------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: April 29,1996
Issue #394

Noted in Passing:

                We are going to smash them. - Kyaw Ba, SLORC
                Minister for Hotels and Tourism, on the KNPP.
                (see THE NATION: KHUN SA WILL NOT FACE COURT,
                ADMITS RANGOON)

HEADLINES:
==========
THE NATION: SLORC, NLD TRAPPED IN A STALEMATE
THE NATION: BURMA LEVELS ACCUSATION AT SUU KYI FRIEND
BKK POST: BURMESE REBELS MAY RESUME FIGHTING
THE NATION: PEPSI CO BURMA PULLOUT A FACADE, CLAIMS ACTIVISTS
BKK POST: BURMA EARNS DISTRUST BY CHOICE TO PROFIT KHUN SA
THE NATION: KHUN SA WILL NOT FACE COURT, ADMITS RANGOON
THE NATION: PTT, BURMA CONTRACT DUE IN JUNE
THE NATION: SUNWOOD PLANS BURMA PLANTS FURNITURE EXPORTER
BKK POST:DRUG FEAR RISE AS KHUN SA STARTS BUS FIRM
BKK POST:KAREN RENEGADES ROB TAK COMMUNITY AT GUNPOINT
THE NATION:BOYCOTT AGAINST PEPSI TO STAND WITHIN BURMA
THE NATION:BURMA: UNDER THE RED CARPET A MORAL MINEFIELD
THE NATION:BOYCOTT FAILS TO STEM SURGE IN TOURISTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE NATION: SLORC, NLD TRAPPED IN A STALEMATE
April 29,1996
Philip McClellan, AFP

Nine month after Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house
arrest, Burma's government and opposition are locked in a
stalemate from which neither side seems willing to back down.

In public the ruling junta has down-played the significance
of the popular opposition leader, but has repeatedly
harangued her in the official media as an "internal
destructionist" bent on undermining state stability.

"She is speaking nonsense ... and is power crazy," senior
junta member Lt-Gen Kyaw Ba, who is also minister for hotels
and tourism, said on Friday.

"In Myanmar [Burma] we have a saying: 'When the lice jump,
dust is not going to fly'," he said when asked if the junta
was worried about Aung San Suu Kyi's popularity and influence
across the country.

"It has become clear that the Slorc has no intention of
changing its game plan," said one Rangoon-based analyst,
referring to the State Law and Order Restoration Council, as
the junta is officially known.

That game plan, he said, consisted of ignoring the opposition's calls
for dialogue and slowly hardening its position against Aung San Suu
Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD).  NLD
members have complained increasingly about what they see as a growing
pattern of harassment against them.

The most recent example was the arrest earlier this month of
Leo Nichols, a close friend of Aung San Suu Kyi. A number of
NLD members and supporters have received heavy prison
sentences in the past few months for what the party has
claimed were peaceful political activities.

In a recorded message played before the UN Commission of
Human Rights in Geneva on April 17, Aung San Suu Kyi said
that "lawless methods were being used to repress and harass"
NLD members and supporters.

"These cases are merely the tip of an iceberg of harassment
and repression that is going on throughout the whole country," she said.

The NLD has also made moves to up the political ante and is now
calling for the immediate convening of  a parliament _ to be attended
by MPs elected in 1990 polls which were overwhelmingly won by the NLD.

"Since the NLD left the National Convention back in November, it has been
obvious that they will not deal with Slorc on Slorc's terms," a diplomat said.

The National Convention, aimed at drawing up a new constitution for
the country, was denounced by Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD
as a sham designed to legitimise the junta's grip on power.

Aung San Suu Kyi remains widely popular with the people of
Burma and her speeches outside her home continue to draw up
to 2,000 people every weekend.

"That fact that the Slorc lets her hold her meetings on Saturdays and
Sundays is a measure of their confidence in controlling the situation,"
one diplomat said.

However, even if the junta is confident enough to allow the meetings
to continue, the gatherings are clearly an irritant to the authorities.

In Bangkok, the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)
claimed yesterday that the junta's armed forces have more
than doubled since 1988. Numbering 186,000 in 1988, the Slorc
now has a combined military strength of 400,000, according to
the ABSDF, which is Burma's main student opposition group.

Information of how Slorc has "hoodwinked the international
community" by "extending its military might with a low
profile" was provided by a Burmese military captain who
recently defected from the Slorc forces, the ABSDF said.

***************

THE NATION: BURMA LEVELS ACCUSATION AT SUU KYI FRIEND
April 29,1996
Reuters

Burma's military government accused an arrested businessman
of providing financial aid to opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi and of communicating with the nation's enemies.

James Leander Nichols, 65, an Anglo-Burmese, was arrested
earlier this month for using nine telephones and two fax
machines without permission from the Burmese Post and
Telecommunication Department.

"The broadcasting stations claim that he [Nichols] is well
acquainted with the democratic stunt actress," Burmese
official media said yesterday in a reference to Aung San Suu Kyi.

"But he is not a true acquaintance. He is providing general
expenses of the democracy stunt actress," said the media
commentary, entitled "Turn back or face more embarrassment".

He has also provided assistance from entertainment expenses
to hiring a gardener at Suu Kyi's residence, the commentary
said. But it said the arrest of Nichols was not because he
was well acquainted with Suu Kyi or was providing her
assistance, but because he had violated Burmese law.

"He has installed telephone lines and fax illegally and has
much contacts with the countries which are applying pressure
to Burma through various means and opposing it," the commentary said.

Nichols is widely known as a close friend of Suu Kyi, who was
released from six years of house arrest last July after being
detained for her out-spoken criticism of the military rulers,
the State Law and Order Restoration Council.

Democracy supporters in Rangoon said Nichols had lent a car
to Suu Kyi but had no financial ties to her National League for Democracy
party.

***************

BKK POST: BURMESE REBELS MAY RESUME FIGHTING
April 29,1996
By Suthep Chaviwan

Minority groups will hold secret talks in Burma early in May
to decide if they are to receive their armed struggle against
the Rangoon junta, a source said yesterday.

The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council has
dragged its feet in peace talks in which certain groups have
been excluded, he said.

The slow progress indicated the military regime was being
less than honest in the negotiations, he said. About 150 key
members of the Democratic Alliance of Burma and the National
Council of the Union of Burma will attend the minority talks,
said Col Kyaw Hla, joint secretary for Foreign Affairs of the alliance.

Five representatives from each of the 21 alliance groups will
gather from May 8-10 in a liberated zone. Former members of
the alliance, including the Kachin Independence Organisation
and the New Mon State Party, which have reached a peace
agreement with the junta, are welcome as observers, he said.

Col Kyaw Hla, chairman of the Muslim Liberation Organisation of Burma,
also said a national council congress from May 31 will decide if the fight
is to resume.

Peace talks with the Slorc, he said, are likely to fail as it
has never shown a genuine intention to bring about peace.

The Slorc is understood to be using a divide and rule
strategy. After reaching a peace agreement with Mon and
Kachin rebels, it delayed talks with the Karen National Union
and stepped up assaults on Karenni rebels.

Rebel groups remain armed and could launch a guerrilla
campaign throughout the country following the secret talks,
he said. Meanwhile, s senior monk in Chon Buri said the conflict
between the mainly Christian Karen National Union and the
Rangoon-backed Democratic Karen Buddhist Organisation can be solved.

Pointing out that the union is led by Gen Bo Mya, a Christian, he said a
number of Karen Buddhists had been ordained at his temple.

***************

THE NATION: PEPSI CO BURMA PULLOUT A FACADE, CLAIMS ANTI-
SLORC ACTIVIST GROUPS
April 27, 1996

MADISON, Wisconsin-Supporter of Burma's democracy movement
have lashed out at Pepsi's claim to have exited Burma,
calling it a cynical public relation exercise that
internationally misrepresents the facts." We refuse to
swallow Pepsi's lies about its Burma operations and its ties
to the military junta," says Free Burma Coalition(FBC)
organiser Zar Ni. They claim they are leaving Burma, but they
are not. This is nothing more than some paper shuffling. The
situation on the ground in Burma is absolutely unchanged.
there's a lot of anger out here."

In response, the FBC has announced an international hunger
strike aimed at Pepsi and the small number of multinational
companies, including Unocal, Texaco, Arco and Heineken, that
prop up the military regime. The hunger strike will begin on
Oct 4 on campuses and in cities world-wide. Other action will
target Pepsi annual shareholders meeting, scheduled for May 1
at PepsiCo headquarters in Purchase, New York, where sharp
questions from disgruntled stockholders are expected.

Pepsi has been criticised by a net work of 100 college and
high school campus groups, and 40 independent organisations
from 15 countries, as well as Burma's democratic leader in
exile. Student activists at Harvard recently succeeded in
scuttling a $1 million (Bt 25 million) Pepsi contract due to
Pepsi's unwillingness to address questions about ties to
force labour in Burma. Also, 2000 Stanford students blocked a
purposed(Pepsi owned)Taco bell restaurant from opening on
their campus.

I urge the international media not to accept Pepsi's public
relations claims at face value, but to took at the facts of
their presence in Burma," said exiled Burmese Prime minister
Dr Sein Win of the National Coalition Government of the Union
of Burma(NCGUB). He was elected representative of Aung San
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which won
landslide victory in Burma's 1990 elections that the military
has refused to honour. Pepsi's presence strengthens the
Burmese military junta and undermines the democracy movement.

Pepsi claims that its Burmese partner, Thein Tun, is a
"private entrepreneur". In fact, he is chairman of a joint
venture with the military called JV3 and was chosen by Pepsi
because of his close military connections.

Pepsi claims that it" competes with the government" in the
soft drink business. In fact, the military, which controls
all aspects of business and the economy, has essentially
granted Pepsi a monopoly in the Burmese market, where Pepsi
now has a 90 percent market share. In turn, Pepsi sponsors
international trade fairs where the junta woos other foreign
investors, and Pepsi funds youth and sports activities
organised by the military. Pepsi's support of  the military
regime has been consistent and steadfast.

Pepsi is a major contributor to the Union Solidarity and
Development Association (USDA), the junta- sponsored
"patriotic organisation". Novel Peace Price wining Burmese
Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose NLD has been subject
to rising violence and intimidation, this week compared the
USDA to "Hitler's brown shirt," saying " I want the whole
world to know that the USDA is being used to crush the
democratic movement."

Pepsi also purchases agricultural products in Burma to sell
abroad as a method of repatriating its profits. With forced
labour pervasive in the agricultural sector, activists are
concern that Pepsi purchases are connected to force labour.
Pepsi has resisted 18 months of requests for details of its
agricultural transactions.

"Pepsi's hypocrisy regarding Burma is positively sickening"
says Burma specialist Larry Dohrs. (TN)

********************************************

BKK POST: BURMA EARNS DISTRUST BY CHOICE TO PROFIT
KHUN SA
April 29,1996

The official decision by Rangoon that is will neither punish
nor extradite the world's most infamous heroin trafficker is
disappointing, to say the least. The announcement that Khun
Sa now was free to live as he wants files in the face of previous
promises by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc).

It puts into question even the small amount of credibility
Rangoon had tried to establish in combatting the heroin
trade. Clearly, the Burmese junta cannot be trusted in an
international effort against drugs traffickers.

The question remains as to why Burma went back on its word to
prosecute Khun Sa. Up until this year, the regime had
referred to the self-styled Shan leader as a "criminal" and
said he must face Burmese justice.

Now, it is a different story from Slorc spokesman and
minister for hotels and tourism Lt-Gen Kyaw Ba. "We must
forgive Khun Sa since he has surrendered," said the general
late last week. "Let bygones be bygones."

This would be a wonderful policy for a peaceful country. It
is too bad Slorc applies the policy only to Khun Sa. If it
were to apply the same virtuous feelings towards Aung San Suu
Kyi, Burma would be better off for it.

Mrs Suu Kyi, however, has never broken a law, unlike Khun Sa,
who has supplied heroin to a generation of people around the
world and inside Burma. Mrs Suu Kyi has called for national
reconciliation, while Khun Sa has spent his life fighting
national governments in his country, in Thailand and abroad.

The circumstances of Khun Sa's surrender to Rangoon last
January remain murky. There is also little news about the
fate of the heroin warlord _ except, of course, that it is to
be a happy life for him.

Early reports said that Khun Sa, thanks to the huge bribes he
paid to one or more generals of the Slorc, was living in
Rangoon and setting up private businesses.

Lt-Gen Kyaw Ba said Khun Sa is living "as a free man" in the
Shan State. According to the general, Khun Sa will not live
in the capital until after the Burmese military has wrapped
up, the remnants of the Mong Tai army once under the heroin
trafficker's command.

Members of the Mong Tai Army have no money, so there is to be
forgiveness for them. Instead, their movement is to be crushed.
Its leaders arrested. For good measure, Lt-Gen Kyaw Ba warned
Karenni rebels in eastern Kayah state near the frontier with
Thailand. "We are going to smash them," the general said.
This has been the Slorc policy along its border since it
seized power in a coup in 1988. The choices given to ethnic
rebels has been clear: surrender or die.

Next month marks the sixth year since Burma held open and
clean national elections. Voters decided to be ruled by Mrs
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Since then, Burmese have been waiting for their elected government
to take its place.  Slorc has simply refused to recognise the elections _
which it organised in the first place. The reason is simple.

Slorc fears the Burmese people, and will use all violence
necessary to stay in power. Its deal with Khun Sa appears as
easy to penetrate: the drug dealer's vast millions have bought his freedom.

The Rangoon regime continues to ignore even the rudiments of
justice in its control of Burma. This is why it is frustrating to hear
what is effectively support for Slorc from businessmen and others.

Particularly ill-timed was a statement by the American
Chamber of Commerce in Thailand last week. The chamber,
according to its directory, had called on Washington to
promote business and trade with Burma.

This poorly conceived statement would have been vulgar at
almost any time. coming as it did immediately after American
citizens had pressured PepsiCo into selling off its
investment in Burma merely emphasised the split between the
American businessmen and many of its own citizens.

Rangoon's  admission it will reward Khun Sa for his decades
of heroin trafficking and terrorism speaks volumes. Burma had
promised to cooperate with neighbours in fighting the drug invasion.

That promise lies in tatters, along with its promise to hold
and abide by elections nearly six years ago. The past statements
by toadies and businessmen that Burma should be judged by its
actions and sincerity were correct. Slorc has shown no pity to its
citizens, and no commitment to living up to promises to its neighbours.
Khun Sa is the latest symbol of the trust Slorc has earned. (BP)

***************

THE NATION: KHUN SA WILL NOT FACE COURT, ADMITS RANGOON
OFFICIAL
April 27, 1996
Agence France-Press

RANGOON - former opium warlord Khun Sa, who surrendered to
the Burmese Government in January, is a free man and will not
be tried for his crimes, a senior junta official said yesterday.

"We must forgive him since he has surrendered and given no
problems and handed his arms over to the government", Lt Gen
Kyaw Ba, Minister for hotels and tourism, said in an interview.

Let bygones be bygones, that is the motto of the Burmese
people," he said." he has given up all his drug refineries
and is not creating any problems."

Kyaw Ba denied reports Khun Sa was currently living in
Rangoon and said the former drug lord was living as a "free
man" in north-eastern Shan state, where he used to preside
over what US authorities said was the world's largest opium-
producing operation.

Khun Sa will not be tried by Burmese authorities, nor will he
be extradited to the United States, which has demanded that
he be handed over to face a US court on charges of drug
trafficking. Washington has placed  $2 million(Bt 50 million)
price tag on Khun Sa's head.

Burmese minister said Khun Sa will come to live in Rangoon
once the Burmese army moped up the last remnants of his Mong
Tai Army (MTA)still holding out in Shan state.

He put the number of MTA renegades at 2000 and said that 15,000
fighters from the Shan independence force had already surrendered.

Kyaw Ba said Burmese forces had overrun all bases held by ethnic
Karenni rebels in eastern Kayah state near the frontier with Thailand.
He said current operations were aimed at cleaning up Karenni resistance
in the border area, which he said would take from three to four months.

"If they don't surrender, we are going to fight them. We are
going to smash them," he said.

Burmese operations against the Karenni, which have been
stepped up since Khun Sa's surrender in January, began almost
a year ago shortly  after a cease-fire agreement gave the
ethnic group limited autonomy in Kayah state.

Kyaw Ba declined to say how many troops were battling the
Karenni, but sources from the ethnic group have said that
Rangoon has thrown some 4000 soldiers into the offensive,
while the rebels had 1,000 men under arms.(TN)

***************

THE NATION: PTT, BURMA CONTRACT DUE IN JUNE
April 29,1996
Pichaya Changsorn

The Petroleum Authority of Thailand is expected to sign
Thailand's second natural gas import contract in June with
the developers of the Yetagun gas field in Burma, led by US-
based Texaco Inc.

Anon Sirisaengtaksin, PTT Gas's senior vice president, said
PTT and the Yetagun gas developers have reached agreement in
principal over the price and other major conditions for the
gas contract, although some conditions are still left to be finalised.

"The talks should be finished by the end of May and a
memorandum of understanding will certainly be signed in June," he
said. With the confirmed gas reserves of 1.1 trillion
cubic feet, the Yetagun gas field will produce 200 cubic feet
per day (cbd) of gas for export to Thailand from 1999.

Include in the gas purchase package is a proposal for PTT
Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP), the petroleum
exploration arm of PTT, tot take a 15 per cent stake in the
Yetagun gas development consortium, which is led by Texaco.

Declining to disclose the agree cost, Anon said the price and
its formula should be similar to the Yadana Gas Contract. PTT
signed a gas purchase contract in February to import 525 cbd
of gas from Burma's Yadana field, which is being developed by
a consortium consisting of Total of France, Unocal of the US and PTTEP.

The Yadana has price was concluded at US$ (Bt75) per million
British thermal units of gas in 1988 when the purchases
start. However, the actual price will be subject to economic
indices and other factors as stipulated in the contract.

Under Thailand's first gas import contract, the Yadana gas
will begin supplying natural gas in 1998 to feed the
Electricity generating Authority of Thailand's power plant in
Ratchaburi, which is under construction.

The Yetagun gas developers will have to lay down a gas
transmission pipeline to connect the field to the Yadana gas
pipeline on the Thai-Burmese border near Ban-I-Tong in
Thailand's Kanchanaburi province.

After the Yetagun deal is completed, PTT will start
negotiating for additionals gas from the Yadana field, as
proposed by the Burmese side. Thailand expects to purchase an
additional 150 cbd from Yadana field, according to Anon.

Asked why PTTEP is expected to hold only 15 per cent in the
Yetagun field despite its 30 per cent share in Yadana, Anon
said that unlike the Yadana field, in which PTTEP was
involved before the developer was awarded the production
sharing contract (PSC) by the Burmese government, the Yetagun
developer has already signed a PSC with the government.

Anon said the Burmese government has made positive gestures
towards the proposal for PTTEP to hold a stake in the Yetagun field.

*********************************************

THE NATION: SUNWOOD PLANS BURMA PLANTS, FURNITURE
EXPORTER IMPROVING SUPPLY
April 27,1996  (abridged)

SUNWOOD Industries Plc's holding company, the Sunti Forestry
group, will establish its first high- technology teak wood
factories in Burma.

The investment will provide a secure supply of quality teak
furniture parts for Sun, Thailand's largest exporter of teak
wood furniture, according to Thaveesak Vayakornvichitr, Sun
managing director.

The two new factories will be Burma 's first direct foreign
investment in the country's downstream wood industry.
The government has granted investment promotional incentives
to the Sunti group 's project which has a total investment
cost of almost Bt200 million.

Established more than 25 years ago, Sunti Forestry Group is
one of the world's leading exporter of teak wood furniture.
Sun, listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, has seen it
sales revenues increase consistently from US$2.59 million(Bt
64.75 million) in 1995 to $10.66 million in 1990, and to
$14.16 million last year. It major export markets are the
United States, Europe and Japan.

Thaveesak said the two factories in Burma will be equipped
with modern machinery from Europe to control production costs
and produce the increasing amount of furniture parts required
by Sun's assemble and finishing plants in Thailand.

****************

BKK POST: DRUG FEAR RISE AS KHUN SA STARTS BUS FIRM
April 26,1996
Reuters, AFP

Drug baron Khun Sa has won the right to operate a bus company
in Burma but Thai narcotics agents said yesterday they were
worried he would move heroin as well as passengers in his buses.

One Khun Sa's aides,  who has remained loyal since his
surrender in January, said his boss had been awarded a
concession to operate a bus service as well as other enterprises.

"He won a concession to operate 300 passenger buses and cars
throughout Burma. The buses and cars are to be imported from
Singapore and Japan,"the aide said.He said Khun Sa's business
headquarters was in the Shan State capital of Taunggyi.

Khun Sa, who had earlier won a concession to operate a ruby
mine near Shan State town of Mong Hus, also acquired a
licence to import and export goods from China and elsewhere, he said.

But a Thai narcotics police officer was special about the
possibility that Khun Sa had given up illicit activities.
"Every business that Khun Sa is involved in is linked to
heroin trafficking and money laundering," he said.

"We learned about his land transport concession some time ago
and we're monitoring it. We believe that the heroin coming
out of refineries in Shan State will be transported on his
buses along with passengers," said the agent.

* The leader of Burma's military government, Senior General
and Prime Minister Than Shwe, is to pay an official visit to
Cambodia next month, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry said.

"This will be an official and friendly visit at the
invitation of the co-prime ministers," said ministry
spokesman Hor Sothoun. "The agenda is not set yet, but
usually these visits do not exceed two or three days."

The general is expected to arrive in Phnom Penh in late May,
Hor Sothoun said. Than Shwe played host to Cambodia's First
Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh in January when the two
countries formally extended one another diplomatic recognition.

Burma's ambassador to Laos has been accredited by Cambodia,
and the Cambodian ambassador in Vientiane is expected shortly
to be accredited in Rangoon.

During Prince Ranariddh's visit, Cambodian and Burmese
officials compared notes on attracting foreign investment,
especially as it relates to tourism development projects and
infrastructure improvement. (BP)

***************

BKK POST: KAREN RENEGADES ROB TAK COMMUNITY AT GUNPOINT
April 26,1996

Karen renegades robbed a headman and five other villagers of
goods worth 40,000 baht early yesterday in Tak Province.
The 15-strong Democratic Karen Buddhist Army unit, with
assault rifles and grenades, also forced two Tha Song Yang
villagers to carry some of their loot to the border.

Police said the renegades raided Ban Panorti, Tambon Mae Lah,
at 3 a.m. and took 19,000 baht and valuables worth 23,000
baht from headman Chaepho Dikarawa, Su Kana, Kham-maio
Khamchan and two men identified only as Mr Jakhee and Mr
Musao. Mr Jakhee and Mr Musao were forced to carry sacks of
rice and preserved food for the renegades.

Villagers in Tha Song Yang have complained that security
officials cannot protect them from the renegades. As night
falls, children, women and the elderly leave the villages and
return in the morning.

At noon yesterday, about 10 armed intruders from Burma
crossed the border into Maw Kier camp in Phop Phra to
intimidate Karen refugees and steal rice and other food supplies.

Fourth Infantry Regiment commander Col Suvit Maenmuan has
called a meeting with representatives of six NGOs helping
border villagers to warn of deteriorating security conditions.

Col Suvit said there have been 43 reported attacks on border
villages by foreign intruders in the past six months, most of
them involving the DKBA. The renegades had been backed by the
State Law and Order Restoration Council in Rangoon, which
claimed it ordered a halt to their cross-border raids.

Tak Provincial Council chairman Yong Yakhamna said the use of
war weapons in Tha Song Yang, Mae Ramat, Mae Sot, Phop Phra
and Umphang districts was widespread because they were available and cheap.

* Thirteen Burmese girls and young women who were sold into
prostitution have been rescued in two police raids.

Eight girls, among them a 12-year-old, who were found in the
Hong Hao massage parlour on South Sathorn Road, Bangkok, told
police they were forced to provide sex services.

In the raid, Prasert Duriyangprasert, 61, was charged with
importing illegal immigrants, and Boontavee Wongprasert, 45,
with harbouring them. Later, police found five Burmese girls
in a house in Village 6, Eakchai Road, Bang Khun Thian. (BP)

***************

THE NATION: BOYCOTT AGAINST PEPSI TO STAND WITHIN BURMA
April 26,1996 AFP

PepsiCo Inc's Burmese franchise will face a continued boycott
inside the country, despite a move by the US parent company
to pull out of the joint venture, a Burmese opposition group said yesterday.

"The profit from that company will continue going into the
hands of the Slorc," an All Burma Students' Democratic Front
(ABSDF) source in Bangkok said, referring to the Burmese
junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council.

"Slorc extensively uses slave labour on its economic
projects. This includes commercial farming projects that may
be the source of the farm products that PepsiCo exports from
Burma," an ABSDF statement cited the co-ordinator of Free
Burma as saying.

Foreign investors have to buy grains and pulses for export in
order to get their returns in hard currencies due to
restrictions and because the black-market rate for the local
currency, the kyat, is 20 times the official exchange rate.

The Free Burma campaign co-ordinates a coalition of groups
around the world, modelled on the anti-apartheid movement
against the former government in South Africa. More than 75
colleges and universities in the United States are
represented in the coalition, and its activities recently
contributed to Pepsi's loss of a million-dollar contract to
supply them dining halls at Harvard University.

Pepsi bowed to growing public pressure and municipal
legislation against companies doing business in Burma this
week by arranging to sell its 40 per cent stake in Pepsi Cola
Products Myanmar to the local owners.

"We are very encouraged by this international campaign for
Burma. The is why we decided to act locally," an ABSDF
statement quoted a high school student from Mandalay as saying.

Burma's domestic boycott started in Mandalay _ which has the
country's second largest concentration of young people _
spread to other cities and would intensify when schools and
colleges opened again in May, ABSDF said.

"We realise how the Pepsi and other foreign investments are
collaborating with the military regime in suppressing our
struggle for democracy and human rights," but the campaign
would be very risky, the student was cited as saying. (TN)

***************

THE NATION: BURMA: UNDER THE RED CARPET A MORAL MINEFIELD
April 26,1995
Foreigners should be aware of the sacrifices Burmese are
making for Visit Myanmar Year, Aung Zaw writes.

Long-isolated Burma has a lot to offer tourists; beautiful beaches,
magnificent temple ruins and a traditionally friendly population.

It is also home to one of the world's most vilified governments, the
State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc). This beauty and the
best dichotomy has created a bitter international debate as Burma
prepares to launch Visit Myanmar Year.

Opponents of the regime are urging foreigners to boycott the
country.  Meanwhile, tourism promoters call on people to visit
Burma and spread around much needed money and foreign influence.

Visit Myanmar Year is full of such conflicts and contradictions, one
of the main ones being that the government doesn't appear to
particularly like foreigners and is constantly warning the population
to be on guard against foreign ideas and foreign troublemakers.

The government has thrown open the gates of the country to
tourists but at the same time continues to eject tourists who
stray off the prepared path.

In January a group of foreign cyclists travelling through the
provinces were stopped by local security forces and sent back
to Rangoon. They were told it was illegal to travel independently.

Another 12 tourists who travelled to northern Kachin state
were forced to board a plane back to Rangoon. In January and
February, Tourism Minister Kyaw Ba refused to grant landing
rights to two tour groups from the United States. The
American tourists, according to sources, were planning to see
dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon.

For the international visitor, Burma presents numerous
physical difficulties. The government was forced to scale
down its original target of 500,000 visitors when it was
pointed out that the number of airplane seats to Burma was
less than half of that. Besides, a new train station, airports and
many other hotel projects won't be completed until 1997.

Travellers to Burma also face several moral questions, most
of which concern various allegedly ugly acts committed by the
junta in the name of "beautification of the country for tourists."

In January, UN human rights investigator Professor Yozo
Yokota said in a report that Burma may be using forced labour
to restore landmarks for foreign tourists in an effort to
promote Visit Myanmar Year. Yokota cited allegations that
Burma is using forced labour to restore such tourists sites
as Mandalay Palace and upgrade the country's railways.

Some analysts have estimated more that than two million
"slave labourers", including children, have suffered as a
result of the junta's "beautification campaign".

One recent visitor to Mandalay Palace recalled talking to a
man who was forced to do labour. "He was an old man, about 60
from a village north Mandalay. Five thousand villagers were
conscripted for 10 days shifts with no pay. They had to bring
their own tools, blankets, mats firewood, cooking implements
and food. They had to work from 7.30 am to 5.00 pm."

In front of the Mandalay Palace, men, women and children,
guarded by armed soldiers, were being forced to work and
clean up roads and buildings. Their only payment was a midday
meal. "The army will justify anything in the name of
'beautification' for the tourists," the visitor noted.

A few weeks ago, travel agencies, tour operators and tourists
in London were urged to boycott Burma. Burma Action Group and
Tourism Concern, two organisations based in London, launched
the boycott with an "Alternative Guide" that documents forced
labour, relocation of communities and savage beatings of
workers conscripted to do work for Visit Myanmar Year.

A tourist who travelled to Chaung Tha village in the
Irrawaddy delta region last year said he witnessed such
military-style development.

"Troops moved in and took over large tracts of land to be
used for a resort. Coconut plantations adjacent to the beach
were confiscated. A compensation of 1,000 kyat for each
coconut tree was promised to the farmers."

In fact, only 350 kyat was paid. Vegetable farms behind the
coconut plantations were also confiscated, although their
owners were not given compensation.

Houses located near to the beach or town centre were ordered
to pay a minimum of 15,000 kyat or face eviction. Chaung Tha
is a small village populated mostly by poor farmers.

Those who have been evicted are relocated to a forest
plantation near the village of Shaw Bya. There is no
infrastructure, roads, electricity or potable water. In fact,
there is no way for them to earn a living.

Burma's opposition leader Suu Kyi has welcomed tourists but
advises them to "come and visit Burma when it is free."

While definitely a minority, some tour operators have also
asked themselves similar questions. At the recent Pata
conference in Pattaya, John Gray of Sea Canoe Thailand Co
said, "We want to be there. Burma's got some of the best
canoeing country and there are a lot of good people in Burma
we want to help," he said.

"But we're caught up in a quandary. Can we morally set up a
business as long as the present human rights situation is not
accepted by our clients."? (TN)

***************

THE NATION: BOYCOTT FAILS TO STEM SURGE IN TOURISTS
April 26,1996 AP

Despite attempts to persuade tourists to shun Burma because
of its suppression of democracy and human rights, visitors
are flocking to the exotic, military-run nation in record numbers.

Asian investors have sunk more than US$ 1 billion into hotel
construction, and Western travel agents are touting Burma _
an ancient land of spectacular temples and scenery _ as a
"hot, new product."

Delegates to the annual conference of the Pacific Asia Travel
Association, one of the world's largest tourism
organisations, say the boycott hasn't proved a problem and
generally praise Burmese efforts in opening up the once
hermit nation.

One of the themes of this year's conference, which ended
yesterday, was to promote the six Mekong River nations as
"Asia's last tourism frontier." The countries include Burma,
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the southern Chinese
province of Yunnan.

"We are quite confident in what we are doing. We are trying
hard to please our guests so we can have a good image and so
have even more guests," said Tin Pe, a Burmese tourism
official at the meeting. "We are open-hearted, even to those
who boycott us."

The deputy general manager of the Myanmar Hotel and Tourism
Services said about 100,000 tourists came to Burma _ renamed
Myanmar by the military regime _ in 1995, up by nearly 100
per cent from three years earlier.

The boycott was sparked by the government's announcement of a
"Visit Myanmar Year" in 1996. Loosely organised, the call to
keep away from Burma is largely advocated by human rights
groups in the United States and Europe.

Some university students in the United States are also
pressing consumers not to buy products of American companies
doing business in Burma, including the oil company Unocal.

The military regime, which came to power in 1988, has been
widely criticised for suppressing all political dissent,
brutality against ethnic minorities and failure to honour
results of a 1990 election won by a pro-democracy party led
by Aung San Suu Kyi.

In an earlier interview the Nobel Peace prize winner urged
tourists to avoid Burma until more progress towards democracy
is made. She also criticised the government for building
hotels rather than schools and hospitals.

The government, however, hopes to attract up to half a
million tourists during "Visit Myanmar Year," which
officially opens Nov 18 but has in effect been promoted as
such since this Jan, 1. Privately, Burmese officials say they
don't expect more than 200,000 _ which is still double last
year's number.

Members of the San Francisco-based Pata praised Burmese
authorities from improving customs and immigration
procedures, constructing quality hotels and opening up large
areas of the country once off-limits to foreigners.

Although some journalists are barred from entry, tourists can
obtain visas in as short a time as ten minutes and visa fees
have been reduced from $18 to $10. Hotel room rates have also
dropped, by as much as 50 per cent from 1995 as investors
from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong
construct new hotels. (TN)

*****************************************************

AP-DOW JONES: NKK TO SUPPLY PIPING FOR BURMA PIPELINE
April 25, 1996
From: Imre Der <ider@mail.datanet.hu>

   TOKYO (AP-Dow Jones)--NKK Corp., Japan's second-largest
steelmaker, received an order through Mitsubishi Corp. to
supply 145,000 tons of 36-inch diameter pipes for a natural
gas pipeline linking Burma to Thailand, a company spokesman
said Thursday.
   NKK will supply the piping for the entire offshore portion
of the pipeline, which is 350 kilometers long, the NKK spokesman
said. The pipeline's total length is 420 kilometers.
   'I can't say how much we'll get for the pipes, but it's a
very large order for us,' the NKK spokesman said.
   A consortium of companies, including France's Total SA, Unocal
of the U.S., Burma's MOGE, and Thailand's P.T.T., is overseeing
the Burma-Thailand natural gas pipeline installation.
   NKK will supply the pipes from July 1996 to March 1997, the
spokesman added.
   Once the pipeline is installed, natural gas from Thailand can
be pumped to Burma, NKK said.
   On the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday, NKK shares ended the
session 5 yen higher at 334.

************************************************

BKK POST: KAREN PIRATES RELEASE EIGHT THAI TRAWLERS
April 24, 1996

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: This article is not exactly accurate.  The pirates
are members of the Arakanese Army, which is based in Arakan State
in Western Burma but also operates in the waters off of Tenasserim Division.
The Arakanese pay a fee to Karen in the area in return for being able to
move about in these waters.]

KAREN pirates have released eight Thai trawlers and their crews after
each owner paid a 1.5 million baht ransom, according to fisheries sources
in Phuket. The move follows a week of negotiations; 21 trawlers remain
in the hands of the pirates in Burmese waters.

The Karen seized 30 Thai trawlers and 400 crew last week,
sinking one of them. Five of the trawlers were from Phuket
and 25 from Ranong. Each trawler is worth 10-15 million baht.
The pirates are thought to be members of the Arakan Army of
the anti-Rangoon movement.

Patcharee Panichcheevakul, owner of five of the trawlers all
named P.Panich, which have not yet been released, said she
did not tell the police for fear of putting the crews' lives at risk.

