Burma Related Articles from Bangkok

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Subject: Burma Related Articles from Bangkok Post

June 25th, 1997
Bangkok Post
Rangoon blames Karen for Myawaddy rocket attack 

Tak


Rockets were fired into Myawaddy yesterday, causing a fire but no 
injuries.

Four 107mm rockets were fired from an area north of the Burmese town at 
1.30 a.m., three of which landed on a market opposite Tambon Tha Sai 
Luad, Mae Sot, and one on a plantation in Ban Tha Aj, Tak.

Burmese soldiers in Myawaddy fired two mortar rounds at the attackers 
and closed peripheral routes while villagers fled to bunkers.

In Tak, Pol Maj Noppadol Chatiwong, commander of Border Patrol Police 
Unit 346, led troops to Ban Tha Aj while soldiers from the 4th Infantry 
Regiment Task Force were posted along the Moei River.

A source said Burmese authorities blamed the Karen National Union for 
the attack, a claim that was denied. Karen officers linked the attack to 
a conflict of interest among officials.

The incident took place shortly before a meeting of senior Thai and 
Burmese officials on the opening of the Friendship Bridge and the 16th 
Local Thai-Burmese Border Committee Meeting to be held today. 

Burmese authorities were reported to have cancelled the border meeting, 
citing security reasons.

Judge who granted Li bail faces dismissal

Judicial Commission slates June 30 ruling

Akkaraporn Meethom


The Judicial Commission is likely to uphold the Justice Ministry's 
recommendation that a deputy Criminal Court chief justice be sacked for 
granting bail to Li Yun Chung, a major drug suspect.

The commission will meet on this matter on June 30, a source in the 
ministry said yesterday.

Li was granted bail by Somchai Udomwong while the Criminal Court was 
considering a US request for his extradition to stand trial on drug 
trafficking charges.

Li then fled to Burma which later handed him back to Thai authorities 
after Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh visited Rangoon last month.

Li was extradited to the United States early this month.

A judicial panel was then set up to look into an allegation that Mr 
Somchai had received a bribe from Li. Mr Somchai was transferred to a 
temporary duty at the Appeals Court during the investigation.

The panel, headed by Central Tax Court chief justice Sunop Kiatiyuth, 
recommended that Mr Somchai be dismissed with pension.

Criminal Court chief justice Pradit Ekmanee agreed to the 
recommendation, but Appeals Court chief justice Kiat Jatnilphan, Mr 
Somchai's immediate supervisor, wanted him sacked without pension.

The Justice Ministry's permanent secretary, Kukiat Sunthornbura, then 
passed Mr Kiat's recommendation on to Justice Minister Suvit Khunkitti.

Mr Suvit agreed to it and forwarded the matter to the Judicial 
Commission for consideration.

The source said the commission is likely to vote on June 30 for Mr 
Somchai's dismissal without pension.

Meanwhile, an investigation is under way into allegations made by the US 
Drug Enforcement Administration and Thailand's Narcotics Suppression 
Board that a judge who was once based in the southern province of Ranong 
was involved in the illicit drugs trade, according to the source.

A senior judge on the Judicial Commission said yesterday that at least 
three judges are dismissed yearly for misconduct and dishonesty.

The judiciary is now very strict in recruiting new judges and those 
whose honesty are doubted would not be accepted, he said.

Highway project gains momentum

Govt joins hands with private sector

Supamart Kasem 
Phitsanulok


The government has joined hands with the private sector in nine northern 
provinces to push for a 1,188-km-long highway project linking the North, 
the West and the South.

The project is aimed at supporting the Thai-Burma Development Plan and 
boosting the economies of the two countries, said a senior official.

The Central Development Centre yesterday called a meeting of 
representatives of relevant agencies including the North Development 
Centre, the Highways Department, the Industry Council of Thailand and 
the Chamber of Commerce to consider the 20-billion-baht project. The 
meeting was chaired by CDC director Weera Sritranond.

According to the plan, the new highway will run parallel to the existing 
Phaholyothin Highway but will not pass through Bangkok. It will pass 
through the border provinces of Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kamphaeng Phet, Uthai 
Thani, Suphan Buri, Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi and Phetchaburi.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Weera said the planned highway project 
would increase the economic potential of these provinces and also 
support the so-called Thai-Burma Development Area.

Apart from this, it would also reduce traffic congestion in Bangkok and 
its surrounding provinces.

More meetings on the subject will be held in Kanchanaburi next month to 
discuss the project details before it is forwarded to the National 
Economic and Social Development Board for consideration.

Patthana Silapakanchanamalai, vice president of the Industry Council in 
Kanchanaburi, said a sub-committee of the cabinet's economic affairs had 
resolved in August 1995 that a feasibility study and economic viability 
of the project be conducted by his agency and representatives from the 
Office of the Permanent Secretary for Industry, the Highways Department 
and the private sector in 9 northern provinces.

Sources said Mr Patthana and NESDB representatives are scheduled to meet 
Burma's Planning Minister David Abel next Saturday to discuss a joint 
development scheme to link the regional highway with Tavoy, a major 
coastal town in southern Burma.

Earlier, the private sector in Kanchanaburi proposed 12 different plans 
to the Burmese government to develop Tavoy, said Mr Patthana, including 
the construction of a deep-sea port and tourism promotion on the Andaman 
coast.

The Tavoy deep-sea port, which would have the capacity to hold 
large-sized vessels, would be a transit route for goods from Thailand, 
Burma and Indochina to other countries. The port would provide a 
short-cut for the transportation of goods without having to pass through 
the Straits of Malacca.

Thailand, Burma and other neighbouring countries would stand to 
immensely benefit from its contruction as it would help save millions of 
baht annually in transportation costs, said Mr Patthana.

Phanithi Tangphati, vice president of the Tak Chamber of Commerce, said 
the project would help spur the economies of towns along the Andaman 
coast.

<Picture: *>Inauguration of the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge across 
the Moei River linking Mae Sot district of Tak province with Burma's 
Myawaddy town has been set for August 14.

The decision was reached at a meeting yesterday attended by among 
others, Deputy Foreign Minister Pitak Intrawithayanunt and Democrat MP 
for Tak province Udorn Tantisunthorn who initiated the bridge project 
and Tak Governor Chaiwut Banawat.

Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and State Law and Order Restoration 
Council chairman Than Shwe will jointly preside over the opening of the 
bridge which was completed last month.

The two sides have still to work out details of the inaugural ceremony.

The meeting concluded that Thai and Burmese transport ministries should 
set up three committees. One panel would operate the bridge, the second 
would look after maintenance, and the third would lay down procedures to 
turn the bridge into a permanent border pass, Mr Chaiwut said.

As a permanent border pass, immigration officers will be empowered to 
issue visas to people crossing the border.

Meanwhile, the top Burmese border official in Myawaddy, Saing Phone, 
told his Thai counterpart Col Chatphat Yamngarmriab to postpone a 
Thai-Burmese Border Committee meeting scheduled today to discuss the 
bridge opening.

Lt-Col Saing Phone said guerrillas of the Karen National Union were 
pounding Myawaddy with heavy mortar fire, making the situation unsafe 
and not conducive for talks.

WHO sees lack of cooperation

Changing lifestyles threaten public gains

Aphaluck Bhatiasevi


The governments of Southeast Asian countries should realise that health 
development goes beyond the health sector and success cannot be achieved 
without the cooperation of other sectors of society, said the World 
Health Organisation yesterday.

At the opening of the WHO Southeast Asia Region (Sear) meeting attended 
by the region's ministers, WHO regional director Uton Muchtar Rafei said 
it is time to mobilise other sectors, ministries, NGOs and people to 
form new partnerships for health.

"We see no other choice but to join and work together for health 
development," he said, adding that health should be seen as a public 
concern which requires public spirit and private initiative so that the 
common goal of "health for all" can be achieved.

WHO Sear members include Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, 
Indonesia, Maldives, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Dr Rafei said the epidemiological transition with both communicable and 
non-communicable diseases has resulted in the region's countries having 
to face problems of poverty, malnutrition, population pressures, 
environmental problems and unhygienic living conditions.

"The double burden of diseases, the emergence of new infectious diseases 
compounded by the changing lifestyles threaten to undermine the health 
gains achieved so far," he said.

Dr Rafei pointed out that despite achievements in recent years, 
countries of the region still face many health challenges.

"Acute respiratory infections continue to be the leading cause of 
mortality in young children, accounting for more than 30 percent of 
deaths among children under five years of age. The burden of 
tuberculosis in the region is immense and it kills more adults than any 
other single infectious disease.

"Malaria, which almost disappeared in the 1970s has reappeared. In 
addition, new diseases such as cholera caused by the 0139 strain and 
HIV/Aids have emerged," said Dr Rafei.

He said it is also necessary to address issues concerned with women's 
status which have shown no significant improvement in most countries and 
maternal mortality rates which are still unacceptably high.

According to him, enhancing partnership between various social sectors 
is necessary to bring about equity in health and health security and 
accountability.

WHO Representative to Thailand E.B. Doberstyn said basic problems like 
restructuring the health sector to meet the demands of the populations 
increasing in size and complexity should be translated to improve the 
health of the public.

Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, programme management director of WHO Sear 
pointed out that though the Thai government has outlined policies on 
health development, it has not done much as planned.

"Since the first two national economic and social development plans, the 
government has outlined health development policies, but till now, the 
budget spent on health continues to focus only on development of 
services and infrastructure rather than prevention of diseases."

Dr Samlee said the government should stop talking about problems of 
shortage of doctors and instead look into the efficient use of available 
resources.

There are other important personnel in the health sector who can 
substitute the duties of doctors, he said.

"Many doctors in Thailand, I should say, are doing things that can be 
carried out by nurses and other health personnel. There are sufficient 
doctors in Thailand, but we think they aren't sufficient because of 
inefficient use of the resources," said Dr Samlee.

He estimates that 80 percent of patients who visit doctors do so 
unnecessarily.

A lot has to be done in areas of nutrition and development of behaviour 
of the public, said Dr Samlee.

"Instead of waiting for a patient to visit the doctor and be treated 
with various vitamins, the government should educate the public to eat 
appropriate and vitamin-rich food," he said.

The meeting was also attended by the health minister of Croatia, a 
non-member country, who pointed out that despite being under war for 
several years, his country managed to maintain health development.

"I'm from a country that suffered from a war of aggression five years 
ago. The health budget declined by 75 percent during the war years, but 
our main health indicators did not substantially change," said Dr 
Andrija Hebrang, the Croatian health minister.

Dr Herbrang said despite having about a million displaced persons and 
refugees or almost 25 percent of the country's population, the health 
problems were almost the same as during the pre-war days because of 
joint efforts of skilled health personnel and an efficient primary 
health care system.



"THERE WILL BE NO REAL DEMOCRACY IF WE CAN'T GURANTEE THE RIGHTS OF THE 
MINORITY ETHNIC PEOPLE.  ONLY UNDERSTANDING THEIR SUFFERING AND HELPING 
THEM TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS WILL ASSIST PREVENTING FROM THE 
DISINTEGRATION AND THE SESESSION."  "WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR 
STRENGTH, WE CAN'T TOPPLE THE SLORC AND BURMA WILL NEVER BE IN PEACE."



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