
class becomes large enough to 
 matter politically, Beijing will look to
Taiwan and Hon g Kong for inspiration. 
 
Taiwan's election "will have an influence in mainland China," predicts Hsu
Shui -teh, secretary general of 
 the island's governing Nationalist
Party. "I believe democracy is the general desire of people in China." 
Asia too diverse 
 
But can one Asian country infect another with democracy? Asia is too
diverse re ligiously, ethnically and 
 culturally for generalisations. 
 
Bruce Gale, an analyst in Singapore does not see Taiwan's success being
duplica ted in Singapore, 
 Malaysia or Indonesia. "These countries tend
to be authoritar ian, so if there is a transfer of power it can 
 only be
after a split in the eli te," he said. 
 
Eileen Baviera, an Asian affairs expert in the Philippines, believes
democracy can work in Asia. "But 
 what's really important for most Asians
is good governan ce. They want a government that can deliver the 
 goods.
Whether or not it's demo cratic is secondary to them," she said. 
 
She said Malaysia would argue that democracy is problematic because of its
ethn ic diversity, Indonesia 
 because its 13,700 islands are too
dispersed; and China because it simply is too big.  
 
***********************************************************  
NATION: ON THE WRONG TRAIL  
Saturday, December 10, 1994 
 
"New evidence suggests that the impact of Karen villagers living in the
Thung Y ai Naresuan Sanctuary 
 might not be as harmful to local wildlife
as critics have claimed in the past. Story and photos by Jittin 
Ritthirat." 
 
[Photo caption: #1 HARVEST SEASON: Karen farmers employ crop-rotation
methods f or rice farming. 
 Fields are left fallow for between two and
seven year, which e nables the land to return to its natural state. 
 #2-3
HOME SWEET HOME: Above, Ka ren houses are always made from bamboo; and
left, most 
 villagers make a living through rice farming.] 
 
For decades, academics have argued that Karen settlements in the western
sectio n of Thung Yai 
 Naresuan Sanctuary are detrimental to the
existence of wildlife populations in the area, a claim many 
non-governmental organizations working i n the area of wildlife
conservation vigorously deny: They 
 believe humans can co -exist with
nature.  
 
It's a controversial issue, and one that's been hard to resolve either way
sinc e, in the past, there has been 
 very little evidence to support the
claims of th e two feuding parties. But now, the findings of a survey on 
wildlife in the san ctuary may finally put the dispute to rest.  
 
The study, conducted by the Wildlife Fund Thailand, surveyed wildlife
living in Sangkhla Buri District's 
 Laiwo sub-district, Kanchanaburi, an
area inhabited b y Karen villagers for more than two centuries. The 
results indicate that the wi ldlife in that area has been seemingly
unaffected by the settlement of Karen vi 
 llagers.  
 
According to Robert Mather, coordinator and wildlife expert of the World
Wildli fe Fund International, 
 about 25 species of mammals were found in
the area. Five of those species boasted sizeable populations. 
 The area
contains some 100 bark ing deer, 2,000 macaques, 1,332 Phayre's langurs,
209 lar gibbons and 
 500 pheas ants.  
 
''The density of these five animals in this area was not significantly
differen t between trails close to and 
 farther away from the villages,"
said Mather, add ing that the shortest survey trail was 3 kilometres away

 from the villages, wit h the farthest trail around 10 kilometres.  
 
"Therefore, the claim made by some academics is incorrect. The settlement
of Ka ren villagers in the area 
 does not have a negative impact on other
wildlife," h e said.  
 
" In my opinion, it's too easy for academics to claim that the Karen tribe
dest roys forest and wildlife. It's 
 not fair to make that statement to
the Karen who have lived in this area for more than 200 years," said 
Mather.  
 
Currently, in the western Thung Yai Sanctuary there are 2,081 members of
the Ka ren minority residing 
 in six villages in the Sangkhlaburi's Laiwo
sub-district:  Cha-Kae, Ti-Laipa, Laiwo, Goh Sadoeng. 
 Sanepong and Gong
Mongtah villages.  
 
A few years ago, the Royal Forestry Department considered moving the Karen
mino rity out of the area, in 
 keeping with a departmental policy that
restricts huma ns from living in forest conservation sites. 
 However, the
figures in the new su rvey suggest this might not be necessary.  
 
According to Mather, a survey on wildlife is perhaps "the best way to
determine whether the Karen tribe 
 destroys wildlife and the forest
instead of just simpl y accusing them [the Karen] without any data or 
evidence". This, he said, is th e way to "provide justice to the Karen
villagers who have been living in 
 harmon y with nature for a long time. 

 
"More importantly, the Karen themselves should become involved in
conducting an d participating in the 
 survey. Not just the academics who
have never lived in t he forest,'' said Mather, who conducted the latest 
survey together with the vi llagers.  
 
 Most of the data was collected by specially trained Karen villagers and
Royal Forestry Department 
 rangers. The total area covered was 62,500
rai, encompassin g three Karen villages: Cha-kae, Ti-laipa and 
 Laiwo.
The survey duration was se parated into two periods, the first from
February to March (dry season) 
 this ye ar and in the second in July (the
beginning of the rainy season).  
 
The collected data suggests that primates and bears have a significant
presence in the area. However, it 
 also indicates that the area has a low
number of larg e herbivores such as elephants and gaur. This may be 
 due
to the unsuitable clim ate and the lack of salt licks, which contribute to
the health of plant-eating 
 animals.  
 
" Therefore, elephants and gaurs have not be affected by the Karen village
sett lements either, since the 
 western Thung Yai area is not an
unsuitable shelter f or the two large animals, " said Mather. " Sa 
whether the Karen villages are si tuated there or not, there has been no
impact or the two species." 
 
The results of the survey are good news for Karen people living in Thung
Yai. M ore importantly, the 
 survey method employed by the Wildlife Fund,
may be able t o be used to conduct studies in other areas 
 where
villagers and animals co-exis t.  
 
"We know this survey method is practical enough for the Royal Forestry
Departme nt to use in other areas 
 to see if people are living
appropriately with the for est and wildlife," said Mather.  
 
Another survey conducted by Wildlife Fund Thailand also came up with some
inter esting information to 
 counter claims that Karen farming practices
contribute to soil degradation in the sanctuary. The study 
 focused on
the rice cultivation a rea the Karen tribe has been using from 1985 to the
present. Laiwo 
 Village, one of the six villages in the Laiwo
sub-district, was selected as the sample vill age.  
 
The investigation showed that in the past 10 years the villagers have used
 . , only 1,200 rai of land for 
 rice cultivation. Furthermore, almost all
the agricu ltural areas were in the lower plains and farmers used 
 crop
rotation methods to allow fields to return to their natural fertile state. 
Researchers found fall ow 
 land was often a significant habitat for
animals such as wild pigs and barki ng deer.  
 
''As reported, the collected data of wildlife around this area showed that
wild life and the Karen can live 
 together in the forest," said Dr Warin
Wonghanchao, a consultant for National Forestry Development 
 Planning.  
 
"In addition, the agricultural land data along with the plant rotation
system i s reasonable enough to 
 explain to the department in charge that
the Karen do no t destroy the forest as extensively as academics 
 have
claimed.  
 
"However, another important factor the villagers should present to the
departme nt is their ability to 
 conserve the forest and protect other
animals by themsel ves," he said, referring to the fact that all the 
villages in the Laiwo sub-dis trict are part of an environmental and
culture conservation committee.  
 
The committee is the result of a 1992 project set up by the Royal Forestry
Depa rtment and Wildlife Fund 
 Thailand to encourage villagers to
participate indepen dently in forest and wildlife conservation. The 
committee is made up of the chi ef of the sub-district, the chiefs of
individual villages as well as villagers.  
 The group works together with
rangers to look after the forest and survey wild life.  
 
"If the villagers can work successfully by themselves, it's the best way.
It is one of the forest development 
 planning's policies to make
villagers live toget her with the forest while also conserving the area,"
said 
 Wonghanchao.  
 
He added that the Laiwo sub-district project will be an example for future
comm ittees, which will be 
 established in other forest conservation
sites in Surat T hani, Khon Kaen and Lampang.  Suraphol 
 Duangkhae,
director of Wildlife Fund Tha iland's conservation programme, said,
"Although the 
 government is trying to sol ve the problem between man and
the environment, the government's policy 
 still i nsists on removing
people from the forest.  
 
"For example, all the data collected from the western Thung Yai Sanctuary
area. .. shows that the Karen 
 tribe does not destroy the forest and
wildlife, but the government still does not want them to stay in the 
sanctuary. The forest, in t he government's view, should only contain
trees and animals, and this view 
 does not include people," he said.  
 
"So what the department in charge will do is separate the zone where the
Karen live from the sanctuary," 
 said Suraphol.  
 
"My personal view is that the government should try to survey all the
forest co nservation sites where 
 people live. This way, they will be
able to see if any [ human activities] have been detrimental to the area.

 After that, they can act i n accordance with [government] policy and
separate man from the forest -- if an 
 y harm has been done -- or they
can let the people remain," he said. 
 
Ji Sangklawimol, a 35-year-old Karen native who was born in the sanctuary,
offe red his view: "Our 
 ancestors taught us that while we should respect
human being s, we must believe in other wildlife as well. 
 This is what
our traditions and c ulture tells us. 
 
"We Karens have lived in the forest without seriously harming other forms
of li fe. We Karen have always 
 lived together with the forest, the
streams, the mount ains and the animals. We have lived this way for 
 many
centuries. We use product s from the wild when they are needed for our
daily lives. 
 
"We've never said we don't disturb the forest, because it would be impossible f or us not to have some sort 
of impact. But, we have never done as much damage a s some outsiders would suggest." 
 
*********************************************************** 
BKK POST: STRUGGLING AGAINST THE THREAT OF DESTRUCTION 
 Sunday, December
18, 1994 
 
[Map: Karen villages in Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife sanctuary.] [Photo
caption: A Karen home in Goh 
 Sadeung of Thung Yai Naresuan.] 
 
DECLARED a natural World Heritage site, Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife
sanctuary h as been struggling 
 against the threat of destruction.  
 
But one longstanding controversy remains: how to manage six Karen villages
in T ambon Laiwo of 
 Kanchanaburi's Sangkhla Buri district, located in
the western si de of the sanctuary. There are altogether 
 about 2,08()
people in the six villag es of Sanepong, Goh Sadeung. Gong Mongtah, Laiwo,
Ti Laipa and 
 Cha-Kae.  
 
While there has been much talk about the Karen, the issue of a large
number of mine workers living in 
 the sanctuary has been left untouched.
Some of these wor kers have been hunting wild animals for sale.  
 
The Karen villagers have always been blamed for wildlife and forest
destruction . Their existence, it was 
 claimed, might cause the sanctuary
to be withdrawn fr om the World Heritage list.  
 
According to Bandit Kraivichit of Wildlife Fund Thailand, wildlife hunting
in T hung Yai is not done by 
 the Karen villagers.  
 
"Inside the sanctuary, there are two operating mines, Pu Jue and Pong Di,
which are some six and 10 
 kilometres from Ban Cha-Kae, respectively.
Another mine ha s been closed," he said.  
 
Outside the mining concession areas, there are communities of workers,
most of whom come from 
 Burma. Some of these workers work in the mines
from time to time .  
 
Villagers of Ban Cha-Kae and Ti Laipa said armed workers have been seen
around the area and gunshots 
 are heard very often.  
 
A joint investigation by forestry officials and villagers shows that there
are three groups in the workers 
 communities: those hired by the mine
operators, tem porary mine workers who also hunt wild animals for 
 sale,
and those in charge of collecting the meat and selling it to individual
buyers or food shops in Kanch 
 anaburi's Thong Pha Phum and Sangkhla Buri
districts.  
 
"Two years ago, forestry officials and Karen villagers from Ban Ti Laipa
clashe d with the armed hunters 
 near Ti Laipa. Two of the hunters were
killed and two wounded, and heavy weapons were seized," said 
 Bandit.  
 
Ban Cha-Kae headman Yupea Pana-udom said the workers out-number people in
his v illage.  
 
"While the Government threatens to evict the Karen villagers from this
sanctuar y, we have not heard 
 anything about the relocation of those
workers' communitie s at all," he said.  
 
A few years ago, the Forestry Department said that the Karen villagers
will be moved out of the forest to 
 a site along the border.  
 
Kamnan (tambon headman) Maitree Setanand said some influential persons put
up a village sign in a 
 vain bid to make the workers' communities legal. 

 
"I reported the matter to the district and Thung Yai Naresuan chief and
the sig n was later withdrawn," he 
 said.  
 
Concerned with the impact of Karen villages on the forest and wildlife,
the Wil dlife Fund Thailand have 
 conducted two separate studies on land
use and existen ce of wildlife.  
 
WFT official Nakhon Amornrakwongsa said the Karen villagers would
cultivate onl y low-lying land. 
 They would not plant on sloping land or
watershed areas.  
 
"During the past 10 years, villagers at Ban Laiwo used about 1,200 rai for
cult ivation on a rotational 
 basis. The used farmland will be left
unused for 7 to 1 0 years," Nakhon said. The Karen would cultivate 
 rice
for consumption, not for sale.  
 
Robert Mather, who has surveyed endangered species of large mammals in
Thung Ya i Naresuan wildlife 
 sanctuary, concluded that the Karen
communities in the west ern area did not threaten the existence of 
wildlife at all.  
 
"From past to present, there are 91 study projects in the Thung Yai
Naresuan-Hu ay Kha Khaeng. But 
 only eight of them are concentrated in
Thung Yai Naresuan. T his might be because in Huay Kha Khaeng, 
 there is
a Khao Nang Ram Wildlife rese arch centre. Consequently, a biodiversity in
Thung Yai Naresuan 
 wildlife sanctu ary is less known," he said.  
 
He also said the controversy over Karen communities in western Thung Yai
Naresu an continued because 
 of a lack of substantial studies over the
real impact of t he communities on the forest and the wildlife. The 
government so far had not in itiated such a study either.  
 
Worse yet, some academicians jumped to conclusions and claimed that the
existen ce of Karen villages 
 has a negative effect on wildlife since big
animals such a s elephants and wild guars could not be found in 
 the area
close to Karen commu nities.  
 
Robert argued that it needed to study whether the area was important to
those a nimals or not.  
 
"According to our study, it proves that the western Thung Yai Naresuan
seems to be unimportant area for 
 big wild animals such as elephants or
guars since the area is of high steep mountain ranges and with 
 small
number of salt lick," Dr R obert said.  
 
The study was conducted over 286.5 square kilometres this year, covering
three villages of Koh Sa 
 Deung, Ti Laipa and Cha-Kae. Also, the survey
involves coope ration among the Wildlife Fund officer, 
 the forestry
people and villagers.  
 
According to the survey, 25 mammal have been spotted and 15 of the are
endanger ed species. Among 
 them langurs, gibbons, macaques and barking
deer are frequent ly spotted.  
 
The survey also pinpointed that the western area of Thung Yai is important
for endangered species such 
 as langurs, stump-tailed pig-tailed macaque
and lar gib bons.  
 
Meanwhile, the survey proves that the density of langurs and gibbons and
barkin g deer found near the 
 villages is not different from the area far
from the vill ages.  
 
As for carnivorous animals, bears, particularly the Malayan sun bear, and
Asiat ic black bear, can be 
 found very often. From this it can be
concluded that Thun g Yai Naresuan should be an important site for 
 bear
conservation. 
 
"In Huay Kha Kaeng sanctuary, bears can rarely be found, particularly
within th e 30-kilometre area from 
 the Khao Nang Ram centre," he said. 

 
Following certain proof that the Karen in Thung Yai can live in harmony
with na ture, they should be part 
 of the management team of this natural
World Heritage site, said Don Gilmore, an official of the 
Switzerland-based world nature cons ervation organisation.  
 
A compromise between the Government and the communities is needed to
protect th e sanctuaries. The 
 Government; might need to compromise in
terms of power distr ibution and communities might need to 
 compromise
in: terms of interaction with the resources.  
 
"Karen have a song of unity with the forest. Therefore, it should not be
so dif ficult to be part: of the 
 effective joint management with the
Government in bio diversity protection," he said.  
 
In this situation, the Karen expect some benefit in return as continuing
access of forest products for food, 
 drug, shelter and land for
cultivation.  
 
Tunya Sukpanich 
 
*********************************************************** 
NATION: BURMESE PROBLEMS HINDER THAILAND'S BID TO PROTECT FOREST Saturday,

 December 17, 1994 by Malee Traisawasdichai 
 
THAILAND is to step up the establishment of "transfrontier parks" with
borderin g countries, and has 
 strong hopes that cooperation with Burma
will pave the way for future extension of Burma's forest to the 
 Thung
Yai-Huay Kha Khaeng World Heritage site. 
 
However, to achieve this objective, a clear policy on forest protection
and man agement in Burma is a 
 prerequisite, said a Thai forestry
official. 
 
Thailand's initiative has encountered another obstacle, as the targeted
forest is in an area controlled by 
 the Karen National Union (KNU), an
armed ethnic mov ement which has been fighting against the 
 Burmese junta
government for decades. 
 
 The KNU has already imposed wildlife and forest protection in parts of
the area under its control, which 
 shares a common border with Thailand's
western forest where Thung Yai-Huang Kha Khaeng is located. 
 
For more than a decade the KNU has designated wildlife sanctuaries and
nature r eserves in this area, 
 complete with regulations and a
management plan. 
 
According to this year's Chairman of the World Heritage Committee (WHC),
Dr Abu l Wichiensharoen, 
 the committee expressed concern a few years ago
about the ala rming forest destruction in Burma due to 
 extensive
logging, wildlife poaching f or trade, and civil war. 
 
The committee hoped that Burma would apply for membership of the
Convention on the Protection of the 
 World Cultural and Natural Heritage
and then submit an ap plication for joint nomination with Thailand 
 for
the transboundary extension of the Thung Yai-Huay Kha Khaeng forest. 
 
"The forest is being threatened at an alarming rate. Unless it obtains
World He ritage status, it will be 
 difficult for Burma to protect it,
but this would be possible only if Burma has the political will to
conserve 
 its remaining fertile wilderness and to prepare itself for that
end," said Abul. 
 
"We hope that by that time [of submission of the joint nomination
application] the forest of Burma will 
 not have been completely
destroyed," he added. 
 
The target area for inclusion in the extension of the largest remaining
forest in western Thailand covers 
 the forest from Burma's Shan State
along the Tanaosr i Mountain Range to the area at Victoria Point 
adjoining Thailand's Ranong Prov ince. 
 
Abul said Thung Yai-Huay Kha Khaeng is the largest protected area and
natural W orld Heritage site in 
 mainland Southeast Asia. Within its area
of 6,222 square kilometres, the forest contains communities of 
 flora and
fauna from four biogeo graphic zones including Sino-Himalaya, Sundaic,
Indo-Burmese and 
 Indo-Chinese. 
 
"The extension of Burma's forest, which is of the Indo-Burmese type, will
add t o the great diversity of the 
 Thung Yai-Huay Kha Khaeng World
Heritage site," sa id Dr Abul. 
 
"In ecological terms, the adjacent forests are integrated ecosystems with
quite similar flora and fauna 
 characteristics." 
 
Nevertheless, he said, whether the idea becomes fact depends on the
political c onflict in Burma, which 
 must be solved first. 
 
The Royal Forestry Department (RFD) is to host a meeting with Burma,
Malaysia a nd Indochinese 
 countries next year to work out plans for the
"transboundary pro tected area". 
 
It will be the follow up to last month's "Transcorridor Conservation"
meeting h eld by China's Academy of 
 Science in Kunming of Yunan
Province, with an attenda nce of forestry department heads from nine 
regional countries: Burma, China, Ca mbodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand,
Nepal, Bhutan and India. 
 
Thawee Nootaong, the RFD official, told The Nation that the RFD expects to
make bilateral agreements 
 with each of the participant countries to set
up the tran sfrontier parks with Thailand's neighbours. 
 
The official admitted that the proposed transfrontier protected area with
Burma and Thung Yai-Huay 
 Kha Khaeng faces tremendous difficulties. 
 
"The RFD has long felt that the Burmese government must stop logging
activities and concessions in its 
 border forest and should set up a
clear management plan like a wildlife protection law and declare the 
forest a protected area," said Thawee. 
 
In Kunming last month, Rangoon representatives informed Thailand Burma's
newly- launched 
 commercial logging policy would curb extensive damage to
the forest, a ccording to Thawee. 
 
"The RFD was informed by Burma's Forestry Department chief that export of
logs and processed wood 
 will now be done directly by the Burmese
government. 
 
"Logging companies will only be awarded concessions and the logging trade
will be carried out by the 
 government," said Thawee, who attended the
Kunming meetin g. 
 
On the other hand, the KNU's Forestry Department has established 11
wildlife sa nctuaries in the area 
 since 1982, four of which are adjacent
to Thailand. 
 
The KNU has also banned all commercial wildlife trade and hunting in its
territ ory. It also decided that 
 all districts under its control should
set up wildlif e sanctuaries. In the Mergui and Tavoy districts, the 
 KNU
set up the 4200 sq km Ka Ser Dol Wildlife Reserve, and the 2,250 sq km Ta
Naw Tha Ri Wildlife 
 Sanctu ary. 
 
Asked whether the RFD would cooperate with the KNU's existing management
of des ignated protected 
 area, Thawee said the issue was too sensitive.

 
"It involves politics. We cannot accept the KNU's designation of wildlife
sanct uaries because Thailand 
 would come into conflict with Burma. But
we hope the Bu rmese government will successfully settle its 
 domestic
disputes with minority g roups," said Thawee. 
 
"Another possibility is that the Burmese Government may make an agreement
with the Karens to allow 
 them control of the management of this piece of
protected a rea. If so, the RFD can then work with the 
 Karens to jointly
protect the propos ed transboundary conservation," he said. 
 
According to Thawee, the RFD expects Burma to be ready to identify its
protecte d areas adjacent to 
 Thailand's forest in the upcoming meeting
to be hosted by T hailand. 
 
Besides the proposed transfrontier conversation with Burma, Thailand has
also p lanned to establish a 
 transboundary national marine park with
Malaysia in south ern Thailand with Malaysia; and a 
 transborder link
with Cambodia and Laos of th e Pha Taem and Pu Jong Na Yoi national parks
and Yod 
 Dom Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand. 
 
Thawee said the transborder park with Cambodia and Laos is aimed at
protecting kouprey, one of the 
 World Conversation Union's endangered
species.  
 
 
*********************************************************** 
NATION: CUDDLING UP TO THE SLORC 
 Friday, December 16, 1994 
 
In his latest tirade, as reported by the Associated Press (Nation, Oct 7),
Malaysian Prime Minister 
 Mahathir Mohamad has again lambasted "Western
liberals" for reluctance to pursue a more militant 
 initiative in Bosnia,
as well as derided the "champions of human rights" who propose multi-party

 democracy and individual freedoms on a global scale.  
 
The West, through the United Nations, has imposed stringent sanctions,
supplied humanitarian aid, and 
 installed peacekeepers in the hope of
containing the conflict. The Security Council has sanctioned 
 selective
Nato bombing of Serbian sites despite the inherent danger to UN personnel
on the ground, not 
 all of whom are of Occidental origin.  
 
Massive military intervention would require a prolonged commitment of an
estimated 100,000 troops in a 
 terrain quite different from the desert
adjacent to the Persian Gulf; moreover, in contrast to Iraq which 
 was
all but isolated in the Arab world, the Serbs boast a traditional affinity
with the Russians, who 
 despite their weakened position internationally
harbour internally volatile reactionary elements. Europe is 
 slow to
forget that the first of two great wars this century was ignited by a
spark from Sarajevo. It is thus 
 a very difficult situation, as well as a
human tragedy on an immense scale. Yet a number of European 
 countries
have reacted positively to Bosnia refugees, while an uncensored Western
press continually 
 prods the conscience.  
 
How many refugees from Bosnia has Mahathir welcomed? And has the Malaysian
press highlighted 
 similar ethnic calamities in the Asian theatrenamely
Burma, East Timor, and to a lesser degree, Tibet?  
 
Mahathir is now eager to do business with the Slorc, despite even its
"ethnic cleansing" of Muslims 
 forced to flee to an already impoverished
Bangladesh. He has been silent on East Timor, where the crimes 
 of
Suharto have been compared in their magnitude to those of Pol Pot, and
Indonesian immigrants are 
 rapidly replacing the indigenous dead. And in
regard to what a Nation editorial has termed the "cultural 
 genocide" in
Tibet, not to mention widespread suppression of Chinese dissidents
internally, the 
 Malaysian prime minister, on a business trip, has
professed to be on the "same wave length" to Beijing in 
 regard to human
rights. And this outlandish self-appointed spokesperson for the developing
world 
 accuses "Western liberals" of hypocrisy!  
 
"No (one) civilization ... has a monopoly of wisdom as to what constitutes
human rights," he chimes, 
 conveniently ignoring that those principles
recorded in the declaration of 1948 were from the multi-
 cultured voices
of the United Nations, which prominently included the Soviet Union as well
as 
 nationalist China.  
 
And I will add the words of Xanana Gusmao: "It is a great shame that
Western nations or more precisely 
 the countries of the North, continue
to allow the regimes of the South, advocating cultural differences, to 
deny universal human rights standards..." (Nation).  
 
In response to Mahathir's assertion that economic success is dependent
upon strong governments with the 
 tinges of fascism, the mode of his
speech suggest, I shall quote Daw Aung San Suu Kyi: " ... the true 
development of human beings involves much more than a mere economic
growth. At its heart there must 
 be a sense of empowerment and inner
fulfilment. This alone will ensure that human and cultural values 
 remain
paramount in a world where political leadership is often synonymous with
tyranny and the rule of 
 a narrow elite ..." 
 
Why must Dr Mahathir be a collaborator with the likes of the murderous
Slorc while this internationally 
 recognized Southeast Asian spokesperson
is denied her freedom? Could it be the Prime Minister of 
 Malaysia is
afraid to confront the unfettered words of this Nobel Peace Prize
laureate?  
 
I am one of those immoral people about whom the eminent Mahathir speaksone
who believes not only in 
 love, but also that love cannot thrive, or even
survive, in the absence of freedom? Could it be the prime 
 minister of
Malaysia is afraid to confront the unfettered words of this Nobel Peace
Prize laureate?  
 
And as long as the likes of Xanana Gusmao and Aung San Suu Kyi remain
incarcerated in Southeast 
 Asia, as long as an implied Asian morality
persists in the subjugation of women and the glorification of 
 power in
all its phoney omnipotence, this human being of Semitic inheritance, who
in his Asian 
 domicile evolves among the mysticism of the Orient, cannot
remain unmoved.  
 
Kenneth-David Tavalin Ban Don Yai [Thailand] 
 
***********************************************************  
***********************************************************  
BKK POST: PROPOSAL FOR REGIONAL NARCOTICS COMMITTEES 
 Saturday, December 17, 1994 
 
 THAILAND yesterday proposed that an NGO committee on drug abuse control
be set up in each of four 
 regions-Asia Pacific, Africa, Latin America
and the Middle East. 
 
The proposal was made at the end of the five-day NGO World Forum on Drug
Demand Reduction in 
 Bangkok by Mr Somphorn Thepsitha, chairman of the
steering committee. 
 
Mr Somphorn suggested that the Social Welfare Council of Thailand act as
coordinator to form the NGO 
 Committee on Drug Abuse Control for the
Asia-Pacific region. 
 
The forum, which was attended by about 500 representatives from NGOs from
110 countries, also 
 adopted a Bangkok Declaration at the conclusion of
the conference. 
 
The Declaration calls for cooperation from the mass media in the
presentation of correct information to 
 the public to pro mote the
campaign to reduce drug demand, promotion of official and unofficial 
networks to reduce drug demand and all NGOs to realise the impact of drug
abuse. 
 
*********************************************************** 
 
BKK POST: TEMPORARY CHECKPOINT WITH BURMA APPROVED    
Saturday, December 17, 1994  
Mae Hong Son 
 
THE Interior Ministry has approved a request from the provincial authority
to open a temporary 
 checkpoint on the Thai-Burmese border in Khun Yuam
district.  
 
Governor Somjate Wiriyadumrong said Interior Permanent Secretary Aree
Wongaraya has approved the 
 request, and all working units have been
ordered to oversee the task.  
 
Practical measures to control the flow of people and goods will be
discussed next Thursday to prevent 
 illegal smuggling of war weapons,
drugs and immigrants into Thailand, he said.  
 
It is expected that the new checkpoint will foster good relations between
Thailand and Burma by boosting 
 trade and tourism on the Mae Hong Son
border.  
 
The checkpoint is expected to be opened on January 9 as a "New Year
present to the people of Mae Hong 
 Son," the governor said.  
 
Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of Thailand is planning to build a new
3,000-rai airport at Huey Pong 
 Sila.  
 
*********************************************************** 
NATION: RIGHTS CONVENIENTLY OVERLOOKED 
 Saturday, December 17, 1994 by
Desmond Tutu.  
 Distributed by New York Times Syndicate 
 
"Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu comments that powerful Western
democracies should be doing 
 more to improve human rights in Asian
countries like Indonesia and Burma." 
 
FIRM international action against undemocratic regimes and abusers of
human rights has achieved some 
 spectacular successes this year. 
 
South Africa is free and the military dictatorship in Haiti has been
removed.  The world's most 
 powerful democracies seem curiously hesitant,
however, to take decisive steps to bring democracy and 
 human rights to
parts of Asia.  East Timorese students staged a daring sit-in at the US
Embassy in 
 Jakarta, while President Bill Clinton and other leaders were
attending the Asia- Pacific economic 
 summit. They have focused the
world's attention on the reluctance of democracies to challenge oppression

 practiced by a potentially important trading partner. 
 
Still, Indonesia is receiving international succor despite its illegal
occupation of East Timor. 
 
Moreover, there are disturbing signs of an easing of pressure against
Burma's military junta, which is till 
 holding under house arrest the
democratically elected leader of that country, Aung San Suu Kyi.  
 
In February last year, I joined the Dalai Lama of Tibet, former President
Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa 
 Rica, Betty Williams of Ireland and other
Nobel Peace laureates on a trip to Thailand. Our mission was o 
 draw
attention to the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was the Peace Laureate
for 1991.  
 
In 1990, her National League for Democracy won 392 of 485 parliamentary
seats in an election. The 
 military won 10 seats. But the junta-called
the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc)-refused 
 to honour
the election results. 
 
In May 1993, after our visit to the Burmese frontier, we asked Clinton to
declare his support for the 
 people of Burma. He subsequently ordered an
interagency review of US policy. 
 
The United Nations also adopted its third consensus resolution on Burma
calling for the military to 
 respect the will of the people and for the
secretary-general to assist in implementing the resolution. 
 
Sadly, little has changed for Burma. Last week a newly released UN report
on Burma indicated that Slorc 
 has been prepared to negotiate with the
United Nations on some issues. 
 
But the regime continues to carry out torture, rape, forced labour, the
destruction of property, looting and 
 summary executions. 
 
More than one million people have been forcibly removed from their homes
without compensation in 
 Slorc's campaign against insurgents, the UN
report says. Gang rapes by soldiers are "not uncommon" and 
 troops have
also killed civilians who refused to move or to carry army supplies. 
 
Yet instead of stronger action against Slorc, we hear of nations moving
toward a policy of "constructive 
 engagement" with the regime. 
 
In South Africa, we know about 'constructive engagement". The Reagan
administration pursued a policy 
 with exactly the same name toward the
apartheid government in the early 1980s. It was a disaster. 
 
The Clinton administration's strong stance on human rights in China
collapsed in the interest of 
 improving trade. This seems to have been a
signal for the champions of democracy in Burma to retreat 
 from their
previous policy of withholding aid and trade in order to induce the regime
to reform. 
 
First, Australia began talking about adopting "benchmarks" and starting a
dialogue with Rangoon. This 
 was followed by the European Union
supporting the "constructive engagement" of the Association of 
 South
East Asian Nations (Asean). 
 
Britain has hosted trade fairs in Rangoon and justified trade with Slorc.

 
Two weeks ago, US Secretary of State Warren Christopher suggested Burma
had taken "modest steps'' 
 toward reform. He was interpreted by
news-agency reports as indicating that the United States was easing 
 its
stance on Slorc. 
 
Japan too has joined in with a recent announcement increasing humanitarian
aid to Burma. Burmese 
 democrats suggest that the discovery of a large
reserve of natural gas in the Gulf of Martaban may have 
 been the
catalyst for the chance of attitude. 
 
Ironically, it comes at a time when Asian nations are becoming more
concerned about the unacceptable 
 conduct of their neighbours in Burma. 
 
For example, Singapore, a major business partner of the junta, has begun
calling for political change. 
 Thailand's Chuan Leekpai has advised the
Burmese generals to release Aung San Suu Kyi if they want to 
 resolve
Burma's problems. 
 
Former President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines and Kim Dae Jung
of-South Korea are convening a 
 forum of democratic leaders in the Asia-
Pacific region in Seoul next month, with Arias a participant. It 
 will
devote a full day to Burma. 
 
Some argue that changes are taking place in Burma. Slorc has begun a
dialogue with Suu Kyi. It has 
 agreed to discuss the concerns of the
international community with the UN secretary-general. It is 
 negotiating
peace with ethnic armies and says it is willing to cooperate with the
United Nations and the 
 US government in eradicating drug trafficking. 
 
The regime is allowing non-government organizations and tourists into
Burma and introducing reforms 
 to stimulate Burma's economy. It claims to
be drawing up a new constitution to facilitate the 
 democratization of
Burma.  
 
But these changes do not necessarily mean the regime is about to
relinquish power and recognize the 
 democratic government. Suu Kyi has
appeared on Rangoon Television twice with the generals of Slorc, 
 but
there was no sound track. We cannot know whether there is substantive
dialogue unless she has 
 direct and unrestricted access to the
international media. 
 
Talks with the United Nations, in the absence of a public agenda and
timetable, may simply mean the 
 military is buying time to entrench
itself. 
 
Some ethnic armies have signed military ceasefires, but since political
issues have not been discussed, 
 peace will not automatically follow. 
 
There are reports that human rights violations and atrocities have
increased in the ceasefire zones 
 because troops can now move about
freely without fear of being attacked. 
 
Most delegates to the constitutional convention are handpicked and Suu Kyi
has described it as "an 
 absolute farce." 
 
Real change came to South Africa only when sanctions were added to the
range of domestic and foreign 
 pressures which were brought to bear
against the apartheid government. 
 
Slorc has had six years to transfer power. How much longer are we going to
wait? 
 
The world must act, now. 
 
********************************************************** 
NATION: BURMESE PROBLEMS HINDER THAILAND'S BID TO PROTECT FOREST Saturday, 
December 17, 1994 by Malee Traisawasdichai 
 
THAILAND is to step up the establishment of "transfrontier parks" with
bordering countries, and has 
 strong hopes that cooperation with Burma
will pave the way for future extension of Burma's forest to the 
 Thung
Yai- Huay Kha Khaeng World Heritage site. 
 
However, to achieve this objective, a clear policy on forest protection
and management in Burma is a 
 prerequisite, said a Thai forestry
official. 
 
Thailand's initiative has encountered another obstacle, as the targeted
forest is in an area controlled by 
 the Karen National Union (KNU), an
armed ethnic movement which has been fighting against the 
 Burmese junta
government for decades. 
 
The KNU has already imposed wildlife and forest protection in parts of the
area under its control, which 
 shares a common border with Thailand's
western forest where Thung Yai-Huang Kha Khaeng is located. 
 
For more than a decade the KNU has designated wildlife sanctuaries and
nature reserves in this area, 
 complete with regulations and a management
plan. 
 
According to this year's Chairman of the World Heritage Committee (WHC),
Dr Abul Wichiensharoen, 
 the committee expressed concern a few years ago
about the alarming forest destruction in Burma due to 
 extensive logging,
wildlife poaching for trade, and civil war. 
 
The committee hoped that Burma would apply for membership of the
Convention on the Protection of the 
 World Cultural and Natural Heritage
and then submit an application for joint nomination with Thailand 
 for
the transboundary extension of the Thung Yai-Huay Kha Khaeng forest. 
 
"The forest is being threatened at an alarming rate. Unless it obtains
World Heritage status, it will be 
 difficult for Burma to protect it, but
this would be possible only if Burma has the political will to conserve 
its remaining fertile wilderness and to prepare itself for that end," said
Abul. 
 
"We hope that by that time [of submission of the joint nomination
application] the forest of Burma will 
 not have been completely
destroyed," he added. 
 
The target area for inclusion in the extension of the largest remaining
forest in western Thailand covers 
 the forest from Burma's Shan State
along the Tanaosri Mountain Range to the area at Victoria Point 
adjoining Thailand's Ranong Province. 
 
Abul said Thung Yai-Huay Kha Khaeng is the largest protected area and
natural World Heritage site in 
 mainland Southeast Asia. Within its area
of 6,222 square kilometres, the forest contains communities of 
 flora and
fauna from four biogeographic zones including Sino-Himalaya, Sundaic,
Indo-Burmese and 
 Indo-Chinese. 
 
"The extension of Burma's forest, which is of the Indo-Burmese type, will
add to the great diversity of the 
 Thung Yai-Huay Kha Khaeng World
Heritage site," said Dr Abul. 
 
"In ecological terms, the adjacent forests are integrated ecosystems with
quite similar flora and fauna 
 characteristics." 
 
Nevertheless, he said, whether the idea becomes fact depends on the
political conflict in Burma, which 
 must be solved first. 
 
The Royal Forestry Department (RFD) is to host a meeting with Burma,
Malaysia and Indochinese 
 countries next year to work out plans for the
"transboundary protected area". 
 
It will be the follow up to last month's "Transcorridor Conservation"
meeting held by China's Academy of 
 Science in Kunming of Yunan Province,
with an attendance of forestry department heads from nine 
 regional
countries: Burma, China, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan
and India. 
 
Thawee Nootaong, the RFD official, told The Nation that the RFD expects to
make bilateral agreements 
 with each of the participant countries to set
up the transfrontier parks with Thailand's neighbours. 
 
The official admitted that the proposed transfrontier protected area with
Burma and Thung Yai-Huay 
 Kha Khaeng faces tremendous difficulties. 
 
"The RFD has long felt that the Burmese government must stop logging
activities and concessions in its 
 border forest and should set up a
clear management plan like a wildlife protection law and declare the 
forest a protected area," said Thawee. 
 
In Kunming last month, Rangoon representatives informed Thailand Burma's
newly-launched 
 commercial logging policy would curb extensive damage to
the forest, according to Thawee. 
 
"The RFD was informed by Burma's Forestry Department chief that export of
logs and processed wood 
 will now be done directly by the Burmese
government. 
 
"Logging companies will only be awarded concessions and the logging trade
will be carried out by the 
 government," said Thawee, who attended the
Kunming meeting. 
 
On the other hand, the KNU's Forestry Department has established 11
wildlife sanctuaries in the area 
 since 1982, four of which are adjacent
to Thailand. 
 
The KNU has also banned all commercial wildlife trade and hunting in its
territory. It also decided that 
 all districts under its control should
set up wildlife sanctuaries. In the Mergui and Tavoy districts, the 
 KNU
set up the 4200 sq km Ka Ser Dol Wildlife Reserve, and the 2,250 sq km Ta
Naw Tha Ri Wildlife 
 Sanctuary. 
 
Asked whether the RFD would cooperate with the KNU's existing management
of designated protected 
 area, Thawee said the issue was too sensitive. 
 
"It involves politics. We cannot accept the KNU's designation of wildlife
sanctuaries because Thailand 
 would come into conflict with Burma. But we
hope the Burmese government will successfully settle its 
 domestic
disputes with minority groups," said Thawee. 
 
"Another possibility is that the Burmese Government may make an agreement
with the Karens to allow 
 them control of the management of this piece of
protected area. If so, the RFD can then work with the 
 Karens to jointly
protect the proposed transboundary conservation," he said. 
 
According to Thawee, the RFD expects Burma to be ready to identify its
protected areas adjacent to 
 Thailand's forest in the upcoming meeting to
be hosted by Thailand. 
 
Besides the proposed transfrontier conversation with Burma, Thailand has
also planned to establish a 
 transboundary national marine park with
Malaysia in southern Thailand with Malaysia; and a 
 transborder link with
Cambodia and Laos of the Pha Taem and Pu Jong Na Yoi national parks and
Yod 
 Dom Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand. 
 
Thawee said the transborder park with Cambodia and Laos is aimed at
protecting kouprey, one of the 
 World Conversation Union's endangered
species. 
 

END OF ISSUE