AFP : Thai military chief warns of

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Subject: AFP : Thai military chief warns of Myanmar threat

Thai military chief warns of Myanmar threat

BANGKOK, Jan 7 (AFP) - Thailand's armed forces chief has warned of a
potential threat from military-run Myanmar in a rare public criticism of
Yangon's arms spending, reports said Friday. "Though posing no threat now,
Burma could change in the future," Thai Supreme Commander General Mongkon
Ampornpisit told 200 officers during a lecture at the National Defense
College. "While most countries are downsizing their armed forces, Burma
keeps expanding its military capability," Mongkon was quoted saying in the
English-language Bangkok Post. He dismissed any potential threat from other
neighbours and Association of Southeast Asian Nations partners Malaysia,
Laos and Cambodia. His warning follows a dip in normally cordial relations
between the two countries which share a border more than 2,000 kilometers
(1,250 miles) long. Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai this week blamed
Myanmar authorities for a lack of cooperation in stemming the massive
inflow of illicit drugs believed responsible for soaring addiction rates
amongst Thai youths. Myanmar is one of the world's biggest producers of
heroin, along with Afghanistan, and is accused of hosting hundreds of
amphetamine factories along its border with Thailand. Relations have been
strained since the seizure here of Yangon's embassy and nearly 40 hostages
including diplomats by pro-democracy student gunmen in October. The siege
ended with Thai authorities providing the hostage-takers with an escape
helicopter to the border, leading Myanmar to close the frontier for weeks
at the cost of millions of dollars in trade. Although Myanmar's defense
expenditure is a closely guarded secret, analysts estimate it to have
poured about 40 percent of central government expenditure into the military
throughout the 1990s, while much of its population is still without basic
education or health care. Annual defence expenditure at least doubled from
1988 to 1996, analysts say, giving Myanmar possibly the largest army in
Southeast Asia in terms of enlisted troops. Most of the weapons and
ammunition came overland from China, but other sources included Pakistan,
Yugoslavia, Singapore, North Korea, Russia and Israel, analysts say.

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