-----------------------------BurmaNet--------------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: August 29, 1996
Issue #502

Noted in Passing:

                I think the SLORC government is too soft, too patient, 
                and too tolerant in exercising the law. - Pauk Sa
                MYANMAR ALIN: MY DEAR, WILL IT ALL END BY 
                JUST DOING NOTHING?

HEADLINES:
==========
BURMANET: SLORC-CONTROLLED DKBA STRIKES AGAIN
BURMANET: DKBA ACTIVITIES INSIDE KAREN STATE
BURMANET: DKBA ACTIVITIES INSIDE KAREN STATE
KNU: REPORT OF SLORC OPERATIONS IN THATON DISTRICT
AP: BURMA'S TOP GENERAL ACCUSES MEDIA OF SPREADING LIES
WALL STREET JOURNAL: BURMA'S DEMOCRATS NEED TOURISTS
BURMANET: REPLY TO JOE CUMMINGS
RADIO MYANMAR: MILITARY LEADER MEETS KACHIN LEADERS
THE COLORADO DAILY: ACTIVISTS DEMAND TOTAL WITHDRAWAL
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: ASIA'S NEXT DRUG CONNECTION
MYANMAR ALIN: MY DEAR, WILL IT ALL END BY JUST DOING NOTHING? 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BURMANET: SLORC-CONTROLLED DKBA STRIKES AGAIN
August 27, 1996

After a few months of relative calm along the Thai-Burma border, DKBA
incursions into Thailand have resumed.  The DKBA are continuing 
their campaign to intimidate Karen refugees into returning to Burma.
It appears that the SLORC has ordered the DKBA to go on the offensive 
again in order to pressure the KNU to enter into ceasefire negotiations.

Last week, a band of DKBA soldiers fired shots into Don Pa Kiang camp,
about 25 kilometers north of Mae Sot, and killed a former KNU official.  
Two nights ago, they fired mortars into the camp, forcing everyone to flee.  

According to camp residents, SLORC soldiers were waiting across the 
border at the time of the attack to provide support in case there was some 
resistance.  Refugees also claimed that the DKBA were searching for a 
foreigner who has been staying there.  On previous occasions, DKBA 
soldiers have said that they want to take Western medics and teachers 
back to work with them.

The DKBA has also sent several soldiers into Huai Kalok camp during the 
past two nights.  Huai Kalok is located only 10 kilometers away from Mae Sot
and is easily reached by public transportation.  Foreigners teaching in the 
camp have been warned to sleep elsewhere, and camp leaders are also not 
able to sleep at home.  

The DKBA has not used any weapons against the residents of Huai Kalok
yet; instead, they have sought to persuade the refugees to move back to 
Burma, threatening to burn the camp down if the refugees don't go.  
Camp residents are concerned that the DKBA will interfere with their 
annual wrist-tying festival which begins on the 28th.  Normally thousands
of Karen refugees participate in this Buddhist ceremony, but this year
many plan to stay home out of fear.

According to refugee reports, some DKBA soldiers have said that if they 
do not implement the SLORC's demands to attack the camps, they will 
not receive their rations from the SLORC.  Others have said that the 
SLORC is expecting the DKBA to make good their promise of destroying 
all Karen camps.  While the DKBA may be motivated to disrupt the 
camps and loot people for their own reasons, they are being supported 
and directed by the SLORC.

The camp residents are usually warned before the DKBA troops arrive
in the camp, and they inform the Thai military or police personnel
stationed at the camp.  Unfortunately, the refugees at Don Pa Kiang 
have reported that the Thai volunteer forces stationed at the camp quickly 
left the scene rather than staying to provide security.  The refugees are 
not allowed to keep guns or other weapons to protect themselves, so 
they are sitting ducks for the armed intruders.

DKBA troops have been fighting directly with Thai troops about 100 km 
north of Mae Sot at Mae U Su.  The DKBA said that they will harrass
the Thais until the Thais send the refugees back.  Because of the fighting,
many travellers dare not use the Mae Sot-Mae Sariang road which runs
along the border.  In the past, DKBA soldiers have stopped cars, robbing
and shooting all the passengers.

Although tension is high in the camps, few want to return to Burma.  
The situation in Karen State continues to be extremely volatile with SLORC,
DKBA, and KNU troops active and making demands on the villagers.  
Forced portering, forced labor, forced relocations and looting are continuing
and up to one third of the residents of Karen State are no longer living in 
their villages.  Instead they are staying in refugee camps, working in Thailand,
or seeking refuge in monasteries in Karen State.  But few think that a ceasefire
at this time would guarantee either peace or a political settlement.   

Back in February, the Bangkok Post ran the following article.  Since then
the situation has only deteriorated further.

BKK POST: JUNTA PLEDGES TO REIN IN RENEGADES
February 23, 1996

The Burmese military regime has agreed to take responsibility for cross-border 
attacks by its Karen allies, the Third Army commander said yesterday.  Rangoon 
pledged to prevent any further incursions by the renegade Democratic Karen 
Buddhist Army, which killed three people, including a monk, in Tha Song Yang, 
Tak, said Lt-Gen Thanom Watcharapuk.

"They have promised to keep close watch on DKBA forces and not allow any 
more assaults across the border," said Lt-Gen Thanom on his return from the 
12th Regional Border Committee meeting in Moulmein, Burma.

The Burmese Government, he said, had also agreed to take back all Karen 
refugees living in Thailand. During the talks, Burmese officials proposed 
the opening  of border checkpoints in Kawthaung, Ranong, Mae Sot, Tak 
and in Mae Hong Son.

Lt-Gen Thanom said both sides agreed to enhance contacts between local 
officials to make sure problems do not escalate. The junta's demand for 
compensation for the killing of Burmese in a Mong Tai Army assault on 
Burmese forces in Tachilek in early 1995, he aid, remained to be settled. 

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

BURMANET: DKBA ACTIVITIES INSIDE KAREN STATE
August 1996
information compiled from Karen sources

The DKBO movement which began in late 1994, gathered momentum
during the summer of 1995.  Thousands of Karen villagers decided to 
join the movement led by the chief abbot of Myaing Gyi Ngu temple,
U Thuzana, in the hope that they would find refuge from the civil war.  

A large number of Karen villagers, especially from 5 villages in south
Papun, left their fields and homes and made the journey south and 
west across the Salween to the Myaing Gyi Ngu monastery compound.

The monastery compound serves as a base for the DKBO movement 
and as a residence for DKBO/DKBA personnel and their families.  It 
should be noted that although a large number of villagers moved there 
voluntarily, others were forced to go or felt they had no alternative but 
to go. 

The population quickly grew to 30,000 people, and in the beginning,
the abbot was able to provide enough food for everyone.  Buddhist 
communities and sympathetic groups are said to be providing food 
and money, but it is likely that the SLORC is actively involved.  Pulling 
so many villagers out of their homes and into the monastery fits well 
with the SLORC's military policy of cutting support for the KNLA
(Karen National Liberation Army - the armed wing of the Karen National
Union). The fewer villagers in residence there are, the more difficult it
is for KNLA troops to find food and information.

Last year there was enough food for all the residents, but they had to 
provide labor in exchange.  In the beginning of this year, reports of 
shortages of food and basic medicine began to come out.  There have also 
been  stories of needless deaths, particularly of old people and young 
children, due to lack of medicine. 

In March, 1996 several hundred Karen villagers left Myaing Gyi Ngu and 
went back to their own villages.  During the 1995 rice growing season, 
only the fields of those who had not gone down to Myaing Gyi Ngu were 
cultivated.  Because the harvest they collected is barely enough for 
themselves, it is difficult for them to share with the returnees.  It is 
estimated that the number of returnees in the southern Papun area is 
roughly 2500.

It is not clear why Myaing Gyi Ngu is receiving less support than before.
If genuine Buddhist groups were providing some of the funding, they
may be unhappy with the fact that the compound is more like an armed 
camp than a monastery.  The SLORC may also be dissatisfied with 
U Thuzana, who, from time to time, has tried to assert his autonomy 
from the SLORC.  Or perhaps they feel that they have accomplished 
their goal of promoting widespread social dislocation.  Nevertheless,
the SLORC is expanding the areas of operation for the DKBA.

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

KNU: REPORT OF SLORC OPERATIONS IN THATON DISTRICT
August 22, 1996

According to the KNU, in Thaton District the SLORC troops have 
introduced a blockade operation intended to sever ties between the 
villagers and the KNU forces.  The troops involved in this operation 
come from the strategic command division of the 11th Division, the 
strategic command of the western regional command, and the DKBA.  

The SLORC has prohibited villagers from leaving their villages to work in 
their fields and troops patrol the area carefully, severely torturing male 
villagers who are caught by them.  Villagers have been kicked and beaten
and then buried in mud.  Their heads are then wrapped in cloth and water
is poured over their heads to nearly suffocate them.  The troops have also 
hit the villagers' shinbones with the blunt edge of cleavers.

The troops have been eating or taking any food they find in the 
villages.  They have been burning or destroying whatever they couldn't 
take away, making life extremely miserable for the villagers.  Some of 
the villages have been burned down.  The operation, which began in 
May, is to last at least 6 months.

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

AP: BURMA'S TOP GENERAL ACCUSES MEDIA OF SPREADING LIES
August 28, 1996
From: John Scherb <mcs@primenet.com>

RANGOON -- Burma's intelligence chief accused the Western media of 
spreading lies about his country at the behest of domestic and foreign 
dissidents, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported 
Wednesday, reports the Associated Press.

Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, who is one of the most powerful members of the 
military government, made the remarks to members of the Information 
Committee, which the government created in August to present its views to 
journalists at regular monthly press conferences.

News and information is strictly censored in Burma. The new press 
conference policy is aimed at countering the wide publicity received by the 
country's democracy movement, whose leaders frequently meet with 
journalists.

'Based on false information received by various means, Western dominated 
foreign media is spreading false news about Myanmar aimed at pressuring 
the country under the pretext of democracy and human rights,' Khin Nyunt 
said, using the government's name for Burma.

'Western-dominated media is creating a false image of Myanmar to appear 
like in 1988,' he added. 'They get this fabricated information from 
dissident groups inside and outside the country.'

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

WALL STREET JOURNAL: BURMA'S DEMOCRATS NEED TOURISTS
August 28, 1996
From: John Scherb <mcs@primenet.com>
by Joe Cummings (author of Lonely Planet - Burma - guide)

Several well-intended groups and individuals--including National League 
for Democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi--have urged 
travelers not to visit Burma, believing that all forms of tourism support 
government repression in Burma. The argument is that most of the 
revenue generated by travel and tourism ends up in the hands of the 
military regime. But from what I have seen and experienced, tourism 
development in Burma benefits many ordinary Burmese--not just 
generals or foreign investors, as some reports would have us believe.

Many foreigners leading the tourism boycott movement haven't been to 
Burma since before the State Law and Order Restoration Council seized 
power--or haven't been at all. I've traveled to Burma every year but one 
since 1986, and in the past year alone, I have spent four months traveling 
to nearly every state in the country. I have long-time personal friends in 
Burma--including members of the underground resistance, risking their 
lives on a daily basis--who maintain that sealing Burma off from the 
outside world only further cements Slorc's fear-driven control over the 
people.

Slorc, the latest junta to run Burma, is abominable. Public dissent has 
been brutally suppressed. Political imprisonment, torture and corvee 
(involuntary civilian service to the state) have been around for centuries, 
and continue today. But if anything, human rights abuses have decreased in 
the face of mounting tourism. And in spite of high inflation, the average 
Burmese today is economically better off than in 1985.

Since the requirement that tourists visit Burma on package tours was 
waived in 1993, many Burmese citizens have been able to eke out a living 
from tourism, which channels more money directly to ordinary people 
than any other form of foreign activity in the country. Take the example of 
Ko Kyaw, an old friend of mine who works as a tour guide in Burma. He 
sends almost every kyat or dollar he earns to his family in Bagan. Ko Kyaw 
voted for the NLD and is an ardent supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi, but he 
was very disappointed to learn about her call for a boycott. He says there's 
just barely enough tourism to keep him and his family alive, and that if a 
boycott has a significant effect, many people in Mandalay, Bagan and the 
western Shan State will suffer.

He's not the only one who sees it this way. I haven't met a single person 
inside Burma who supports a tourism boycott, including the many people I 
have met in the pro-democracy movement--including even the Moustache 
Bros. of Mandalay who are now serving 10 years in prison for satirizing 
the government during a pwe, or festival, performance.

What is more, tourism does not boost the use of draft labor in Burma. None 
of the highway or railways projects cited by tourism critics can be said to 
be serving tourists more than the general populace--in fact the opposite 
appears to be true. The two railway lines that were built by draft 
labor--the Ye-Dawei line and the Loikaw railway--are both off-limits to 
foreigners. The Rangoon-Mandalay highway has been upgraded for cargo 
and passenger traffic, and even the first-class buses (now operated by 
nearly a dozen private companies) running along this route are filled 
mostly with Burmese- one of the obvious signs that economic development 
is taking place, at least in urban areas. The vast majority of foreign 
visitors travel this route by air.

In fact, the only draft labor project that can be indirectly attributed to 
tourist promotion was the Mandalay Palace restoration, as much a symbol 
of Burman nationalism as a tourist attraction, completed earlier this year. 
The use of draft labor was discontinued at the palace shortly after foreign 
visitors to Mandalay began reporting the phenomenon to the outside world 
(though convict labor was used throughout). Urban beautification 
projects- which have also used draft labor--have been undertaken in 
areas that aren't visited by tourists as well as those that are.

The greatest human rights abuses currently take place away from foreign 
public view, but they are becoming more difficult to hide with the 
proliferation of independent travelers finding their way into decreasingly 
remote corners of the country. If it closes to tourism, Burma could fall 
almost entirely into the hands of unscrupulous investors in other sectors 
who couldn't care less about the ethics of totalitarian government as long as 
they are making a profit and no one from the international community is 
around to observe their activities.

The tourist trade does not have a significant economic impact on the 
country's military leadership. As of mid-1996, the vast majority of 
tourist oriented businesses in the country belonged to the private sector, 
so avoiding government-owned or government-operated concessions is 
relatively easy. And Slorc would be unfazed by any economic damage a 
boycott inflicted on the private sector. The regime would simply blame the 
opposition and continue raking in hard currency through their total 
monopoly on gems, minerals, timber and energy resources--now as 
always the regime's main sources of revenue.

There isn't a single indication that government repression, which has 
thrived on 34 years of political isolation and virtual non-visitation, will 
somehow slacken due to a relative lack of foreign visitors. Moreover, 
tourism remains one of the few industries to which ordinary Burmese 
people have access. Any reduction in tourism automatically means a 
reduction in local income-earning opportunities. For this reason alone, the 
positives of travel to Burma outweigh the negatives.

Mr. Cummings, the author of Lonely Planet's Burma guide, has been 
writing and researching on Southeast Asian travel and culture for more 
than 20 years.

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

BURMANET: REPLY TO JOE CUMMINGS
August 29, 1996

Most of the facts Joe Cummings uses to support his argument are grossly 
inaccurate.  

The average person in Burma is not better off in 1996 than they were in 1985.  
It is true that some people are doing better, but the vast majority are in worse 
shape than before.  The United States Embassy economic report documents the 
extent to which the economy is faltering.  Over the past several months, 
newspaper reports and statements from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have addressed 
the fact that many people can no longer afford 3 meals of rice a day, let alone 
meat, fruit, or medicine.  The price of food has risen dramatically while wages 
have remained stagnant. 

Human rights abuses have not decreased in the face of mounting tourism.  
If anything, human rights abuses in Burma have increased with more demands 
for forced labor, forced relocation, and urban beautification.  In most cities in 
Burma, residents along the main thoroughfares have been forced to tear down 
their shops and homes to widen the road.  Many buildings have been cut in 
half, and the buildings that remain must have 2 stories and be freshly painted or 
the owners must tear them down and move at their own expense.  These projects 
which are presently going on in Taunggyi and Moulmein, to name just 2 places, 
are intended to impress tourists not locals.  

In the early 1990s, a large number of residents of Pagan were also forced to relocate 
because of tourism.  In this case, the SLORC wanted to beautify the ancient city for 
tourists and also isolate the local population from the tourists.

Cummings states that tourism doe not boost the use of draft labor in Burma.  
Yet in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, the son of the Minister of Tourism, Lt. 
General Kyaw Ba, recently built the Sittwe Hotel with forced labor.  The Buddha
Museum in Sittwe was also built with forced labor, and local residents refer to 
it as the "Dukkha Museum", or Musuem of Suffering, for this reason.  

Cummings says that most tourists don't use the roads or railways but use planes
instead.  Therefore, forced labor on roads is not connected to tourism.  Besides 
the fact that most of the tourists that the Lonely Planet book caters to do use the
roads and railways, some airports in Burma have been built or expanded with 
forced labor.  

It is impossible to distinguish between forced labor for the people and forced
labor for tourists.  And what kind of an argument is this anyway?  Should 
outsiders be providing support to a regime that uses forced labor extensively?

Cummings argues that the SLORC will make money whether Western tourists
come or not.  But as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has pointed out, boycotting 
Visit Myanmar Year is not just about denying dollars to the regime.  Perhaps
more importantly it is about denying international legitimacy to a regime that 
has no legitimacy with its own people.  Interestingly enough, the SLORC has
done more advertising of Visit Myanmar Year inside the country than out.

Aung San Suu Kyi has not asked tourists to boycott Burma indefinitely.  She
has merely asked that people refrain from coming during the SLORC's 
campaign for Visit Myanmar Year.

The SLORC itself seems to be of two minds about tourism.  While they 
want the dollars and the legitimacy, they have put signs up all over Rangoon
saying "down with foreign elements" and "down with neo-imperialists".  
What kind of a welcome is that?

Joe Cummings has a vested interest in seeing tourists go to Burma.  If 
they don't go, they won't be buying the Lonely Planet guidebook.  Of 
course his hotel and guide contacts in Burma support tourism as this is 
their main source of income.  Some others in Burma hope that tourists will come
and see how terribly the SLORC is oppressing the people and then participate
in the international campaign to bring about a return to democracy in Burma.
Unfortunately, group tourists who are carefully guided along the beautified
tourist corridor do not have much of an opportunity to find out what is really 
going on.

The most useful thing that potential tourists can do is to participate in 
the Free Burma Campaign now so that they can enjoy a trip to a Free Burma 
in the not-too-distant future.

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

RADIO MYANMAR: MILITARY LEADER MEETS KACHIN LEADERS
August 26, 1996

Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, chairman of the Work Committee for the Development of
Border Areas and National Races and secretary-1 of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council [SLORC], received Kachin national leader U Mahtu Naw and
delegation members U Tu Maung and U Tin Lat from Shan State Special Region-5 at
the Defence Services Guest House on Inya Road in Yangon [Rangoon] at 1600 today
[24th August].

   Also present were Information Minister Maj-Gen Aye Kyaw; U Aung Thaung,
minister of livestock breeding and fisheries; Deputy Health Minister Col Than
Zin; Deputy Education Minister Col Kyi Maung; U Kyaw Tin, deputy minister of
progress of border areas and national races and development affairs; U Myint
Thein, deputy minister of mines; Deputy Energy Minister U Tin Tun; Lt-Col Pe
Nyein, director-general of SLORC office; departmental officials and responsible
personnel.

   At the meeting discussions were held on education, health, agriculture,
livestock breeding, transport, regional development, mining and energy matters.

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

THE COLORADO DAILY: ACTIVISTS DEMAND TOTAL WITHDRAWAL
August 27, 1996
From: David Wolfberg <freebrma@ix.netcom.com>

(note: a similar article was published in the Denver Post)

DENVER -- A Boulder woman whose husband was imprisoned and 
likely killed by the Burmese government more than 30 years ago 
delivered a letter to Total Petroleum executives Monday, calling for 
a national boycott due to its French affiliate company's support for 
the brutal regime.

In January, Total SA, a French oil company, announced plans to build a
natural gas pipeline that will eventually deliver as much as $400 million a
year into the government's coffers.

Inge Sargent, who was married to Burmese Prince Sao Kya Seng* in 1954, 
told Total Petroleum spokeswoman Christelle Langer that Total SA's 
support for the pipeline will further the woes of the Burmese people, who 
have been forced into slave labor, imprisoned, tortured and killed by the 
military government in response to the pro-democracy movement.

That country's plight was highlighted in the recent film "Beyond Rangoon,"
which showed the ordeal of an American woman caught up in the military's
1988 slaughter of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators.

"We are asking that Total pull out of Burma," Sargent said.

Langer replied that Total Petroleum is not involved in the project and will
not benefit in any way from it.  She pointed out that Total Petroleum is a
subsidiary of Total Petroleum North America, a Canadian company, which is
separate from Total SA.  But she admitted that the French company is a major
shareholder of Total Petroleum.

Langer said she was "very aware" of the group's concerns and would forward
the information to company executives.

While Sargent, Burmese-exile Dr. U Kyaw Win, and Free Burma Coalition
members Kim Mizrahi and David Wolfberg were delivering the letter, 
more than 50 demonstrators waved placards and handed out leaflets at 
the Total Tower main entrance at 900 19th St.  Many of those 
demonstrators attended a national gathering organized by the Rainforest 
Action Network at the Paintbrush Ranch near Gold Hill this weekend.

Three other demonstrations took place Monday in the United States, 
according to Free Burma's Mizrahi.  Those were aimed at Unocal Oil, 
which is a financial partner of Total SA in the pipeline venture.

A July report, "Total Denial," released by Earth Rights International and
the Southeast Asian Information Network said security forces have raped,
tortured and murdered indigenous people in the region to be crossed by the
pipeline and have pressed tens of thousands of natives into forced labor to
build the project.

Two attacks on the pipeline by unidentified parties drew the government's
retaliation, as security forces rounded up and executed 11 civilians who
weren't suspected of the crime, the report says.

The Yadana gas field is located 45 yards beneath the Andaman Sea, which
abuts Burma's south coast and contains an estimated $6.5 billion worth of
natural gas.  Construction of this pipeline, which will be underwater for
220 miles before crossing 20 miles of Burma, is estimated to cost more than
$1 billion.  Total SA will be the majority shareholder in the project, with
a 32-percent share.  Unocal Oil, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (where
the gas will be refined), and Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (Burmese
government) will hold 28-, 25-, and 15-percent shares respectively.

International business analysts have said Total's support for the Yadana
pipeline project is critical, because the technical expertise to build an
underwater pipeline is mainly held by Western companies, whereas Unocal's
financial support could be easily replaced by Asian money.

Those analysts believe that Western companies are particularly vulnerable to
selective purchasing ordinances, which bar public sector units from buying
goods or services from countries doing business in Burma.

So far, the State of Massachusetts and six U.S. cities ahve enacted such
policies.  Sargent said she approached some members of the Boulder City
Council about boycotting Total products but sensed support for the idea was
lukewarm at best.

Total has four refineries and 1,950 service stations in 12 mid-continent
states, including four in Boulder.

Pressure from human rights groups have already resulted in Carlsberg,
Heineken, London Fog, Eddie Bauer, Levi Strauss, Petro-Canada, Amoco, 
Clyde Petroleum, Liz Claiborne and Columbia Sportswear to withdraw 
operations from Burma.

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

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: EMERGING INDOCHINA MAY 
PROVIDE ASIA'S NEXT DRUG CONNECTION TO US
August 27, 1996 (abridged)
From: John Scherb <mcs@primenet.com>

by Dan Pruzin

VIENTIANE, LAOS -- Early last year customs officials manning the baggage 
X-ray machine at the airport here discovered more than 88 pounds of 
heroin stashed in the luggage of two outbound passengers within a space of a 
week. It later turned out that the heroin was brought in by Nigerian drug 
traffickers across the recently opened Thai-Laotian bridge spanning the 
Mekong River.

The seizures were sizable. But what had drug officials equally concerned 
was evidence of the movement of international smuggling through Laos, 
which has been gradually opening up to the West after decades of isolation.

The incident was one in a string of discoveries that indicate that the opium 
lords of the Golden Triangle region straddling Laos, Burma, and Thailand 
may now be looking to Indochina as a new transit route for drugs.

In the region, Cambodia has become a particular concern given its lack of 
effective narcotics legislation. In August 1995, authorities seized 157 
pounds of heroin in a speedboat, the largest seizure in the region last year, 
and officials in Phnom Penh now admit that the country has a serious drug 
trafficking problem. According to sources in the region, shipments through 
Vietnam are also on the increase.

An estimated two-thirds of the heroin found in the US originates from the 
Golden Triangle, most of which comes from Burma. Traditionally, the 
heroin has been produced and refined in Burma and shipped through 
Thailand to the West. But experts now say that the percentage of Southeast 
Asian heroin moving through Thailand has dropped sharply from more than 
75 percent to around half.

Two recent developments are likely to continue this trend. In January the 
Burmese military occupied the headquarters of the notorious opium 
chieftain Khun Sa, affecting refining and transiting operations along the 
Thai-Burmese border. Also in January, Thanong Siriprechapong, a former 
member of the Thai parliament and a suspected trafficker known as ``Thai 
Tony,'' was extradited to the US. He was the first Thai national extradited to 
the US. Others are expected to follow.

With their Burmese operation under pressure and the threat of extradition 
hanging over drug traffickers in Thailand, it is only natural that 
traffickers are now paying closer attention to the newly emerging market 
economies of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, drug experts say.

``The traffickers have been looking for new routes and smuggling 
methods,'' says a Western diplomatic source familiar with the Southeast 
Asian narcotics trade. ``They've been able to take advantage of the relative 
openness we're seeing in these countries.''

With its location in the heart of Indochina, Laos will become an 
increasingly important transit point for inter-regional trade, 
particularly after it joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next 
year. ``It's clear that what's happening in the case of Laos can only be 
conducive to easier trafficking opportunities,'' says Thibault le Pichon, 
country director for the United Nations Drug Control Program here.

Most disturbing, however, was the discovery last February of two illicit 
amphetamine laboratories in the northwestern Laotian province of Bokeo, 
where more than 13 pounds of heroin were found along with large 
quantities of chemical precursors for drug production. The finding suggests 
that drug lords pushed out of Burma and Thailand may be eyeing Laos as a 
new refining and production base.

Laotian officials note that the government is making efforts to stem the 
heroin trade. Two new counternarcotics units were established with 
American assistance. In April the Laotian parliament approved amendments 
to the criminal code, which considerably strengthened the country's lax 
trafficking and possession penalties.

Officials admit, however, that their efforts will be hampered by both 
geography - Laos has long and poorly controlled borders - and money. Mr. 
Bryant says the Lao government lacks the budget to train and finance the 
personnel needed to combat trafficking.

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

MYANMAR ALIN: MY DEAR, WILL IT ALL END BY JUST DOING NOTHING?" 
August 22 and 23,1996  by Pauk Sa (Translated Excerpts)

Part 1 (August 22, p. 6): 

Five days ago my cousin from a village in countryside, who had never 
visited me, paid a surprise visit.

After half an hour, my cousin asked: "Do the prevalence of law and 
order, and community peace and tranquility, function differently from 
place to place and person to person in our country?" I was puzzled by his 
question. 

Not just me but anyone would be puzzled if asked whether the prevalence 
of law and order, and community peace and tranquility, function 
differently from place to place and person to person, because they are 
clearly stated as important tasks in Section No.1, Subsection A of the 
State Law and Order Restoration Council's Declaration No.1/88 -- the 
first declaration issued by the Defense Services after taking over the 
government on 18 September 1988. [passage on priority given by SLORC to 
restoration of law and order omitted] 

My cousin apparently realized I was puzzled by his question and said: 
"Is it difficult for you to answer my question? I know that the SLORC has 
worked, and is working, toward ensuring that law and order and local 
peace and tranquility prevail on a national scale. However, do you know, 
are you aware, that there are areas where the SLORC's work on prevalence 
of law and order does not take effect, its responsibility not properly 
discharged, and its power not effective on a person [referring to Aung 
San Suu Kyi]?

[passage omitted on reference to an article by Byatti, "Taking Refuge Under a 
Skirt To Escape Prosecution," on NLD representative Dr. Myo Nyunt's fleeing 
to Aung San Suu Kyi's compound after being found guilty of producing 
medicines illegally] 

My cousin said: "I kept rereading the article. Every time I read, I 
wondered whether the existing laws in the country and Section A of 
Declaration No. 1/88 of the SLORC relating to the task of ensuring the 
prevalence of law and order have any effect or relevance on the compound 
of that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Under the state law, is it impossible to 
take action against the lawbreakers who entered the compound of Daw Aung 
San Suu Kyi, wife of a White Indian [English]? Don't you think her 
compound has been regarded as if it were a separate nation or a liberated 
area? I have a lot of questions and thoughts as to whether the 
effectiveness of the state law becomes irrelevant if the armed terrorists 
-- who are traitors and are destroying the country and committing crimes 
such as looting, arson, planting mines, and killing -- and the fugitives 
-- who committed robbery, rape, kidnapping, and murder -- take refuge 
under the htamein [sarong] of a White Indian's wife. [passage omitted] 

I understand that action has to be taken against the fugitives who 
violated state law and those who provide refuge and assistance to the 
fugitives, but so far no action has been taken under the existing laws 
against the accused and the fugitives who are taking refuge in the 
compound of Aung San Suu Kyi, White Indian's wife; nor against Aung San 
Suu Kyi, a White Indian's wife, for infringing the law by accepting, 
supporting, and giving refuge to the accused and fugitives. No punishment 
has been meted out to them. It seems there is a lack of effectiveness in 
the law. Don't you think her compound has been regarded as if it were a 
separate nation or a liberated area? Don't you think the effectiveness of 
the law in a country has to be uniform? In my view, I think the SLORC 
government is too soft, too patient, and too tolerant in exercising the 
law. The SLORC is a military government in name only. In reality, the, 
SLORC organizes and educates people, and it is much more tolerant than 
elected-political-party governments. 

Just look at the case of that Aung San Suu Kyi. If she were charged for 
every violation she has committed, she would be sentenced to at least 20 
years in jail, but the SLORC used the restriction order and confined her 
in her own residence. Once the restriction order was lifted and she was 
freed, she began her organization and instigational activities to create 
disturbances and to destabilize the country. I even listened to the 
recorded tapes of her Saturday-Sunday fora, which are being held without 
permission, when they reached our village. I was amazed at the acquired 
virtue of the SLORC for ignoring her comments even though she made things 
up and criticized, attacked, and insulted the SLORC and Defense Services. 
___________

Part 2 (August 23, p.4): 

Now too, a [female] cousin, who married a man from the delta region and 
who hadn't seen my family for a long time arrived for a visit.

Early the next morning my cousin blurted out loudly, "Hey, all of you come 
here! General Aung San's  daughter is working to starve us and to make us 
poor. She is destroying us.".She was crying and pointed out an article in the 
KYEMON daily and said; "Pauk Sa, read this. We believed and loved Aung 
San Suu Kyi and affectionately called her Ma Su because we thought as Gen. 
Aung San's daughter she would do something good for the country but she 
didn't live up to our expectations."

"Read here, at the Martyr's Day ceremony at her house, Meimingyima [Her 
Ladyship -- sarcastic reference to Aung San Suu Kyi] told in English to 
the Leik-Kan [British and American] ambassadors to impose economic 
sanctions so that her party can gain power and establish democracy in 
Myanmar. Her words do not help to develop Myanmar, which is lagging in 
development for various reasons. They are designed to pull Myanmar back to 
the past, to cause more suffering for the people, and to keep the people from 
extricating themselves from the cycle of poverty.

Actually, the traditional Myanmar view of some simple elderly people 
like my [female] cousin is that Gen. Aung San's daughter will love the 
country and the people the way her father did.  It is also true that they do 
not know Gen. Aung San's daughter, who owes allegiance to the imperialists,
is conspiring to enslave the country, 

I am certain that the people will evict Daw Aung San Suu Kyi [from the 
country] the way the evil spirits are expelled from the forests by 
beating the tin boxes if they are presented with clear and accurate proof 
and explained in detail about the facts that differentiate Gen. Aung San 
from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi although she is the daughter of the general, 
about the plans and objectives of the imperialists and their associates 
to confer the Nobel Peace Prize to her, the political heritage of Gen. 
Aung San--that does not owe allegiance to the imperialists, not to 
criticize, insult, and divide the Defense Services; not to destroy the 
country, and not to marry a foreigner so as to preserve the lineage and 
patriotic prestige--that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has no qualification 
whatsoever that is worthy of Gen. Aung San's political heritage, that she 
has linked her lineage with the lineage of the imperialists, and has 
inherited and is preserving the status of imperialist spy. 

Although the state had made so many concessions on its part the husband 
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not recognize and value these favors like a 
gentleman, but with his street urchin behavior he made accusations 
against the state several times. The so-called international diplomats 
and human rights representatives, both male and female, were allowed to 
meet freely with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. These males and females talked 
like vagabonds and engaged in talks that lack prestige and class and made 
accusations against the state. Their actions totally contradicted the way 
we respected and honored them. At the news conference in Myanmar, they 
said everything was fine, but when they arrived at Bangkok Airport they 
commented about the lack of human rights and expressed concern about 
democracy in Myanmar. They are like loafers who do not value their own 
words and say different things in different places.

I dare say that the state's patience, tolerance, and goodwill toward Daw 
Aung San Suu Kyi will not make her see and understand anything and they 
will not change her. These efforts are like casting pearls before swine. 

Then my cousin said: " I was saying that whether the government 
is going to take action against Meiminmagyi who is causing a 
lot of trouble for our country and the people or just leave her like 
that. There is no need to have regards for her father. The government 
does not have to be lenient to a woman who is going to destroy the 
nation. [passage omitted] The government must not let Meiminmagyi and her 
people--who destroyed the prestige of the parents and lineage, who 
deceived the simple people like us, and who is trying to impoverish the 
country--[go unpunished]. Pauk Sa, you also have connections with the 
government offices and police stations. Tell them about this matter. Pauk 
Sa, we can't just let things go like this." 
        
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