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[theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Ju
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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: July 17, 2000
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
July 17, 2000
Issue # 1577
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
*Inside Burma
AFP: MYANMAR ETHNIC ARMIES LAY DOWN WEAPONS TO BATTLE DISEASE: SOURCE
AFP: AMNESTY CONDEMNS PERSECUTION OF SHAN MINORITY IN MYANMAR
AFP:MYANMAR AUTHORITIES SEIZE HUGE AMPHETAMINES HAUL
REUTERS: WA "MOVE DRUGS LABS TO BORDER"
KYODO: ETHNIC REBELS ATTACK MYANMAR'S NARCOTICS REFINERIES
THE NEWS YORK TIME: BURMA WORKS HARD TO KEEP THE INTERNET OUT
SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: MAYFLOWER BOSS TO FLEE BURMA?
*Regional
AFP: CHINA'S VICE-PRESIDENT SAYS MYANMAR TIES GAINING "GOOD MOMENTUM"
THE NATION: BANGKOK TO RAISE DRUG-FLOW ISSUE AT ASEAN MEET
THE NATION: ILLEGAL WORKERS FOUND UNDER VEGETABLE PILE
THE NATION: DRUGS 'FLY ON STATE AIRLINE'
BANGKOK POST: DRUGS INFLUX THREAT
*International
THE NATION: NEW TACTICS URGED FOR BURMA
*Opinion/Editorials
THE NATION: ASEAN MUST CONFRONT NEW-OLD MEMBER SPLIT
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AFP: MYANMAR ETHNIC ARMIES LAY DOWN WEAPONS TO BATTLE DISEASE: SOURCE
July 16, 2000
BANGKOK- A deadly malaria epidemic and heavy rain have forced a
brewing turf war between the armies of two Myanmar ethnic groups to
be postponed, Thai military sources said Sunday.
The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has for the last two months been
advancing on Shan State Army (SSA) territory just inside the Thai
border, north of Chiang Mai, the military officials said.
The Wa, the most powerful and feared of Myanmar's ethnic groups,
were reportedly given the go-ahead to move in on their rivals by the
military junta, with whom they have established a fragile ceasefire.
"The Wa are good fighters and the Myanmar authorities are using them
to move down to the SSA's territory and help the government clean out
the Shan," the source on the border told AFP.
Both groups are widely accused of producing heroin and amphetamines,
and the Wa reportedly plan to move some of their drug refineries
south into Shan territory.
Foreign critics charge that Myanmar agreed to turn a blind eye to
the Wa's drug trafficking business in return for the peace agreement.
However, the brewing battle, which threatened to send thousands of
refugees over the border into Thailand, has not materialised because
both sides are battling bad weather and disease.
"According to initial reports, 500 ethnic Wa have died of malaria in
the past two months," in their stronghold of Maung Yawn province, the
source said.
The Shan were also known to be affected but it was not known how
many had died.
The epidemic has also hampered the groups' ability to produce and
smuggle drugs across the border into Thailand, he said.
Unusually heavy wet-season rains had made the roads inside Myanmar
impassable to trucks, and drugs had to be moved out of the jungle on
motorbike.
"Their first priority is to survive and that's why production has
fallen off now," the military source said. "The amount of drugs
flowing into Thailand has lessened."
However, he noted that the two sides would inevitably square off
against each other once the crisis passed.
And once they were back on their feet, drug production would be
redoubled to pay for the weapons needed for the imminent battle, he
said.
"We believe there will be fighting and it won't go on for long
because the Wa are good fighters," he said.
Reports last week said Thai troops had secured the northern border
region where the armies were poised to take each other on.
Thai task force sources told the Bangkok Post that rebel troops had
intruded into Thai territory as they moved reinforcements along a
track that cuts back and forth across the border.
The report said the SSA, with about 2,000 soldiers, was outnumbered
by the UWSA which was sending more troops into Shan territory.
The Shan are one of the only major armed factions left in Myanmar
that has yet to agree to a ceasefire with the government in Yangon.
The Wa army, cobbled together from the remnants of the Communist
Party of Burma, has become the most powerful of several ethnic rebel
groups, allegedly thanks to profits from the drugs trade.
Myanmar is the world's second-largest producer of opium as well as a
major source of amphetamines.
___________________________________________________
AFP: AMNESTY CONDEMNS PERSECUTION OF SHAN MINORITY IN MYANMAR
July 17, 2000
BANGKOK- Myanmar is persecuting its Shan ethnic minority with
killings, torture and forced labour and should be taken to task over
the issue at this month's ASEAN meeting, Amnesty International said
Monday.
The rights group said Shan civilians were bearing the brunt of four
years of armed conflict since Myanmar began forcible relocations as
part of its campaign against the Shan State Army.
The Shan army is one of the few armed factions left in Myanmar that
has yet to agree to a ceasefire with the military government in
Yangon.
"Civilians are most often the victims of the army's brutal counter-
insurgency tactics as fighting between the army and the SSA-South
continues," Amnesty said in a statement received here.
"At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations annual ministerial
meeting in Bangkok beginning next week all ASEAN members should raise
the ongoing human rights crisis with the Myanmar government, also an
ASEAN member."
Amnesty said forced labour, relocations and extra-judicial killings
were driving Shan civilians from their homelands.
The Shan refugees the group interviewed in Thai refugee camps had,
without exception, all been forced to work for the army without pay,
it said in a report.
Children as young as 10 were forced to work alongside grown men,
breaking rocks on road-building projects.
The International Labour Organisation has also condemned the use of
forced labour in Myanmar and resolved to call for diplomatic
sanctions against the junta if conditions have not improved by the
end of November.
Myanmar's government reacted angrily to the resolution last month,
saying it was "politically motivated action by Western nations."
The European Union has also been a vocal critic of alleged human
rights abuses in Myanmar.
Ministerial meetings between the EU and ASEAN have been suspended
since 1997, when the Southeast Asian group accepted Myanmar as a
member against the EU's strong objections.
As a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the EU will attend
the ASEAN ministerial meeting that opens here on June 21.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The ARF members are Australia, Canada, China, the European Union,
India, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea,
Russia, and the United States.
___________________________________________________
AFP:MYANMAR AUTHORITIES SEIZE HUGE AMPHETAMINES HAUL
July 16, 2000
BANGKOK- Myanmar authorities have seized a massive haul of 4.486
million amphetamines tablets, the official press said Sunday.
The drugs were found in six tar drums loaded onto a truck travelling
from Shan State in the north to the ancient capital of Mandalay, The
New Light of Myanmar said.
Five people were arrested in connection with the haul, it said, but
did not say when the incident took place.
Last year, Thai police confiscated 44 million amphetamine pills, the
majority of which were produced in Myanmar.
Single seizures of several million tablets have become fairly common
in Thailand since the craze for "ya baa" exploded.
The Thai army estimates that 600 million ya baa pills were smuggled
into the country last year, after being manufactured in jungle
refineries inside the Myanmar border.
___________________________________________________
REUTERS: WA "MOVE DRUGS LABS TO BORDER"
July 15, 2000
RANGOON has approved the takeover of a former base of the rival Shan
State Army (SSA) opposite the northwest Thai border by an allied
ethnic group, allowing it to be used as a new drug production base, a
senior Thai army officer said yesterday.
Commander of the army's Third Region, Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, said
the United Wa State Army (UWSA) was moving some of its drug
refineries there from its present base in Mong Yon.
The base was being moved to Doi Tuay, a mountainous region straddling
the Thai border across from the Chiang Mai districts of Chiang Dao
and Vieng Haeng up to the Mae Hong Song districts of Pai and Pang Ma
Pha.
Wattanachai warned the relocation of Wa forces and their refineries
would heighten the armed confrontation between Wa forces and the Shan
army.
It could also trigger border poaching, an exodus of Burmese villagers
into Thai border areas, and an escalation of drug flow into Thailand,
he said.
He added, however, his command was well-prepared to cope with the
situation.
"The fact the Wa has moved down to take over the former base of the
Shan army close to the Thai border, with the consent of Burma, shows
that both have a common interest in protecting the seized territory
and the sale of drugs to Thailand," the officer said.
Rangoon has not benefited from the drug sales of SSA, which is still
fighting for the Shan people's autonomy from Rangoon after the
surrender of SSA warlord and drug kingpin Khun Sa.
The reported Wa relocation close to the Thai border followed the
army's warning last month that drug production and trafficking from
Burma was increasing rapidly and posed a serious threat to Thailand
and other neighbouring countries because of the mass relocation of
ethnic minorities within Burma in the past year.
However, a state-run Burmese newspaper said on Tuesday Thailand was
worsening its own drug problems by harbouring insurgents and should
work together with Burma to combat the problem rather than trading
accusations.
Burma is the world's second largest producer of opium and its
derivative heroin, as well as a major source of amphetamines.
Wattanachai attended a government meeting yesterday to develop an
anti-drug policy for targeted areas in the North, which is both an
exit point for precursor chemicals and an entry point for drugs from
Burma.
PM Office Minister Jurin Laksanavisit, who chaired the meeting, said
he had circulated a list of the North's 489 top drug traders to 60
special task forces assigned to the region's anti-drug campaign
between July and September.
Jurin said he has also instructed the anti-drug units to report the
progress of their campaigns every month. Anti-drug campaigns in other
regions have had some success, he said.
In the Northeast region, 50 of the 202 recorded drug traders have
been arrested while more than 40 of the 305 recorded in the Southern
region have been arrested.
In the Central region which includes Bangkok, some 20 of the 100
recorded drug dealers have been arrested.
Government authorities are also on a list of some 1,400 drug
traffickers nationwide.
The minister said 234 government officials had been dismissed since
last year for their involvement in drug trafficking. Another 141 are
still under investigation and further information is being sought
about another 658 officials.
In a related development, Reuters reported yesterday that Rangoon has
allowed the Wa group to repair a strategic 150km road along the
Burmese-Thai border. The UWSA has also received clearance to run bus
operations along the border.
This move by Rangoon is being interpreted by Thai security officials
as another attempt to suppress the rival SSA.
Thai border officials said repair of the bus route would fuel
sporadic conflicts along the Thai border. At the same time, income
from the bus operations would help expand the drug distribution
network of the UWSA into Thailand.
Khuensai Jaiyean, secretary-general of the Shan Democratic Union,
told Reuters the bus route from Mongkyawt to Ban Ho Mong, a former
stronghold of Khun Sa, ran parallel to the Thai border.
Khuensai said about 800 UWSA soldiers, led by commander Wei Xeu Kang,
were posted along the road in mid-June to guard it during rebuilding.
The United States has offered a US$2-million (Bt79.84 million) reward
for the capture of Wei Xeu Kang on drug trafficking charges.
The UWSA, which says it has 20,000 armed troops, fought the Burmese
military rulers in the past for greater autonomy for the Wa region of
the northern Shan state while engaging actively in the opium trade.
But in 1989 it unexpectedly agreed to a ceasefire with Burma's
military junta.
___________________________________________________
KYODO: ETHNIC REBELS ATTACK MYANMAR'S NARCOTICS REFINERIES
July 14, 2000
BANGKOK,-- A Myanmar ethnic minority rebel group said Friday it has
raided narcotics refineries near the Thai border area controlled by
Yangon's ruling military junta.
About 30 guerrillas of the Shan State Army (SSA) attacked the heroin
and amphetamine refineries July 7 and arrested three workers at Ban
Namkad Takdad, about three kilometers from the border with Thailand,
SSA's spokesman said.
Ten liters of precursor chemical and an unspecified quantity of
amphetamines were confiscated by the guerrillas, the spokesman said.
Refineries at Ban Namkad Takdad are affiliates of a major narcotics
production base at Ban Khailuang, about 20 km from the Thai border.
The Ban Khailuang area has been under the control of Myanmar since
drug lord Khun Sa surrendered to Yangon in 1996, but drug production
continues under Khun Sa's former colleagues and the Wa ethnic
minority.
Thai military outposts in the border province of Mae Hong Son
confirmed the raids but questioned the motives of the SSA because the
group is also believed to be involved in the drug trade.
___________________________________________________
THE NEWS YORK TIMES: BURMA WORKS HARD TO KEEP THE INTERNET OUT
July 14, 2000
Burmese generals make no apologies for the country's deepening
isolation.
By SANDY BARRON
In downtown Rangoon, Internet entrepreneur Aye Min Oo is busy selling
space on a Web site that he cannot access. To woo advertisers who are
also forbidden to access the World Wide Web in military-ruled Burma,
he transports his tourist-oriented Web site's pages the old-fashioned
way.
"I travel around Rangoon and demonstrate the pages on the hard drive
of my laptop," he said. "We e-mail new pages to the webmaster in
Belgrade. Hopefully, some day we will see it online here ourselves."
Aye Min Oo's roundabout access to the Internet may not be ideal, but
it is a rare privilege in isolated Burma, a Southeast Asian country
of 48 million people where some of the world's toughest Internet
restrictions are vigorously enforced.
The measures, aimed at fending off the online campaigns of exiled
Burmese opposition groups, restrict e-mail access to fewer than a
thousand people who are close to the ruling party, the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC). Access to the World Wide Web is
strictly banned, and unauthorized use of a modem is punishable by 7
to 15 years in jail.
Just one other Web site operates consistently from the country, which
has been widely condemned for human rights violations and the
suppression of democracy. It is the government's own site, which is
only available outside the country. It features tourist and army news
in four languages, along with regular fiery criticism of opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party
won a 1990 election that the military refused to recognize. In the
decade since then, thousands of democracy activists have been jailed
or have fled the country once known as the "rice-bowl of Asia," now
one of the world's poorest.
Among Yangon's tiny, struggling expatriate and business communities,
where the daily struggles are with boredom and marginalization, the
lure of the Internet has been hard to resist. Dialing into foreign
servers is an obvious if illegal route for frustrated staff members
at embassies and other organizations.
In May, communications minister Brigadier-General Win Tin ordered
that "outsiders" be stopped from making illegal use of international
telephone and e-mail services. The order was apparently in response
to a bungled attempt by foreigners to set up satellite equipment in a
Yangon hotel. But it was also the latest in a series of warnings from
a government determined to leave no communications loophole
unplugged. Until last December, foreign organizations could use a
handful of private e-mail services, which were permitted to operate
on a self-censoring basis.
One such service was Eagle IT, which was set up in 1996 by Pat James,
a Texan businessman, along with the London-based service provider
Digiserve. In advertisements placed on a venture capital site in the
United States last year, Eagle claimed that "with no domestic
competition" and arrangements for intranet deals with the government,
its potential growth was "limitless."
But in late December, the government abruptly closed down the private
firm's service, and staff members were taken in for questioning by
military intelligence officials. "It was a bit of a disaster," said
Mike Blanche, Digiserve's managing director. "The government just
took it over. It just stopped working."
The SPDC then told stranded users that it would be Burma's sole e-
mail provider. Recently it announced a plan to expand the number of e-
mail accounts it provides, to 1,000 from around 800, with prices
reduced to $290 a year from around $1,100. Time online costs $3 an
hour -- and, predictably, the user's privacy. One 70-year-old Burmese
expatriate said she was spooked to discover the fate of a message she
had sent from a private office in Yangon during a vacation to Burma.
'I'd given all the gory details of my time there: bad roads, bridges
broken down, well-nigh starvation and misery in the villages," said
the woman, who did not want to be identified because she has
relatives inside the country. "When I got home to Australia, I found
out my son had received a mere three lines. Someone had censored my
letter."
Critical information that does make it out of Burma travels via
circuitous routes before arriving at Burmese pro-democracy sites like
Burmanet, which is financed by George Soros' Open Society Institute.
Opposition groups based in remote outposts along Myanmar's porous,
forested borders with Thailand and India use laptop computers to post
news from refugees and underground activists. The SPDC denies the
reports of forced labor, forced relocations and extrajudicial
killings that flow out of regions where the foreign press is denied
entry.
The government has been unable to halt the damaging effects of cyber-
campaigns by groups like the Free Burma Coalition. The reports helped
push companies like Pepsi to withdraw from Burma and led the United
States and the European Union to impose economic sanctions on the
country. "There's no greater economic sanction on Burma than the one
the regime imposes on itself: keeping out the Internet," said Pat
Raleigh of the Burma Action Group's branch in Dublin.
As the rest of Asia rushes toward cyberspace, Burmese generals make
no apologies for the country's deepening isolation. "As soon as we
find a way to keep out the undesirable elements, we will make the
Internet available," a spokesman says on the lonely government Web
site
____________________________________________________
SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: MAYFLOWER BOSS TO FLEE BURMA?
16 July 2000
U Kyaw Win, biggest shareholder both in Air Yangon and Mayflower
Bank, was reported to have sold most of his shares to Wei Xuegang,
well-known druglord from the United Wa State Army and boss of the
Hopang Company.
He was said to have already sent his family to Singapore where he has
a home. "The economy is in a shambles," he was said to have
commented. "With generals scrambling over each other for power, I
don't know how soon it is going to get tidied up."
General Maung Aye is reported to be one of the Mayflower Bank's
patrons.
___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________
AFP: CHINA'S VICE-PRESIDENT SAYS MYANMAR TIES GAINING "GOOD MOMENTUM"
July 17, 2000
YANGON- China's Vice-President Hu Jintao said bilateral relations
with Myanmar were gaining "good momentum", after arriving in Yangon
for a goodwill visit, an official report said Monday.
During the trip Hu signed several agreements with the military
government including one on economic and technical cooperation, an
accord on science and technology, and a tourism cooperation agreement.
"Bilateral relations between China and Myanmar are gaining a good
momentum of development at the turn of the century," he said on his
arrival Sunday, according to the New Light of Myanmar.
His speech focused on the ancient ties between the two countries,
and this year's 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Yangon has been spruced up over the past few days in honour of Hu's
visit.
He was welcomed at the airport Sunday by the junta's vice-chairman
General Maung Aye who last month made an official visit to Beijing.
Maung Aye held a dinner for the Chinese party on Sunday.
The vice-president was expected to meet with Myanmar's supreme
leader Senior General Than Shwe Monday. Officials said only that the
talks would take in matters of mutual interest with the military
government.
Hu and his delegation, including Deputy Foreign Minister Wang
Guangya and other senior officials, are to leave for Thailand Monday
and then travel on to Indonesia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Hu is seen in China as being groomed to take over the party
leadership and state presidency from current party boss and President
Jiang Zemin.
___________________________________________________
THE NATION: BANGKOK TO RAISE DRUG-FLOW ISSUE AT ASEAN MEET
July 17, 2000
THAILAND will raise the issue of increased drug flow from Burma at
the upcoming meeting of Asean foreign ministers, which Burma will
attend, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan says.
The subject will be brought up in the context of cooperation to fight
trans-national crime, which is high on the agenda for the 33rd annual
meeting, scheduled for Sunday to Friday, Surin said.
The minister was responding to reports that Rangoon had given the nod
to allied ethnic group the United Wa State Army to move their forces
and drug refineries closer to the Thai border.
Surin has raised the issue with Rangoon many times, and the latter's
standard response has been that the Burmese junta does not have the
capability to control or stem Wa activities, the minister said.
"It takes two to tango. We cannot fight the problem alone. I
understand the Burmese have inspected the border and consulted their
Thai counterparts. We have always urged them to take the matter
seriously," Surin said.
There will be further discussion of the issue at the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations' meeting, he said.
The 20,000-strong Wa, believed to have profited greatly from drug
sales, are by far the most feared and heavily armed ethnic group in
Burma. They entered into a loose cease-fire agreement with Rangoon,
which then turned a blind eye to their drug activities and used them
to fight the rival Shan State Army (SSA), which has yet to reach a
truce with the Burmese junta.
Surin believes Rangoon can overcome the problem with serious
determination and by following the example of Thailand's anti-drug
experience, he said.
The relocation of Wa forces and their drug refineries to a former SSA
base over the border from Thailand's Northern provinces of Chiang
Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, has heightened fear of more drugs
flowing into the North.
Official statistics show Thailand has in the past six years seized
more than 50 million amphetamine tablets, which account for only 10
per cent of total production.
The Wa group has reportedly started trafficking farther south,
through major cities near the Thai-Burmese border, as well as along
the Lao border. Just weeks ago authorities seized about 200,000 pills
in a fishing village in Ranong province.
___________________________________________________
THE NATION: ILLEGAL WORKERS FOUND UNDER VEGETABLE PILE
July 17, 2000
TAK -- Thirty-six Burmese illegal immigrant workers were arrested
yesterday after being found under a vegetable pile on a six-wheel
truck.
They were discovered by a police team led by Colonel Chainarong
Tanarun when the truck was stopped and searched at a checkpoint on
the road between Mae Sot and Tak set up to curb the illegal flow of
drugs and other goods. When an officer probed the pile of vegetables
with an iron rod, a cry was heard.
After clearing the vegetables, police found the 36 illegal
immigrants, including 16 women.
Somporn Srisawas, 30, the truck driver, said a broker offered him
Bt20,000 to take the 36 people to Taladtai market Bangkok.
A local administration official said that Burmese laborers who enter
Thailand illegally usually begin by applying for a temporary border
pass. Then they contact brokers, including policemen and immigration
officers, who will find them labour jobs in Bangkok or other
provinces.
The official said illegal immigrant laborers in Tak are feeling the
heat of a campaign by officials who are currently beefing up efforts
to tackle the illegal workers problem. The crackdown is pushing
illegal immigrants to find job elsewhere in Thailand. "They are
unfazed. After we arrested them and pushed them back across the
border, they will return shortly, and many Thais are making money by
acting as their agents," the official said.
___________________________________________________
THE NATION: DRUGS 'FLY ON STATE AIRLINE'
July 16, 2000
Jeeraporn Chaisri, Don Pathan
WHEN the Thai government first decided it was time to get tough with
the world's largest armed narcotic trafficking group a few years ago,
everyone knew it would not be easy.
During a recent visit by The Nation to the northern Thai-Burma
border, where soldiers and drug officers keep a close watch over
developments across the border, authorities revealed a dilemma. Anti-
narcotic successes in this region have come a the expense of other
areas, they said.
The 20,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA), they said, has started
trafficking further south, through major cities near the Thai-Burma
border, as well as along he border with Laos.
Moreover, Burma's domestic airline is, they said, being used to help
transport methamphetamines, destined for Bangkok's streets and
elsewhere in the kingdom, and heroin, heading to major Western cities.
What bothers many relevant agencies is the Burmese authorities
turning a blind eye to the Wa's use of the state airline to carry
illicit drugs from the nothern city of keng Tung to the capital,
Rangoon.
"It's more expensive to use this route, but there are hardly any
risks involved," said one senior narcotics officer who asked not to
be named.
The UWSA came into being in 1989, shortly after the fall of the
Communist Party of Burma, which incorporated a large number of ethnic
Wa as foot soldiers.
Rangoon immediately signed a sign a cease-fire with them for fear
their weapons, supplied by China, would get into the hands of other
rebel groups.
In due time, the Wa expanded its drug network to areas adjacent to
Ching Mai and Chiang Rai from their main stronghold in Panghsang, on
the Burma-China border.
In recent months, more and more methamphetamines originally from Wa-
controlled areas have been surfacing in Thailand's southern cities,
Thai officials say.
Just weeks ago, Thai authorities seized about 200,000 pills in a
fishing village in Ranong province. But local officials said lab
tests, along with the packaging, easily revealed the origin of the
drugs.
In fact, enough of the "ya ba", or mad pills, from Burma's northern
border have been seized for authorities to identify them easily .
One way of working out the origin of the "speed" pills is the
packaging, one officer said. Mulberry paper is mainly produced in
northern Thailand and is commonly used by the Wa drug traffickers to
wrap their pills in. But those origination form the Northeast or Laos
are usually wrapped in plastic.
Officials also said a road link from the Wa stronghold in Mong Yawn
to the border town of Myawadddy, adjacent to Tak's Mae Sot district,
was well on the way to completion.
Like many infrastructure projects in Burma's Shan State, this one is
also being financed by UWSA drug money. Money laundering through Thai
authorities is also rampant in the Burmese border town.
Another development worrying Thai officials is the relocation of a
number the Wa's clandestine drug labs to the Lao side of the border,
near the Golden Triangle.
"It's good location, being near the MekongRiver," said one officer.
"The drugs can be easily transported down the river and smuggled into
the country along the way," he explained, pointing to Phetchabun
province as one of the main entry points.
Official statistics show Thai authorities have seized more than 50
million methaphetamine pills over the past six years. But it is
estimated this is no more than 10 per cent of the total produced.
Today, counter-narcotics operations have become a national security
issue, taken up by the military and other related government agencies.
Officials say they are playing a cat-and-mouse game, as successful
suppression in one area leads to production and trafficking in
another.
Thus, the only way counter-narcotic moves will have a lasting effect,
they reason, is when there is serious cooperation from neighbouring
countries, which has so far proved difficult.
Moreover, critics claim the government's war on drugs has backfired
because random crackdowns in slums and "drug-infested" areas push
prices up and make it even more attractive for people to become
pushers and dealers.
Thus, with such loose drug enforcement policies and a police force
that does not seem to have the people's complete trust or respect, it
seems very likely the "drug war" will continue for a very long time.
___________________________________________________
BANGKOK POST: DRUGS INFLUX THREAT
July 16, 2000
The current confrontation between two ethnic minority groups in Burma
may result in an influx of drugs into Thailand, the Third Army
commander said in Chiang Mai.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwong was referring to the deployment of
the 171st Battalion of the Rangoon-backed United Wa State Army along
a 100-km border stretch between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.
The Wa soldiers are opposed to the Shan State Army, and fighting
between the groups is thought to be imminent.
The current confrontation between two ethnic minority groups in Burma
may result in an influx of drugs into Thailand, the Third Army
commander said in Chiang Mai.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwong was referring to the deployment of
the 171st Battalion of the Rangoon-backed United Wa State Army along
a 100-km border stretch between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.
The Wa soldiers are opposed to the Shan State Army, and fighting
between the groups is thought to be imminent.
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
THE NATION: NEW TACTICS URGED FOR BURMA
July 15, 2000
DON PATHAN, VORAPUN SRIVORANART
GERMANY'S Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer yesterday said a
more "flexible and constructive" method of dealing with Burma's
military government should e adopted, because economic sanctions are
not producing positive results.
Fischer arrived in Thailand yesterday.
He said Germany had some ideas about how to initiate more positive
change in Rangoon, but he would not elaborate.
"On the one side there are a lot of severe problems," he said.
"But, on the other side, you see the isolation of the country is not
producing positive results," said Fischer, he cited the ongoing
influx of Burmese refugees into Thailand as an example.
Fischer said European countries could not tolerate human rights
violations in Burma, but added "We cannot have this situation where
Myanmar [Burma] is blocking relations between the two regions".
"It's just too important."
The European Union will dispatch a troika team to Burma later this
year, to assess the political and social situation there.
Burma became a full member of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations in 1997.
Since then, cooperation between Asean and the EU has reached one of
its lowest points, because of Burma's participation.
On the issue of Europe-Asia relation, Fischer said a sense of "new
realism" had developed among European nations since 1994, when the EU
announced a comprehensive plan towards East Asia. "But this doesn't
mean there is a restriction of our expectaions.
"Asean learned a lot from the European experience [about] the
importance of regional integration," he said.
"I think Asian countries have realised that [a] modern economy must
not only be based [around the] information age, but on democracy,
transparency, accountability ... the rule of law," Fischer said. On
European contribution to East Asian security, Fischer said it was too
early to fully define the role of the EU's crisis management unit, a
standing army capable of rapid deployment.
The EU decided last December at its Helsinki summit that by 2003, it
must be able to deploy 60,000 troops within 60 days and sustain that
force for at least one year.
Managing conflict in today's world, said Fischer - citing East Timor
as a prime example - must incorporate military command with civilian
authorities. The EU would draw from the Kosovo experience, but its
unit would not in any way replace the security arrangement of he
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato).
Fischer said a number of security issues in the region were high on
the EU's agenda.
Of particular priority was tension in the Taiwan Straits, the India-
Pakistan conflict and the fledgling ilnter-Korean reconciliation
process.
He said Central Asia, where energy disputes, political and religious
radicalism, drug smuggling and arms trafficking were threatening the
already shaky region that linked Asia and Europe, was another
priority.
And bringing about peaceful solutions to problems in the area would
not be easy, Fischer said.
But such solutions were essential, the region was important to both
Europe and Asia, he said.
Fischer arrived in Thailand yesterday on a two-day visit.
He came from the Philippines, where he was briefed in Manila
regarding the hostage crisis in Jolo; Muslim rebels, the Abu Sayyaf
group, are holding five German national hostage.
Earlier Fischer had been in Japan, where he attended a preparation
meeting from the G-8 summit.
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________
THE NATION: ASEAN MUST CONFRONT NEW-OLD MEMBER SPLIT
July 17, 2000
BY KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN
When senior officials from Asean arrive in Bangkok this week to
prepare for a weeklong series of meetings involving foreign ministers
from Asean and the Asia-Pacific they will all realize that the
political landscape of the region, and for that matter of all of
Asia, has changed.
As host, Thailand has a responsibility to ensure that the meetings
(the Asean Ministerial Meeting, the Asean Regional Forum and the Post
Ministerial Conference) end with success. This is important because
after three years of financial crisis, economic recovery is around
the corner. Therefore Asean members have been able to pick up the
pieces and look beyond their own immediate domestic affairs.
Within the region, since the Asean foreign ministers met last July in
Singapore, East Timor has separated from Indonesia and become an
independent state. Laos, that quiet, landlocked country, has been
rocked by an unprecedented series of bombs. United Nations Special
Envoy to Burma Tan Sri Ismail Razali made a visit to Burma that ended
with good prospects. A few days ago the US and Vietnam concluded a
historic trade agreement after years of painstaking negotiations.
In the broader region, the successful inter-Korean summit between
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-
il has reduced the tension on the Korean peninsula. But China's
insistence on using force if Taiwan seeks independence continues to
rattle the region. Japan, without prime minister Keizo Obuchi, is
striving harder to represent developing countries in the G-8 summit
in Okinawa later this week.
These developments are the backdrop in which Asean has to operate in
the years and decades to come. It is imperative that the grouping
address these issues and adjust itself to face up to whatever
challenges may be constituted by the new strategic outlook.
Asean officials may say that the grouping has responded well to the
financial and political crises in the past years. Asean has agreed to
set up new mechanisms such as surveillance and peer-group monitoring
systems to help Asean cope with its economic problems and to prevent
a future financial calamity.
Within the political realm, Asean has agreed to enhance its
interaction through franker dialogues among the top leaders on
broader issues that affect member countries. This "enhanced
interaction" has now been institutionalized in the form of
a "retreat" among the foreign ministers, which will be scheduled one
day ahead of their official meeting. Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan,
who has been pushing for broader exchanges of views on sensitive
issues, said that it was in the retreat that all issues affecting
Asean peace and stability could be raised and discussed. The first
retreat took place last July in Singapore.
That much was clear. However, despite these changes and responses,
Asean remains stymied by the enlargement in the past five years that
has doubled the membership of the 33-year-old organization. The
widening gap of political incompatibility is rather obvious and
increasingly poses a serious problem among the core and new members.
Since Asean does not require any political reform as a prerequisite
to join, no member is ready to address this issue, knowing full well
that the political divide has already hampered current and future
Asean activities. For instance, efforts to improve people-to-people
contacts and create civil networking have been blocked.
Now that Asean encompasses the whole Southeast Asian region, it is
harder still to focus on the issue of political incompatibility for
fear that it may split the organization. Burma is a good case study.
Asean admitted Burma as a member because the grouping believed that
it could contain China's influence. For Asean, China's growing
presence in bordering Asean countries is a major concern.
However, Burma's admission has had far-reaching implications as it
has damaged Asean's ties with its dialogue partners. After three
years of no progress between Asean-EU relations, both sides have
finally agreed to forge ahead despite their disagreement on issues
related to Burma.
Nobody knows how far Asean-EU relations can proceed under these
circumstances. At the moment both Asean and dialogue partners are
hoping that Razali's trip will produce some positive outcome that
will further involve the UN and the possibility of political dialogue
among all parties concerned within the next 12 months.
Interestingly, in the past three years Asean countries have defended
in vain their decision on Burma. In private, Asean officials have
expressed disappointment at the lack of progress against political
oppression inside Burma. In this case it has been Burma that has
taken the initiative to have Asean members support its regime, as at
the International Labour Organization.
It is possible that if Burma and new members continue to take the
lead, Asean will lose its political legitimacy in the eyes of world
community. Eventually this would drag down the organization.
For instance, the idea of a troika, which is likely to be approved by
the Asean foreign ministers next Monday, is an interesting proposal,
because all decisions must be based on consensus. When the Asean
troika idea was broached by Thailand, it was aimed at improving the
way Asean responded to regional crisis, both economic and political.
In the earlier proposal, the troika could initiate action plans
quickly and follow through on issues that had ramifications upon
member countries. But as it turns out, the revised proposal would,
through pressure from the new members, put everything on hold unless
there was a consensus on the kind of issue to be taken up, not to
mention the troika's mandate and mobility.
Strange as it may seem, for the time being the new members of Asean
have become the core members of Asean because they are more assertive
and united in their common objectives and ideologies. That is unless
the original members act.
____________________________________________________
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