------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: May 17 1995 Issue #174 BURMANET: HILL & KNOWLTON NOT WORKING FOR SLORC R.A.N./BURMA FORUM: SLAVES CLEAR LAND FOR UNOCAL IN BURMA BRC-J: CALL FOR COOPERATION ON NETWORKING BRC-J: SUU KYI TALK IN HIROSHIMA BRC-J: QUERY FOR BURMANET NATION: SOLDIER INJURED AFTER CLASH WITH GUERRILLAS AT BORDER NATION: RANGOON BANS CRITICISM OF THAILAND BY BURMESE MILITARY NATION: TWO KILLED IN KAREN ATTACK NATION: KEY ANTI-SLORC ACTIVIST URGES THAI PUSH ON BURMA POLICY BKK POST: RANGOON BRINGS IN BACKUP TO CURB KAREN REBELLION BKK POST: 36 WOMEN HELD IN HOTEL RAID BKK POST: MAE SAI BORDER CLOSED BKK POST: BURMA OPPOSITION ASKS FOR 'REVIEW' OF POLITICAL OPTIONS THE NATION: SEVENTY PER CENT OF WOMEN IN CHIANG RAI SEX TRADE FOUND TO BE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THE NATION: RANGOON BANS CRITICISM OF THAILAND BY BURMESE MILITARY THE NATION: SLORC MUST TURN TO DEMOCRACY FEER: BACK TO THE HARD LINE ------------------------------------------------------ o-------------------------------o The BurmaNet News is an | | electronic newspaper | Iti | covering Burma. Articles | snotpo | from newspapers, magazines, | werthatcor | newsletters, the wire | ruptsbutfea | services and the Internet as | r.Fearoflosin | well as original material | gpowercorrupts | are published. | thosewhowielditand | The BurmaNet News is | fearofthescourgeofpowe | e-mailed directly to | rcorruptsthosewhoaresub | subscribers and is | jecttoit.Theeffortnecess | also distributed via | arytoremainuncorruptedinan | the soc.culture.burma | environmentwherefearisanint | and seasia-l mailing | egralpartisnotimmediat | lists and is also | elyapparanttothose | available via the | fortunateenough | reg.burma conference on | toliveinstates | the APC networks. For a | governedbythe | free subscription to | ruleoflaw... | the BurmaNet News, send | Fearisahabi | an e-mail message to: | t.Iam | | no | majordomo@igc.apc.org | taf | | ra | In the body of the message, | id. | type: subscribe burmanews-l | Aun | [news only mailing list], | gSa | or, for the news+discussion | nS | list, type: | uu | subscribe burmanet-l | Ky | | i. | Correspondance and letters o-------------------------------o to the editor should be addressed to: strider@igc.apc.org ------------------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB: Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at: FreeBurmaWWW http://199.172.178.200/freebrma/freebrma.htm. [including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files] BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/tormodl Burma fonts: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html Ethnologue Database(Myanmar): http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar ---------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET: HILL & KNOWLTON NOT WORKING FOR SLORC Regarding an earlier posting that the Hill & Knowlton Public Relations firm has signed on to lobby for the SLORC: We have checked out directly with Hill & Knowlton who deny this. However, we have had reports of Burma-born naturalized American citizens who are lobbying for the SLORC both in Burma and in the USA (especially Capitol Hill). These individuals should also by law register with the US Dept of Justice as foreign agents, otherwise they can be fined $10,000. R.A.N./BURMA FORUM: SLAVES CLEAR LAND FOR UNOCAL IN BURMA L.A. Rainforest Action Project The Burma Forum Contact: David Wolfberg Contact:Dr. U Kyaw Win ++(310) 391-7788 ++(714) 432-5860 or ++(714) 831-2000 SLAVES CLEAR LAND FOR UNOCAL IN BURMA Two weeks before Unocal executives will face shareholder questioning at the company's annual meeting, the Bangkok Post has reported of refugees entering Thailand to avoid forced labor conscriptions clearing land for Unocal's pipeline. Unocal is in a joint venture with Total of France and Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council regime. Unocal had distanced itself from SLORC's widely reported slave labor practices by separating the pipeline issue from construction of the nearby Ye-Tavoy railway, which intersects the pipeline route. Now, the refugees charge, forced labor, illegal land seizures and village destruction is being carried by SLORC directly along the route of the Unocal/Total/SLORC natural gas pipeline. "If the accounts given by the refugees prove accurate, the number of villagers subject to forced labour on the pipeline could be well into the thousands," writes the Bangkok Post on May 7, 1995. In mid-1994, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand stated that it was "likely that forced labour will be used on the pipeline." The refugees' eyewitness accounts stand in stark contrast to "Unocal in Myanmar (Burma)," a report sent to all stockholders. Under the heading "Absolute Respect for Human Rights," Unocal writes: Allegation: Forced labor is being used to clear land for the pipeline route. Fact: This is definitely not true...We would never allow such a thing... Company assertions have come under fire. Unocal executives admit that SLORC is in fact bringing seventeen battalions into the region - 30,000 soldiers in all - via the railway. Unocal's report to stockholders does not deny that this railway is being built by forced labor. An estimated 160,000 Mon and Karen peoples have been forced to work on the railway. Allegation: The pipeline construction project will be supplied by a railroad that's being built by forced labor. Fact: There is absolutely no connection between our pipeline construction and the railroad exten- sion...What's more...we can strictly control how roads and other infrastructure for our project are built. Evidently, Unocal has no control over the land clearing phase of the pipeline project. A human rights worker told the Bangkok Post that "SLORC has used forced labour in the preparatory phases of several previous old developments before foreign personnel were brought for the technology- intensive phases of construction" according to the article. "That way," said Kevin Heppner of the Karen Human Rights Group, "the white guys can say with a straight face that they didn't see anything." Unocal's report to stockholders continues: Allegation: Villages along the pipeline route have been depopulated and the residents forcibly relocated. Fact: Our observers saw no such evidence. Unocal's observers did not speak Mon, Karen, Tavoy, or Burmese and were escorted by SLORC personnel. During helicopter overflights, SLORC determined where Unocal was allowed to land. Unocal's investigative methodology was sharply criticized by a renowned Burma scholar at Rutgers University, Professor Josef Silverstein, following a January 4 meeting with Unocal. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the sole customer of the natural gas, revealed another contradiction in Unocal's rhetoric in an ad placed in the Bangkok Post on April 18. The ad supplement stated that "Myanmar has recently cleared the way by relocating a total of 11 Karen villages that would otherwise obstruct the passage of the gas resource development project." Refugees say that land clearing using slave labor began on February 3, the day after Unocal, Total, the Thai Petroleum Authority and SLORC signed a final contract. The Unocal/Total gas pipeline is SLORC's largest foreign venture to date. Numerous U.S. companies have withdrawn from Burma amidst a growing awareness of Burma's struggle for democracy -- Levi-Strauss, Amoco Oil, Liz Clairborne, Eddie Bauer, Macy's. Numerous other companies refuse to initiate business in SLORC-occupied Burma, and the Berkeley City Council has passed a selective contracting resolution aimed at eliminating contracts with firms involved in Burma. The pressure is increasingly being focussed on PepsiCo, Texaco and Unocal -- the most visible U.S. companies still doing business in Burma. SLORC massacred thousands of nonviolent demonstrators in 1988, has held Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest since 1989, and was voted out of office in 1990. Rather than cede power, SLORC imprisoned the parliament members-elect and terrorized the student democracy movement. Most of the students have left the country via the Thai-Burma border or live in encampments there. Unocal, meanwhile, still refuses to meet with leaders of the Mon and Karen who own the land along the pipeline route, and has yet to join The Burma Forum's call for an independent investigation into the human rights situation in Tenasserim Division. Unocal's president, John Imle, has dismissed this effort by saying, "we conduct our own investigations." At this point, Unocal is compelled to either ignore what the refugees are saying or withdraw from the venture because of the commitments made in the report to stockholders. The report states, "we would never allow our activities anywhere to be the cause of human suffering...If there were any possibility that our project was connected with human rights abuses, this would be absolutely unacceptable to us." # # # Note: The Bangkok Post article of May 7, 1995, is entitled "Refugees Allege Slave Labour on Gas Pipeline." To contact EGAT concerning its role in the joint venture, call 011-662-436-4824 (or 4884). 7-5-95/Bangkok Post Thai, French and American oil companies, already under fire for the Tavoy pipeline they are building in collaboration with Burma's military regime, now face allegations from refugees arriving at the Thai border of wide-scale slave labour directly on the pipeline. These are the first detailed accounts of slave labour on the pipeline itself. Previous allegations have focussed on the Ye-Tavoy railway line, which is being built by tens of thousands of slaves, but which the oil companies claim is not related to their project. If the accounts given by the refugees prove accurate, the number of villagers subject to forced labour on the pipeline could be well into the thousands. RELATED REPORTS (See Sunday Perspective, 17,24) "They took my field for our pipeline," says Kyaw Myint, one of the refugees from along the Thai pipeline. "They took my income. Before the pipeline, there was forced labour, but it was possible to live. Now it (forced labour) is all the time." "Now, I cannot eat with my family openly and in peace. I cannot sleep with my family openly and in peace. When they see a man, they take him for labour. I had to leave." Another refugee gives a similar account of the situation along the pipeline route, saying: "When they (Slorc) ask for money, I always gave. When they asked for forced labour, I went. But in the night, the soldiers still come to take 'emergency forced labour.'" The natural gas pipeline is being built by French and American oil-giants Total and Unocal, in partnership with Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc). The sole consumer of the gas is the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) with pipeline construction on the Thai side being done by the PTTEP (Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Public Co. BRC-J: CALL FOR COOPERATION ON NETWORKING Burmese Relief Center-Japan NBH03114@niftyserve.or.jp Dear Friends, We would like to propose better communication and cooperation from all groups working for Burmese democracy. It seems that the forces of evil and oppression are growing ever stronger, abetted by the indifference of some and the connivance of others, and financed by the greed of many more. A number of dates for activities have been suggested. Let's take advantage of them and use them to put pressure on the SLORC and its minions. The first occasion is the fifth anniversary of the May 27, 1990, elections. We will be having a Burmese Benefit Dinner in Kyoto on the 28th. The Burma Youth Volunteer Association in Tokyo will both be cooperating with us and holding their own event in Tokyo as well. We recently learned that in Los Angeles Rainforest Action Network and International Network for Burma Relief, along with other activist groups, are planning a demonstration against the Japanese Foreign Ministry's March 27th decision to resume ODA to SLORC. That's terrific! We'd like to stress that the Japanese are more receptive to outside pressure than they are to protests at home, so we expect that the LA demonstration will get attention in papers here. If you can include Japan in your actions, please let us know, and we'll join you in trying to get press attention from wire services and local press. After the anniversary of the elections comes June 19th, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's 50th birthday, an important date both to commemorate and to use as an opportunity to press for her release. Demonstrations may not have much visible impact on SLORC, but DASSK's birthday and subsequent key dates are important opportunities to vividly remind those governments and businesses consorting with SLORC that the highly touted dialogues have amounted to absolutely nothing, and that SLORC's belligerence towards the Karen and other ethnic minorities has escalated, while the human rights situation everywhere in the country is deteriorating. According to SLORC's own "law", as explained by Prof. Yokota himself, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must be released by July 11th. That makes the 11th another obvious day for demonstrations, marches, vigils, dinners, concerts, or whatever suits each group best. Supposing that nothing like unconditional release happens then, we next have July 20th, the anniversary of her house arrest. In all of this we are in complete agreement with David Arnott's proposals. Our point in writing this is to initiate a discussion on ways and means of increasing our effectiveness. All groups, from Australia to Norway, from India to the US, from Japan to England, might well inform the rest of us by net or fax of their plans in advance, mention what others are doing in their press releases, and thus stress that coordinated international actions are taking place. The bigger each event seems, the likelier it is to get media coverage, and, unfortunately but true, if it doesn't get covered, it might as well not have happened. Those are some suggestions. What else might be done? Don't we need some innovate, dramatic activities? Some new ideas, new attention getters? Anyone reading the net regularly is painfully aware of the horrors SLORC is inflicting on the peoples of Burma, but how to convey that to others? To Japanese legislators who are just panting to resume the Rangoon airport project and ODA on a grand scale? To Mr. Imle, President of UNOCAL? To Mr. Oawa of Nippon Oil? To M Serge Tchuruk, CEO of TOTAL. Petitions? Street theater? A hit song for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi? In addition to attention getting, however, we'd like to appeal to groups concerned about Burma to extend their involvement beyond political pressure to making some material contribution to help keep the refugees and the Burmese students alive. Those who have given the most, suffered the most, and continue to be the most vulnerable have never needed support more than they need it now. Never have Burmese refugees been more at risk, Karen, Mon, Tavoyan, Burman, Shan, Arakanese. All face hunger and disease like never before. The Burmese students who carried the flame of democracy to the border in 1988 and have kept the flicker alive since, despite incredible odds, are dependent on our good will and support so they can continue their work for a free and democratic Burma. The doctors of the Burma Medical Association and ABSDF work 365 days a year without salaries, but they cannot work without medicine. All of their supplies must be donated, and there are always shortages. If you and your group would like more information about how to help materially, contact us privately and we'll be happy to suggest ways and means. Let's make the net and our marvelously enhanced communication work more effectively to stop SLORC and bring democracy to Burma. Looking forward to hearing from you. With metta, BRC-J: SUU KYI TALK IN HIROSHIMA >From carol@gol.com Sat May 13 02:33:54 1995 Date: Sat, 13 May 1995 18:39:08 +0900 (JST) From: Carol Schlenker To: strider Subject: Suu Kyi talk in Hiroshima About twenty people gathered at the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 12 to learn about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the democracy movement in Burma. Japanese and foreign residents of Hiroshima as well as representatives from Burmese Relief Center--Japan and Burma Youth Volunteer Association spent the evening talking about Burma and deciding what to do to help its people. Participants brought clothes for refugees and donated money for postage. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was chosen as the first of a number of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates to be studied as part of the center's Young Peacemakers Workshop, a program for young Japanese activists. Some messages from participants: I wish someday soon, all Burmese students can smile all the time, and of course get some chances to study enough. Ganbare! Never give up! (Maki Oto) I believe peace will come soon to Burma. (Toshiko Kono) I hope your wish will come true. I'm going to help you from Japan. (Nobue Matsubara) BRC-J: QUERY FOR BURMANET 13 May From: Carol Schlenker To: strider Subject: Query for Burmanet In response to concerns about Tehran's "drive to acquire [nuclear] weapons and support terrorist activities," President Bill Clinton recently signed an ex ecutive order ending all U.S. trade with and investment in Iran, according to an AP report. As a prelude to the embargo, Clinton in March killed a $1 billion oil contract between Conoco and Iran that would have produced Conoco-developed oil fields in the Persian Gulf. The AP report said that the *Emergency Powers Act* gives the president this authority. My question to readers familiar with the Emergency Powers Act is this: Could the act be applied to the contract between SLORC and Unocal? NATION: SOLDIER INJURED AFTER CLASH WITH GUERRILLAS AT BORDER 16.5.95/The Nation Tak -- A Thai soldier was injured after an unidentified armed group engaged his security unit in a gunfight as it guarded a refugee camp in Tha Song Yang district here early yesterday, border officials said. Sgt Jen Sompaiboon was shot in the left leg and was admitted to Tha Song Yang District Hospital. The incident followed an ambush on a Thai patrol jeep in Sunday. Thai helicopter gunships, tanks and jeeps equipped with machine guns expelled the intruders after a 15- minute clash which produced no casualties , said border sources. In a related development, the chief of the 10th Cavalry Battalion. Maj Yothin Bunchuay, said yesterday his men arrested two KNU members for illegally entering Thailand and confiscated their jeep. The battalion handed over the two Karen to the 34th Border Task Force for interrogation. Meanwhile , Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday that the relocation of Karen refugee camps on the border deeper into Thailand and the dispatch of senior Foreign Ministry officials to Rangoon are probably not necessary as the Thai and Burmese armies seem to have the border situation under control. However , Surin said talks on the repatriation of the refugees are still necessary to make sure it is acceptable to both the Burmese government and the Karen refugees. Surin yesterday said Burma's attitude to the border problems had " improved " . Just last week , Rangoon accused Thai elements along the border of aiding ethnic insurgents fighting the Burmese government. It also denied responsibility for repeated intrusions into Thailand by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army [DKBA]. " The [border] situation seems to have returned to normal. The Thai and Burmese armies in the past days have been in closer cooperation to solve the conflicts, '" Surin said. He said Burma had also shown a positive response toward Thailand's repeated calls for Rangoon to stop the DKBA's incursions into Thai territory . " The relocation of the 17 Karen camps 10 km deeper inside Thailand may not be necessary at the moment," he said . Surin's statement came as the National Security Council called a brainstorming session yesterday with senior officials from the Foreign Ministry, the armed forces and the National Intelligence Bureau to review the border situation and formulate strategies to handle future incidents . Surin did not attend the meeting but was later briefed by his ministry's senior officials . He said coordination between Thai authorities handling border issues was becoming smoother. Karen who eventually want to return will be allowed to, while those who are still uncertain about the situation would be allowed to stay put, Surin said. NATION: RANGOON BANS CRITICISM OF THAILAND BY BURMESE MILITARY 17.5.95/The Nation The Burmese army has been banned from criticizing Thailand in order to show the close mutual ties between the two countries, First Army Region Commander Lt Gen Bundit Malai- arisoon said yesterday day. Any soldier heard making negative comments concerning Thailand would be transferred within 24 hours, Bundit claimed. "Such an order clearly shows that both countries still have close ties and I expect that the [border] conflicts will soon end. We have to continue improving our mutual economic relationship, especially considering the project to purchase gas from Burma," he said . His comments came shortly criticized Bangkok for harbouring Burmese ethnic groups that have launched anti-Rangoon sentiment, as well as allowing Burmese dissidents, freely in and out of Thailand. Meanwhile , Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said yesterday he agreed with criticism that Thailand has paid too much attention to affairs relating to Cambodia and Burma. " I agree with that comment. I have instructed the authorities concerned to try and follow government guidelines when handling matters related to the two countries, " he said. " They are instructed to help as long as it is within their responsibilities . If not, they should not get involved ," Chuan said. Burmese government soldiers seized a Thai man in Tak's Phop Phra district for no apparent reason as they past his house, district chief Somchai Pahayasanti said yesterday . Somchai said that he has alerted the Thai-Burma Coordinating Committee to secure the release of Uthai Tawongse, 27, from Moegor Thai Village in the district . Somchai said Uthai's house was about 300 metres from the border. NATION: KEY ANTI-SLORC ACTIVIST URGES THAI PUSH ON BURMA POLICY 17.5.95/The Nation Thailand should demand that the ruling Burmese military junta adopt an international acceptable approach to put an end to the spate of border incursions by armed forces allied with Rangoon , said General Secretary of Democratic Alliance of Burma, Tin Maung Win, yesterday. " The essence of the approach by all international actors concerned for human rights and the established norms of international behaviour should be to bring about an end to the civil war and ultimately a transition to democracy," he said. Win was addressing a forum organized by the Asia Forum organized by the Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development at Chulalongkorn University . He was representing the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. However, the idea to make the incursions a regional or international issue was opposed by the Army's deputy secretary, Col Bunchon Chawansin, who insisted it was a local issue that did not threaten the security or sovereignty of Thailand. Researcher at Chulalongkorn University , Dr Alan Smith, said the border intrusions and the consequent influx of refugees is a challenge for Thai authorities at both the local and national levels. He described the incursions as a strategic problem and the influx of refugees as an international issue by nature. Smith said it would be advantageous to make the incursions an international issue so Thailand could share the burden of having to house the refugees with other organizations ,such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. However, if that approach was adopted , logistical and administrative problems in running the refugee camps would have to be addressed in an international forum a proposition that Thailand may not find too appealing. Don Pathan NATION: TWO KILLED IN KAREN ATTACK 17.5.95/The Nation Mae Sot - - Two Burmese soldiers were killed when their jungle base in southeastern Burma was attacked by autonomy-seeking Karen guerrillas yesterday, Thai authorities on the border with Burma said. About 10 other Burmese soldiers and at least two guerrillas were wounded in a half -hour battle that followed the attack in the early hours yesterday , the sources said. It was the first major clash between the guerrillas and government troops since the guerrillas suspended offensive operations on March 24 in an attempt to kick -start stalled moves towards peace talks.-- -- Reuter BACK TO THE HARD LINE 12 May 1995 With New Incursions into Thailand, Slorc Reverts to its Old Self When will she go free? Every time Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's leading dissident, nears the end of the another year under house arrest, speculation about her possible release intensifies. So it is as July 1995, the sixth anniver- sary of her detention, approaches. Late last year the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council kindled hopes when Slorc leaders publicly met with Suu Kyi after years of refus- ing to do so. Now, freedom for the daughter of Myanmar's assassinated found- ing father looks more remote that ever. Propaganda last seen in the days before her 1989 detention is back on the streets of Yangon. Leaflets are maligning Suu Kyi as an "opportunist" and "genocidal prostitute." Last month her husband, Oxford professor Michael Aris, was denied a visa to visit at Easter. In January, he had released a statement from Suu Kyi: "I consider myself bound by the aspirations of those engaged in the movement to establish a democratic system ." Recently, Colonel Kyaw Win, deputy to the intelligence chief, told visiting jou- rnalists: "When there is no security problem, she will be re- leased. We will not bend to pressure from any quarter." Slorc is back to its old hard line delf, unfazed by outside entreaties and protest. On April 28, its troops and ethnic Karen fighters who had defected to the junta raided five bor- der camps in northwestern Thailand's Tak province. Far worse than previous attacks, they torched hundreds of houses and marched dozens of refugees, mainly women and children, at gun- point back to Myanmar. The incident came just a day after Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai had warned Yangon not to repeat earlier incursions, which had been on the rise in recent weeks. Some months ago the PM had rejected Yangon's demand that thousands of refugees in border camps be repatriated. They had fled to Thailand af- ter Slorc forces overran the separatist Karen National Libera- tion Army's headquarters in Manerplaw in January. Recently, Myanmar Deputy foreign Minister Nyunt Swe declared after a meeting with his new Thai counterpart Krasae Chanawong: "We can solve [problems] by our own ways and means." But the current spate of cross-border pillage, killing and kidnapping seems to be telegraphing a different message to Thailand: If you won't ut more of a "security" and "military" issue handled mostly by the Thai Defence and Interior Ministries. Naturally, human rights and advocates want to see Asean use its economic trump cards to influence Burma. They hope that in the July Asean meeting in Brueni, countries will give more time in dis- cussing Burma and come up with a strong Asean statement freez- ing the Burmese regime's effort to join the club. Apparently, Sin- gapore, with the biggest portfolio in Burma and its own views on human rights, may not embrace this idea. "Burma is the problem of the region. It did not happen because of external forces like the Cambodia problem. Its solution depends on the perception of countries in the region. For now regional players are satisfied with the status quo. every one is taken the eyes way out," said Zaw Oo. Meanwhile, intense courtship between China and Burma has made India, Thailand and its Asean friends worried. They hope "constructive engagement" with Burma would help prevent the Sino-Burmese marriage for life. On top of the political and security discomfort, countries in the region are bearing a regional embarrassment: the house arrest of National League of Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also a Nobel Peace laureate, has entered its sixth year. The results of the earlier visits of the UN team and western high- level officials to Burma confirm that her release, due last July, remains a rumour. Monsters come and go. But experts see the situation in Burma as a kind of Jurassic Park where no one knows who will survive. Like in China, a small group of people runs Burma and they can do as they please. "That makes them even more unpredictable," said a Thai diplomat. some believe that Burma will grow more like its bigger brother, China where its economic liberalization will, sooner or later, sustain itself - with or without democracy. But democracy advocates argue that if collapse, socially, politically and economically. The reason is that despite its seemingly impressive annual growth of about 5.6 per cent, Burma is still facing a "very difficult and troubled" economy with its lack of foreign exchange, its multiple exchange rate system, its immense inflation problem of about 30 per cent per year and its heavy subsidies. Burma, in the minds of many, badly needs both economic and political reform to avoid social tension between the rich and the poor, and racial tension between the incoming Chinese and the local Burmans. Meanwhile, some world-weary analysts see not much difference between Burma's present and its neighbours' past. "What the military regime in Burma is doing is copying the style of Thailand and Indonesia in the past," said a retired Burmese UN official. For now, the split in opinions on the way to shape Burma's future exists not only among outsiders but inside Burma's leadership. Some want to focus only on economic reform while others recognize the need for both economic and political reform. In eyes of realists, there seem to be no practical alternative for Burma in an age of intensifying global economic competition. The Slorc must eventually turn to democracy. In countries where economic development preceded political advancement it was only a matter of time before democracy followed economic development, experts say. As Kim Dae Jung, a South Korean democracy activist puts it, "Even in Thailand, after 10 military governments, a civilian government has finally emerged." Should the Burmese people have to wait that long? And how many more "border incidents" with Thailand would it have to take? (TN) ------------------------------------------------------------ NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET: ------------------------------------------------------------ ABSDF-DNA: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT [DR. NAING AUNG] ABSDF-MTZ: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT [MOE THEE ZUN] AMNESTY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE AW: ASIAWEEK Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX), BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION BF: BURMA FORUM BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK) BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN CPPSM:C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW GOA: GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET 106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL 6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC) THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON) NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL UPI: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY ----------------------------------------------------------