BurmaNet News: February 24, 2001

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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         February 24, 2001   Issue # 1743
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*The Australian: Generals forced to open a new front
*Muslim Information Center of Burma: Junta arrests Muslim religious 
book-writers in Burma 
*AP: Aboard Local 167, Myanmar 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Asia Times: Border clashes with Myanmar reveal Thai divisions 
*Japan Times: Friendly Asians Home: Helping Foreigners in Need Agency 
Covers Costs for Ill, Cash-strapped Myanmarese

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Asiaweek: A Who's Who of Business
*Agence France Presse: Greedy businessmen blamed for Myanmar currency 
slide 
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Farmers protest against junta rice 
procurement policy
*Business Day (Thailand): PTT delays payment for natural gas it never 
used

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*The New Light of Myanmar: Different  faculties 

		


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________


The Australian: Generals forced to open a new front


By Peter Alford, The Australian's South-East Asia correspondent 
24feb01

AFTER a decade of grinding consolidation, Burma's military regime 
suddenly seems to be moving at an almost frenzied pace ? but towards 
what? 

First, the No 3 in the ruling State Peace and Development Council, Khin 
Nyunt, initiated dialogue with Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu 
Kyi, presumably with some political accommodation with her National 
League for Democracy in mind. But the move is potentially divisive for 
the SPDC.
Then the wily Khin Nyunt, chief of the Military Intelligence Service, 
denied being at odds with council vice-chairman Maung Aye, giving a rare 
interview to a Rangoon newspaper that was more significant than the 
denial itself. 

The news that Khin Nyunt had secretly initiated talks with Ms Aung San 
Suu Kyi in October, after freezing her out for six years and during a 
sharp crackdown on the NLD, stunned Burma-watchers.

There is no unanimity about the precise combination of factors at work 
in Rangoon, but the experts all point to dreadful economic and public 
health conditions and a looming International Labour Organisation 
sanctions campaign against Burma's brutal system of forced civilian 
labour.

The 19-member council ? confronted with the choice of Maung Aye or Khin 
Nyunt to succeed its ill and exhausted chairman Than Shwe, 67 ? embarked 
on fresh campaigns against the main ethnic forces still resisting 
ceasefires, the Shan State Army and the Karen National Liberation Front. 
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have again been pouring into Thailand.

The Shan conflict, hard against Thailand's northern border, provoked 
violent clashes between Thai and Burmese troops, and tensions remain 
dangerously high.

Some Thai generals think the Burmese are testing Prime Minister Thaksin 
Shinawatra's new Government, which has as Defence Minister their 
compliant old pal Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. Some commentators agree.

"The SPDC generals are not very subtle," says Francis Christophe, a 
French analyst.

"I think they are testing Thaksin . . . he seemed much softer towards 
them than the last government."

On Monday, amid these complex and volatile developments, came disaster. 
A helicopter carrying three SPDC leaders and 26 others crashed into a 
river in Shan state.

Fourth-ranked Tin Oo, Maung Aye's right-hand man, died in the crash. No 
5 Win Myint, a Khin Nyunt protege, reportedly survived. Missing, 
believed dead, is Sit Maung, relatively junior on the council but the 
new South-Eastern Division commander ordered by army commander Maung Aye 
to crush the Shans and Karens.

Previous dry season campaigns have often proved bloody for Burma's 
Tatmadaw (armed forces) soldiers. Although their battalions in southern 
Shan state have yet to launch a big offensive, they are reported to have 
suffered several SSA ambushes.

Already there are indications army morale is poor and worsening.

Three months ago, the International Crisis Group published a study that 
concluded the Rangoon regime was "presently very strong and comfortable 
in its resistance to internal and external pressures for change, but . . 
 . not totally invulnerable, particularly in terms of its capacity to 
maintain tight military control of the entire country". The Crisis 
Group's Asia director Greg Austin says: "Our report looked at the SPDC 
in terms of the strength of its coercive mechanisms. What we mightn't 
have fully taken into account was the vulnerability of armed forces 
morale.

"Some reports we have seen since suggest the rate of desertions is such 
that the army's strength might be down to 200,000 (from a claimed 
450,000)."

James Mawdsley, the British activist who spent 14 months in a Burmese 
jail for opposing the regime, told a European Parliament committee 80 
per cent of his fellow prisoners were deserters.

Loss of military manpower introduces a further serious complication in 
the current environment.

Because Rangoon cannot sustain its massive field commitments in a normal 
manner, regional units must support themselves ? either by growing crops 
or by extorting local labour and engaging in the narcotics trade.

The combination of deser tions and two major campaigns in the east makes 
the military's need for forced labour greater than ever ? not 
non-existent, as the generals are trying to persuade the ILO.

Next week's meeting of the International Confederation of Free Trade 
Unions will call the SPDC's bluff ? and that of reluctant ILO members 
such as Australia and Japan ? by initiating an international embargo on 
trade and investment with Burma.





___________________________________________________



Muslim Information Center of Burma: Junta arrests Muslim religious 
book-writers in Burma 

February 2001

On  December, 28,  2000, junta?s authorities arrested a Muslim religious 
book- writer in Irrawaddy division of Burma.The authorities led by 
police Inspector Khin Zaw and  Union Solidarity and Development 
Association (USDA ) authorities of Mau Bin Myo arrested Saya U Tin Maung 
on the allegation that his book contained the sense of politics. The 
book was on an ancient Muslim warrior, Khalid bin Walid. According to a 
relative of the writer, the writer was then sent to Rangoon Insein 
jail.Saya U Tin Maung lived in house No. 34, Myo Ma Yet Kwet, Mau Bin 
Myo.USDA is a mass organization of the present junta.    4. Junta 
arrests the Imam of mosque in Burma 

On April, 4, 2000, junta?s police officers arrested the Imam of mosque 
in Irrawaddy division of Burma.The police officers led by Sergeant Hla 
Yi arrested Imam Isharaf (aka) Saya Tin Soe of Kan Bat Lat village 
mosque alleging that the Imam used political words during his lecture at 
the prayer-time in the mosque. Kan Bat Lat village is in La Putta 
township of Irrawaddy division. His whereabouts remain still unknown. 
Sergeant Hla Yi is of the La Putta police station.   



___________________________________________________



AP: Aboard Local 167, Myanmar 

Feb. 24, 2001

In a remote village on the Myanmar plains, 38 excited Westerners line up 
on a rice paddy dike, taking aim at a spewing, tar-black hulk. As it 
nears they fire. 

The British tourists have come 9,000 kilometers (5,500 miles) and paid 
dlrs 3,000 to capture with cameras a highly endangered species the 
working steam locomotive. 

For railway buffs, the chugging wheels, billowing smoke and boxy design 
of an earlier industrial era exercise such a powerful pull that they 
travel the globe tracking down the last steam locos. 

About five years ago, this fraternity discovered Myanmar, also known as 
Burma, and steam train tourism abetted by exotic scenery and friendly 
locals has been growing since. Britons, Germans and Japanese top the 
arrivals, with Americans, Australians and other Western Europeans 
following. 

They come to inspect some 40 steam locos still in service and ride 
behind them on five lines, including one to a hard-to-reach mining site 
dating back to 1908. There are also special tourist charters, quaint 
stations and a repair yard in Yangon that could pass for a medieval 
blacksmith's shed. 

''It's a museum piece for us, but for the locals it's just a routine, 
daily thing,'' says Barry Burns as we board the 167 for a dlrs 1 dollar 
25 kyat (5 cents) for Myanmar passengers ride from Pyuntansa to Madauk 
via Nyaunglebin. 

It's a local line in every sense of the word, and the scenes within and 
around the train are probably not unlike those of 1877 when the British 
colonials launched Myanmar's first rail service. 

A Buddhist monk, sitting cross-legged on a carriage bench, fixes on the 
passing countryside as if in meditation. White-washed pagodas peek out 
of green village groves, bullock carts trundle home from rice fields, 
trailing swirls of dust. 

Around him, lovely women loaded down with toddlers and heaping baskets 
display teeth blackened by betel nut chewing every time they smile. 

Children in green sarongs, the national school uniform, find us two 
foreigners objects of endless but friendly curiosity. When this reporter 
puts his arm around the shoulder of an elderly women for a photograph, 
some 50 passengers burst out in long, infectious peals of laughter. 

We travel ''Ordinary Class,'' which is no misnomer. The carriage, a 
circa 1960 hand-me-down from India, features rows of granite-hard 
benches along both sides and has been stripped of every fixture, 
including windowpanes and light bulbs. 

The 25-kilometer (16-mile) run, made twice a day, seven days a week, 
takes all of one hour, 45 minutes, the train chugging its way through 
the countryside at little faster than a brisk jog. At stations, mostly 
consisting of a grass shacks, vendors scamper aboard to sell peanuts, 
watermelons and shrimp crackers while others load produce of the land 
onto two freight cars. 

A big, black pig manages to leap off one of them so the loco driver 
waits until pursuing farmers chase it down and drag it back aboard. 

''Maybe he didn't have a ticket,'' quips one of the British tourists 
when we reached the village of Madauk, and the end of the line. 

Surrounded by local children trying to practice their few words of 
English, the group snapped away as the driver of loco YD967, made in 
Britain in 1949, obligingly pulled out of Madauk at a snail's pace. 

''I think it's nostalgia for when you were a child. I remember the steam 
trains when I was growing up,'' says Burns, of Middlesbrough, who like a 
true trainspotter whipped out a notebook to record technical details of 
the locomotive. 

The steam era in Britain ended in 1968. But the British and others 
enamored of industrial history and the romance of train travel scour the 
world in search of the dwindling number of survivors. Although their 
wives were decidedly less enthusiastic, male members of this group had 
spent a lifetime of vacations pursuing this quest. 

Richard Moreton says there are very few countries with a significant 
number of working locos. rather than those pickled for tourism. Most are 
found in China, Indonesia, Cuba and Myanmar. ''You can count them on the 
fingers of one hand,'' he says. 

Myanmar might well switch to diesel locomotives, which are cheaper to 
operate, but one of the world's poorest nations lacks the cash to buy 
enough to go around. 

''I can't help it,'' Moreton says of his addiction. He explains that as 
a child the hiss of steam was his daily companion at his railroad-side 
home and school. Last year, the Worcester resident took a rail vacation 
in Sardinia and earlier visited China and Cuba, countries where steam is 
variously used in logging, factory operations and sugar cane fields. 

Authenticity, as found aboard local 167, is the ultimate prize for those 
who revel in the trains of yesteryear. 

But the British group wasn't sniffing at their planned two-day jaunt 
aboard a specially chartered, five-carriage train, including dining and 
sleeping cars. 

They would be the first in years to travel the fabled road to Mandalay 
by steam. 





___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				


    
Asia Times: Border clashes with Myanmar reveal Thai divisions 

By Teena Amrit Gill 

Feb. 24, 2001

CHIANG MAI, Thailand - Tensions remain high along Thailand's northern 
border with Myanmar following recent clashes between Myanmese and Thai 
troops, highlighting not just the volatility of the area but the lack of 
a unified policy in the country toward Yangon. 

The clashes, the fiercest in recent years, left six civilians and dozens 
of Myanmese soldiers dead, official figures said. While they were caused 
by a tactical error on the part of Myanmar's army, which in hot pursuit 
of Shan ethnic rebels intruded into Thai territory, they once again 
reminded the Thai and international community of the highly volatile and 
precarious situation along the border. 

"We all know that there are regular clashes with the Myanmar army along 
the border, but while this continues to be dealt with as a specific 
border problem rather than fundamentally addressing the power relations 
within Myanmar, nothing is going to change," said a Thai journalist 
working along the border. "It's a hopeless situation," he added. 

The recent conflict began on February 8 when Myanmar's forces crossed 
the Thai border in the northern province of Chiang Rai, occupied Ban 
Pang Noon camp in Mae Fah Luang district and captured 19 Thai army 
personnel. The Thai officials managed to escape and the Thai army, which 
has taken a very strong position on such incursions, retaliated in full 
force in order to repossess the territory. 

Heavy artillery fire and shelling also took place in the large and 
prosperous border towns of Mae Sai on the Thai side, and Tachilek on the 
Myanmese side of the border. Mae Sai serves as one of the main trading 
routes into Myanmar from the north of Thailand. 

Because Thailand has no single consolidated policy position on Myanmar, 
the situation was one that could easily get out of hand and help the 
Myanmar regime in its long-term plans along the border: to destroy or 
bring all ethnic groups into its fold, in the process creating a strong 
buffer against Thailand. 

While this plan has largely succeeded along the Thai border with other 
ethnic groups such as the Mon and different Karenni factions, the Shan 
ethnic army, the Shan State Army (SSA), has continued its long-standing 
war for autonomy. Regular incursions by Myanmar's army into Thailand in 
order to wipe out the Shan State Army, undertaken together with Yangon's 
20,000-member strong ally, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), has rattled 
the Thai forces. Thailand sees the UWSA as a major threat along the 
border. 

The Thais are concerned not only because the UWSA is allied to the 
Myanmese regime, but because it is responsible for the production and 
sale of large quantities of metamphetamines which have flooded the Thai 
market. It is estimated that some 1 million Thais are already addicted 
to metamphetamines or ya baa (mad drug) as it is more popularly known in 
the country. 

The Thais are also known to be covertly arming and supporting the Shan 
State Army, which also claims to be opposed to the drug trade along the 
border. However, the lack of a coherent policy by the Thai government 
was reflected in officials' response to the tense situation along the 
border. While the newly elected Thai government's Foreign Minister 
Surakiart Sathirathai spoke in favor of Myanmar and of the need for 
mutual respect, trust and non-interference in its domestic affairs, 
senior army commanders had a different point of view. Thai army chief 
General Surayud Chulanont together with Third Army commander 
Lieutenant-General Wattanachai Chaimuenwong condemned the incursion and 
said it was in fact intentional. 

"We cannot be certain of anything about Myanmar. My opinion is that all 
Myanmar's unit commanders who caused the conflict should brought before 
a firing squad," Wattanachai said. At the same time, newly sworn-in 
Defense Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh contradicted the senior army 
general, stating that the intrusion by Burma was not in fact 
"intentional" because the border was not clearly demarcated. 

"The problem in Thailand is that there is no united policy on Burma. 
Every ministry, every department has a different policy depending on 
their economic and political interests," said a Myanmar journalist based 
in Thailand. 

While internal differences in Thai policy clearly help the Yangon regime 
in playing one force against the other, thus strengthening its own 
position, growing rifts within the ruling Myanmar junta has made for 
further uncertainty and volatility not just along the border but 
internally too. 

"The Shan State Army is not so important to the Myanmese regime," said a 
member of the Shan Democratic Union in the northern city of Chiang Mai. 
"Their numbers are small and this is after all a very old war. It is 
internal differences and power struggles within the ruling regime that 
is behind the recent clashes," he added. 

It is well known that there are serious differences of opinion within 
the ruling junta. Myanmar's intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Khin 
Nyunt and General Maung Aye, vice chairman of the ruling State Peace and 
Development Council and army commander-in-chief, do not see eye-to-eye, 
observers say. While Khin Nyunt is seen to be more liberal and in favour 
of dialogue with the ethnic armies and the main opposition party Aung 
San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, Maung Aye is considered a 
hardliner not keen on negotiation but on wiping out all dissent. 

The recent clashes, according to some students and activists working on 
Myanmar-related issues, is a result of this power struggle, instigated 
by Maung Aye in order to remind the more liberal leaders of his power 
and the need for a strong dedicated army. 

Most tellingly, the timing of this month's cross-border intrusion 
coincided with the swearing in of the new Thai government of Thaksin 
Shinawatra and forced it to take a clear position on this event. This 
has also helped Myanmar's junta remind the Thai army and the 
international community that it has new friends in power. 

(Inter Press Service) 

 


___________________________________________________




Japan Times: Friendly Asians Home: Helping Foreigners in Need Agency 
Covers Costs for Ill, Cash-strapped Myanmarese

Saturday, February 17, 2001

By TAI KAWABATA 
Staff writer 

A growing number of foreigners suffering from serious infectious 
diseases, including tuberculosis and AIDS, is putting pressure on a 
private social work agency based in Tokyo's Shin-Okubo, a district known 
for its mix of foreign residents.

Ajia Yuko no Ie, or Friendly Asians Home, is an outgrowth of activities 
started in the 1960s by married couple Yoshio and Taeko Kimura, who were 
active in helping displaced Indochinese from 1975 to the end of the 
1980s.

Last year, the home became legally recognized as a nonprofit 
organization, with Yoshio Kimura serving as president and his wife as 
general manager.

The agency kept busy in the mid-1990s helping Thais working in Japan. 
Then its focus shifted to the burgeoning number of Myanmarese entering 
the country.

The Kimuras note that although many Myanmarese in Japan are staying 
illegally and should go back to Myanmar, emergency cases with serious 
illnesses should be given special consideration.

Between April and December, the agency dealt with about a dozen 
seriously ill Myanmarese.

The agency's policy is to have its beneficiaries receive medical 
treatment until they have sufficient strength to return to Myanmar. Once 
back in Myanmar, they can receive treatment from Myanmarese volunteer 
doctors at a clinic the agency helped establish in their home country. 
However, the Golden Cross Clinic in Yangon, where there are occasional 
cases of AIDS and a majority of the patients are TB sufferers, may have 
to be temporarily closed due to a lack of funds. 

Often, Myanmarese living in Japan do not have health insurance or access 
to financial resources, leaving the agency with no alternative but to 
pay the cost of their hospitalization.

Another big problem the agency faces when assisting Myanmarese living in 
Japan is the 10,000 [ca. 87 USD] yen monthly tax imposed upon them by 
the Myanmar government. If a Myanmarese fails to pay the tax for a 
period of one year, an additional fine of 10,000 yen [ca 87 USD] is 
levied.

"We would like people to understand that a private social work agency 
like ours needs a lot of money to continue helping needy foreigners," 
Taeko Kimura said. "In addition to hospitalization and medical treatment 
fees, we have to shoulder, in part or whole, the embassy tax, air ticket 
and medical examination costs, the latter often reaching 40,000 yen [ca. 
347 USD]."

If sick Myanmarese carry proper passports and have enough physical 
strength, agency staffers accompany them to the embassy, with the agency 
often bearing the cost of the taxi ride. "The procedure at the embassy 
starts with negotiations between the embassy and the sick Myanmarese 
over how much tax the latter has to pay," Kimura said. "Because we are 
outsiders, we cannot join the negotiations. If the person has stayed in 
Japan for 10 years, he or she must pay 1.3 million yen [ca. 11,269 USD], 
including the penalty.

"Our experience shows that a person cannot go back to Myanmar if the 
individual does not agree to pay at least one or two years' taxes and 
penalties."

Myanmarese in Japan face many problems besides the embassy tax, the 
Kimuras said.

They noted that some entered Japan illegally using forged passports or 
smuggled themselves into the nation via a third country. They do not 
have proper passports and therefore cannot go to their embassy for help. 

Brokers who have helped Myanmarese enter Japan impose unbearable 
financial burdens on them, the couple added, noting the financial and 
emotional stress is contributing to an increase in alcoholism and mental 
disorders.

Very few hospitals accept people not covered by health insurance or who 
lack the money to pay for medical bills, the Kimuras said. 
The following case offers a portrait of the conditions faced by 
Myanmarese in Japan and how the Kimuras' agency helped.

On June 28, a Myanmarese man suddenly became ill and took 200,000 yen 
[ca. 1734 USD] from his roommate to pay for admittance to a hospital. A 
few days later, immigration officials raided their residence and the 
roommate was placed in a detention facility. The detainee contacted the 
Kimuras' agency.

On July 8, the sick man was released from the hospital and turned up at 
the agency with a hospital bill for 350,000 yen [ca. 3034 USD].  
The agency had the Myanmar Embassy issue a provisional passport for the 
man so he could return to Myanmar and paid 70,000 yen [ca. 607 USD] for 
his plane ticket.

Before flying out of Japan, the man disappeared, saying he did not want 
to return to Myanmar. 

On Sept. 25, a group of Myanmarese came to the agency to report that the 
missing man had collapsed in the corridor of an immigration building in 
Kita Ward and died in an ambulance en route to the hospital. 
The agency took care of the man's funeral and cremation procedures and 
his ashes are still kept at a Buddhist temple in Suginami Ward. 
In order to improve the conditions of needy foreigners in Japan and 
alleviate the burden of Japanese volunteers helping them, Yoshio Kimura 
said that concerted efforts between immigration authorities, health and 
welfare authorities and the Foreign Ministry are indispensable. 

___________________________________________________







_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 



Asiaweek: a Who's Who of Business

February 23, 2001



To do business in Myanmar, you need to know how to play
the game. Rule No. 1: Get along with the junta -- which means no 
subversive chatter about Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy. 
Rule No. 2: Only Rule No. 1 matters. Here are Myanmar's rich, powerful 
and connected:

THE CEO

Army boss Gen. Maung Aye heads the all-important Trade Policy 
Implementation Council. No major business initiative goes ahead without 
him signing off on it. An outwardly genial man who likes a tipple, Maung 
Aye remains at heart a soldier who has finessed his way to the top 
through intrigue and the loyalty of underlings. Do not underestimate 
him.

CRONIES

The regime assigns to "national entrepreneurs" -- a nucleus of 
businessmen embraced after the 1988 coup -- wholesale assets, 
concessions and projects, allowing them to form foreign joint ventures. 
They include:

* Aik Htun. Runs Asia Wealth Bank and Olympic Group (trading, 
construction, property). Burmese-Chinese from the opium-rich Kokang 
region. Shrewd, flamboyant, often seen with a bevy of young women.

* Serge Pun. Also Burmese-Chinese. Spent time in China and Hong Kong 
before returning to Yangon. Company SPA has a bank and boasts stakes in 
real estate, auto and motorbike dealerships, retail and, most recently, 
Myanmar's swankiest golf course. Major property interests in Bangkok act 
as cosy security.

* Thein Tun. The soft-drink king through his MGS beverage company (he 
held the franchise for Pepsi until it pulled out). An aggressive 
businessman with a reputation as a grasping partner but also as a man 
who delivers.

NEW BOYS

A group of entrepreneurs with few ties to the junta and fewer government 
contracts. Private business is their focus. Two of them: 
* Michael "Mickey" Moe Myint, left. Former commercial pilot who became a 
consultant for Shell. Then, after dabbling in catering and nsurance, 
teamed with Baker Hughes, the U.S. company that
services the oil sector. Later formed Myint & Associates Petroleum 
Resources Ltd. Can act Texan when he wants, and Burmese when it suits.

* George Yin Soon. Also into mining and oil exploration, but has 
finessed the middleman's role to perfection. Helped Rothmans set up in 
Myanmar, and recently partnered Singapore's Ong Beng Seng when his 
Region Air took a controlling interest in Myanmar Airways. Married into 
Indonesian money.

OUTSIDERS

A good number of foreign business folk have been in
Myanmar a long time. Some are doing very nicely:

* Jean Pichon, below. A former French military officer, he has been in 
Myanmar for more than a decade. Runs Setraco, which most recently 
developed port and fish-processing facilities in the south. Good ties 
with senior government figures.

* Jerzy Wilk. Grizzled German mariner who washed up in
Myanmar more than 20 years ago. Founded and runs Uniteam
Marine Ltd., which provides thousands of Burmese seamen as crews for 
shipping companies worldwide.

* Frankie Chew. Singaporean entrepreneur who runs the Woodland Group of 
companies that focus on tourism. Recently opened a new hotel at Mt. Popa 
near Bagan. Also has interest in a west coast resort.  



___________________________________________________



Agence France Presse: Greedy businessmen blamed for Myanmar currency 
slide 


February 23, 2001, Friday 


Myanmar's junta blamed "greedy businessmen and rumour mongers" Friday 
for spiralling food prices and a huge slide in the value of the local 
currency the kyat. 

The kyat has slipped to 510 to the US dollar in the wake of fighting on 
the border with Thailand and the death of Myanmar's fourth most powerful 
military leader Lieutenant-General Tin Oo earlier this week. 

The state-run Mirror daily carried the accusation Friday, coinciding 
with the general's burial with full honors in Yangon's military 
cemetary. 

"Many people overreacted by even resorting to panic purchasing of 
essential commodities fearing the worst," the commentary said. 

It said panic was sparked by rumours spread deliberately by unscrupulous 
businessmen over the past three or four days. 

"Gold prices as well as black market dollar rates suddenly shot up 
together with those of Thai goods coming accross the border," the Mirror 
said. 

"Even if the trade routes with Thailand closed down indefinitely, 
ordinary people would hardly be affected by it because everything they 
need is now being produced in the country." 

The commentary urged people to do away with "foreign made" goods and to 
cultivate a proper sense of "national outlook." 

The kyat was at 503 to the dollar on Monday. Its most recent slide 
started several weeks ago, when it was worth about 450 to the dollar, 
against about 320 at the beginning of 2000. 

The kyat's value on the black market, through which most business is 
carried out, compares to an official exchange rate of six to the 
greenback. 

The value of Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs), a special currency 
denominated in dollars, has also fallen. 

FECs are valued at slightly more than 400 kyat. The kyat rate of FECs 
was once equal to or even higher than that of the dollar when its local 
usage was widespread. 

The growing price disparity has been attributed to over-printing of the 
special currency, which has meant that the amount in circulation exceeds 
the number of dollars collected by the government. 

Some restaurants in Yangon are now charging 15 percent more for meals 
paid for in FECs instead of dollars. 

The city is now awash in FECs, and as demand shrinks, people are eager 
to hedge their bets by offloading the currency by buying dollars or 
gold. The price of gold in Myanmar has shot up as a result. 

Myanmar's creaking economy has long been seen as on the verge of 
collapse due to crippling international sanctions and mismanagement by 
the junta. 

Foreign investment has all but dried up due to the 1997 Asian financial 
crisis and the stigma attached to investing in a country blamed by the 
West for serious human rights abuses. 

The poor state of the economy is one factor believed to be behind a 
nascent political thaw, resulting in senior military leaders meeting 
with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Some commentators say that the regime is planning to make some 
concessions to the National League for Democracy in the hopes of 
shedding its pariah status and easing sanctions. 



Shan Herald Agency for News: Farmers protest against junta rice 
procurement policy

Feb 2001

Reporter: Khamleng

Sources from Shan State reported to S.H.A.N that farmers in a southern  
township had demonstrated against Rangoon's rice purchase policy during 
mid  January.

Farmers in Hsihseng Township, 34 miles south of Taunggyi, rose up to  
protest on 15 January and an unknown number were arrested, they said. 

3 days later, Lt-col Win Maung, Secretary, Southern Shan State Peace and 
 Development Council, arrived in the township to meet the farmers. 

He reportedly informed the farmers that every rice cultivator must sell 
8  baskets of rice per acre at K.350 per basket price. (In Irrawaddy 
Division  and Pegu Division, it is 30 baskets and 20 baskets 
respectively, he said.) 

"You don't own the land. You are only using the land owned by the State  
with its permission. Those who fail to sell in accordance with their 
quota  are liable to go to jail under Section 406 and Section 420." 

He admitted that farmers were actually paid only K.300 per basket 
instead  of K.350 because the official purchasing teams were not given 
traveling  allowance by the State.

The meeting, attended by 1,100 farmers, ended with counter proposals 
from  the people going unheeded, said the sources.

The market price of unhulled rice is K. 800 - 900 at present, considered 
 cheap compared to the past years. The farmers'  main complaint is 
shortage  of water. Moreover, they said they also had to feed the local 
ceasefire  group, Shan State Nationalities People's Liberation 
Organization of Taklay,  better known as the Red Pa-o.


Business Day (Thailand): PTT delays payment for natural gas it never 
used 

February 23, 2001 




The PETROLEUM Authority of Thailand yesterday said it will delay paying 
US$400 million for natural gas it didn't need but is under contract to 
purchase, citing a cash flow problem. 

PTT will pay developers of the Yadana and Yetagun fields in Myanmar by 
the end of March instead of March 1, as agreed to originally in the 
sales contract, PTT chairman Viset Choopiban said. PTT was unable to 
sell bonds in time necessary to raise the money to pay, he added. 

The state agency plans to sell 5 billion baht of government-guaranteed 
bonds in the domestic market next week, and to sell a further 9 billion 
baht of bonds in two lots during the next two weeks. 

PTT Exploration & Production of Thailand, the Myanmar government, units 
of Total Fina Elf SA, Unocal and Petronas Gas developed the fields. 

PTT Exploration owns a 25.5 percent stake in the Yadana field, and 14 
percent stake in the Yetagun field - the company's two largest gas 
projects. 

Since mid-1998, PTT has been under contract to purchase 65 million cubic 
feet per day of natural gas from the Yadana and Yentagun fields to feed 
the power plants operated by the Electricity Generating Authority of 
Thailand.



_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________



The New Light of Myanmar: Different  faculties 

Monday, 19  February, 2001 

Author: Nga Khin Nyo 


For me, just a smile is not enough, I wish to burst out laughing when I 
see,  hear or read about the seemingly traditional 
un-good-neighbourliness of  Thailand, dishonourable and uncontrolled 
remarks and accusations of some of  the senior military officers, the 
flaunting of their strength by the Thai  armed forces and instigation 
and incitement of the Thai news agencies to stir  up trouble in 
connection with the Myanmar-Thai border situation.  

I, myself, was once an expatriate moving about the length and breadth of 
 Thailand, in control of the dollar notes provided by the well-known spy 
 organization, dealing with high-ranking Thai authorities, members of 
the so  and so intelligence bodies, gunrunners, diplomat brokers, the 
Members of  Parliament and newsmen. There are people who know very well 
to what extent I  had colluded with them, done business with them and 
got involved in such  activities.  

The point I want to make is that I know a little more than others do as  
regards what some of the deficient persons of the Thai politics and the  
lackeys of the well-known spy organization including some of the senior  
military officers have committed or are committing or will commit to the 
 detriment of our nation, our people and our national interests.  

Before I elaborate, I would like to recount my personal experience 
reflecting  the incredulous and immense magnanimity of the responsible 
personnel of the  Tatmadaw of our country. My experience of returning to 
the legal fold was a  bit unusual. It was not like the one who did so 
when life was uncertain at  the border after suffering from malaria and 
finding it difficult to make  charcoal to meet his basic needs nor like 
the one who declared repentant when  things were not favourable. There 
is much to talk about but the main reason  of my returning to the legal 
fold was to repay the debt.   

When I decided to return to the legal fold I had to contact the security 
 committee in a border town inside Myanmar from the territory of 
Thailand. It  was because it would not be possible for me carrying a 
pack to enter the  country from the border check point. At that time I 
hatched a plot to put  things to an end completely. It was intended to 
kill the notorious  expatriates and leading well-known figures of KNU 
group plus Thai  intelligence personnel and some of the senior military 
and police officers  together after the collapse of the top floor of a 
four-storey three-star  hotel; that top floor was used as the control 
office of our combined group. I  set a time-bomb with the use of a large 
briefcase packed with TNT high  explosives and other high-powered 
chemicals to leave it as my present for  those unscrupulous persons on 
my return to my country. Back in Myanmar, it  was my plan to say prayers 
for them who would be killed when the time-bomb  went off at the set 
time.  

If the plot did materialize at that time the complex story of the 
expatriates  today would be different; the explosion, would be the 
largest ever in  Thailand and would have shocked the people there making 
them hard to trust  any expatriates and making them repentant greatly 
for accepting the fellows.  I removed all traces which would betray who 
was responsible for the plot. I  attempted to get them believe that I 
was among the victims. With delight I  informed the security committee 
on Myanmar side about the plot. I thought and  calculated that I would 
be praised lavishly for the plot. The security  organizations which I 
happened to work with from other nations would  certainly encourage and 
honour the persons concerned if such incidents took  place. 

Once the plot was informed, the officer, who was sent from Yangon to 
receive  me under prior arrangements, immediately reported it to the 
authorities in  Yangon via communication set. Instead of winning favour, 
I was in great  trouble.  

Although I did not know what was discussed between the officer who sent 
the  message and the officers who gave instructions to him, what I had 
been told  was that the responsible persons (the higher authorities) 
would not accept in  any way the terrorist act of such a destructive 
nature which might cause  suspicions and misunderstanding between the 
two countries, that they would  not accept either my returning to the 
legal fold in the form of seeking  refuge only after elimination of 
those people due to my disagreements with  them, and that if I wanted to 
return to the legal fold in accordance with the  prior arrangements, I 
would have to defuse the bomb first. I was confused. I  was thoughtful 
and came to realize that the responsible personnel of our  Myanmar 
Tatmadaw were different from those whom I associated with from other  
countries. Finally, I had to defuse the bomb with much difficulty.  
Fortunately, I could manage it safely. 

In that incident, things did not go wrong, because the responsible 
personnel  of our Tatmadaw were magnanimous and rightious; if they 
feigned ignorance and  let me go my way, nearly the entire well-known 
hotel in a border town would  have collapsed without leaving any trace 
of the culprit and many would have  been killed. The blast would also 
cause destruction to the surrounding areas  as well. The Thai military, 
police and civilian officers including the  intelligence men who 
gathered at the place to conduct give-and-take dealings,  leading 
persons of the expatriates and those at the top of KNU armed group  
would have been killed in the blast. They were fortunate.   

In view of what I have just talked about, it was as if the officials of  
Myanmar Tatmadaw hadn't had to use any pya (to profit by military  
operations). Although there emerged a person who could slaughter those  
engaged in anti-Myanmar government activities, armed insurgents 
attacking  Myanma Tatmadaw, runaways and accomplices in Thailand, and 
Myanmar Tatmadaw  got a golden opportunity to suppress insurgents 
without having to solve any  problems, it was found that the officials 
of Myanmar Tatmadaw did not turn a  blind eye or act with impunity, but 
prevented that plan as soon as they knew  it. That is mental prowess 
(Byatti) of good soldiers and good heroes.   

There is a reason why I am digging up these things. If Thai high-ranking 
 military officers, with whom I colluded in doing all kinds of 
unscrupulous  things in Thailand, got that opportunity and if there 
emerged a person like  me who could carry out such a kind of plan, they 
would promote him to their  brother-in-law or son-in-law.  

As other writers have described how much Thailand managed to profit by  
accepting all kinds of armed insurgents along Myanmar-Thai border, I 
will not  elaborate on it. But, let me say one thing. Among these 
things, arms  trafficking has been so much lucrative that persons from 
Thai intelligence,  army and border patrol police (BPP) have been able 
to build brick houses, buy  cars and keep paramours.  

Among insurgents who are said to be the step-sons of Thai Army, KNU  
insurgents (branded as Nga Pwe), took the line of defensive action by  
building strongholds. Previously, they built their strongholds by 
digging the  hills. Later, they got the technology for building 
defensive strongholds to  such an extent that they could say that their 
strongholds were on a par with  the Overheads of NATO. The officers of 
Thai military engineering unit, who  arrived back from abroad, 
personally supervised the selection of the hillocks  and construction of 
some strongholds.  

The members of the Thai intelligence unit who (can speak Myanmar and the 
 dialect of local national race fluently), aping the style of shabby  
detectives of American FBI in films, keeping pistols at their waists or 
in  their armpits and wearing frayed jeans, are acting smart almost in 
every town  along Myanmar-Thai border on the side of Thailand. To be 
frank, they are  agents, brokers and masterminds of various insurgents 
who are operating in  the border areas.  

It is a give-and-take practice of Thai intelligence to provide detailed 
facts  about military operations being co-ordinated between the armed 
forces from  both sides and significant incidents to the media in 
exchange for liquor or  chicken or pork in the manner of giving copies. 
The information recently  received from a reliable source has been very 
loathsome.   
What have the Thai Army and special intelligence units asked the SURA 
drug  trafficking robbers led by Ywet Sit? While the Thai Army was 
showing off its  strength along the border line in order to draw the 
attention of Myanmar  Tatmadaw, Ywet Sit's drug trafficking robbers had 
to infiltrate into towns  and villages deep inside Myanmar and plant 
mines at the important places.  

For that purpose, the Thai Army must have provided modern explosive 
devices  and mines together with necessary instructions on how to use 
them. We have  learnt that there were disputes and disagreements 
regarding this scheme at  lower levels of Thai Army. This information is 
too authentic to require any  confirmation.  

The worst and most wicked scheme of all was that they stealthily 
approached  the armed groups of national races which had exchanged arms 
for peace with  the Government, and sowed discord between the armed 
groups and the Government  through hard-core mercenary informers.  

In short, the Thai Army conspiring with news media to promote its image, 
took  preparatory measures for manoeuvring along the border and 
controlled the flow  of commodities; banned the supply of fuel and 
medicines; and enticed,  encouraged and coerced drug trafficking robbers 
to infiltrate into rural and  urban areas. In addition, synchronized 
measures were taken in approaching and  instigating the peace groups in 
order to increase the intensity of internal  armed conflict. What is the 
meaning of this? Anyhow, in the internal  political trick of Thailand, 
the group of some deficient politicians tried to  use the Thai Army in 
making the new government lose confidence; they did so  since the new 
government seemed to pay serious attention (high regard) to  
Myanmar-Thai relations. Will the Thai Army let itself to be used as a 
pawn  like that? It will be answered by the stand and action of Thai 
Army.   

I would like just to say one thing. We do not worry a bit as we believe 
in  the courage and mental faculty of Myanmar Tatmadaw-men and their 
sacrificing  spirit for the nation and the people. 





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