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________________ THE BURMANET NEWS _________________ 
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
_________________ www.burmanet.org _________________


March 24, 2000 
Issue # 1494

This edition of The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:

http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$260




*Inside Burma


REUTERS: REGIME SAYS MASS RALLIES WANT SUU KYI PARTY 
DISSOLVED

AP: GROWING NUMBER OF MYANMAR FEMALE WORKERS SEEKING 
DANGEROUS BACK-STREET ABORTIONS

TERRA: A DAM FOR BURMA'S GENERALS



*International

MIZZIMA:  TWO BURMA REBEL LEADERS KILLED BY UNKNOWN 
ASSAILANTS IN MANIPUR STATE

ECONOMIST: TEA PARTY

BANGKOK POST SEARCH ON TO LOCATE NEW TRANSIT ROUTES



*Other

FORUM ASIA: LETTER TO THAI PM ASKING INVESTIGATION OF 
RATCHABURI SHOOTINGS




___________________ INSIDE BURMA ______________________ 



REUTERS: REGIME SAYS MASS RALLIES WANT SUU KYI PARTY 
DISSOLVED

YANGON, March 24 (Reuters) - Myanmar's government-controlled  
newspapers turned up the heat on Aung San Suu Kyi's National 
League for Democracy (NLD) on Friday, reporting mass rallies 
calling for her opposition party to be dissolved.
 
Official newspapers reported more than 111,000 people in a 
township in central Myanmar about 400 miles (640 km) north of 
Yangon rallied at separate sites to express their hostility to 
the pro-democracy NLD.

The newspapers said all those attending the rallies had 
signed a petition against the party. They said the township, 
Taungtha, had 118,205 eligible voters.
 
The people from the township had ``expressed no support for 
pessimist NLD and petitioned for dissolving it,'' they said. 
Myanmar's military government has kept up a steady barrage 
of attacks on Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi and her NLD 
since the party won Myanmar's last election in 1990 by a 
landslide.
 
The NLD has never been allowed to govern and the ruling 
generals have tried to silence the pro-democracy movement 
through a series of arrests and intimidation.
 
In 1998, hundreds of NLD members were detained and large 
numbers forced to resign from the party after it pushed for the 
convening of parliament.
 
Official newspapers have cited similar anti-NLD rallies in 
the past as evidence of popular hostility to the party. 
Independent verification of such rallies is usually 
difficult to obtain. 


_______________________________________________________ 



AP: GROWING NUMBER OF MYANMAR FEMALE WORKERS SEEKING 
DANGEROUS BACK-STREET ABORTIONS


MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) _ They come to hospitals bleeding, saying  
they fell in bathrooms or down staircases, when actually crude  
abortions lay behind their injuries. 

Growing numbers of Myanmar female workers in Thailand are being  
hospitalized after dangerous back-street abortions, prompting an  
international aid group to start classes to teach migrant laborers  
about contraception. 
 
World Vision on Wednesday held its first family planning course  
for 20 Myanmar women and men, among the tens of thousands who come  
to the Thai border town of Mae Sot to work in factories that rely  
on cheap Myanmar labor. 
 
There are as many as one million Myanmar migrants in Thailand at  
any one time, mostly illegal workers. Many are young, separated  
from their families for the first time and lacking knowledge about  
birth control and AIDS. 
 
In the past six months, over 300 Myanmar women believed to be  
suffering complications from abortions have been hospitalized in  
Mae Sot, which lies 370 kilometers (230 miles) northwest of  
Bangkok. In 1998, there were around 100 such cases.  
``The rate of abortions has gone up terribly,'' Somyot Leetakul,  
project coordinator for World Vision, said Friday.  
The rise coincides with efforts of Thai authorities since  
November last year to deport migrant workers. 
 
The campaign, designed to free up more jobs for Thais, has had  
limited success. Few Thais wanted to take up the poorly-paid jobs,  
hurting Mae Sot's once-thriving garment industry.  
Thousands of Myanmar workers who were deported have sneaked back  
into Thailand. With jobs harder to find in factories after the  
clampdown, more Myanmar women are taking up jobs as hostesses in  
karaoke bars and as prostitutes. 
 
Health surveys in Mae Sot show that eight in ten Myanmar  
prostitutes are likely to contract the HIV virus that leads to  
AIDS. 
 
Other migrants who have found work in factories again are  
confined in cramped quarters supplied by their employers, with men  
and women housed together. 
 
Many of the women conceive, but-of-wedlock pregnancies are  
socially unacceptable in Myanmar's conservative society. The women  
often seek abortions, usually performed in Myawaddy, the Myanmar  
town opposite Mae Sot.  

Dr. Witaya Sawaddiwudhipong, chief of the community and social  
medicine department at Mae Sot hospital, said abortions were often  
done by inserting a stick into the womb. Afterwards, the women come  
to the hospital, attributing their bleeding to a slip on the floor  
or down a staircase. 
 
Two workers from 10 Mae Sot factories attended the first in a  
series of family planning courses held at the town's hospital, to  
learn about contraception, especially the use of condoms and birth  
control pills. 
 
Ma Aye, 40, a seamstress from Thaton in Myanmar's eastern Mon  
State, said she was happy to learn about how to stop the spread of  
HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, and would pass on the  
knowledge to fellow workers. 
 
``When women get pregnant they feel shame and get abortions,''  
said Kyaw Kyaw, 25, a garment factory worker from Bilin, Mon State.  
``It's alarming how many women get abortions now. Before you  
hardly ever heard about it,'' he said.  
 
 



_______________________________________________________ 



TERRA: A DAM FOR BURMA'S GENERALS

Feb. 2000

(From Watershed: People's Forum on Ecology, Burma, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, 
Vietnam. Vol. 5 No. 2 November 1999 - February 2000, published by Towards Ecological 
Recovery and Regional Alliance - TERRA)

A Thai dam-building company is proposing the construction of a massive hydroelectric 
dam on the Salween River in northeastern Burma. Tens of thousands of local people have 
already been forcibly relocated from the site of the proposed TA Sarong dam and its 
reservoir, by order of Burma's military dictatorship.

"Recognising that there exist vast potential for joint utilization of energy resources, 
particularly hydropower and petroleum resources in the Union of Myanmar; for the mutual 
benefits of the peoples of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Union of Myanmar...

"The Government of the Kingdom of Thailand hereby agrees to cooperate with the 
Government of the Union of Myanmar in the implementation of the policy to sell power to 
Thailand, and would encourage the purchase of power by the Electricity Generating 
Authority of Thailand (EGAT) or other agencies designated by the Government of the 
Kingdom of Thailand to buy up to I,500 Megawatt [sic] of electricity power from projects 
in Myanmar by the year 2010. (Memorandum of Understanding between the Government 
of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government or the Union of Myanmar on the Power 
Purchase Program from the Union of Myanmar, 4 July 1997)

Two months after the Thai government and Burma's military dictatorship, the State Law 
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), signed this Memorandum of Understanding, 
GMS Power Public Co. Ltd. signed a contract with the SLORC's Myanmar Economic 
Corporation to study the feasibility of building the Ta Sarng hydroelectric dam on the 
Salween River.

With a proposed dam height of 188 meters, Ta Sarng would be the tallest dam in mainland 
Southeast Asia.* If built, it would be the first dam to be built on the 2,400 kilometre-long 
mainstream of the Salween River, the only remaining free-flowing major river in the 
region. The 320,000 square kilometre Salween River Basin is also the least dammed of the 
region's major river basins. However, since the late 1970s, Australian and Japanese 
consulting companies and Burmese and Thai state agencies have produced seven major 
studies examining the possibility of constructing large dams on the Salween.

GMS Power is a subsidiary of Thailand's MDX Group of companies. Through GMS, 
MDX is involved in dam projects in Cambodia, Lao PDR and China's Yunnan province. 
GMS contracted Lahmeyer International, a German consulting firm, to coordinate the 
prefeasibility study for the Ta Sarng project (completed April 1998) and the Electric 
Power Corporation of Japan to oversee the project's feasibility study (completed March 
1999). The final stage of study has been described by a GMS spokesperson as the "definite 
plan", presumably the detailed engineering design of the project, which is scheduled to 
begin in December 1999.

Lahmeyer's prefeasibility study indicates that the concretefaced rockfill Ta Sarng dam, 
with an installed generation capacity of 3,300 megawatts, would be located on the 
Salween River in the southern area of central Shan State in northeastern Burma. GMS 
engineers claim that the project's reservoir would flood an area of at least 640 square 
kilometers, storing 36,100 million cubic meters of water -- approximately one-third of the 
Salween's average annual flow volume of 119,037 cubic metres.

The Thai-Burma Memorandum of Understanding attempts to justify the construction of 
large hydroelectric dams and other large-scale projects for electricity generation in Burma 
"for the mutual benefits of the peoples of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Union of 
Myanmar". If nothing else, this statement ignores the experience with large-scale energy 
sector-related infrastructure in both Thailand and Burma (e.g., the Thai-Burma Yadana 
gas pipeline project, which involved forced labour, extrajudicial murder and forced 
relocation extensively documented and criticised intentionally) and the destruction and 
human rights violations that go hand-in-hand with these "development" projects. And that 
the promise of large-scale projects to provide the State and its agents with the opportunity 
for enrichment occurs at the expense of the citizens of these countries. The constant 
repetition of the promises of "mutual benefit" derived from, for example, large dams, 
therefore requires detailed examination.

How to destroy a river

A natural river ecosystem and its watershed have evolved together over thousands of 
years, created by the natural flows of water, bio-mass and sediment through the watershed 
and river. The construction of Ta Sarng would destroy the delicate balance between the 
Salween, its tributaries and watersheds. The Ta Sarng dam would also result in a large, 
deep reservoir. The dam's blocking of the river and impoundment of water in the reservoir 
would radically alter the natural flow and the ecological, chemical and biological 
characteristics of the Salween River.

In the project area, the reservoir would transform the free flowing Salween River into a 
deep, slow moving or still water system, up to several hundred kilometers or more in 
length. Decaying organic matter can create eutrophic conditions in the reservoir leading to 
algae blooms, oxygen depletion and massive fish kills. Water from the reservoir and 
directly downstream of the reservoir is often unfit for human or animal consumption. The 
conditions of the reservoir produces changes in the physical and chemical characteristics 
of the water, including pH balance, turbidity, oxygen levels, and temperature both in the 
reservoir and downstream of the dam when water is released through the dam's turbines.

The fishes of the Salween River Basin have evolved in a riverine system. If the river were 
transformed into a reservoir, most of these fish species would be extirpated by the 
reservoir, as will many of the fish species living downstream of the dam due to the 
ecological impacts of altered water flow and the poor quality of water released from the 
reservoir.

Seasonal fish migrations in the area of the Salween River Basin affected by the project 
would be prevented by the dam and the non-river habitat of the reservoir, while there 
would be severe impact on fish migrations and populations downstream of the dam, 
potentially along a stretch of the river hundreds of kilometres downstream of the dam.

Forests and fertile lowlands along the Salween River and in the tributary valleys would be 
permanently submerged by the reservoir. Many of these areas are used for seasonal 
cultivation of crops which serve the needs of local families and communities. The reservoir 
will destroy the aquatic and terrestrial animal habitat of the river and its valley, and 
radically alter habitats downstream of the dam.

In the reservoir, species of the riverine ecosystem are likely to be replaced by other aquatic 
and water-dependent species able to survive, and even thrive, in the degraded habitats of 
the reservoir area. Along the edges of the Ta Samg dam's reservoir, stagnant pools of 
water in a large expanse of bare, moist land will be exposed in the area where the reservoir 
water levels rise and fall on a periodic basis. Known as the "draw-down" area, this new 
habitat is an ideal breeding ground for malarial mosquitoes. Several forms of the world's 
most virulent, treatment-resistant malaria are already endemic in areas of the Salween 
River Basin, including the proposed site of the Ta Sarng project.

All of these impacts would severely affect the means of livelihood security of communities 
living along the Salween River. Evidence from large dams built in Thailand indicates that 
the impacts of large dams on the means of livelihood security of communities living 
upstream and downstream of large dams is in many ways negative, reducing food supplies 
and opportunities to generate income from farming and fishing and resulting in serious 
impacts on the health of local people, particularly women, children and the elderly. 
Inevitably, these same impacts will occur if the proposed Ta Sarng hydroelectric dam is 
built on the Salween River.

How to violate human rights

In the Shan culture, the Salween is called the "Nam Khong". The importance of the river 
for the Shan people is illustrated by a popular Shan song by writer Sai Khorn Fah which 
includes the phrase, "As long as the Nam Khong flows, we will have Shan State."**

The site of the proposed Ta Sarng dam and the lower area of the reservoir are located 
within an 18,000 square kilometre area of central Shan State in which more than 300,000 
people have been forcibly relocated by SLORC's [recently renamed the State Peace and 
Development Council] army. While the forced removal of local communities from their 
homelands in a proposed reservoir area is required by the construction of large dam, only 
the proposal, and project studies for Ta Sarng have provided the SLORC/SPDC with the 
incentive to forcibly relocate tens of thousands of families living along the Salween River 
where the dam and reservoir may be located.

A recent interview with an ethnic Shan village person forcibly relocated from the proposed 
reservoir area illustrates the close relations between local people and their natural 
environment in the Salween basin and the connection between forced relocation and the 
Ta Sarng project.

Question: Did many people in the area of your village catch fish in the river?

Answer: Everyone fishes in the river! At least one person from every house goes out to 
catch fish to eat and to sell in Kali [a nearby market town)...There are so many fish in the 
Nam Pang! [tributary of the Salween There are lots of "ba moong". These are big fish 
which people like to eat. It is so easy to catch fish. In one day you can easily fill your 
canoe with fish.

Q. Have you heard that the Burmese government is planning to build a dam on the 
Salween River at Ta Sarng?

A. Yes, I have heard of this. People in Kunhing [relocation site] are saying it will definitely 
happen. The authorities have said so. Everyone from Kengkham [township] is so worried.

Q. How would you feel about your village being underwater? 

A. I can't express what I feel. It would be worse than the death of my mother and father.

As the project proponent, GMS Power apparently hopes that the Electricity Generating 
Authority of Thailand (EGAT) would purchase most or all of the predicted 23,000 
gigawatt hours (GWh, 23,000 billion kilowatt hours) that the Ta Sarng project could 
generate. However, EGAT is not in a position to justify the signing of a power purchase 
agreement (PPA) for Ta Sarng as more than 30 per cent of its generating capacity 
(hydroelectric dams, natural gas-fuelled plants, ete.) is presently unused due to major 
reductions in the country's demand for electricity. In the absence of a PPA, it is unlikely 
that GMS will convince international commercial banks to provide the financing for the 
US$3.5 billion dam in the near future.

Nevertheless, with feasibility studies completed and detailed design planning soon to 
begin, a delay in the commencement of constructing Ta Sarng as a result of reduced 
electricity demand in Thailand promises only to be temporary. Successive Thai 
governments and State agencies have consistently proven their willingness to do business 
with private-sector companies investing in Burma and to attempt to appease the 
SLORC/SPDC with the profits of large-scale infrastructure. Only time will tell if Thai 
society will refuse to allow Thai governments, State agencies and private companies to do 
business with the brutal military dictatorship of the SLORC/SPDC and to condone the 
human rights violations and environmental destruction caused by "development" projects 
like the proposed Ta Sarng hydroelectric dam in Burma.

Endnotes

*For comparison, Thailand's tallest dam is the 154 meter Bhumibol dam, while Vietnam's 
Hoa Binh dam is 128 metres in height.

** SWAN, Shan Women's Action Network Newsletter, No.1, September 1999.





___________________ INTERNATIONAL _____________________ 


 
MIZZIMA:  TWO BURMA REBEL LEADERS KILLED BY UNKNOWN 
ASSAILANTS IN MANIPUR STATE



New Delhi, March 24, 2000

Mizzima News Group

Two leaders of a Burma rebel group were killed by some 
assailants in a village in Manipur State of India last 
month, according to a statement of Chin National Front 
(CNF).

Lt. Kam Do Dal and Sgt. Suan Do Hen from Chin National Front 
were
arrested and killed by a group of people in the evening of 
February 27 in Behiang village of Churachandpur District in 
Manipur State, says the CNF statement.

The statement dated March 22 further said that it pledged to 
find out
the real culprits behind this "unlawful manner" and it 
appealed to local people to help to solve the Behiang 
incident peacefully.

The duo, Kam Do Dal and Suan Do Hen, have been operating in 
the area
with CNF's duties for nearly two years. Kam Do Dal is a 
member of
Central Committee of CNF.

The Chin National Front, being based in India-Burma-
Bangladesh triangle border areas, has been fighting against 
the military regime in Burma for more than a decade.


_______________________________________________________ 




ECONOMIST: TEA PARTY

March 25, 2000
 
FOR a Supreme Court determined to assert and expand states' rights, it sounds like the 
dream case. Little Massachusetts is once again standing up for the democratic values 
which it so boldly asserted before the American revolution. Then it boycotted English 
imports, and its residents famously chucked a few cases of tea into Boston harbour. Today 
the state of Massachusetts is boycotting companies which do business with Myanmar, the 
country formerly known as Burma and now run by one of the world's harshest military 
regimes. Who could be against that?  
 
Well, to name a few, dozens of American and foreign companies, an ex-president, two ex-
secretaries of state, some 20 members of Congress, plus Japan, the European Union and 
the Clinton administration. So far, two lower federal courts have ruled that 
Massachusetts's well-intentioned foray into foreign affairs is unconstitutional. In an oral 
hearing on March 22nd, the National Foreign Trade Council, and its stellar array of 
supporters, asked the Supreme Court to do the same, and to bring to a screeching halt the 
proliferation of local and state selective-purchasing laws. Massachusetts, supported by a 
long list of churches, human-rights groups, dozens of city and state governments, and its 
own even larger band of congressmen, asked the court to uphold its law.  
 
Massachusetts passed the law in 1996 in a fit of self-righteousness. It bars state agencies 
from buying goods or services from most firms, foreign or domestic, which do business 
with Myanmar. At the time this seemed like little more than a harmless bit of gesture 
politics. But, to general amazement, Apple, Kodak and Hewlett-Packard soon pulled out 
of Myanmar, citing the Massachusetts law. The state's blacklist included European and 
Japanese firms, among them Toyota, Sony and Siemens.  
 
This, in turn, provoked an angry reaction from Japan and the EU. They first protested to 
Washington, and then took the more serious step of launching a formal complaint at the 
World Trade Organisation in Geneva, charging that the Massachusetts law breached the 
obligation of the United States under the WTO's agreement on open government 
procurement.  
 
All sides agree that Myanmar is ruled by a bunch of thugs. The United States, the EU and 
Japan have all imposed sanctions against Myanmar. But should lowly Massachusetts have 
the same right? In striking down the law, the federal appeals court in Boston found that a 
state has no authority to regulate conduct beyond its borders and that the Massachusetts 
law "interferes with the ability of the federal government to speak with one voice." The 
National Foreign Trade Council adds that the constitution clearly gives the federal 
government the exclusive right to conduct foreign relations and to regulate foreign trade. 
It also claims that the state's law conflicts with the federal government's own sanctions.  
 
Massachusetts disputes all these points. It argues that its law does not regulate anything, 
but only disassociates the citizens of Massachusetts from a vile regime by spending their 
money in a way that they approve of. "Nothing in our federal constitution denies to the 
states the right to apply a moral standard to their spending decisions," the state argues in 
its legal brief. As for the idea that it contradicts federal law, Douglas Kmiec, a law 
professor at Pepperdine University in California, points out that Congress passed its anti-
Burma law three months after the passage of the Massachusetts law, was well aware of it, 
and chose not to pre-empt it explicitly, which even Massachusetts agrees it had the power 
to do. So why should the court now do what Congress declined to do?  
 
Mr Kmiec, who served as an assistant attorney-general in Washington in the 1980s, says 
that the Reagan administration had a fierce internal debate about whether to oppose 
similar local laws aimed at South Africa. Ronald Reagan disliked anti-apartheid sanctions. 
But he disliked the idea of constricting states' rights even more. Mr Kmiec helped to 
dissuade the administration, on federalism grounds, from challenging in court any of the 
23 states and 80 cities that had anti-apartheid purchasing laws.  
 
The Supreme Court could be equally torn. At the oral hearing Massachusetts's assistant 
attorney-general faced sceptical questions from the liberal justices who have opposed the 
expansion of states' rights. And yet after further consideration, they could be swayed by 
the human-rights goals of the state's law. On the other hand, a few of the five conservative 
justices who have backed states' rights in recent years, most notably Chief Justice William 
Rehnquist, have also supported the view that foreign affairs should be pre-eminently 
national in scope.  
 
If the court does find in Massachusetts's favour, it will present the next administration with 
something of a dilemma. The EU and Japan could revive their WTO complaints, which 
they let lapse after the Massachusetts law was struck down by a lower court. The Clinton 
administration had said it would vigorously defend the law against the WTO complaints. 
That will be a difficult thing for any administration to do, now that the federal government 
is asking the Supreme Court to strike down the law.  
 



_______________________________________________________ 



BANGKOK POST SEARCH ON TO LOCATE NEW TRANSIT ROUTES


March 24, 2000

Influx of 600 million speed pills expected
Anucha Charoenpo

Narcotics fighters are trying to pinpoint new drug routes as 
traffickers are believed to have switched from traditional 
ones along the northern Thai-Burmese border to other parts 
of the country, sources said yesterday.

Intelligence reports that as many as 600 million 
methamphetamine pills could be smuggled into the country 
this year has caused the Office of the Narcotics Control 
Board grave concern, the sources said.

The northern Thai-Burmese border had been the traditional 
transit point for drugs from the Golden Triangle, which 
straddles Burma, Laos and Thailand. But last week's record 
seizure of 4,354,000 speed pills in Prachuab Khiri Khan 
province indicated the main traf ficking route might have 
already changed, the sources said.

They said the seized shipment originated from drug factories 
opposite Chiang Rai in the North but was sent through 
Burmese territory to Koh Thaung before being smuggled into 
Ranong province in the South.

The ONCB has ordered its suppression units nationwide to 
seek more information on potential drug routes in their 
areas.

Sorasit Saengprasert, ONCB secretary-general, said besides 
switching routes drug dealers have also moved production 
bases to Bangkok and other central region provinces, 
including Petchaburi, Lop Buri, Ratchaburi and Pathum Thani. 
Sixteen "kitchen labs" were raided in these provinces last 
year.

Mr Sorasit said he was uncertain whether there were still 
any such labs left in the country, but ONCB officers and 
police were told to seek and destroy them. Precursors and 
other chemicals used in producing methamphetamine pills also 
were being smuggled out of the country, the sources said.

Theeraphat Santimethaneedol, the ONCB's deputy secretary-
general, said most drug production bases in Burma were under 
the influence of the Wa ethnic minority group based opposite 
Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Methamphetamines bearing the 
orange-coloured letters "WY" were from the area, he added.

In Laos, methamphetamine production bases were in Bo Keo, 
Oudomsay and Xayabourey. Products from these areas were 
smuggled into Thailand through the border at Chiang Rai, 
Phayao, Loei and Ubon Ratchathani provinces.

In Cambodia, methamphetamines were produced in Koh Kong, 
opposite Trat and Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaew 
province.








_______________________ OTHER _________________________
          

FORUM ASIA: LETTER TO THAI PM ASKING INVESTIGATION OF 
RATCHABURI SHOOTINGS


AHRC - Human Rights Solidarity Magazine - March 2000

THAILAND

Investigation on Brutal Resolution of Hospital Siege

(Ed. Note: The following is an open letter to the Prime 
Minister of
Thailand Chuan Leekpai signed by six civil groups. The 
signatories
demand investigation on the shootout.) 

Your Excellency:

We, the counter signatories of this letter, would like to 
congratulate the government in its ability to resolve the 
problem of the seizure of the Ratchaburi Central Hospital by 
the so-called "God's Army", who took patients and physicians 
hostage during 24 to 25 January, 2000. They belonged to a 
Karen resistance group which has fought the Burmese 
government in their attempt to demand for their right of 
self-determination. Those who seized the hospital came from 
their stronghold located along the Thai-Burmese border at 
Suan Pung District Ratchaburi Province. With the ability of 
the Thai authorities, no hostage was injured or endangered.

However, we regret that some of the authorities were injured 
and all the terrorists were killed for we had expected that 
the situation would be resolved without the loss of life or 
bloodshed in any party.

The violence which occurred at this time and at other times 
along the
Thai-Burmese border have stemmed from the political violence 
in Burma in which its junta has carried out its cruel and 
inhumane suppression of democratic activists, opposition and 
minority groups. As long as the Burmese junta refuses to 
revive its democracy and negotiate a peace settlement with 
opposition group, the violence along the border will 
continue and increase until it spills into the Thai border. 
In order to prevent such an occurrence, we would like to 
propose our ideas to Your Excellency as follows:

1. The Thai government revises its foreign policy towards 
Burma by seriously applying the flexible engagement as announced by 
H.E. Foreign Minister Dr. Surin Pitsuwan in co-operation with the
international communities. ASEAN member countries should 
support and urge the Burmese government to start negotiating among 
all factions in Burma to create sustainable peace in the 
country. 

2. The Thai government should implement the policy of 
temporary  shelter and provide humanitarian aid to the 
injured civilians, children and women which seek refuge in 
Thailand from the fighting with the Burmese military as has 
been the usual practice of Thai and
international authorities. The Thai troops should strictly 
play a neutral role in the conflict and there should not be any 
action indicating that the Thai troops have joined hands with the 
Burmese in suppressing those minorities. If the Thai government is 
unable to clarify the allegation that it has cooperated with the 
Burmese junta, we fear that image of Thailand will be damaged in the eyes 
of the international communities while creating doubts in the minds 
of those minority groups. This may pose a threat to the peaceful 
situation along the Thai border in a long run.

3. The photos and news which have been widely published both 
in the local and foreign press showing the way the authorities 
did not send the terrorists' bodies to the Forensic Department for post 
mortem, together with interviews given by some hostages, infer that 
some terrorists were killed after their surrender or having been 
disarmed. If it is true, Thailand will be condemned as violating the 
Thai law and obligations it has with the international law. This will 
tarnish the history of the country regarding human rights, in which 
Thailand has been praised and set as example beyond recall.

With the application of violence in the a long term will not 
solve the problem but lead to continual and endless 
violence. The country will suffer the consequence.

In order to obtain the truth to wipe out such allegation, we 
would like to propose a setting up of an independent and 
neutral committee
consisting of members from various parties. The task for the 
committee is to conduct a fact finding investigation into 
the incident. The information obtained from the finding will 
serve as a basis for preventing such an incident to repeat 
itself.  


Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Friends without Borders
Union for Civil Liberty (UCL)
Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma
Foundation for Women
Migrant Assistance Programme

***

Lethal Operation to Mend the Fence 

On 25 January elite commandos stormed a provincial hospital 
seized by ten young Karen rebels of a fringe group known as "God's 
Army". There was no casualties among hundreds of hostages and just eight 
officers injured. All the gunmen were killed. According to some 
eyewitness reports some of the Karen rebels did not fire back the 
assault.

In a similar incident last October, five gunmen sized the 
Myanmar embassy in Bangkok. The hostages were released unharmed but 
the gunmen were allowed to go free. The junta in Yangon was 
enraged and promptly closed its border with Thailand.

Analysts believe that Thai government has taken a tough 
stance to please its neighbour and reassure its citizens 
against being caught up in future sieges. Human rights 
groups are worried.



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