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Bangkok Post News (8-3-99)





<bold>NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA

</bold>

Statement on Trip of SPDC Chairman, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, to Thailand


	It is learnt that on the invitation of the Thai Government, the military
leader of Burma, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, will be visiting Thailand for the
first time, as the prime minister, on March 8 and 9, 1999, and discuss
about border demarcation problems, cooperation in the areas of economic
development, agriculture, and narcotic drug suppression. 


1. The SPDC military clique, led by Senior Gen. Than Shwe, is an
illegitimate government that came to power in 1988, by shooting down
thousands of the people and seizing the state power by force. It is the
military government that has been refusing not only to transfer power to
the representatives of the people, who were duly elected in the free and
fair elections in 1990, but has also imprisoned or detained more than 150
representatives of the people, arbitrarily.


2. We are very much distressed by the invitation, made officially as a
prime minister, of Senior Gen. Than Shwe, leader of the SPDC military
clique, which has ignored the true will of the people of Burma and which
has been solely engaged in the perpetuation its power.


3. Instead of making effort to improve relation with the military regime
that has managed to control the power by force of arms, the Government of
Thailand should give priority to the establishment of long-term
friendship and mutual trust between the peoples of Thailand and Burma.
The issues relating to border demarcation, narcotic drug suppression,
improvement of trade, illegal migrant workers and the refugees can only
be resolved by negotiation with a democratic government supported by the
people. The SPDC military clique does not have the right to legally
settle any dispute relating to border demarcation, which is a question of
sovereignty. It is a matter, which can be settled only when there is a
parliament and only by the decision of a parliament.


4. A democratic government like that of Thailand, having relation, on
equal footing, with the military clique of Burma, which has usurped power
by force, would surely tarnish the prestigious image of the country. All
concerned should carefully reflect upon the negative effect on the image

of ASEAN and the economic crisis brought on by the acceptance of the SPDC
military clique as a member of the ASEAN. It is for every one to see that
the ASEAN still has to try and settle problems and disputes originating
from its dealings with the SPDC, which is more like a plague. 


5. The SPDC military clique is deeply involved in the cultivation,
production and trafficking of the narcotic drugs. The most evident fact
is that the SPDC is still giving protection, up to this day, to the
notorious drug lords known the world over. One of the factors that
contribute to the stability of the SPDC in the seat of power is the
revenue obtained from the illicit drug business and the support of the
cease-fire groups who are involved the illicit drug business. It would be
impossible absolutely to eradicate narcotic drugs, so long as the SPDC
remains in power. 


6. Unless there is political stability and a democratic government
supported by the people in Burma, the problems relating to Burma will
continue to have repercussions on Thailand, however hard it tries to
appease the regime in power. Hence, if Thailand is desirous of seeing the
restoration of genuine democracy and human rights in Burma, it should
refrain from acts tantamount to endorsing the SPDC, and stand firmly on
the side of the people of Burma.


February 28, 1999


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<bold>NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE UNION OF BURMA

</bold>

<bold>Statement on the Visit of Dictator Gen. Than Shwe to Thailand

</bold>

March 8,1999


1. The SPDC military clique is a regime that is regarded by the World not
only as an illegitimate regime not elected by the peoples of Burma but
also as one of the worst dictatorships remaining on the face of the
earth.


2. The SPDC regime has been using brutal force to suppress and destroy
the NLD Party, which has won the May 1990 general election. Using the
most vulgar language, the SPDC has been shamelessly attacking,daily,the
NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Daily, it has been oppressing, enslaving
and killing the people from all walks of life, and trying to eliminate
the ethnic nationalities by its war of genocide.


3. The SPDC military clique is not only directly involved in the largest
cultivation, production and trafficking of narcotic drugs in the world,
but it has also been openly giving protection and the status of high
honor to 4 of the most notorious drug barons of the world, with all the
worldly comforts.


4. For those reasons, the visit of Gen. Than Shwe to Thailand is not only
an inauspicious matter, but it is a matter that seriously tarnishes and
denigrate the honor of Thailand and its people.


5.In conclusion, we the NCUB, totally denounce and protest the visit of
Chairman of the SPDC, Gen. Than Shwe, as it is not only dishonorable and
detestable but also diametrically opposed to the will and interest of the
people of the two countries, Thailand and Burma.


[ SPDC = State Peace and Development Council ( Military dictatorship of
Burma ); NLD = National League for Democracy ( The political party that
won more than 85% of the seats contested in the May 1990 general election

) ; Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ( Gen. Sec. of the NLD ); NCUB = National
Council of the Union of Burma ( A coalition representing the
pro-democracy and ethnic nationality forces of Burma )]


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<bold>Burmese premier due 

</bold>

Burmese Prime Minister Than Shwe arrives in Thailand today on the first
visit by a Burmese leader since Rangoon crushed a pro-democracy uprising
in Burma in 1988.


Gen Than Shwe, who is also defence minister and chairman of the ruling
State Peace and Development Council, heads a 43-strong delegation.


According to a senior Foreign Ministry official, the Burmese delegation
will take a special plane from Rangoon to Chiang Rai this morning.


Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai will meet the Burmese leader there and take
him round a crop substitution programme on Doi Tung before holding talks
with him at a hotel in downtown Chiang Rai.


Gen Than Shwe will later fly to Bangkok, where he will be granted an
audience with His Majesty the King this afternoon.


Tomorrow, Gen Than Shwe will visit Saraburi to inspect a chicken
processing plant of Bangkok Produce Co, a subsidiary of Charoen
Phokphand, before heading back to Rangoon.


Gen Than Shwe's party includes Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the
SPDC; Win Aung, foreign minister; Col Tin Hlaing, home affairs minister;
Maj-Gen Saw Lwin, hotel and tourism minister; and Col Thein Nyunt,
minister of progress for border areas, national races and development
affairs.


------------------------------------------------------------------


<bold>Drugs top talks in first visit by junta leader He has called on the
leaders of most other member nations of Asean and now Gen Than Shwe is
coming to Thailand, where talks are expected to cover a wide range of
topics.

</bold>

<bold>NUSSARA SAWATSAWANG

</bold>

Thailand appears to be trying to justify its engagement with the roundly
condemned, Rangoon military regime by raising cooperation in the war on
drugs as the key issue of the visit beginning today of Gen Than Shwe, the
Burmese prime minister.


The Thai decision to focus on drugs also gives Burma the opportunity to
show that it is taking part in a constructive activity that its
international critics will find hard to denounce.


Thailand is receiving the Burmese leader close on the heels of a boycott
by several Western countries of an Interpol conference on drug
suppression in Rangoon.


Chuan Leekpai, the prime minister, will receive his Burmese guest in the
northern province of Chiang Rai, which forms part of the Golden Triangle
- where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Burma meet - one of the world's
biggest opium producing areas.


Mr Chuan is expected to seek special attention to the problem of
amphetamines, which is endangering the health of school children as well
as adults in Thailand, while his Burmese guest may ask for Thai help on
the arrest of a prominent ethnic Wa commander who has become Rangoon's
most wanted drug baron since Khun Sa surrendered in early 1996.


The timing is "ripe" for Gen Than Shwe to seek the assistance as Rangoon
has failed to arrest Wei Hsueh-kang despite putting in a great deal of

effort, said Pornpimol Trichote, a Burma analyst with Chulalongkorn
University's Institute of Asian Studies. The Wa drug baron is based in
the northern part of Shan state bordering Thailand's Chiang Mai
province.


Gen Than Shwe is the first leader of the military junta in Rangoon to pay
an official visit to Thailand since the generals crushed a pro-democracy
uprising in Burma in 1988. Gen Than Shwe visited other Southeast Asian
neighbours, including Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and
Brunei, between 1995 and 1997.


Though Prime Minister Chuan is yet to visit Rangoon, his predecessors,
Banharn Silpa-archa and Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, went there in 1996 and
1997 respectively.


Gen Than Shwe is coming to Thailand at a time when Burma is in need of
friends beyond its colleagues in the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, which it joined in 1997.


Besides the boycott by the United States, Britain, France, Denmark,
Belgium, and Italy of the Interpol conference in Rangoon two weeks ago,
Burma also is facing stiff resistance to it joining talks on economic
cooperation between Asean and the European Union.


The 15-strong EU remains strongly opposed to Burma taking part in a
ministerial meeting between the two groups later this month although
Thailand believes the Europeans might agree to allow Burma to join a more
junior level meeting of the joint cooperation committee.


"Burma needs help from Thailand to seek a consensus to allow it (to
attend the meetings) while facing such an EU blockade," said Ms
Pornpimol. Bangkok is a coordinator between the two blocs.


Gen Than Shwe's visit to Thailand also reflects Burma's need to look
outwards following the collapse last year of the Suharto regime in
Indonesia, a regime it upheld as a model of political stability.


Indonesia's ruling Golkar party was the model for Burma's
five-million-strong political force, the Union Solidarity Development
Association (USDA), and former President Suharto is a long-time friend of
veteran Burmese leader Ne Win.


For Thailand, Gen Than Shwe's visit will help raise the momentum towards
solving bilateral problems along the 2,401-km-long common border and the
fostering of economic cooperation.


According to Surin Pitsuwan, the foreign minister, Thailand is seeking
coordination at "all levels" to reduce border tensions and mistrust as
well as illegal migrations.


For his part, Gen Than Shwe may take the opportunity to raise Burmese
concerns over the delay in payments by the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand for gas piped from the Yadana natural gas project, according to
officials and analysts.


The Yadana development consortium, led by Total of France, involves the
development of 525 million cubic feet of gas a day from a field off
Burma's coast. The PTT, the sole buyer of the gas, has yet to pay for the
purchase of an estimated five million cubic feet a day it has received
since July.


Under the contract, the PTT is committed to pay for supplies whether it
takes delivery or not.


But the PTT has been negotiating with the Yadana developers to relax
penalties for the late purchase of gas due to the delay in delivery and

the incomplete construction of the power plant in Ratchaburi. The PTT
also is seeking re-adjustment of the gas price, which is now higher than
the domestic price in the wake of the economic downturn and drop in power
consumption.


The delay in the payment has diminished Rangoon's hopes of earning
foreign income to make up for a severe shortage of foreign exchange,
although it earlier withdrew some money from the consortium.