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BKK POST,February 19, 1998.Banharn



February 19, 1998.   Banharn in rare
                                  admission

              Former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa yesterday admitted
              that during his time as interior minister in 1996 he approved
              requests to open border passes to allow the import of Burmese
              logs.

              He defended his decision on the grounds that such requests were
              usually submitted by a committee comprising representatives of
              the National Security Council, Regional Army Headquarters and
              Forestry Department.

              The former premier claimed the committee was responsible for
              screening requests before forwarding its recommendations for
              the NSC to make a decision which was sent to the Interior
              Ministry for final approval.

              The Chart Thai leader said he only acted on recommendations
              by concerned authorities, but sometimes put the requests on hold
              for up to two months for authorities to recheck them.

              He admitted there had been reports of Thai logs being sent to
              Burma and re-imported as Burmese logs. So the matter should
              be investigated seriously and Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai,
              who is also defence minister, must closely look into it, Mr
              Banharn said.

              He said police, military and forestry personnel should join forces
              to protect forests. They should be fully equipped and an aerial
              inspection of forest areas should be made every seven days.

              Chart Thai deputy leader Boonchu Trithong said all logs
              imported from Burma after 1992 can be assumed as being
              originally Thai logs.

              Mr Boonchu, who entered the logging business before entering
              politics, said that after 1992 the Burmese government never
              granted a logging concession to any Thai company.

              He said that to prove logs are imported from Burma, importers
              must have a certificate of origin and a letter of credit showing
              payments through the Bank of Thailand to the Burmese
              government. He added that without these documents the logs are
              from Thailand.