BurmaNet News: February 3, 2000

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=========== The BurmaNet News ===========
February 3, 2000
Issue # 1453
=========================================

Noted in passing:

"No country can call itself Buddhist when it revels in the cold-blooded 
murder of perceived enemies. In case we forget, Buddhism teaches 
compassion and non-violence since all human beings are one and the 
same."

Sanitsuda Ekachai on Thailand's summary execution of the 10 young men 
from Burma at Ratchburi Hospital.  See BANGKOK POST: WE NEED TO AWAKEN 
FROM SUCH DREAMS


=========
Headlines
=========

Inside Burma--

SHAN: HEROIN ON THE RAGE AGAIN

SHAN: WAS STILL KEEPING DOORS CLOSED AFTER BLAST

===

International--

BURMANET: BURMESE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN THAILAND IN ADVANCE OF UNCTAD 
MEETING

BANGKOK POST: GOD'S ARMY LEADERS FACE ARREST IF THEY FLEE

THE NATION (Thailand):  NFC TO TRADE FERTILISER FOR BURMA GAS

SHAN: WAS STILL KEEPING DOORS CLOSED AFTER BLAST

PD BURMA: CALENDAR OF EVENTS WITH REGARD TO BURMA

===

Editorial--

BANGKOK POST: WE NEED TO AWAKEN FROM SUCH DREAMS


=========================================


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 INSIDE BURMA
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SHAN: HEROIN ON THE RAGE AGAIN

3 February 2000

No: 2 - 2



After years of keeping a low profile, opium and its derivative, heroin, 
is making a comeback, reported Maihoong from Southern Shan State.

"Thanks probably to Thailand's incessant war on amphetamines, drug 
operators are going back to producing the white power again", said his 
source in Mongtaw, west of Mongton.

"There are millions of horse pills waiting in vain for big buyers. Also, 
it takes time for the trader to get his payment in cash. With opium and 
heroin, it doesn't take so much time. It's an invariably cash on 
delivery setup here".

"The price of opium has reached B. 27,000 per viss (1.6 kilogram) in 
Mongtaw and Sankarng (further west of Mongtaw). Heroin is up to B. 
290,000 per block (700 gm)", he said.

Concerning the low price of opium in Nakawngmu in the east, he said: "I 
learned it was due to the quality. A viss of opium grown along the 
border can get you much more heroin than that grown in the north". He 
added that most of the traders who came to sell their opium there had 
received their payments and many had already left.

There are 3 laboratories in the area, according to his source: 2 in 
Sanzu-Sankarng, owned by Yang Erh, Hla Aung a.k.a. Yang Chaojing and Tin 
Win (a Lahu militia leader) and 1 in Maisoong, south of Mongtaw, owned 
by Chou Yin, a Kokang Chinese, who succeeded Li Zigao after he was 
nabbed by Yawdserk's SSA and escaped last year.

"The Burmese commanders in the area, particularly Col. Win Kyi, the 
local commander of the Military Operations Command, are getting a lot of 
kickbacks from the growers, traders and from the lab operators".

Maj. Soe Naing, Deputy Commander, IB 65, is reported to be taxing half a 
viss of opium per field. "He is now the successor to Maj. Nyan Myint of 
IB 225 in drug affairs in the area", he said referring to the commander 
who had been shelved after he was found guilty of "not sharing kickbacks 
enough with his superiors".


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SHAN: WAS STILL KEEPING DOORS CLOSED AFTER BLAST

Shan Herald Agency for News
 
3 February 2000 
 
No: 2 - 3 
 
 
Following the explosions that incapacitated their electric power plant 
last month, the Was in Mongyawn are still keeping their side of the Thai 
border closed, reported Maihoong. 
 
"People from their side can enter Thailand, but entry into their 
territory has been forbidden", he said. "Some of the Thais who even used 
to work in their construction projects and asked permission to go back 
and pick up their belongings were turned back saying they should wait 
until things returned to normal". 
 
A Wa officer who was briefly in Thailand told Maihoong that the 
leadership believed it was the Burmese plot to sow discord among the 
Was, notably between Wei Hsiaokang, who was wanted both by Thailand and 
the United States for drug offenses, and Wei Hsaitang, their main 
military commander in the south. 
 
"We don't have any problems among us that cannot be resolved 
peacefully",  the source told Maihoong. "Most of us don't suspect the 
Thais either,  because they have not been allowed to come in". 
 
"But the Burmese, they want us to fight among ourselves", he said.



*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
 INTERNATIONAL
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BURMANET: BURMESE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN THAILAND IN ADVANCE OF UNCTAD 
MEETING

February 3, 2000

Thai police are arresting and harassing a large number of Burmese living 
in Thailand, including political dissidents, in advance of a meeting of 
the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Bangkok.

Among those arrested are Aung Myo Min, a well known dissident who 
received an award from an international gay rights movement last
year.  Members of Burmese student groups and organizers from the 
Federation of Trade Unions Burma(FTUB) have also been targeted and a 
number of their members have been arrested over the last few days.

There is little, if any, indication that Burmese groups intend to 
protest the UNCTAD meeting.  However, in the wake of the seizure of the 
Ratchburi hospital by Burmese militants and their subsequent summary 
executions by the Thai army, Burmese exiles in Thailand have been 
bearing the brunt of the Thai crackdown.

UNCTAD is an obscure United Nations organization that, among other 
things, monitors trade among nations.  The Thai government is worried 
that activists will interrupt the meeting and embarrass Thailand in the 
same way that environmentalists, labor and human rights activists 
disrupted the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization.

While UNCTAD is little known to the general public, it had a bit part in 
causing Burma's currency to plummet in 1997.  The regime publishes data 
on its trade with other nations but the accuracy of the data is highly 
suspect.  In 1996 and 97, the US Embassy in Bangkok used trade data 
collected by UNCTAD from every other nation in the world and compared it 
with what the regime said it had been importing and exporting.  The 
comparison, published in the Embassy's Foreign Economic Trends 
Reports-Burma, revealed that the regime was importing a great deal more 
than it was admitting, especially importing more military and dual use 
equipment. 

The regime seems to have been paying for much of its public sector 
imports by tacitly expropriating money deposited in Burmese banks by 
Burma's private sector.  That revelation was a major factor contributing 
to the collapse of the value of the kyat, which came six months before 
the wider Asian Economic Crisis.  The other major source of funds that 
appeared to be financing the trade gap revealed by UNCTAD data appears 
to be retained earnings from the heroin trade.  Condemnation of Burma by 
US authorities of the regime for money laundering sharpened noticeably 
after the publications of the Economic Trends Reports.





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BANGKOK POST: GOD'S ARMY LEADERS FACE ARREST IF THEY FLEE

February 3, 2000

Wassana Nanuam

The twins who lead God's Army and Johnny or Kyaw Ni, who was involved in 
the Burmese embassy siege, will be arrested if they set foot on Thai 
soil, the army chief-of-staff said yesterday.
Security units on the border in Ratchaburi have been told Johnny and 
Luther Htoo, 12, and Kyaw Ni might try to cross to escape Burmese forces 
who over-ran the Kamaplaw base of God's Army, said Gen Montrisak 
Boonkong.
"They might flee together and if they cross the border they will be 
picked up," he said.
Kamaplaw fell to Burmese troops following days of heavy shelling that 
drove 300 Karen refugees to flee 7k to Huay Suud Pass, in Suan Phueng 
district.
The fall of Kamaplaw should see an easing in tension on the border, 
where Thai forces have been told to nurture relations with their Burmese 
counterparts in the interests of peaceful coexistence, he said.
"There should not be any problem," said Gen Montrisak, who believed the 
200 or so fighters of God's Army had split into small groups and had 
moved deeper into Burma.
Patrols had been suspended on the border area after five soldiers were 
wounded and their dog killed by a booby-trap set by the rebels.
Sappers would be assigned to clear the booby-traps, mainly mines, which 
were intended for Burmese troops, he added.


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THE NATION (Thailand):  NFC TO TRADE FERTILISER FOR BURMA GAS

February 3, 2000, Thursday 



   NATIONAL Fertiliser Plc (NFC) is negotiating with its largest 
shareholder, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), to acquire Bt280 
million of natural gas from Burma in exchange for fertiliser, said NFC 
chief executive officer Kamolchai Pattrodom. 

He said if the negotiations were successful, it would help the company 
run at full capacity and pay off interest on loans. 

Kamolchai said the company proposal to PTT, which owns 20.44 per cent of 
NFC, would entail the authority selling the fertiliser to Burma while 
receiving gas from that country's Yadana gas field 

"There should be no problem selling our product to Burma as the country 
imports a huge volume of fertiliser," Kamolchai said. 

The export of fertiliser to Burma would be a part of NFC's targeted 
export volume of between 50,000 and 70,000 tonnes this year. 

It would be the first time that the company had exported to a country 
other than Laos and Cambodia, Kamolchai said. 

The overall sales target for this year is 800,000 tonnes, an increase 
from 600,000 tonnes last year. If sales targets are met, NFC would be 
able to generate enough income to pay interest of between Bt450 and 
Bt500 million on its debts in 2000 and 2001. 

NFC had sold 90,000 tonnes of fertiliser in January, Kamolchai said. 

Kamolchai said that from the projected total sales of 800,000 tonnes 
this year, 400,000 tonnes would be sold through dealers and 200,000 
tonnes to Thai Agricultural Business Co. A total of 100,000 tonnes would 
be sold to state agencies such as the Agricultural Cooperation 
Foundation of Thailand. 

Another 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes would be sold directly to users, while a 
further 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes would go to fertiliser mixing plants. 



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PD BURMA: CALENDAR OF EVENTS WITH REGARD TO BURMA

Feb. 2, 2000

Published by PD Burma. 
	

* February 7th		: Indonesias President Wahid will visit Brussels, 
Belgium.

* February 12th       	 	: National Union Day in Burma (Official)

* February 25-26th 		: 4th  ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting, Bandar Seri 
Begawan

* March 2nd 			: Anniversary of 1962 Coup and Farmers Day 

* March 8th			: International Women's Day 

* March 10-12th 		: Days of Prays for Burma.

* March 18th 		: "Bloddy Friday" (1988)

* March 13th 		: Burma Human Rights Day (Unofficial)

* March 22nd			: Rally for the Massachusetts Burma Law, Supreme Court 
Building, USA.

* March 20th - 28th April	: 56th session of the Commission on Human 
Rights, Geneva

* March 25-26th 		: 4th  ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting, Bandar Seri 
Begawan

* March 27th 		: Resistance Day in Burma

* April 30th - May 6th  	: 103rd Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Amman

* May 1-5th 			: World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination 
and Xenophobia 

* May 24th 			: Ne Win's birthday (1911)

* May 27th			: Anniversary of the 1990 election

* June 19th 			: Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday and Burmese Women's Day

* July 7th			: Commemoration of bombing of student union and shooting in 
1962 

* July 19th 			: Martyrs Day (Official)

* July 24-25th 		: 33rd  ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), Bangkok

* July 27th 			: 7th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Bangkok

* July 28-29th 		: 33rd ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC), 
Bangkok

* August 8th 			: 12th Anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising 

* September 18th 		: Anniversary of SLORC Coup, 1988

* September 24th 		: National League for Democracy formed 1988

* October			: 104th Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Jakarta


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*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
 EDITORIALS
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BANGKOK POST: WE NEED TO AWAKEN FROM SUCH DREAMS

February 3, 2000


Sanitsuda Ekachai

What do the extra-judicial killings in the Ratchaburi hostage drama have 
in common with the government's fussing over the BoI fair and the 
upcoming Unctad X conference?Nothing on the surface of it. But look 
closer and you'll find that they all are the product of our national 
creed.

No, not Buddhism. No country can call itself Buddhist when it revels in 
the cold-blooded murder of perceived enemies. In case we forget, 
Buddhism teaches compassion and non-violence since all human beings are 
one and the same.

The belief system that governs our thoughts and actions is nationalism. 
More precisely, a national obsession with image and face.

The Burmese dissidents trampled upon our sovereignty and face. So they 
had to pay for it with dear life.
The Unctad X and the BoI fair, meanwhile, are about our relentless quest 
for an international standing. It's again face. Since the people's 
grievances and street demonstrations will tarnish the country's image, 
they must be suppressed.

Few realise how dangerous this national creed is. It's used to demonise 
those who are different from us so that we can destroy them without 
guilt. It blinds us to state oppression of our own underclass. It sides 
us with oppressors. It robs us of humanity. And independent thinking. It 
also lulls us into really believing that the destructive development 
path we're taking is all for the best.

The problem stems from how we see ourselves and how we want to be seen. 
>From day one in school, our children are fed with the national myth that 
ours is an homogenous country of the pure Thai race. The fact is that 
Siam is home to several indigenous ethnic groups. Our culture is that of 
syncretism. And the ethnic Tais are mainly linked by language, not race.

Thanks to militant nationalism in our education system, ethnic 
prejudices are programmed into the young's psyche, ready to be whipped 
up by state machinery. It's why call-in radio programmes were swamped 
with hate calls during the Ratchaburi hostage crisis.
No doubt, the military loves this ideology best because it is extolled 
as protector of the nation. Keeping enemies alive also means an 
interrupted flow of military funding.

While we see ourselves as superior to our own kind, we look up to the 
West and want to be in its image.

Interestingly, it is the military which benefits from nationalism myths 
which dictate that economic growth is the only way to measure up to the 
West.

Following military-style conquests, the country's initial development 
policies were based on frontier expansion and the exploitation of 
natural resources.

When military dictatorship ended, the torch of industrialisation was 
passed on to the economic warriors in the bureaucracy. Foreign direct 
investment and an export-led economy became the new war strategies. The 
people have become foot soldiers in achieving the nation's dream of 
industrialisation.

It is a fierce dream. The stark reality of severe destruction of the 
environment and widespread social breakdown cannot hold it back. Not 
even the country's worst economic crisis.

Now we're ready again to pursue our death wish. Who cares that equity is 
the theme of Unctad X. We only want the face which is part of hosting 
this event. Forget talk of self-sufficiency. We can get philosophical 
when we're licking our wounds. Once recovered, we must get real. The BoI 
fair shows we're determined to sell cheap labour and nature until we 
drop dead.

The media, however, must question the myths of nationalism and 
industrialisation that oppress the underprivileged and destroy the 
environment. If we do not, we must share in the blame for the mess that 
is our country.

Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok 
Post.sanitsuda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bangkok Post (February 3, 2000)


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