------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: May 8, 1996 Issue #402 Noted in Passing: So there I was last week, calmly eating breakfast and looking over my e-mail, when suddenly I found myself under attack by Burmanet. - Stephen Brookes (see ASIA TIMES: AN OPEN LETTER TO BURMANET) HEADLINES: ========== ASIA TIMES: AN OPEN LETTER TO BURMANET ASIA TIMES: BURMANET WARRIORS (Editorial) ASIA TIMES: THE DAY FRENCH FASHION TOOK SLORC BY STORM MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: DAW SUU'S LETTER FROM BURMA #24 BKK POST: GOLF HELPS SWING DEALS IN BURMA THE NATION: COLD SHOULDER FOR THAI TEAM IN RANGOON FBC: MEDIA COVERAGE ON BURMA BKK POST: BROTHER ADMITS MA KHINE - SUCHART DEALS THE NATION: CABINET BACKS WORK ON THAI-BURMESE GAS LINE THE NATION: ARCO UNDETERRED BY HUMAN RIGHTS DISPUTE REUTERS: ROHINGYAS IN TROUBLE AFP: BURMESE STATE-OWNED SAW MILLS TO TO BE SOLD OFF ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BURMANET EDITOR'S NOTE: The following three articles are from the Asia Times, a recently established newspaper which caters to businessmen in Asia. The first two articles attack BurmaNet readers for being naively pro-NLD and for not picking up weapons and joining the ethnic insurgencies. We will be writing a letter to the editor of the Asia Times, which we hope will be printed. We will also post it on BurmaNet. In the meantime, we would like to ask BurmaNet readers to read the following pieces and judge for them- selves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ASIA TIMES: AN OPEN LETTER TO BURMANET May 6, 1996 SO there I was last week, calmly eating breakfast and looking over my e-mail, when suddenly I found myself under attack by Burmanet, an Internet discussion group that claims some 50,000 regular readers (sic) of its pro-democracy information on Myanmar. As I read on, I learned that Burmanet had reproduced one of my Asia Times articles "to show the type of propaganda and disinformation permitted an encouraged by Slorc-based journalists seeking favor with the Rangoon military regime at the cost of truth and verity discounting in vain as it attempts to discredit the rising popularity of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the her (sic) popular party, the NLD". You can imagine my surprise: I had gone to bed the night before a mild- mannered business journalist, and in the morning I had become a Slorc propagandist. At the start of the Myanmar new year last month, I had written an overview of the political and economic scene here in which I apparently evoked the ire of some Burmanet contributors by noting, among other things, that Aung San Suu Kyi's popularity was waning with many of her former supporters in the NLD, that her current influence on the political and economic development of Myanmar was negligible, and that the Slorc seemed to be on a roll. These views - which are widely, if privately, shared here in Yangon - seem to have set off a storm of righteous indignation on the Burmanet. First there was the characterization quoted above. And then there was this little note: "Dear Readers, Does anyone have information on this Asia Times correspondent, and the Asia Times organization now evidently seeking favor from Slorc as Asia Times expands its coverage of Burma, using pro-Slorc propaganda line to get access into Burma. "Who is Stephen Brookes (Asia Times correspondent based in Yangon) and what's his story? "Thank you. Dawn Star, Paris". Enough dramatic cliches and silly accusations under fake names ("Dawn Star" is the translation of a Myanmar name often adopted by Burmese exile groups and individuals). I admit it: I am Stephen Brookes, and I am ready to confess all. Not that there is a lot to confess, really: I am just a reporter for a business- oriented daily called Asia Times. I come and go regularly to Yangon on a normal two-week journalist visa, like every other journalist. I have been doing this for about 10 months. Neither I nor Asia Times have any special status or access or privileges in Myanmar. We are not even allowed to have an official bureau here. But I come as often as possible, I talk with everybody I can in every sector of society, and I try to do accurate, relevant and informed reporting, so that our readers can get a serious view of what is really going on. I have met members of Slorc and members of the NLD (including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself) and everybody in between. And by being in Myanmar on a regular basis - rather than just parachuting in for the latest rewrite of the Slorc-Suu Kyi standoff - we are working to deepen our understanding of what is really happening here and to get that information out into the world. And let me stress: We are not in the preaching business. We do not lecture our readers on political morality. I am not here to recite NLD dogma or Slorc dogma or anybody's dogma for that matter. We leave propagandizing to the New Light of Myanmar - and, of course, to Burmanet. But we are reasonably perceptive at Asia Times and everything that I have noted about the NLD's current stagnation, though it may be unpleasant for its supporters to hear, is true. And I would hope that sensible Burmanet readers (of which there are many) will think seriously about it, because this closed-minded, kill-the-messenger attitude some of its contributors have taken toward Asia Times- "It prints things we don't like, therefore it is a Slorc propaganda mouthpiece" - is exactly what is destroying the NLD. At this point, Aung San Suu Kyi has surrounded herself with a court of acolytes who only tell her what they think she wants to hear. People who dare to suggest that some economic and social conditions are actually improving, or that the NLD is losing support, or that she needs to get more pragmatic, are vilified as minions of Slorc. And the result. The NLD has no practical plan for developing the country - it has become an aimless, splintered talking shop, increasingly out of touch with the new realities of Myanmar, producing nothing but platitudes and the occasional political prisoner. I do not mean to sound unduly harsh, but this is why Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are losing support here in Myanmar. Many of Burmanet's better- informed readers know this already. And her fingers-in-the-ears approach is only exacerbating the NLD's isolation. Aung San Suu Kyi is admired around the world, but she is sidelined in the only place it really counts. Sure, you can argue that it is all Slorc's fault for refusing to play by Western democratic rules - they play by their own rules - but Slorc is there. They are real. And like it or not, that is not likely to change any time soon. Washington may bark, but it is not going to send troops to Yangon. US students may boycott Pepsi, but there will not be an international embargo. A massive popular revolution here is unlikely, to say the least. And Slorc is not going to wake up one morning, slap its forehead and say: "Gosh we forgot to allow Suu Kyi to take power. Let's all resign right away." So it is reasonable to ask - as many people here are asking - how Aung San Suu Kyi plans to deal with that reality. Does she really want to take part in Myanmar's development? If so, does she have a pragmatic plan? And is she prepared to make the difficult political and personal compromises with reality that would be necessary? I do not know the answers to these questions. But stay turned: I am putting in a request today meet her. I will let you know what she says. (AT) Stephen Brookes is an Asia Times correspondent based in Yangon. ***************** ASIA TIMES: BURMANET WARRIORS (Editorial) May 6, 1996 IN the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Vietnam War catalyzed radical student movements not only in the West but also in numerous countries throughout Asia. And as is likely the case at most newspapers and magazines worldwide, many of our senior editorial staff not only sympathized with but were active participants in the widespread political dissent of that period. It is at least in part on the basis of experiences then that we formulate our editorial opinion and judge elements of news coverage. To provide background to our coverage of events in Myanmar, we single out developments in Thailand since the early 1970s, though we could just as readily draw on events in the Philippines, Korea or elsewhere. By 1973, the Thanom/Prapas military and police dictatorship had run its course. The government was widely discredited and was just awaiting its demise. In mid-October, mass protests drawing hundreds of thousands in central locations in Bangkok forced the dictators to resign and ignominiously leave the country. A brief interlude of wild, woolly and ineffectual democratic experiments ensued, only to give way to another military takeover. And this time, in October 1976, the new rulers deployed massive military force and gunned down hundreds of students encamped at one of Thailand's two leading universities. IN response, and no longer prepared to believe in peaceful struggle for a more liberal political system, thousands of students joined the Communist Party of Thailand in armed struggle in the jungles of the north, the northeast and the south of the country. At the same time, significant numbers of their former high school and university classmates joined the military. The two groups killed each other without mercy for a period of four years, and in some places a lot longer. Only when outside support ceased, in part because of falling out between Vietnamese and Chinese communists over Hanoi's invasion of Cambodia, did the fighting begin to subside. Then prime minister Kriangsak Chomanan took initial steps to effect reconciliation, making deals with all sides. But those who had died did not return and many others never realized or fully understood what had happened to them. We need not see such a tragic spectacle repeated. Thus, we have some pointed comments and caustic advice for the Internet armchair intellectuals of Burmanet. If they truly believe in the need for an uncompromising and unnegotiated end to the political system in Myanmar, it would be far better for them actually to stand behind their words and join one of the various ethnic insurgent groups in armed struggle against Yangon than to prompt naive and idealistic young people in that country to take up arms against each other in a largely fruitless endeavor. This Hemingwayesque romanticism, turning the struggle in Myanmar into a sort of 1990s Spanish Civil War, may not actually help Myanmar, but it might benefit the world in general by producing a similar quantity of great art and literature. But for those Burmanet contributors seriously concerned to bring meaningful political and economic change to Myanmar, we suggest that a gradual and evolutionary approach is the only one likely to succeed. We do not for a moment mean to suggest that economic development will in and of itself engender more liberal political structures. But again drawing on the example of Thailand, there is no question that the economic takeoff and rapid progress after 1985 quickly swelled the ranks of the Thai middle class, with its own distinctive political and economic interests. The same thing undoubtedly will happen in Myanmar. Such a new middle class will negotiate its economic and political concerns with the powers that be and, as occurred in Thailand in 1992, this process may ultimately lead to violence. But it will not be a case of largely uninformed and innocent groups being thrown into battle as cannon fodder without a full understanding of where their fight will take them. And a final word of caution to the Burmanet democrats: Myanmar is a union of distinctive linguistic and cultural groups with different historical experiences. Attempts to use their differences with Yangon to dislodge the government there will only endanger the very unity of the country. This is turn could lead to chaotic circumstances that would threaten peace not only in Myanmar but also with its neighbouring countries. (AT) **************** ASIA TIMES: THE DAY FRENCH FASHION TOOK SLORC BY STORM May 1, 1996 By Stephen Brookes WITH all the brouhaha recently over Jacques Chirac's discovery of Asia (politicians, as usual, stumbling along a few steps behind the business community), the entire French fashion world has been consumed with frenzied talk of Myanmar. Well, maybe not consumed, exactly. And frenzied is a strong word. Because, while Myanmar is a country of extraordinary beauty, it's not exactly a place that springs to mind when the subject of baute couture comes up. The national dress for both men and women is a sort of long skirt called a longyi, worn with a shirt and obligatory sandals. Colors tend toward the drab (brown is a popular choice) and most women wear a yellowish makeup called thanaka that has yet to take the Riviera by storm. In fact, three decades of isolation and a disastrous "Burmese Path to Socialism" not only seriously damaged the country - it also didn't do much for the country's fashion sense. But the Slorc has been opening the country to more foreign investment and trade, and encouraging contacts with the outside world. And to that laudable end, they invited French fashion designer Pierre Cardin to the country last year for a couple of days to show off some clothes, shake a few important hands and - who knows? Maybe cut a deal. So one clear morning in Yangon, two of Cardin's assistants, Edouard Saint Blice (dapper in a cream linen suit) and Maryse Gaspard (scary in pointed dark glasses and 6-inch black heels) found themselves in the dining room of the city's elegant Nawarat Hotel. Armed with cell phones and video cameras, they were there to scout models for Cardin's official show two days later, and to review the latest Myanmar fashions in a show arranged by the Ministry of Trade. It was, more or less, what you'd expect a fashion show in a military regime to be like. One by one, the models would march out, squint into the lights and frown, while an expressionless announcer blared things like: "This is Model Number Seven, and she is looking very fashionable in a two-layered jacket, which is very fashionable at this time." And the poor girl would come charging down the catwalk, make sort of a where-do-I-go-now turn, frown some more and march back again. Cardin's assistants took in the event with Gallic aplomb, even when the announcer noted that one of the models was sporting "off-the-well casual wear". And they were kind to the girls, some of whom were clearly encountering high heels for the first time and were having a hard time making it down the catwalk without toppling over. To everyone's great relief, Saint Blice and Gaspard finally had the models kick off their heels and pad up and down in bare feet - smiling for the first time all morning. So two days later all was in readiness, and Le tout Yangon turned out to see Cardin himself and his creations. The French ambassador was there with full entourage, as well as a few anxious- looking European women, several dozen elderly male government officials (sharply dressed in while shirts and brown longyis) and a handful of Myanmar VIPs - including Daw Khin Sandar Win, the daughter of the general who ruled the country from 1962 to 1988. But it was an odd event, not quite fashion show, not quite press conference, in which Cardin and an advisor to the Ministry of Trade sat on stage while local reporters asked troubling questions like: "Do you think Myanmar fashion accentuates the female figure?" and "Would you like to sell longyis in France?" Cardin fended off the questions and tooted the Cardin horn a bit, noting that he was the first fashion designer to come to Myanmar, and was grateful to be invited by the Ministry of Trade, and had traveled widely in Asia since first coming here more than three decades before, and so on and so forth. But no one was paying much attention, because on the stage behind him, a miracle was unfolding. The plodding, dour models from a couple of days before emerged suddenly and amazingly like spectacular butterflies, dressed in fantastic swirls of yellow silk, curving blue sweeps of organza, asymmetrical linen tunics worn with shocking-pink leather gloves, sharp little Parisian suits with multiple epaulets flying upward like wings, hooped wedding dresses trailing acres of lace, little hats titled at odd angles - it was an amazing display of female plumage, and the models were radiant, swooping delightedly around the stage as the flashbulbs popped. At least, they looked delighted. Asked after the show asked she felt about the clothes, one model smiled demurely and said: "Thank you." When an interpreter was called in, he translated the questions, listened, and replied: "She says she doesn't know. Thank you." "Fashion is a wonderful thing for improving communication between people," Cardin said in an interview after the conference. "You can have this free exchange of ideas, of creativity, between people without thinking about nationality or religion or any of those things. And this is so important, especially where there are such different views. So I hope that someday we may have a shop here - why not?" Perhaps. But this was merely a goodwill visit by the French designer, and officials from the government seemed a little skeptical that the streets of Yangon would be teeming with Cardin-clad women any time soon. "Well," said a doubtful official with the Ministry of Trade, "We're very interested in promoting the fashion industry. But when our people see these clothes, I think they'll prefer traditional dress." Perhaps that's because fashion, by definition, implies change and Myanmar has been isolated and unchanging for a very, very long time. Even something as simple as an unusual dress can arouse concern. Toward the end of the press conference, one stern young reporter stood with his arms folded across his chest and asked Cardin: "Do you not agree that the mode of dress reflects the moral habits of a people?" Cardin blinked and thought for a moment (this is not the sort of question they ask in Paris, after all), and said that perhaps it reflected something entirely different. "Fashion," he said quietly, "is about dreams. And what is life without dreaming?" (AT) ******************************************************* MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: DAW SUU'S LETTER FROM BURMA #24 May 6, 1996 From: Carol Schlenker & Aung Thu BURMA'S NEW YEAR FESTIVITIES STIFLED BY SLORC "Water Festival (1)" BurmaNet Editor's Note: Readers should recognize that Daw Suu is writing these pieces for a very specific audience - Japanese readers. In accordance with Japanese sensibilities, she often refers to the seasons, the bittersweet and transient nature of cherished things, and nostalgic remembrances of times past. Daw Suu lived in Kyoto for some time, and she is trying to reach Japanese audiences by demonstrating that she understands and to some extent shares their worldview. In return, she appears to be attempting to persuade the Japanese public to understand her perspective on the present situation in Burma and to support the NLD's stance rather than nonchalantly allow the Japanese government and Japanese multinationals to work so closely with the SLORC. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Poets who have known the disturbing beauty of spring in temperate lands write about the month of April with a quivering nostalgia, fascinated, and perhaps a little frightened, by its uncertain glory. April in tropical Burma is of a totally different order from "... the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, stirring Dull roots with spring rain." The cruelty of April in Burma lies not in the pain of returning life but in the searing heat and brassy glare of the sun that saps strength and energy, leaving people as parched and exhausted as the cracked earth. It is during this hot and draining month that the Burmese New Year falls. And fittingly the New Year is celebrated with a water festival. The name of the festival is /Thingyan/. Thingyan denotes a changeover and the suffix /maha/, great, is often added to indicate the major change from an old to a new year which the festival celebrates. We also use the suffix /ata/, ending, as the festival actually takes place during the last four days of the old year and the ata water that we pour on each other as part of the festivities symbolizes peace and prosperity and the washing away of impurities. The form of the Thingyan festival has changed perceptibly over the last 200 years. An Englishman, Captain Symes, sent by the Viceroy of India on an embassy to the Burmese court at Ava in 1795 left a description of the water festival in which he took part: "To wash away the impurities of the past and begin the new year free from stain, women on this day throw water on every man they meet, and the men are allowed to throw water on them in return. This permission to throw water on one another gives rise to a great deal of harmless merriment, especially amongst the young women, who, armed with large syringes or squirts and vessels, try to wet every man that goes along the street, and in their turn receive a wetting with the utmost good nature. "The slightest indecency is never shown in this or in any other of their sports. Dirty water is never thrown. A man is not allowed to lay hold of a woman, but may throw as much water over her as he pleases, provided she has started first." The age of chivalry when only women were allowed to start throwing water first have long gone by. And these days water hoses fitted with nozzles that spurt out strong jets of water have largely replaced syringes and squirts and dainty vessels. And many Burmese, especially those belonging to the older generations, would sadly admit that it can no longer be claimed that "the slightest indecency is never shown" during the festival, especially since alcoholic excess has come to be associated with thingyan. In modern times it has become the practice to set up temporary buildings for the purpose of throwing water and provide entertainment in the form of songs and dances on the sides of city streets. Carloads of merrymakers go from street to street getting wetter and wetter and in some cases getting more and more intoxicated. But there is more to thingyan than throwing water and having fun. It is a time for taking stock of the past year and using the last few days before the new year comes in to balance our "merit book." Some people spend the period of the water festival in meditating, worshiping at pagodas, observing the eight precepts, releasing caged birds and fishes and performing other meritorious deeds. Children are told that /Sakya/ comes down from his heavenly abode to wander in the human world during the days of thingyan, carrying with him two large books, one bound in gold and the other bound in dog leather. The names of those who perform meritorious acts are entered in the golden book while the names of those who do not behave properly are noted down in the dog leather tome. It is especially important not to get angry during thingyan or to make others angry. It is therefore considered wrong to throw water at anybody who is unwilling to be doused. There are special foods associated with thingyan. One of the most popular of these are small boiled rice dumplings with a stuffing of palm sugar, eaten with a sprinkling of shredded fresh coconut. Often hot chilies are put in place of the palm sugar in a few dumplings and there is much good humored laughter when some unfortunate bites into one of these lethal sweetmeats and vociferously expresses his chagrin. Because it is such a hot time of the year sweet, cooling drinks made from coconut milk, swirling with bits of rice pasta tinted a pale green, saga, seaweed jelly and other garnishes are served as part of the festivities. A traditional part of the water festival has disappeared in recent years: the /thingyan thangyat/, rhyming choruses that provide pungently witty commentaries on topical subjects, particularly on the government. It was a way of allowing people to let off steam healthily once a year and also a way of allowing sensible governments to know how the people truly feel about them. But the SLORC is incapable of coping with criticism. Members of the NLD who sung such choruses in 1989 were imprisoned. ********************************************************** BKK POST: GOLF HELPS SWING DEALS IN BURMA May 7,1996 Report: Nussara Sawatsawang, Rangoon Golf is catching on fast in military-ruled Burma. As in many other countries, it is much more than a sport, it is essential for those who are or want to be important. At the state-owned Yangon Golf Club, caddy Wai Wai Myint sees golf as a chance to earn a living. An occasional 500 kyat tip by a foreign businessman is much more than she can hope to earn in a day doing something else. For an increasing number of Burmese generals, golf boosts their meagre official salary through deals clinched with foreign businessmen on the course and secures their political career. "Golf paves the way for key men in many fields. Since almost all Burmese leaders like to play golf and the regime seems to be holding on to power, playing golf is inevitable," said a Rangoon-based foreign businessman. The businessman told Inside Indochina he took up the game only after being told by his boss that he was being stationed in Burma. Business deals are smoothed by betting on the game with key generals. The businessmen put up a strong fight but eventually lose. As much as US$1,000-3,000 has been paid this way, according to an observer who declined to be named. No other source could confirm the figures. Other pointed out that similar deals were struck in many countries world-wide and Burma should not be singled out. Golf clubs have joined Johnny Walker Blue Label whisky as the favourite gift for Burmese generals. The sport was introduced by the British in the early 1900s, with the Yangon club being the oldest. Gen Ne Win, Rangoon's most powerful leader, is widely known to be a great golfing enthusiast. But the way the game has evolved in Burma may not be what the government expected eight years ago when it began promoting the sport, initiating economic reforms and opening the country to the outside world. Burma, which may join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2000, has already developed "golf diplomacy" to strengthen ties with other countries, especially Asean members. Last September, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, played golf in heavy rain with the chairman of Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council Gen Than Shwe, vice-chairman Gen Maung Aye and first secretary-general Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt. Foreign Minister Kasem S. Kasemsri, during his official visit to Rangoon, in November, had a game with Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe, Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Maj-Gen Soe Myint and the Mayor of the Yangon City Development Committee U Ko Lay. Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa had no time during his visit to Rangoon mid-March, but said he wished he make a one- day unofficial trip to play golf with his counterpart. Apart from the Yangon club, four others operate in the capital. The government has been able to take advantage of owning golf courses to promote Visit Myanmar Year. In January, Rangoon was included in Asian Professional Golfers' Association tournament offering US$150,000 in prize money. Playing golf is not cheap. The Yangon club's annual membership fee for a foreigner is $1,000 plus $35 a month. Non-members have to pay a $25 green fee. The annual fee for Burmese is 300,000 kyats a year plus 300 kyats a month. Observers expect fees to increase this year. The average monthly income of state officials is 1,500-2,500 kyats, compared with 5,000-10,000 kyats for private workers. Wai Wai Myint said about 60 players used the Yangon club each day, mainly generals, foreign visitors, expatriates workers and local businessmen. Unlike the millions of kyat that can be made through "on course" deal, Wai Wai Myint, 28, earns 90 kyats a round, as do 220 other caddies at the club. They pin their hopes on generous tips usually given by foreigners. Thai businessmen are reputedly the best tippers. A tip of 500 kyats, or 100 baht at the black market rate, is more than her regular pay. "Golf clubs are heavy and I have to walk all day. But I appreciate it when I get a tip, particularly from Thai businessmen because they're not fussy," she said. (BP) *************** THE NATION: COLD SHOULDER FOR THAI TEAM IN RANGOON May 7,1996 (abridged) A Thai military delegation was ignored by their Burmese hosts when they attended yesterday's inaugural ceremony to officially unveil a monument to honour a Burmese king in Tachilek, a source close to the delegation said. The 10-member delegation, led by Maj-Gen Ithiphol Sirimonthol, commander of Chiang Rai province's military region, received little acknowledgement from Rangoon's powerful military leader Gen Khin Nyunt. Khin Nyunt presided over the ceremony, said the source, who asked not to be named. The event was attended by over 20,000 Burmese at the border town, opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district. Crowds lined the streets of Tachilek to welcome Khin Nyunt and his delegation. The monument was built as part of a campaign to promote Burmese tourism year by commemorating the glory of the Burmese kingdom, which under king Bourangnong won battles to control a large part of the region, including the Thai Kingdom which fell during the Autthaya period. The construction was completed a year ago but the inauguration was postponed because of fighting between the Burmese army and drug warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army (MTA) operating in the area near Tachilek. **************************************************** FBC: MEDIA COVERAGE ON BURMA May 6, 1996 Aung San Suu Kyi and SLORC in the Australian TV on Tuesday 7 May 1996, at 9:30 PM, on the ABC (Channel 2): TV Program - 9:30 - Foreign Correspondent. The Bay Area co-author of "Revolution of the Spirit" Leslie Kean (Burma Project USA) and Dennis Bernstein (KPFA radio) did a phone interview with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently. The interview will be broadcast on KPFA (a public station in the Bay Area) on May 7, 1996. Daw Suu "says that nothing has changed with Pepsi - they haven't divested - and are still selling products there...that this last move on their part meant nothing." ******************************************************** BKK POST: BROTHER ADMITS MA KHINE - SUCHART DEALS May 8,1996 A brother of Burmese businesswoman Ma Khine Zaw admitted for the first time his sister has business deals with Deputy Interior Minister Suchart Tancharoen. However, Mr Zaw Oo, the eldest brother, insisted all the business involving the two parties was legal. He also denied the two had an intimate relationship as portrayed by the Press. "They have for the last five years been working for timber concessions, all are legal and approved by the Burmese Government. If it was all illegal, Ma Khine would not now be in Rangoon. So we are doing business in good terms with the Government," said Mr Zaw Oo. Mr Zaw Oo's explanation came on the eve of a censure debate today and tomorrow, during which Mr Suchart's business activities with Mrs Ma Khine would be raised by the Opposition. In a telephone interview with the Bangkok Post, Mr Zaw Oo, who is currently on a business trip to Bangkok, said the families of both sides have known each other for more than 20 years since the time of their fathers. Thus he does not believe such personal connection as alleged by the Thai Press. "We are from a good family. If they (the Press) came to Burma, and found out about our family background, they would see and understand Ma Khine. She has a very good family life with her husband and tow beautiful daughters," said Mr Zaw Oo. Regarding the logging business, Mr Zaw Oo, 47, one of the founders of Silar International Co, denied having any knowledge of how the business was managed as he left the company several years ago to run his own business in Burma, and from that time his sister, whom he described as "successful businesswoman" joined Silar's management. However, he said the timber concession has been executed "legally by the 44 companies granted premission by the Burmese Government." Mrs Ma Khine, 41, has become entangled in a controversy during the past two months when it was alleged she played a key part in Group 16's take-over of companies in the stock market using a multi-million baht loan from the Bangkok Bank of Commerce. Asked why they had not come out with an explanation earlier, he said: "It's the Burmese nature. If they were accused, they would not make an effort to explain if they believe they were in the right. "This is just politics, sometimes you become a victim of circumstances. So I think that my sister has become a victim of the circumstances created by Thai politicians," he said. *************** THE NATION: CABINET BACKS WORK ON THAI-BURMESE GAS LINE May 8,1996 The Cabinet yesterday approved the construction of the first Thai-Burmese transborder gas pipeline, which will pass through a conservation area of Thailand. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) has been entrusted with the project worth over Bt16.5 billion. Under the deal, PTT will buy gas from two Burmese gas fields at Yadana and Yetagun, beginning in July 1998. PTT is still negotiating with two gas suppliers in the Yetagun field _ French-based Total and US-based Unocal over the price. Construction is , however, still pending the approval of a study on its environmental impact by The National Board for the Environment. The 297-kilometre pipeline starts in Ban I- Tong in Thong Phaphoum district and ends at a thermal power plant in Ratchaburi province, cutting through one of Thailand 's forestry conservation areas. The Cabinet also agreed in principle that villagers in the conservation area who did not have land title documents would be relocated and compensated. They said there were reports that many villagers had encroached in the forest near the pipeline. The project has met opposition from environmentalist and human rights groups. Environmentalists have strongly opposed the project over both its environmental impact and the problem of resettlement. (TN) *************** THE NATION: ARCO UNDETERRED BY HUMAN RIGHTS DISPUTE May 8, 1996 Karen Lowe, AFP As activists demonstrated outside an Arco shareholder's meeting over human rights abuses in Burma, the company's chief said the oil company would continue doing business in Burma. About 30 demonstrators from the Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma demonstrated outside the Sheraton Grande Hotel here where Atlantic Richfield Company (Arco) was holding its annual shareholder's meeting. Asked whether Arco planned to change its business strategies with Burma, chief executive officer Mike Bowlin said a boycott by American companies would hurt US shareholders without affecting the regime in power. "If US companies don't go into Burma, you can bet the French [and others] will," Bowlin said, adding only a multinational boycott would be effective. "We believe engagement is constructive." Carol Richards, of Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma, expressed disappointment at Bowlin's remarks that dashed hopes that Arco would set the example for other US oil companies doing business in Burma. "That is the line that every single oil company takes. That means that no one is willing to take the leadership and set the example," she said, adding her organisation had turned to Arco because "It has a reputation of being more responsive to ethical issues". In July 1995, Arco entered a contract with Burma for oil and gas exploration. Arco gave the Burmese military-ruled government US$6 million (Bt150 million) for the exploration rights. Arco, along with Unocal, Texaco and PepsiCo are being boycotted by the Free Burma Coalition, a network of 100 college and high school campus groups and 50 independent organisations from 15 countries opposing investment in Burma. The students have been successful at cancelling a $1 million Pepsi contract at Harvard University amid growing opposition to economic involvement by US companies in Burma. Six US cities, including California's Santa Monica, Oakland, Berkley and San Francisco have passed laws that ban contracts with Burma involved companies, preventing city fleets from gassing up at Arco stations. Federal sanctions legislation, which the White House opposes, has been introduced in both houses of Congress, with hearings tentatively scheduled for this month. Bowlin echoed PepsiCo officials who have said that they believe their activities in Burma have raised standards of living and shown the benefits of democracy. (TN) ************** REUTERS: ROHINGYAS IN TROUBLE May 6, 1996 From: uneoo@physics.adelaide.edu.au COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, - More than 3,000 Burmese Muslims are estimated to have fled into Bangladesh over the past two months and 700 of them were sent back, Bangladeshi border guards said today. The new influx began in early March with a boatload of Rohingya Muslims sailing across the Naf river, the guards said. Bangladeshi officials said they did not know what had prompted the new influx. Some 250,000 Rohingyas fled their homes in early 1992 to escape alleged persecution in Burma's Muslim-majority state of Arakan, bordering Bangladesh. ***************************************************** AFP: BURMESE STATE-OWNED SAW MILLS TO TO BE SOLD OFF May 2, 1996 Four state-owned saw mills in northeastern Burma are to be either sold off or leased under the Burmese government's privatization scheme. The four timber mills located in Sagaing division are to be either sold off outright or leased to private entrepreneurs, with the facilities going to the highest bidders. Individual entrepreneurs as well as private enterprises wishing to acquire the saw-mills should submit their applications before the end of May to a privatization commission, it said. The commission, headed by Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, the junta's first secretary, has already listed and disposed of various other state-owned factories and plants which had become ineffective under state management. Included on the list are former state economic enterprises ranging from biscuit and noodle factories to machine tool plants. The report said starting prices for the four saw mills ranged from two to four million kyats (17,000 to 34,000 dollars at the prevailing market rate).