The BurmaNet News, July 7, 1997

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------     
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"     
----------------------------------------------------------     
 
The BurmaNet News: July 7, 1997        
Issue #766

HEADLINES:        
==========   
THE NATION: SUU KYI, JUNTA TALKS URGED
TT: SLORC SHRUGS OFF DIALOGUES WITH SUU KYI
BKK POST: END NEAR FOR 'CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT'?
KNLA GENERAL HEADQUARTERS: STATEMENT
BAG-UK PRESS RELEASE: LABOUR CLOSER TO SANCTIONS
FRIENDS FOR A DEMOCRATIC BURMA: IIP TRIBUNAL FINDINGS 
INDEPENDENT ESSAY: OF MEMORY AND FORGETFULNESS
THAILAND TIMES: TALKS ON DISPUTED ISLET COLLAPSE
THE NATION: GOVT SECURES WATER SUPPLY FROM BURMA
THAILAND TIMES: ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS BANNED 
BKK POST: MAE SOT PLANS ROAD TO LINK BURMA TOWNS
THAILAND TIMES: UNOCAL STUDIES SET UP OF THAI GAS
KATHMANDU POST: BURMA CLAIMS CRIME SUPPRESSION GAIN
BKK POST: 'DESTRUCTIVE ELEMENTS' THREATENED
NLM: THE AMERICAN CONNECTION
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THE NATION: SUU KYI, JUNTA TALKS URGED
July 4, 1997 [abridged]

ASEAN foreign ministers have agreed to urge the Burmese junta to open
dialogue with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to ease political
tension as Burma will soon become a member of  the regional grouping,
Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan said.

The decision was reached on Tuesday when foreign ministers of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Hong Kong to discuss final
preparations for the admission of Burma, Cambodia and Laos on July 23.

It was the first time Asean members agreed collectively to urge the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) to initiate a dialogue with
Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the National League
for Democracy which won the general election in May 1990.

Asean had earlier refused any role in the ongoing political turmoil within
Burma, saying it was an internal affair and that the grouping adhered
strictly to the principle of non-interference.

"All of us [Asean foreign ministers] have stated that we would like to see
Slorc engage in a dialogue [with Suu Kyi]. At least, we would like them
[Slorc] to acknowledge that Myanmar's [Burma's] membership in Asean will
help create a positive direction in the country," Prachuab told reporters on
his return from Hong Kong on Wednesday.

He said Asean had already informed Slorc that it wanted to see a dialogue
take place. The message was conveyed through Malaysia's Foreign Minister
Abdullah Badawi who visited Rangoon last month to officially inform Slorc of
Asean's admission of Burma.

Prachuab said Slorc had informed Badawi that Burma was moving toward
democracy but that it needed more time to do so. 
     
He added that Badawi had a "positive"  impression of Cambodia, Laos and
particularly Burma, when he visited the three prospective members last month.

An informed Asean diplomat said Badawi had told the top four Slorc leaders -
Gen Than Shwe, Gen Maung Aye, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt and -Lt Gen Tin Oo - during
a meeting on June 10 of Asean's concern over the  political situation in the
country.

Badawi told the leaders that  Asean's admission of Burma was the "'toughest"
decision made by the grouping in 29 years, the diplomat said. He added that
the Malaysian minister said that it was "a high risk" for Asean to admit
Burma and thus the country should react by introducing some positive changes.

Than Shwe thanked Asean for having supported and stood by Burma especially
during the past several years when the military regime came under severe
pressure from Western countries, the diplomat said.

*********************************************

THAILAND TIMES: SLORC SHRUGS OFF DIALOGUES WITH SUU KYI
July 4, 1997
Reuters

MANILA: Burma's deputy prime minister yesterday rejected holding talks with
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Vice-Admiral Maung Maung Khin said there  was no need for a dialogue at
present between the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
and Suu Kyi, leader of Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD).

Maung Maung Khin was speaking to reporters before the opening of a two-day
meeting in Manila of heads of investment agencies of the Association of
South East  Asian Nations (ASEAN), which Burma is attending.

We will take the necessary action, of course,"  he said, when asked about
SLORC  accusations that the NLD and exiled Burmese dissidents were plotting
against Rangoon leaders with US help.

"We have to see what action has to be done to preserve our sovereignty," he
said. "We will have to do the best to prevent such intervention "
     
A dozen Filipino human rights activists from the Free Burma
Coalition-Philippines group picketed the hotel where the ASEAN meeting was held.

Two of their leaders slipped into the session hall and handed delegates,
including those from Burma, copies of their statement calling SLORC leaders
"impostors".

"Those who shake their hands for business deals give the SLORC a blank
cheque for human rights violations," the statement said. 
     
Brigadier-General Maung Maung, secretary of Burma's Foreign Investment
Commission, told the protesters that reports of human rights abuses in Burma
were being spread by its enemies.

"In my country, you come and look around and see how the people are happy,"
he said.

Referring to calls by Western countries for relaxation of human rights
restrictions by Burma, Maung Maung Khin told reporters: "That will be done
in due course. It's rather delicate. We have to see from various angles
before we can come to certain decisions."

The ASEAN meeting is to discuss a proposal for an ASEAN Investments
Agreement to attract investment to the region.  

************************************************************

BKK POST: END NEAR FOR 'CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT'?
July 4, 1997 [abridged]

Thailand has called on the Association of Southeast  Asian Nations (Asean)
to adopt a "more comprehensive" policy toward Burma after admitting the
country later this month, Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan said yesterday.

Mr Prachuab said he made the proposal at an informal meeting of Asean
foreign ministers in Hong Kong earlier this week. 
     
Thailand's six partners in Asean- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam -agreed on the need for a new approach,
Mr Prachuab told a press conference.

Asean is due to admit Burma, Cambodia and Laos into the fold on July 23. For
the past several years, Asean members have maintained a "constructive
engagement" policy toward Burma and defended it as a way of drawing the
country out of self-imposed isolation.
     
Mr Prachuab gave no details of his proposal for a more comprehensive policy
with Burma, but maintained that Asean could no longer employ "constructive
engagement".

"It is like a marriage. Before, we treated Burma as an outsider, so we must
engage first. But now Burma is already an insider," he said.

****************************************

KNLA GENERAL HEADQUARTERS: STATEMENT
July 3, 1997

STATEMENT OF KNLA GENERAL HEADQUARTERS
                                                                            
                                        July 3, 1997

* As the SLORC unilaterally abrogated talks with the KNU and launched a
major military offensive against the KNU and the Karen people in February
1997, many clashes have been taking place, ever since. In the ferocious
offensive, the SLORC has been employing its military divisions
101/11/22/33/44/55/66/77/88/99 and the area garrison units against the KNLA
6th Bde. in Kaw-Ka-Reik and Moulmein districts, 4th Bde. in Tanessarim
division, 7th Bde. in Pa-an district, 5th Bde. in Pa-pun district, 1st Bde.
in Thaton district, 3rd Bde. in Nyaung Lay Bin district, and 2nd Bde. in
Toungoo and Pyin Ma Na districts.

* Lt.Gen. Tin Oo himself commands this especially savage offensive. Though
the commander of 16th Bn., Thu Mu Heh, and a few followers surrendered to
the enemy, the remaining KNLA commanders and troops have successfully
countered, with full patriotism, the SLORC 's brutal offensive.

* In resisting the barbarous offensive of the SLORC, troops of the alliance
forces such as the ABSDF, PLF, ABMU & etc. have joined hands with the KNLA.
During the period from February 11 to June 30, 1997, 380 major and minor
clahses had taken place. Land mine attacks were staged 221 times. There were
584 dead and 544 wounded on the SLORC side, while troops of the KNU and the
alliance forces suffered 26 dead and 22 wounded.

* As the KNLA avoided positional warfare and employed mainly the mobile,
guerrilla and mine warfare, it has managed to stage a large number of
small-scale clashes. As a result, it has managed to minimize its casualties,
while inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy and, at the same time, to
prevent waste of ammunition.

* In the present military offensive, the SLORC troops have committed, on a
wide scale, atrocities and human rights violations such as execution,
torture, forced labor, looting of valuables, burning the villages and food
supplies, forced relocation, deliberately killing the live-stock & etc. of
the Karen people. These atrocities are much worse than the massacres of the
Karen people by the BIA during the Japanese occupation, and they will go
down in the annals of Karen history as the most horrible bloodshed, attacks
and destruction.

* Instead of resolving the political problems by political means, if the
SLORC continues its barbaric offensive against the KNU and the Karen people
in the present manner, the KNU and the KNLA will have no alternative but to
continue to resist and counter, in self-defense, the military offensive of
the SLORC.

Abbreviations: KNLA = Karen National liberation Army (Military wing of Karen
resistance); SLORC = state law and Order Restoration Council (Military
dictatorship of Burma); KNU = Karen National Union (Political wing of Karen
resistance); Bde. = Brigade; ABSDF = All Burma Students' Democratic Front;
PLF = People's Liberation Front; ABMU = All Burma Muslim Union

********************************************

BAG-UK PRESS RELEASE: LABOUR ONE STEP CLOSER TO SANCTIONS
July 4, 1997

PRESS RELEASE 4 July 1997
BURMA Action Group UK

Labour one step closer to economic sanctions as Burton Group pull out of Burma

In an interview on BBC 2's Newsnight on 3 July the Government moved British
Foreign policy on Burma one step closer to supporting full economic
sanctions against the country. Foreign Minister Derek Fatchett said the
Government  would now "discourage economic activity" in Burma.

Although at present the Government "cannot control or order companies not to
invest and not to trade with Burma," they   will now ask companies
considering business opportunities in the country "to think about the human
rights record" and "to listen to the Government's advice" before making
their final decision.

This statement follows on swiftly from the Government's announcement on 19
June that there will be no further financial support for trade promotion
activities within Burma, or for trade missions to the country "until there
is progress towards democratic reform and respect for human rights in
Burma." The 19 June statement also said that in providing routine advice to
British companies about doing business in Burma, the Government would "make
clear wherever possible the present realities in Burma, including the
political and human rights situation and the state of the economy.. (and)
will also draw to businessmen's attention statements by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and other pro-democracy leaders discouraging trade and investment in Burma."

Yvette Mahon Co-ordinator of the Burma Action group UK said "Yesterday's
public pledge indicates a subtle but important shift in policy; from a
position of 'no support for' trade promotion to one that promises to
actively discourage British economic interests. This harder line is likely
to have a significant impact on British companies with existing and
potential interests in the country and sends a firm signal of growing world
resolve to isolate Burma's brutal military regime. "

The Burton Group yesterday became the most recent in a growing list of high
street names to pull out of Burma. The company issued a statement
announcing that it had instructed its' suppliers, Unimix Limited ( a joint
venture operation with the Burmese military's holding company Union of
Myanmar Economic Holdings) "to place no further contracts for sourcing from
Burma and to terminate all existing contracts by no later than the end of
this year. The company stated "it is the Burton Group's policy to listen to
its customers and this decision has been taken following a review of
customer opinion towards merchandise sourced from Burma."

The Burma Action Group UK had been pursuing a campaign opposing the Burton
Groups's Burma operations, following the success of its campaign against
another British retailer British Home Stores (Bhs). Bhs announced their
withdrawal from Burma in October 1996. Of the Burton withdrawal Yvette Mahon
said "this is a another clear success for the Burma campaign here in
Britain. This news will lend great strength and encouragement to the Burmese
democracy movement, at a time when they are subject to an
increasingly aggressive wave of repression. The Burma Action Group UK now
urge other British companies to  follow suit. The operations of the House of
Fraser are under investigation and appropriate action is  being
considered with regard to Premier oil UK. "

 For further Information contact: Yvette Mahon, tel: (44)-171-359 7679

The Burma Action Group UK, Collins Studios, Collins Yard, Islington Green,
London, N1 2XU,Tel: (44) (0)171 359 7679  Fax: (44) (0)171 354 3987 E-mail:
bagp@xxxxxxxxxx

****************************************

FRIENDS FOR A DEMOCRATIC BURMA: IIP TRIBUNAL FINDINGS 
July 6, 1997

Native Communities Global Forum
International Indigenous Peoples Tribunal
Central Presbyterian Church
1660 Sherman Street
Denver, Colorado

DECISION

  In the Case of Friends for Democratic Burma, regarding the alleged
  cooperation of Unocal Corporation and Total Petroleum Inc. with
  the military government in the clear-cutting of the forest and
  displacement of indigenous peoples in Burma for the construction of
  the Yadana Pipeline

HAVING HEARD the testimony by Howard Sargent and Inge Sargent and a  native
delegation representing Friends for a Democratic Burma, and a delegation
organized by Joe Drexler representing the Oil and Chemical Atomic Workers
International (OCAW);.

HAVING CONSIDERED no objections expressed in response to a letter of
  correspondence made to Unocal Corporation and Total Petroleum Inc.

NOW THEREFORE, THE INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TRIBUNAL:

     1. Condemns Unocal and Total participation in the Yadana Pipeline
  Project and a letter be sent to the governments of the United
  States and France that these two companies, by building this
  pipeline, will bring hard currency to a nearly bankrupt dictator-
  ship and help strengthen their hold on the 43 million people of
  Burma.

     2. Hold the United States and France accountable with regard to
  their shared responsibility for the devastating human and environ-
  mental consequences of the Yadana Pipeline Project.

     3. Demands that, because the pipeline is planned to extend into
  Thailand, that Thailand cancel its membership agreement with the
  State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and cancel its
  participation in the Yadana Pipeline to protect the environment
  and culture of the indigenous peoples.

     4. Require an independent environmental and social impact
  analysis to be conducted which is safeguarded from interference
  from the Burmese and Thai and other SLORC-member governments.

FURTHER, the Tribunal recommends to the OCAW and Friends for a
  Democratic Burma that they engage in an intensive networking with
  international indigenous human rights and environment nongovern-
  mental organizations, which are currently addressing the issue of
  sustainable development, cultural and spiritual rights, within the
  framework of the Commission on Sustainable Development. We
  especially commend them to contact the World Federation of United
  Nations Associations in New York.

(Signed)
Sulak Sivaraksa
Vice President for the Tribunal
18 June 1997

***************************************

INDEPENDENT ESSAY: OF MEMORY AND FORGETFULNESS
July 6, 1997

Of Memory and Forgetfulness: Remembering the 7 July 1962 Massacre of
Students at Rangoon University

By Memory

The 7th of July 1997 is the 35th anniversary of the massacre of about 150
Burmese students of Rangoon University by the so-called Revolutionary
Council headed by General Ne Win on 7 July 1962. Four months earlier, on 2
March 1962, Ne Win's Revolutionary Council  had taken over power in a
military coup, overthrowing the democratically elected government of the
late Prime Minister U Nu.

The massacre took place on Chancellor Road of Rangoon University around 2'0
clock in the afternoon of that day.

On the night of 7 July 1962 only a few hours  after the massacre of the
students - a blood-letting  which even the British imperialists  dare not
and did not commit in more than 100 years of colonial rule - General Ne
Win, Chairman of the Revolutionary Council addressed the nation on radio.
The tone and tenor of Ne Win's  address, which lasted no more than a few
minutes, were arrogant, harsh and threatening. He concluded his broadcast
with the following words: "If the student unrest is designed to challenge us
we will respond SWORD WITH SWORD AND SPEAR WITH SPEAR".

These words were uttered on radio a few hours AFTER  his troops gunned down
unarmed students who were peacefully demonstrating against what they
considered to be oppressive hostel rules and a few hours BEFORE the
historic Rangoon University Student Union Buliding was destroyed by
dynamite  at 5 a.m local time on 8 July 1962.

A few days after the massacre and dynamiting of the Student Union Building -
whose halls bore the mark and resonated with the activities of  a
generation of stalwart student leaders who spearheaded the freedom struggle
against the British colonialists - Ne Win went on a trip to Austria for
"medical-checkup".

Twenty-six years later in his "valedictory address"  to his Burma Socialist
Programme Party (BSPP) and the nation on 23 July 1988, Ne Win continued to
use the same harsh and threatening words. This speech was broadcast on
Burmese radio as well as television. Referring to the disturbances of March
and June 1988 Ne Win  in effect, said that some people are "learning by
imitation" and that one town after another had followed the examples of
others with gatherings and demonstrations against the government. He said,
and I quote, ".... if the disturbances continue the Army will have to be
called and I would like to inform the whole country from here that if the
Army shoots it shoots to hit, it has no tradition of shooting into the air
to scare". Ne Win also  said in that speech that the dynamiting of the
student Union building on 8 July 1962 was done not by his orders but on the
orders of his then deputy Brigadier Aung Gyi. In regard to the shootings of
7 July 1962 which preceded the destruction of the Student Union building he
said that as a "revolutionary leader" he had to take "responsibility" and
gave the "sword with sword and spear with spear speech".

General Ne Win and his cohorts did keep his promise of  23 July 1988 of
"shooting straight" with a vengeance. The massacres of August and September
1988 started with the shootings on the night  of 8/8/88 (in what has come to
be known as the "the four eights uprising" ) in front of Rangoon City Hall.
Many people estimated that in Rangoon alone, during the period of 8 to 12
August 1988, up to three thousand people might have died as a result of
indiscriminate shootings that took place in those four days. During August
1988 there were also other massacres in such towns like Sagaing and
Moulmein. After a brief respite in what is now almost nostalgically known as
the "democracy summer" of  August and September 1988  in which hundreds of
thousands of people from all walks of life rallied against the BSPP
government in more than 40 cities and towns across Burma,  the State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC) took over on 18 September 1988.

The SLORC  "coup" was intended to do away with the civilian facade of BSPP
rule and at the same time to shore up and save the BSPP elites. It also
resulted in another huge loss of life. SLORC Foreign Minister  Ohn Gyaw
himself once stated in an interview that five hundred "looters" were shot
during and in the aftermath of the SLORC takeover.

Ne Win's 23 July 1988 address to the BSPP Congress of "shooting straight"
is on clear record.  Videotapes of his  "farewell  speech" are quite
easily available. But does any one know whether there are written
transcripts or audio recordings of the full text of Ne Win's speech on
Burmese radio of 7 July 1962? It would be of interest and significance to
discern whether any person or institution   has a recording of his "sword
with sword, spear with spear speech" of thirty-five years ago. (In 1984 and
1985 the BSPP compiled in two volumes all the speeches Ne Win had given
since 1962 under the title of The  Epoch-changing, Revolutionary Speeches of
the Great Burma Socialist Programme Party Chairman. but his "sword with
sword, spear with   spear speech" was not included in that collection.)

On an international basis, the Sharpeville massacre  in South Africa of
March 1960 of roughly the same number of black South Africans by the then
apartheid regime receive more attention, publicity and commemoration than
the 7 July 1962 massacre of Burmese students of Rangoon University.

The same can be said of the Tienanmen square massacre of June 1989 which
occurred after the failed August-September 1988 Burmese uprising in which
many more people died than in Tienanmen square.

Someone once said that the  struggle against tyranny is in essence a
struggle of memory and remembrance against forgetfulness. It is hoped that
this short piece would in a small way contribute to help alleviate any
forgetfulness among persons who care about the Burmese people and their
poignant struggle for basic human rights.

Memory  is a pseudonym.

*************************************

THAILAND TIMES: TALKS ON DISPUTED ISLET COLLAPSE
July 7, 1997
By Assawin Pinitwong

TAK: Thailand and Burma failed yet again to reach a successful compromise
over the disputed Khok Chang Pheuak islet following the latest round of
Joint Border Committee talks which has resulted in the issue being left to
the national leaders to resolve, a border sources has said.

The three-day meeting held between June 30 and July 2 by the deputy Foreign
ministers of the two countries failed to reach agreement on many points
especially the Burmese excavation of a river diversion channel, commonly
known as Khok Chang Pheuak islet near Tak's Ta Sai Luad sub-district.

However, Burma agreed with Thailand's proposal to open the Friendship Bridge
on the fourteenth of next month and vowed to raise the issue with its
leaders for discussion.

Referring to a story that villagers had earlier reported seeing Burmese
soldiers gathering across the border from Manao islet in Mae Sot district in
an attempt to seize the land, the source said Thai forces had inspected the
area twice but found no Burmese soldiers .

This rumor discouraged Thai farmers from crossing the Moei River to farm
their lands on the islet for fear that they would be attacked by the Burmese
soldiers. Many of them resorted to employing Burmese and Karen to farm their
lands instead.

***********************************************

THE NATION: GOVT SECURES WATER SUPPLY FROM BURMA
July 5, 1997
Watchapong Thongrung

THAILAND will soon sign its first ever water purchase agreement with Burma.

The water deal was announced yesterday during a memorandum of understanding
signing ceremony for an electric power purchase from Burma.

Piyasvasti Amranand, secretary general of Thailand's National Energy Policy
Council, said an MoU for water supply between the two countries will be
signed in the near future.

Burma will supply water from the Salween river to the Bhumibol Hydro plant
in Tak province.

Burma's water will be used for electricity generation and industrial and
agricultural use, Piyasvasti said.

In the MoU signed yesterday between Sompong Amornvivat, PM's Office
minister, and U Khin Maung Thein, Burma's Energy minister, the Electricity
Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and other designated agencies agreed
to purchase up to 1,500 megawitts electric power from Burmese projects by
the year 2010.

The power MoU said "a separate memorandum of understanding shall be prepared
on the supply of water from Burma to Thailand".
     
Agreements for feasible projects will be individually negotiated and private
investors will be invited to participate in the programme.

The countries agreed to collaborate in the planning and construction of
transmission systems at the border in Tak province.

Burma has an estimated electric generating capacity of 100,000 megawatts.

Smaller power projects with production capacities between 100 and 200 MW
will be on-stream by 2003, while larger projects will begin producing
electricity after 2005, Piyasvasti said.

The electricity supply will come from both hydro-electric and natural
gas-fuelled power stations.

The estimated cost of constructing power stations to supply the 1,500 MW is
US$2.5 billion (Bt72 billion), Piyassasti said.

The transmission systems will be connected in Tak province.

Sompong took pains to say the government would take environmental concerns
seriously before it builds the transmission lines.

The most environmentally-friendly route possible will be selected, he said.

***********************************************

THAILAND TIMES: ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS BANNED IN FIVE DISTRICTS
July 6, 1997
By Assawin Pinitwong

TAK: Border authorities yesterday announced they will prohibit villagers in
five districts in Tak province from illegally slipping into Burma in an
attempt to protect them from danger posed by booby traps which are prevalent
in the area, a source has said.
     
>From now on residents in Mae Sot, Umphang, Mae Ramad, Ta Song Yang and Pob
Phra districts will not be allowed to surreptitiously cross onto Burmese
soil through prohibited points, and official checkpoints will only be open
between 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, said the source.
     
Those who violate the new measures will be regarded by the Army Region IV's
Special Task Force as subversive and will face immediate punitive action.
     
The new measures have been introduced in order to protect villagers from
being injured by booby traps which have been placed haphazardly near the
border by both  Burmese soldiers and ethnic minority groups in ongoing
conflicts with each  other.

There have been scores of cases of Thai  citizens sneaking across the border
to cut trees or collect food, who have  ended up severely wounded or killed
as a result of explosions  triggered by booby traps.

A military source, meantime, said the  new measures should  help prevent any
incidents involving misunderstandings or conflicts between Thailand and
Burma as well as with ethnic rebel groups.

He said it would also help solve border security problems as well as
breaches in bilateral agreement concerning border affairs.
     
The five districts are currently under martial law because they have fallen
victim to many security problems, mostly caused by conflicts between the
Burmese junta and ethnic rebel groups.
     
*********************************************

BKK POST: MAE SOT PLANS ROAD TO LINK BURMA TOWNS
July 6, 1997
Supamart Kasem

Tak - Business people in Mae Sot district  of Tak plan to construct a new
road linking two Burmese towns to promote cross-border transport  after
the-Thai-Burmese Friendship  Bridge opens in August. 
     
Seven Thai officials and members of the provincial Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Council led by deputy Chamber of Commerce chairman Panithi
Tangphati and-Burmese officials conducted a survey for construction of a
35-kilometre asphalt road linking Tingganyinaung to Kawkareik in Burma recently.

After the consultation, the survey team agreed that the new road be built
from the south of Burma along a stream passing an old walkway route, Mr
Panithi said.

The road with two traffic lanes will be six metres wide and no more than
500 metres above medium sea level; he added.

According to Mr Panithi, the project is expected to cost 300 million baht.
The Thai private sector has proposed that the government finance the
project, through a fund to assist neighbouring countries.

They will also canvas financial support from government agencies and
non-governmental organisations.

The current road linking the two Burmese towns is about 60 kilometres long
and six metres wide but only half of its width is paved with asphalt.

The road is cut through the Dawna Range and is over 1,000 metres above sea
level.

At present, Burmese authorities enforce one-way traffic rule on the road and
prohibit trucks with more than six wheels from entering.

Tak's Chamber of Commerce submitted a letter to Burma's Southern Force
Commander Maj-Gen Khet Sein on Thursday, requesting that the Burmese
authorities allow Thais and Burmese to use the friendship bridge for
cross-border transport before the official opening ceremony to prevent
further damage to goods caused by water transportation.

The bridge will be officially opened by Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh
and State Law and Order Restoration Council chairman Than Shwe on August 14.
     
******************************************

THAILAND TIMES: UNOCAL STUDIES SET UP OF THAI GAS PIPELINE
July 7, 1997
AFP

SINGAPORE: US energy giant Unocal Corp said here yesterday it had embarked
on joint venture study with Thai and Japanese parties to build a natural gas
pipeline in Thailand costing up to a billion US dollars. 

Based on the plans, the pipeline from the eastern seaboard to northeastern
Thailand would carry gas from the Gulf of Thailand to supple energy to
mining and related industries in the region.

"We believe the idea to build and operate a pipeline system to supply
industry in the northeast (Thailand) is another beneficial way to
participate in the kingdom's overall growth," said the president of
Singapore-based Unocal Asia- Pacific Ventures Ltd, John Vandermeer.

Unocal Asia-Pacific Ventures, a subsidiary of the California-based oil
giant, said in a statement it had signed a memorandum of understanding with
the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), and Nissho Iwai Corp of Japan to
conduct a feasibility study for the on hare pipeline.

"The study would also include the feasibility of laying fibre optics cables
alongside the pipeline in order to increase the communications potential of
the region," the statement said.

Unocal and Nissho Iwai had already completed a preliminary feasibility study
for the project and that further studies with the PTT would determine the
economics and commerciality of building and operating the pipeline, it said.

Expenditure by the co-venturers could reach one billion dollars if all
elements of the project were built, the statement said.

Unocal Thailand, a separate Unocal subsidiary, currently produces one
billion cubic feet (28.32 million cubic metres) per day of natural gas from
its fields in the Gulf of Thailand to supply approximately 20 percent of
Thailand's electricity.

Unocal is also involved in a joint venture project with Thailand's PTT as
well as Burma's Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and French oil giant Total,
which serves as operator, in the giant Yadana gas field offshore Burma.

Unocal has a 28 percent stake in the US$ 1 billion Yadana project supplying
natural gas to Thailand and potentially to Burma over a 30-year period.

Unocal's oil and gas reserves total about two billion barrels of
oil-equivalent and almost half its gas reserves are in Southeast Asia, where
it had invested about US$8.6 billion US dollars, officials say. 

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KATHMANDU POST: BURMA CLAIMS CRIME SUPPRESSION GAIN
July 3, 1997

Rangoon, July 3(AFP)- Crime has dropped over the past year as a result of
new crime suppression methods involving local residents in police
activities, the state-run Mirror daily reported Thursday

Seroius crimes decreased by 18 per cent and petty crimes by more than 10
per cent in the year from July 1996, the report said.

It linked the drop in crime to the establishment of 369 joint outposts
manned by police and local residents in 90 major  townships around the
country and said public participation was a key to crime suppression and
reduction. " by further educating the people and encouraging them to
cooperate with authorities in suppressing various crimes, we can build a
peaceful, modern and developed nation and realize the triple goal of
crime reduction, security for the people and a peaceful enviroment as
envisaged by our leaders" it said.

The joint outposts were pattered along the lines of a "koban" system in
Japan and tested in the last half of 1996 and the first half of 1997, the
Mirror noted. 

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BKK POST: 'DESTRUCTIVE ELEMENTS' THREATENED
July 6, 1997
Rangoon, Reuters

One of Burma's top generals said the military government has been watching
"destructive elements" and would take action against them if they did not
mend their ways official media reported yesterday.

"Crimes committed by the above ground destructive group against the state
and the people have been mounting," Lt-Gen Tin Oo, one of the country's four
most powerful generals, was quoted as saying on Friday.

Burma's government regularly refers to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party as "above ground
destructive elements."

"Some people ask why action has not been taken against them," Tin Oo said to
a group of military officers.

"The State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) has only been watching
magnanimously whether they will mend their ways positively. The (Slorc) will
prevent any act detrimental to the interests of the state in accordance with
the law."

Analysts interpreted the comments as a slight toughening of attitude towards
the NLD.

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NLM: THE AMERICAN CONNECTION
July 1, 1997
Editorial

It was not a page from "Believe it or not", nor fiction.  It was the
truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, putting two and two
together. First, State Law and Order Restoration Council Secretary-1 Lt-Gen
Khin Nyunt held a Press meet, inviting also high-ranking government
officials, media people and others, telling his immediate audience and the
world what had to be told.
Then, officers from the Office of Strategic Studies held a news
briefing in Studio A of the Myanma Television and Radio Department for the
benefit of foreign journalists, local correspondents and diplomats in what
was the English version of the morning PC.
At least the Secretary-1 had the courtesy to mince some words putting
it somewhat mildly titling his Press briefing "How some Western powers have
been aiding and abetting terrorism committed by certain organizations
operating under the guise of democracy and human rights by giving them
assistance in cash and in kind".
What it boiled down to--putting the two briefings together--was the
lowdown stuff: for obvious reasons there is a hand behind all that is
happening these days in Myanmar, the hand that seeks to manipulate
destructive elements in order to destabilize the situation, bring down the
present government, replace it with its puppet group and rule by proxy.
There is substantial evidence to draw the conclusion that during,
before and after 1988, there has been a consistent attempt to destabilize
Myanmar politically and to pin it down economically. The grand design
became more pronounced and transparent with the clamping of sanctions on
Myanmar, coercing the ASEAN not to accept Myanmar, the stepping up of
anti-Myanmar diatribes in the VOA and RFA broadcasts and other acts.
Statesmanlike, the Secretary-1 was generous with his words, but we can ill
afford to massage the hand that seeks to strangle us. Plainly put, the
American connection of our own kin who cannot be reined in, the hand that
would pat those who would perpetrate acts that will lead to "utter
devastation" must be laid bare for it endangers the very lives that all
patriotic citizens must protect.
What we publish in this paper today on the menace of terrorism aided
and abetted by those with selfish sinister designs puts the perpetrators on
notice that we will not allow bullies to threaten us with impunity.

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