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BP: NEGOTIATING WITH BURMA : Trad
- Subject: BP: NEGOTIATING WITH BURMA : Trad
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 01:13:00
April 7, 1998
CURTAIN-RAISER / NEGOTIATING WITH BURMA
Trade and borders
top priorities
Shifting border lines and changing
trade currencies will dominate talks in
Rangoon today when Thai ministers
call on their opposite numbers.
Bhanravee Tansubhapol
The deputy foreign and commerce ministers head for Rangoon
today with the main tasks of convincing Burma to resume talks
on a disputed Thai-Burmese border area and to review recent
regulations for trading in US dollars.
But the recent attacks by pro-Rangoon forces on Karen refugee
camps along the border will add another sticky issue for Deputy
Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra to take up with his
hosts during the two-day visit. Two Thai soldiers were captured
in incidents at Huay Kalok and Mae Hla that left four Karens
dead.
M.R. Sukhumbhand heads the first high-level delegation of the
Chuan Leekpai government to Burma accompanied by Deputy
Commerce Minister Pothipong Lamsam and several Thai
businessmen.
They are due to have talks with Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt
Shwe and Deputy Commerce Minister Kyaw Than, and meet
with Than Shwe, chairman of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council, First Secretary-General Khin Nyunt, and
Foreign Minister U Ong Kyaw.
M.R. Sukhumbhand has stressed the need for the two countries
to cooperate bilaterally and as partners in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations on matters ranging from refugees to
economic development.
The approach of the rains has brought fears of new friction
stemming from the seasonal shift of borderlines in the Moei River
that has brought seasonal stand-offs along the disputed border
area.
M.R. Sukhumbhand will urge Burmese authorities to use
diplomatic rather than military means to solve any problems that
might arise in connection with the unclear border line at Wat
Prathat Khok Chang Phuak and Ban Mae Konekane in Tak
province, according to a foreign ministry official.
Thailand claims it lost 340 rai of land in 1993 when Ban Mae
Konekane, in Tambon Tha Sai Luad, was cut off from the
mainland. Burma says it lost up to 150 rai as a result of severe
flooding in 1994 and 1995 which changed the course of the
Moei River. The 1868 Siam-British treaty sets the borderline as
the middle of the river.
"We don't want soldiers of either side to take it upon themselves
to stage incursions to take back what they think is their territory,
" said the official.
But the threat of use of force will persist, he said, as long as the
two countries do not settle disputes and demarcate their
2,401-kilometre-long border.
The two countries made some progress last year by agreeing to
divide the land and river border into 10 sectors, and to use aerial
photos shot in 1994 to demarcate the disputed area at Ban Mae
Konekane and Wat Pathat khok Chang Puek.
The sectors have been marked out by technical teams since the
agreement was reached in August, according to sources.
On trade matters, Mr Pothipong will try to persuade Burma to
return to the use of local currency in bilateral trade in line with the
agreement in February among Asean finance ministers.
Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore
and Vietnam are other Asean member states.
According to a commerce ministry official, Thai exports have
dropped by more than 80 percent since Burma issued the
regulation in November for exporters dealing in more than
$20,000 worth of goods to open letters of credit in US dollars at
Thai or Burmese banks.
The official said Burma could block trade for another 10 years
even though it joined Asean last July and is committed to joining
the Asean Free Trade Area.
Burma and Laos, which was admitted at the same time, have
until 2010 to liberalise trade, while older Asean member states
have to minimise tariffs by 2003.
As part of preparations for his upcoming trip, M.R.
Sukhumbhand, who was a staunch critic of the military regime in
Rangoon before he joined the Chuan government, has sought
"special advice" from top brass reputed to be close to Burma's
generals, including Supreme Commander Mongkol Ampornpisit
and Army Commander-in-Chief Chetta Thanajaro, a source
said.
With Gen Chetta due to reach retirement in October, the Foreign
Ministry is "trying to convince the Burmese leaders to deal with
us on a government-to-government, rather than on a personal
basis", a source said.
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