------------------------- BurmaNet --------------------------- "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" -------------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: 4th May 1995 Issue #164 -------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: --------------------------THAILAND---------------------------- THE NATION: BURMESE RAIDERS KILL 3 POLICEMEN BKK POST: CALL FOR BURMA POLICY REVIEW THE NATION: ILLEGAL ALIENS HELD -------------------------INSIDE BURMA------------------------ THE NATION: DIPLOMAT CALLS ON THAILAND TO PUSH SLORC INTO PEACE TALKS THE NATION: FORMER SOCIALIST PRIMER MAUNG MAUNG KHA DEAD THE NATION: LAO PRESIDENT TO VISIT BURMA THE NATION: JAPAN TRADE OFFICIAL MEETS SLORC THE NATION: PROPOSAL MADE TO REVOKE ASEAN STATUS OF BURMA -------------------------------------------------------------- o-------------------------------o The BurmaNet News is an | | electronic newspaper | Iti | covering Burma. 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Burma Issues is a Bangkok-based non-governmental organization that documents human rights conditions in Burma and maintains an archive of Burma-related documents. Views expressed in The BurmaNet News do not necessarily reflect those of either NCGUB or Burma Issues. -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- DIPLOMAT CALLS ON THAILAND TO PUSH SLORC INTO PEACE TALKS Blames policies of regional groupings for Rangoon's hard line 4 May 1995 A Rangoon-based diplomat has urged Thailand to seek peace talks with Burma as a means to defuse rising tensions on the border and put an end to frequent intrusions onto Thai soil. The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed the Asean policy of "constructive engagement" and the European Union's approach of "critical dialogue" for failing to pressure the Burmese military regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), to introduce reforms and bring about democracy in the country. He said the integrity of both policies has been eroded because economic interests have outweighed genuine political will on the part of international community. He said the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) "constructive engagement" policy could be effective but not while guerrilla warfare is being waged in Burma. "The current Slorc policy has forced Thailand to bear a tremendous burden and has threatened its neighbour's security. Thailand has to accommodate 70,000 Karen refugees and has to be alert to subsequent border tensions. In this respect, constructive engagement does not work," the diplomat said. He said Asean should do away with the policy of "constructive engagement" in its current form and adopt a clearer and more pragmatic stance towards Burma. The diplomat said as a friendly neighbour Thailand should tell Slorc that if it continues to indirectly support the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) it would diminish the credibility of not only the Slorc, but also Thailand and other Asean countries, the proponents of "constructive engagement". The DKBA has repeatedly raided and set ablaze a number of Karen refugee camps in Tak over the past few months. "The heightened tension on the Thai-Burmese border is a result of Slorc's failure to bring about genuine national reconciliation. The use of force to solve conflicts only further tarnishes Slorc's image. "Thailand should exert some pressure on Slorc and stop fearing that this would have a negative effect on its constructive engagement policy. Even though Slorc would be dissatisfied, it would have to listen," he said. Since the pro-democracy uprising in 1988, which was brutally suppressed by the Burmese military, the West has officially cut off assistance to Burma and has based the resumption of economic aid on the precondition that Burma improves its human rights record and restores democracy. "Foreign investment has increased in Burma despite international human rights pressure against doing business with Slorc. Most of them [the investors] are from the US, European, Thai and Singaporean private sectors," the diplomat said. He said the Asian Development Bank last week expressed interest in funding Slorc to develop the mammoth Salween hydroelectricity scheme. Additionally, an international consortium, comprising the French-based Total and Californian-based Unocal companies, and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, have invested in the Yadana gas project supplying the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's power plant in Ratchaburi over a period of 30 years. Singaporean investors have attempted to gain a foothold in the hotel and timber businesses in Burma. (TN) BURMESE RAIDERS KILL 3 POLICEMEN Outraged Wimol says Army has lost its patience 4.5.95/The Nation Three policemen were killed early yesterday morning in a gunfight with heavily armed Burmese ethnic troops who crossed the border into Mae Hone Son in the latest and most violent rampage yet on Thai soil. Police and Thai officials suspected that the intruders were members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army [DKBA], a splinter minority Karen group reportedly backed by Rangoon. The incident, in which another refugee camp was also attacked, fuelled the outrage of the government and Army ,and caused widespread panic and anger among Thai villagers along the frontier . Many villagers said they were organizing protests to highlight the government's failure to ensure a safe border. " The Army has lost patience, " Army chief Wimol Wongwanich said. " It is our right to deal with this outlawed group whatever way we want. We don't need to seek cooperation from Burma. We can do it all our way and drastically .We will do it . Just watch and see." Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said he had given the military " absolute authority" to combat armed incursions into Thailand . He was firm yesterday in announcing the military would not need to seek specific approval to retaliate once intruders had been identified . Interior Minister Sanan Kachomprasart said : " Since they can kill us ,we must kill them". The DKBA faction has claimed responsibility for repeated raids on Christian Karen refugee camps in Mae Hong Son and Tak provinces , and over the weekend threatened new assaults unless all Karen refugees were moved back into Burma. The gunfight erupted when between 10 and 20 intruders armed with M-16 and AK-47 assault rifles encountered a checkpoint in Mae Ngao village of Sop Moei distruct about I am , officials said . Five policemen manning the house that served as a border checkpoint put up a fight but were out -gunned . Three police privates were found dead after the 10 minutes shootout , while the other two narrowly escaped. The victims , the first Thai casualties of the on-going aggression, were identified as paichit Jitti, Somkiat Tistaeja and Pipat Harnmuangjai. About 4 am , 30 or 40 armed men crossed from Burma and stormed a refugee camp in tambon Mae Samlab, also in Sop Moei district. The men , wearing green uniforms, burned down more than 100 shelters, torcheda small Thai market and robbed a Thai family before crossing the Salween River back into Burma. Sop Moei district chief Prasert Osathaphan said the refigee camp had been largely abandoned before the attack. He and Assistant Mae Hong Son Governor Niphon Kampa said they suspected the DKBA were behind the reid and the deaths of the policemen . The DKBA has mounted a series of violent cross- border raids into Thailand since it broke away from the Karen National Union [KNU] guerrilla group and joined forces with Burmese government troops late last year. Last week the DKBA burnt several Karen refugee camps on the Thai side of the border leaving thousands homeless . The Army has reinforced the border in Tak with troops , helicopter gunships and armouren personnel carriers. But until yesterday's asault the Mae Hong Son border remained largely vulnerable . Three gunships took off from an Army base in Tak yesterday in search of the Mae Hong Son raiders . Ground troops were also dispatched but there were no reports of clashes. The latest incident is likely to increase criticism of the Army , which has been accused of ignorance, poor intelligence and being too diplomatic. " Sometimes it's hard to tell a guerrilla from a villager. When they throw away their weapons , they become villagers .And it's so easy to set fire to the make-shift refugee shelters, " he said. Wimol said Thailand had two options. "We have to make a decision on how to undo the knot - whether to patiently try to work it out , or to cut the rope, " the Army chief said. Foreign Minister Krasae Chanawong said Thailand could apply diplomacy along with military measures to deal with the situation, but emphasized the need for care "or a friend will turn into a foe". Chuan said he had been beiefed about the predawn reid by Defence Minister Vijit Sookmark, but the ministry had not yet identified the attackers. The prime minister was adamant tne military must keep a strict vigil to ensure that such an incursion was not repeated. Chuan acknowledged that the military wanted the Karen refugees to return to Burma, but he noted the refugees evidently did not want to go back. Wimol said the Karen refugees should remember that they were visitors taking shelter in Thai territory and that they should not create problems bere . " We do not force them to stay in our country . If they want to go home ,we will repatriate them . However , they are very happy to live here . They don't have to work, yet they get food to eat and receive medical aid ," the general said . Wimol said he would like international organizations to give assistance to Karen inside Burma, rather than those residing in Thailand . Responding to questions about relations between Burma and Thailand , Wimol said the Burmese government still had not acknowledged that the intruders along the border were Burmese troops . We have to thing that they are outlaws. So, we can legitimately take action against those who intrude into out country,: he said. Wimol admitted , however ,that there was still a shortcoming in military intelligence, but said it would be improved . A Thai Army official said yesterday that thousands of Karen refugees would be moved form camps adjacent to the border with Burma to new sites some 10 kilometers inside Thai territory , a proposal floated by Wimol . The Army , the National Security Council [NSC] , and the interior and foreign minostries agreed late on Tuesday that a recent spate of violent reids from Burma warranted the shift to new location , the official said. CALL FOR BURMA POLICY REVIEW 4 May 1995 House foreign affairs Committee Chairman Suthin Noppakate yesterday urged the Government to review engagement policy with Burma and to drop an invitation for the reclusive country to observe the ASEAN foreign ministers' meet in Brunei next month. His statement followed a briefing of the latest situation along the Thai_Burmese border, including the recent intrusion and burning of Karen refugee camps on Thai soil by members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. The briefing was given to the committee by Pratyadavi Tavedikul, deputy permanent secretary of foreign affairs. The briefing said Thailand, at the ASEAN foreign ministers' meet in Bangkok last year, initiated a move that Burma should be invited as an observer to the next meet in Brunei in July, in order to give the Burma the opportunity to be exposed to changes in other countries with the hope that Rangoon could be led towards the democratic path. "But recent developments showed that our efforts have been futile," he said, adding that the committee strongly felt that Thailand's constructive engagement policy towards the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) should be reviewed. Thailand he continued, should drop its initiative to invite Burma to observe the ASEAN meeting in Brunei. The committee feels that response towards Burma over recent border incidents was too slow and not strong enough, said Mr Suthin, adding that there is a lack of coordination among agencies involved in dealing with Burma. The committee,said Mr Suthin, suggested the Ministry of Foreign affairs take the lead role in the coordination. "If we resort to armed confrontation or violence, the situation would get worse. Every party wants to see a negotiated settlement. In this case, the Foreign Ministry should take the lead role," said the committee chairman. (BP) FORMER SOCIALIST PREMER MAUNG MAUNG KHA DEAD 4 May 1995 Maung Maung Kha, Burma's former socialist prime minister, died on April 30 in Rangoon, and his body was entombed inn a common cemetery in the capital on Tuesday, official media reports said yesterday. He was 75. An army engineer, Maung Maung Kha became prime minister in March 1977, succeeding Brig Gen Sein Win who had been primer since a military junta was replaced in 1974 by a socialist party led by Gen Ne win. Agence France-Presse adds from Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh: Bangladeshi and UN officials have found that more than 20,000 Burmese refugees were missing from camps in Bangladesh, the refugee office here said yesterday. A census conducted by Bangladesh and the United Nation high Commissioner for Refugees in southern Cox's Bazar province found that 22,427 of the Muslim refugees were missing, leaving 77,006 people in nine camps. (TN) LAO PRESIDENT TO VISIT BURMA 4 May 1995 The President of Laos, Nouhak Phoumsavan, will pay a goodwill visit to neighbouring Burma soon, the state-run Myanmar News agency reported yesterday. The news agency did not say when the visit will take place nor did it provide any other details about the trip except to say the Nouhak will be accompanied by his wife. (TN) JAPAN TRADE OFFICIAL MEETS SLORC 4 May 1995 A senior official of the Japanese trade ministry, Katsusada Hirose, paid a visit on Tuesds day to the chairman of the Burmese investment commission, Vice Adm Maung Maung Khin, a state-owned newspaper reported yesterday. National plaining and Economic Minister Brig Gen David Abel was also present at the meeting. Hirose, director general of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), arrived in Burma on Monday accompanied by three officials. The MITI delegation also met with trade minister lt Gen Tun Kyi on Tuesday, The New Light of Myanmar reported. (TN) PROPOSAL MADE TO REVOKE ASEAN STATUS OF BURMA 4.5.95/The Nation The House committee on foreign affairs resolved invite Burmese representatives, as guest observers, to July's Asean Ministerial Meeting in Brunei, due to the continuous incursions by armed intruders from Burma , the committee chairman said yesterday . Thailand initiated the invitation to Burma to observe the Asean Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok last year, to give Burma the chance to acknowledge democratic changes throughout the world and develop such guidelines in its own country . MP Suthin Noppaket [ PDP-Bangkok ]said such a policy was now thought to be unworkable. The committee resolved that Thailand retract its invitation to the meeting . The committee has also invited the deputy permanent secretary at the Foreign Ministry to explain the intrusions in the northern provinces, where Karen refugee camps have been brunt and a number of people killed of abducted , Suthin said . The committee said that the Foreign Ministry should lead and coordinate with other agencies concerned a peotest against the Burmese government , Suthin said . The government should be courageous and publicy announce worldwide the country's stance against such behaviour , Suthin said. Meanwhile, Democrat MP Alongkorn Palabutr [ Phetchaburi] lodged an urgent motion yesterday with the House committee on military affairs , demanding the committee consider the series of intrusions on to Thai soil, violating the nation's sovereignty adn integrity . Alongkorn called for urgent action against foreign troops crossing to provinces in the North , where they have killed Thais and destroyed government property. The fact that three Thai policemen were killed early yesterday morning and two others wounded at their border check-point in Mae Hong Son by a group of heavily armed intruders was also mentioned in the letter . For this reason , Alongkorn said , the House committee should set out a clearcut policy in response to such intrusions from the agencies concerned, particularly the Defence and the Foreign Ministries. 837 ILLEGAL ALIENS HELD 3.5.95/The Nation Burmese nationals constituted the majority or about 80 per cent of the total of 837 illegal immigrants arrested by Thai Metropolitan Police during the past week. This was announced at yesterday's press conference by Police Chief Gen Pote Boonyachida. -------------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different topics related to Burma. The scope of the subjects involved is simply too broad for any one person to cover. BurmaNet is therefore organizing a number of volunteer coordinators to field questions on various subjects. 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