From editor@burmanet.org Tue Nov 5 23:03:55 2002 From: editor@burmanet.org (editor@burmanet.org) Date: Tue, 5 Nov 2002 18:03:55 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News: November 5 2002 Message-ID: <59364.207.10.94.131.1036537435.squirrel@webmail.pair.com> November 5 2002 Issue #2116 Reuters: Myanmar says Red Cross to investigate rape claims DVB: Interview with Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro TV Myanmar: Burmese officials inspect, advise on regional projects in Shan State Irrawaddy: Dissidents likely to be sentenced GUNS Narinjara: Burmese junta issues orders to stop forced conscription DVB: Indian arms shipment arrives in Rangoon MONEY DPA: Lauda Air defies human rights objections to start Burma link Eastday.com: ASEAN countries’ investment in Myanmar plunges to zero REGIONAL Irrawaddy: Responsibility for bombs lies with the junta AFP: Koizumi presses Myanmar to democratize OPINION IHT: The Mekong River as a road to riches Bangkok Post: Continuing failure to confront Burma ____INSIDE BURMA______ Reuters November 5 2002 Myanmar says Red Cross to investigate rape claims YANGON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government said on Tuesday the Red Cross was in the process of investigating allegations of systematic rape by government troops against ethnic minority women and girls. Government spokesman Hla Min said a Red Cross team had left the capital Yangon for the eastern state of Shan on November 2. There was no immediate comment from the Red Cross. The government, which has denied the allegations of rape, said the move was in response to pleas by U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro. Pinheiro, who wound up an 11-day visit to Myanmar last week, called for an independent investigation into the claims that the army was using rape as a weapon in a war against ethnic minority separatists in Shan. He said an investigation could help prevent possible future rights violations. "This invitation has been extended in constructive response to the suggestion of...Pinheiro following his recent visit to our country," Hla Min said in a statement faxed to Reuters. "We sincerely appreciate his efforts, and we are determined to assist in every way possible to investigate all allegations," he said. Myanmar's ruling generals, isolated by political and economic sanctions imposed by several Western countries, are keen to improve their international image in a bid to garner desperately needed aid and investment for a crumbling economy. They have released more than 400 political prisoners in the last two years and freed pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from 19 months of house arrest in May. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won the country's last elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to rule by the army, which has held onto power for the last four decades. Last week, Pinheiro called for the immediate release of an estimated 1,200-1,300 political prisoners. He said he had turned down a government offer to visit Shan to investigate the rape allegations because of insufficient time. The United States criticised Myanmar in July after two minority rights groups released a report saying Myanmar troops had raped at least 625 girls and women between 1996 and 2001 in Shan State. Myanmar has often denied the allegations. "Violence against women is not now, nor has it ever been a policy or practice of our government," Hla Min said on Tuesday. "This is written into the laws of our country, and it applies equally to all members of the Tatmadaw (defence forces) in all aspects and activities." (Additional reporting by Dominic Whiting in Bangkok) _____________ Democratic Voice of Burma November 5 2002 Interview with Mr Paulo Sergio Pinheiro Q: The Financial Time newspaper on 31st Oct reported that you had asked international community to increase humanitarian assistance. Can you comment on that? Mr. Pinheiro: I have read many stories during my stay in Burma that I had appeal for an increase of humanitarian aid to the country. It is not what I said. What I said is that I think that it is very important to consider the possibility of engaging with the society in the country. But I didn't ask for anything about the change of humanitarian aid to the country. Q: When should international community increase aid to Burma, then? Mr. Pinheiro: Mr Razali (UN Special envoy to Burma) and I propose several scenarios when this question can be organized. But for me, this is conditionality, I don't think the international aid and international investment to the country has to be changed before the condition of political participation of other forces in this endeavor. Q: "Myanmar Time" - published in Rangoon on 28th October also reported that you had asked for increased cooperation with the military regime in Burma. How did this misunderstanding arise? Mr. Pinheiro: I think that there is a perhaps the selection of something that I have written or people have not read everything that I said. And as things are moving very slow, some people think that I am happy this situation. Not at all! I will not continue with my mandate if things are not improved in the near future. I will not prepare to stay years and years with this pace. I will be two-years with my mandate and I don't want to continue with just waiting things to happen. I will say this tomorrow during my speech at UN General Assembly in New York. Q: What are the main points in your speech tomorrow? Mr. Pinheiro: In my view, there can be no credible democratic transition without five fundamental conditions. These are inclusion of all component of society in the political dialogue, immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, the lifting the restrictions which continue to hamper the ability of political parties, individual and groups, explicit discussion of political democratization that cannot take place without free election and accountability through judicial mechanism of abuse committed by state agents. Q: After returning from Burma, did you get any impression of when the dialogue could start? Mr Pinheiro: Let me put it this way. After the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, I was suspecting that the move forward will be not so slow but in fact it is very slow. At that time, I was suspecting something different. Q: Is the dialogue stop? Mr Pinheiro:What I can say is that dialogue is not stop. It is not correct to say that there is a still mate. The contact continues and both side - the SPDC and the NLD confirmed me that the contacts have happened. Many many contacts had happened in the past and continue to happen. But political negotiation has not started. That is what ambassador Razali and I would think that that is essential. _________ TV Myanmar November 3 2002 BURMESE OFFICIALS INSPECT, ADVISE ON REGIONAL PROJECTS IN SHAN STATE Member of the State Peace and Development Council Lt-Gen Aung Htwe of the Ministry of Defence, who had been visiting Taunggyi, left the town by motorcade on the morning of 1 November in the company of Brig-Gen Khin Maung Myint, chairman of Shan State Peace and Development Council and commander of Eastern Command. At 1020 local time , Lt-Gen Aung Htwe arrived at the project site of Tikyit coal-powered power station of the Myanma Burma Electric Power Enterprise MEPE near Pyintha Village in Pinlaung Township. Later, MEPE project director U Myo Lwin briefed the visiting officials about the construction of the power station that will be powered by locally produced coal is 10 per cent completed. The plant, which will generate 120 MW, is expected to be fully operational by September 2003. Managing director of Eden Co., Ltd., U Chit Khaing reported about the situation concerning the pouring of concrete and driving of piles to strengthen the foundation. Lt-Gen Aung Htwe gave instructions on the quality of construction and timely completion of the project in accordance with set standards. Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party then inspected construction work underway, including the driving of piles and laying of foundations. Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party then attended the harvesting ceremony of special high yield paddy in Banmauk Village in Lonpyin Village Tract in Pinlaung Township where a project using advance techniques is being implemented with a goal of producing 10,000 baskets a basket of paddy weighs 32 kg of paddy per 100 acres. Chairman of Pinlaung Township Peace and Development Council U Myo Aung reported on area of the township, cultivation of special high yield paddy, cultivation of 5,605 acres of maize, 830 acres of Pesinngon beans, 3,873 acres of seed groundnut, 136 acres of sunflower, and health and education conditions in the township. Township Manager of Myanma Agriculture Service U Sein Win reported on 2002-2003 cultivation of paddy and monsoon crops and providing technological assistance to local farmers. Commander Brig-Gen Khin Maung Myint said there are 21 townships in Taunggyi and Loilem districts in southern Shan State. Previously, out of the 10 townships in Taunggyi District, model paddy plots were cultivated only in Hsi-Hseng and Ho-pong townships, and of the 11 townships in Loilem District there was model paddy cultivation in Lai-hka Township only. This year, model paddy cultivation was undertaken in every township of southern Shan State and townships competed against each other. Plans are being made to extend model paddy cultivation competition to district and state levels later. If the plan were to succeed, every township would be producing at a rate of 10,000 baskets of paddy per 100 acres in the years to come... Next, Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party inspected roads along the Pinlaung-Pekon Road and cultivation of paddy on both sides of the road. Later, they arrived at Moebye reservoir in Pekon Township. At the briefing hall at Moebye reservoir, Manager U Maung Maung Gyi explained that the water level at Moebye reservoir reached 2,897 feet this year and that power was being generated the whole year round under a controlled system. In addition, 20,000 as received farmland is being supplied with water so that villages around the reservoir could cultivate agricultural crops and water channels have also built so that boats can ply between Yawnghwe and Loikaw. The water reached the targeted level of 2,897 feet in October this year, but last year, the water reached that level only in November. Even if the water level falls next year, there is sufficient water for generating power at the Lawpita Power Station and to irrigate the farmland... Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party then left the region and reached Loikaw in the evening. Later, he met state, district, and township-level officials at the meeting hall in Loikaw. Lt-Gen Aung Htwe spoke of the need for all ministries to help achieve regional sufficiency in rice. He said efforts were being made to quickly transform agriculture into mechanized agriculture since the use of machines would help bring better results in a shorter time with less workers. The government, he said, was providing assistance in the production of plowing machines, and work must be done to ensure agriculture production in Shan State in 2002-2003 was better than last year. It was necessary for officials in charge to adopt advanced techniques and educate farmers, he added. Then, Chairman of Kayah State Peace and Development Council Col Thein Swe reported on undertakings of agriculture, education, health, economic, rural development and management matters in the region, and Kayah State Manager of Myanmar Agriculture Service U Myint Swe reported about agriculture cultivation in Kayah State in 2002-2003, noting that paddy cultivation was 100.33 per cent, maize 103.2 per cent, pulses and beans 102.52 per cent, and monsoon crops 106 per cent. He noted that Pesinngon beans and sunflower were also cultivated in virgin land in the state... Next, Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Brig-Gen Khin Maung reported about the cultivation of opium-substitute crops, the situation of rice sufficiency in the state where the production target is set to achieve 108.3 per cent, and arrangements for poppy elimination. Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brig-Gen Thura Myint Maung reported on community welfare tasks to be carried out and prevention against trafficking of women and children in Kayah State. Deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries U Aung Thein reported on meat and fish sector being undertaken in the state, prevention against illegal smuggling of animals, and plans for sufficiency of meat and fish in the state. Deputy Minister for Progress of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs Brig-Gen Than Tun reported on regional development tasks and future plans being made by his ministry... __________ Irrawaddy November 5 2002 Dissidents Likely to be Sentenced By Kyaw Zwa Moe November 05, 2002—Three Burmese activists arrested in a late September crackdown in Rangoon are likely to be sentenced to several years in prison, according to reliable sources in Burma. The three were part of an estimated group of 30 activists rounded up by Burma’s military intelligence officers for possessing different opposition journals, including the New Era Journal (Khit Pyaing), which is printed in Bangkok by Burmese dissidents. The three—all former political prisoners—represent the only individuals who were not eventually freed after initial interrogation sessions, and it also continues to remain unclear why they have been singled out by the regime. Sources close to their families said they have been sent to Rangoon’s Insein Prison, but they have yet to be notified as to what charges they are being held under. "Myint Yee, Hla Htut Soe and Ko Htay will face charges and be sentenced to several years by the junta’s special court," a Rangoon activist told The Irrawaddy. "We heard that some copies of the New Era journal were found at Myint Yee’s house by the MI [military intelligence]." In July, two members of the opposition National League for Democracy were sentenced to three years for possessing the journal. And in 1993, 17 activists were sentenced to seven to 20 years in prison on similar charges. Sources also said that roughly half of those detained during the September 25 crackdown were alleged sympathizers of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). During the interrogations, they were questioned about the CPB’s activities as well as their relationship to the party, which disbanded after a 1989 mutiny by rank and file soldiers in Burma’s northern Shan State. The CPB fought against the Burmese government after it achieved independence from Britain in 1948. Burma’s military government also accused the CPB of masterminding the 1988 democracy movement. ____GUNS________ Narinjara News November 5 2002 Burmese junta issues orders to stop forced conscription The Western Command in Rakhine State in the western part of Burma has issued directives to stop forceful conscription for the Burmese Army, our correspondent quoting an official source said. Previously the Burmese junta used to allot its administrative units in townships and villages of the state to enlist new recruits for the Burmese Army. Besides that, every soldier going for official retirement had to find three new recruits as his replacement, without which his retirement used to get delayed or even denied. The villages which could not fill the quota of the numbers of recruits were made to pay 'fines' to the tune of kyat 100,000 or more. The system became a 'means' of earning extra money for those military personnel who came to Rakhine State on official transfer orders. Though the 'official order' was issued a few months earlier, no one seemed to follow the orders from 'high above'. So the junta have been compelled to issue new orders banning forced recruitment soon after the news on child conscription has been talked about in the international arena. Children as young as 13 and 14 year olds were conscripted from Rakhine State. An official source told our correspondent that, the number of Rakhine soldiers in the Burmese Army is about 30% out of the total of 350,000 Burmese forces. The official order included ban on forced conscription, bribing or making monetary deals for escaping from being conscripted, enlistment through allotments made to towns and villages, and troop recruitment by making temptations to minors. The order also contained threats of punitive actions for non-compliance of the order. ________ Democratic Voice of Burma November 4 2002 Indian arms shipment arrives in Rangoon The Indian authorities have handed over weapons and ammunition to the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) army in Tamu on 2 November. A contingent led by the Indian military attache to Burma, Col S F Pibirao and the deputy commander from Imphal based Indian battalion handed over 30 truckloads of weapons and ammunition including heavy artillery shells. The weapons shipment was accepted by the SPDC army delegation led by Kalemyo based Brig-Gen Tin Maung Oo, General Staff Officer Grade-1 Lt Col Tin Aung, and Commander of No 365 Artillery Battalion Maj Aung Zin Oo and then taken to Kalemyo. Regarding the transfer of weapons and ammunition, border sources say it is not clear whether the shipment was an aid from the Indian government or whether it was purchased by the SPDC. _______MONEY______ Deutsche Presse-Agentur November 5 2002 Lauda Air defies human rights objections to start Burma link Austria's Lauda Air started a direct flight service to Myanmar (Burma) on Tuesday in defiance of international bodies opposing cooperation with the military regime on human-rights grounds. The Lauda Air service is the only direct flight by a European airline. Each Tuesday there will be a non-stop flight from Vienna to the capital Yangon (Rangoon), with a return via Phuket, Thailand. The Burma link brought condemnation in advance from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which put Lauda Air on its blacklist of 325 firms operating in the Asian country. The confederation, representing 157 million workers in 148 countries, accused the airline of supporting the "brutal and repressive military dictatorship". Under a resolution of the International Labour Organization (ILO) of November 2000, international firms should boycott Myanmar due to use slave labour in the country. The confederation said that as well as using slave labour, the regime was guilty of other human rights violations and was involved in money-laundering and opium production. The organization's blacklist includes international names such as American Express, Boeing, Deutsche Bank, Qantas, Nestle, Hyundai and Daewoo. The Austrian Airlines (AUA) Group, which owns Lauda Air, said it was not supporting the regime, but "making a contribution to international understanding among peoples, and a partial opening of markets and travel destinations unknown up until now". _________ Eastday.com (China) November 5 2002 ASEAN countries' investment in Myanmar plunges to zero Investment in Myanmar from member states of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plunged to zero in the first half of 2002, the latest data of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development showed. Such a sharp drop of investment from ASEAN, which used to be Myanmar's largest foreign investor, has never been experienced in the past, it was noted. According to official statistics, Myanmar attracted US$32.28 million of contracted foreign investment from ASEAN members in the first six months of last year, of which Thailand represented US$25.75 million, Singapore 3.53 million, Malaysia and Indonesia 1.5 million each. Besides the sharp drop of ASEAN investment in Myanmar during the first half of this year, the same happened with investment from other countries and regions with US$1.516 million coming from China's Hong Kong only. In sharp contrast, Singapore absorbed foreign direct investment(FDI) of 13 billion dollars in 2001, accounting for 65 percent of ASEAN's total FDI of 20 billion, while Myanmar attracted 58.97 million, representing a negligible 0.29 percent of ASEAN's total FDI during the year. The statistics also showed that during the five years since Myanmar joined the ASEAN in July 1997, Myanmar had brought about atotal of 1,169.5 million dollars' contracted foreign investment, of which ASEAN investment was 673.6 million, accounting for 57.59 percent of the total during the period. Since opening up to foreign investment in late 1988, Myanmar had absorbed a total of 7,399 million dollars of contracted foreign investment, of which ASEAN's took up 3,800 million or 51.35 percent. Major ASEAN investors in Myanmar were lined up as Singapore (1,507 million dollars), Thailand (1,289 million), Malaysia (595 million), taking up 20.36 percent, 17.42 percent and 8.04 percent of the total foreign investment, respectively. The sharp fall of ASEAN investment in Myanmar was inseparable from the negative impact of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Sept.11 terrorist incident, the slowing down of global economic growth and the unfavorable domestic investment environment. Meanwhile, on March 1 this year, the Myanmar government introduced a new measure, which restricted foreign investment by stopping issue of import and export permits to Myanmar-based foreign trading companies. _____REGIONAL______ Irrawaddy November 5 2002 Responsibility for Bombs Lies with the Junta By Aung Zaw November 05, 2002-The Burmese government is continuing to aver that several of its diplomatic missions were delivered parcels rigged with mild explosives over the weekend, while maintaining that the letters originated from dissident groups in Thailand. A senior official from Burma's Embassy in Singapore confirmed that it received a parcel bomb, and said that the they were the work of political groups trying to incite hatred against his government. Similar letters also turned up at Burma's diplomatic posts in both Japan and Malaysia. The Burmese Embassy Counselor in Singapore, Ohn Kyaw, took the opportunity to equate these parcel bombs to acts of terrorism. Shortly after the bomb was defused without harming anybody, he said, "It was an act of terrorist groups which are opposing the Myanmar government, and these groups are based in Thailand." Other regime spokespeople also took the occasion to finger Burmese exiles living in Thailand-including Lt-Col Nyan Linn, from Burma's military intelligence. While addressing a weekly press conference in Rangoon, he said, "This is definitely the work of a dissident terrorist group being harbored there [Thailand] aiming to disrupt peace inside Burma." But did these alleged "terrorists" have any serious intentions of disrupting peace inside Burma? What would their motivations be in sending bombs to Burmese embassies abroad? Singapore police said preliminary investigations of the letter showed it contained a low-grade detonator without any explosives. "Had the letter been opened, it may have caused a mild burn," said a Singaporean police spokesman. Rangoon's claim that the letters were the acts of Thai-based terrorist groups has drawn a skeptical response from senior Thai government officials. Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathi voiced his doubts about the origin of the parcel bombs. However, he and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra later ordered a full investigation. Analysts say that it is quite unlikely that any mainstream opposition group would implement such tactics at this time, given the possible fallout that it could spawn at home and abroad as the international war on terror continues. Opponents in exile went further, saying that the country's military regime is responsible for the parcel bombs as they attempt to discredit the opposition by portraying themselves as the victim of a terrorist attack. Thai-based Burmese democracy and dissident groups say the bombs were staged by the regime in hopes that Thailand would take drastic action against them. Just last week, much to the chagrin of the junta, the UN special rapporteur to Burma, Sergio Paulo Pinheiro, was in Thailand to meet with three Shan groups who released the report "License to Rape", which identifies 625 sexual assaults committed in Burma's Shan State by the Burmese army. Pinheiro, who had completed his third trip to Burma before coming to Thailand, was still in the Kingdom when news of the parcel bombs broke. The likelihood that Burmese dissident groups in Thailand were involved in such endeavors does not seem plausible as they already face mounting pressure from the Thai government to curtail their activities. Could it be border-based insurgents? Doubtful. Their targets are Burmese troops attempting to push them out of their territories along the border, nor do they have the capabilities to successfully send explosives through the international mail. Meanwhile, such allegations from the regime are troubling for the Thai government, which has been busy quelling international fears that Thailand is now home to Islamic fundamentalist terrorist organizations. Burmese analysts and critics of Rangoon, however, feel the generals may indeed have ulterior motives. The regime officially gave their wholehearted backing to the US-led war against terrorism recently, and said they are prepared to join the US government in eradicating global terrorism. However, the US still remains one of the junta's most vocal critics. Senior analysts and Burma watchers in Rangoon say the regime is attempting to prove that they are serious about terrorism in hopes that the US government will ease its sanctions against Burma. So who are the culprits behind these parcel bombs? While skeptics quietly point the finger at the Burmese government and its elements-the regime's opposition says the bombs are most likely the work of the government's intelligence wing. And given the regime's track record this is not as specious as it may sound. In 1989, after a bomb was found in Burma's Embassy compound in Tokyo, the regime was also quick to blame Burmese dissidents. However, after an intensive investigation, Japanese police found that Tun Ngwe, then Counselor of Burma's Embassy in Tokyo, was behind the bomb. Tun Ngwe was later transferred to Germany. In April 1997, a parcel bomb exploded at the home of Lt Gen Tin Oo, who was then Burma's fourth most powerful general, killing his daughter, Cho Lei Oo, when she opened the parcel. The junta immediately accused Burmese dissidents Thomas Gon Aung and Thein Ngwe, who lived in Tokyo at the time, of sending the bomb. However, after yet another thorough investigation by Japanese police, no evidence linking the two to the bomb was ever unearthed. Before the parcel bomb killed Tin Oo's daughter, a bomb exploded at a Kaba Aye pagoda festival in Rangoon just minutes before Tin Oo was set to arrive. Opposition members strongly believed that a rival faction within the junta was targeting Tin Oo, who later died in a helicopter crash in February 2001. Despite the crash occurring during bad weather, many people attributed Tin Oo's death to foul play. Nevertheless, senior Burma watchers say that the latest accusations by the junta show that the generals in Rangoon are desperate to gain entrance to the international stage, perhaps seeing the war on terror as their ticket to ride. However, it is going to take more than a half-baked scheme for the international coalition against terror to take one of the world's most oppressive regime's seriously. _______ Agence France-Presse November 5 2002 Koizumi presses Myanmar to democratise Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he pressed Myanmar military leader Senior General Than Shwe to pursue democracy when they met on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN summit here Tuesday. Koizumi said Than Shwe, the number one in Yangon, had told him that his country was continuing to pursue democracy and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was free to carry out political activities across the country. "Aung San Suu Kyi, he said, is free to engage in political activity in any part of the country... and she has been travelling to various parts of the country for her political activity," Koizumi reported. Koizumi said he told Than Shwe the international community was expecting Myanmar to continue with its democratisation process and nation building for Myanmar to be a success. "And we count on further efforts," Koizumi said. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has drawn leaders from 15 countries for a series of annual summits in Phnom Penh. Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta for more than 40 years and it refused to recognise an overwhelming victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1990 elections, instead confining her to house imprisonment. She was allowed to leave her house and resume political activities in May in what international observers hoped would be the start of Myanmar's return to democracy. However diplomats and observers have been disappointed by the lack of progress. ____OPINION____ International Herald Tribune November 5 2002 The Mekong River as a road to riches By Michael Richardson PHNOM PENH The Mekong River is a broad, brown-colored highway by the time it passes the Cambodian capital on its long journey from the Tibetan plateau in China. Some ships even sail hundreds of kilometers inland from the South China Sea, through the winding channels of the Mekong delta in southern Vietnam, to Phnom Penh to load and unload cargo. Further upriver, the Mekong is far less placid - as French explorers seeking a new and easy trade route into China found to their cost in the 19th century. The Mekong has many local names; one is the River of Rocks. Some formidable rapids and shoals make navigation dangerous and sometimes impossible along stretches of the Mekong in northern Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma and China. Yet that hasn't deterred latter day traders, especially from China and Thailand. They see the river as a road to riches. Despite frequent accidents to boats that hit hazards, trade along the Mekong between China's Yunnan Province and the ports of Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong in Thailand more than doubled to reach nearly $88 million in 2001, from $43 million in 2000. More than 100 vessels regularly ply the route, bringing Chinese products to Thailand, including garments, electrical appliances, processed timber, garlic and apples. On the return journey, they carry Thai rice, seafood, chicken and lychees for sale in Yunnan and adjacent Chinese provinces. This is only a fraction of the trade between Thailand and southern China. The rest goes by sea between Thailand and ports on China's southeast coast. Such cargo takes at least a week to reach its destination, compared to two or three days by river. Shipping goods along the Mekong also costs about one-third less than by sea, according to traders. The lure of increased trade and tourism prompted China, Thailand, Burma and Laos to sign a navigation agreement covering their sections of the Mekong in April 2001. To make the river less hazardous to commercial vessels, they also drew up a plan to remove 11 major rapids and shoals, and 10 scattered reefs, by blasting and dredging along a 331-kilometer (206-mile) stretch between the China-Burma border and Ban Houei Sai in Laos which is opposite Thailand. The aim of the first phase of the Mekong navigation improvement project is to enable vessels of up to 150 tons to pass safely for 95 percent of the year, even during the dry season from November to April when the water level drops. Planned second and third stages were intended to make the river safe for vessels of up to 500 tons. Environmental activists based in Thailand objected to the project, asserting that it could have a wide-ranging and adverse ecological impact. They noted that clearing rapids and reefs, which provide breeding grounds and safe havens for fish, would increase the flow of the river and the risk of erosion, river bank collapse and flooding. Several independent reviews paid for by the Mekong River Commission also found that the project was proceeding too quickly, without adequate studies of the changes it could cause. As a result, the second and third stages have been suspended, commission officials said. Only about 10 percent of the channel clearing for the first phase of the project has been completed. Now the environmentalists find that they have an unlikely new ally - the Thai military. The Mekong forms about 1,000 kilometers of the border between Thailand and Laos. But the river frontier has not yet been defined, and won't be at least until 2003. To do so, both sides have to agree on the thalweg - a technical term for the middle of the main navigable channel of a waterway that forms the boundary between states. Thai military officials say that faster flowing water from clearing the Mekong channel upsteam could change the course of the thalweg and complicate the negotiations with Laos. As a result, Thailand has indicated that its participation in the project is on hold. "It's safer and better to leave the river untouched until Thailand and Laos demarcate the area," one Thai official said. International Herald Tribune ____________ Bangkok Post November 5 2002 Continuing failure to confront Burma Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra correctly took the problem of security to Phnom Penh for the Asean summit. Terrorists have attacked the region and taken root. But the biggest security threat to Thailand remains the huge influx of drugs, both into and through the country. Drug abuse and its twin problems of a ruined generation and massive corruption also threaten many of our neighbours. It is curious and irritating, then, to see Mr Thaksin proceed to Phnom Penh only to avoid any discussion on the biggest drug menace to Thailand. He went armed with maps of opium cultivation to present to his Burmese counterpart. His plan is to discuss the location of opium fields so Burma can act against them. Thailand will stand ready to help Rangoon if that country seriously wants to help farmers stop growing opium and sow other, more profitable cash crops. This is not a bad idea _ but it is spectacularly unimaginative and dangerously outdated. Mr Thaksin will not be the first to show accurate maps of opium cultivation to the Rangoon generals. Both the United Nations and the United States have been making such information available to Rangoon on a regular basis. Many satellite maps are freely available on the internet. To its credit, Rangoon has moved against many opium farmers in the past two years. In fact, a crackdown on opium farming actually has helped Rangoon achieve its racist programme to move the Shan out of the hills area of the north in order to move in settlers from the Wa minority. This brings up the real drug problem faced by Thailand, and Mr Thaksin's inexplicable failure to confront it. The Wa, specifically their Rangoon-friendly United Wa State Army, have become the biggest drug dealers in Asia. They deal in heroin, for certain. But the main product of their huge and profitable drug trafficking enterprise is methamphetamines. Speed kills, and the methamphetamine tablets produced by the Wa are extremely dangerous to Thailand. Thai officials know who produces the drugs, who sells it, who smuggles it into Thailand. Yet, for complicated if unacceptable reasons, the Thaksin government has completely reversed both its foreign and its drug policies. Neither Mr Thaksin nor any member of his cabinet has mentioned the existence of methamphetamines for more than six months. Last year, the prime minister sponsored and spoke at a large drugs seminar that correctly identified methamphetamine trafficking, once again, as the biggest threat to Thai security. This year's follow-up seminar was remarkable for its lack of any discussion on the subject. Army officers indiscreet enough to mention Burma-based drug trafficking of methamphetamines have been quickly and publicly replaced. This policy decision not to confront the Burmese generals over their drug-smuggling allies is curious given the lack of achievement. To many, the refusal to face Rangoon on the subject has gained nothing. Burma recently reopened some Thai border crossings but trade between Thai and Burmese companies remains banned. Nor has Rangoon restored any privileges removed during past confrontations. When Mr Thaksin swept to power in such a convincing manner last year, one of the top planks in his policy platform was a strong war on drugs. This made excellent sense because of the major threats posed to Thailand by drug traffickers. It is time for the prime minister to explain to the country why he has changed _ some say abandoned _ his vigorous campaign against smuggling and the sale of methamphetamines. The threat from heroin trafficking is serious but small when compared with speed tablets. The country would like to know why Mr Thaksin has backed off and is refusing to address the problem of methamphetamines.