------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: March 12, 1997 Issue #664 HEADLINES: ========== BKK POST: MORE REFUGEES SENT BACK ACROSS BORDER REUTER: THAIS BEGIN TO MOVE KAREN REFUGEES KYODO: LAWMAKERS EXPRESS CONCERN AT ASEAN BKK POST: BURMA: A LAND GONE BERSERK REUTER: BURMA MILITARY GOVERNMENT GRIPS NATION REUTER:YADANA GAS PLATFORM SEEN IN PLACE MID-YEAR THE NATION: A BT 100M QUESTION CONFRONTS GAS PROJECT BKK POST: ITAL-THAI STAKE IN BURMA PLANT FEER: FLOATING FLASHPOINT THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR:NEWS BRIEFS AKO AND OBLF:STATEMENT KYO-USA: STATEMENT BURMANET: VIRUS WARNING ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BKK POST: MORE REFUGEES SENT BACK ACROSS BORDER March 11, 1997 The deportation of Karen refugees from Thailand to Burma has resumed, a source on the border said yesterday. A group of 1,800 Karen men, women and children, who had crossed into Kanchanaburi's Thong Pha Phum district on Sunday, were pushed back into Burma early yesterday, he said. The 1,800, who had fled their homes in Tho Kah ahead of a State Law and Order Restoration Council advance, were civilians. Also on Sunday, another 1,500 Karen civilians who had taken sanctuary in the Thung Yai Naresuan wildlife reserve in Kanchanaburi were sent back across the border into Burma, the source said. Driven from their homes in Htitabaw by the Slorc and renegade Karen forces, they crossed the border on Feb 27. (BP) ************************** REUTER: THAIS BEGIN TO MOVE KAREN REFUGEES TO NEW CAMPS March 11, 1997 MAE SOT, Thailand, March 11 (Reuter) - Thai officials on Tuesday began moving thousands of Karen refugees to a safer camp as Thailand attempted to tighten its grip on refugees living on its soil, officials and refugee sources said. The officials used 200 trucks to transport ethnic Karen refugees from Hauy Bong camp, about 30 km (18 miles) north of the border town of Mae Sot. The camp was razed by a splinter Karen group earlier this year. By late morning, about 5,000 refugees had been trucked from Hauy Bong to Hauy Kalok camp, closer to Mae Sot, officials said. A security officer who supervised the relocation told Reuters the move reflected a new policy to reduce the number of camps and move refugees to safer camps where resident numbers could be more closely monitored. More than 70,000 Karen refugees have lived in sprawling camps near the Thai-Burma border since 1984. They have been the target of a series of attacks by rival Karen groups over the past two years. Burmese troops have said the refugees were family members and followers of the Karen National Union (KNU) rebel group and that living in uncontrolled camps allowed them to reguarly cross back into Burma. The KNU, formed in 1948, is fighting for autonomy from Rangoon. It is the last major rebel group that has yet to sign a ceasefire with Burma's military government. To appease Rangoon, the Thai army, which previously turned a blind eye to KNU movements and the refugees on its western border, has changed its policy and is now applying stricter measures. "From now the people who want to live in the camp should not be allowed to return (to Burma), if they go back it means they go to fight because they are the fighters," Thai army chief General Chetta Thanajaro said last week. The new camps will also require stricter entry controls, officials said. Thailand has been accused by the United States and human rights organisations of forcibly repatriating the Karen back into Burma. Thailand denies the accusations but says it disarms fighters and requests that they voluntarily return to Burma. The refugees at Hauy Bong camp, who have been living under temporary shelter since their camp was razed by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) earlier this year, said they welcomed the move. "We are happy here because the old place was very dangerous, we were attacked very often from the DKBA," said Fai Hna, a 30-year old mother of three children. The DKBA was formed in 1995 after the Buddhist faction of the predominantly-Christian KNU split from the group. The DKBA is said to be supported by the Burmese government and to fight alongside the military against the KNU. ********************************** KYODO: LAWMAKERS EXPRESS CONCERN AT ASEAN ADMISSION OF MYANMAR March 11, 1997 TOKYO, March 11 Kyodo - An international group of lawmakers voiced concern Tuesday at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) possibly admitting Myanmar as a full member without regard for improvement in democracy in the country. The concerns were expressed at the inaugural annual meeting of the International Network of Political Leaders Promoting Democracy in Burma (PD Burma), held in Tokyo on Monday and Tuesday. Kjell Bondevik, chairman of PD Burma, told a news conference that the 10 participants ''agreed to encourage ASEAN to impose some preconditions before admitting Burma as a member.'' Bondevik, a former Norwegian foreign minister, cited as one such condition that Myanmar's junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), stop its violence against the ethnic Karen people. He also urged SLORC to release political prisoners, open universities to students and resume dialogue with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD). Along with Cambodia and Laos, military-ruled Myanmar is widely expected to be accepted into the seven-member ASEAN at this year's ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur in July. Lim Kit Siang, a member of the Malaysian parliament, said, ''Voices must be raised to express concerns about this possibility of having SLORC in ASEAN.'' After the meeting, a Japanese parliamentary league issued a statement under the name of its deputy chairman Yukio Hatoyama, co-leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, calling on the Japanese government to engage in active diplomacy to promote dialogue between SLORC and the NLD. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ****************************** BKK POST: BURMA: A LAND GONE BERSERK March 9, 1997 Ralph Bachoe The fate of refugees fleeing their homelands in Burma lies in the hands of their Thai protectors. However, despite the humanitarian gesture of the Thai authorities the hardships persist Life is not of one's own choosing it is dictated by destiny. One case in point is the way one baby girl was brought into this world. The baby girl was born on Monday, February 3, 1997 in a refugee camp in Thailand, miles away from her home. The same day, Thai authorities tried to move the entire group to a new site. Today she is six days old. She has neither worries nor cares. She doesn't know where she was born and she doesn't know where she is. She knows nothing but to suckle her mother's breasts to stay alive. She doesn't know that her parents and her people have fled to a foreign land to survive, just like herself. She is a child of a country called Burma, the "Golden Land," the "Land of a Thousand Pagodas," and many other wondrous names. But today, it is simply a land gone berserk. Her mother, a timid 20-year-old girl, doesn't speak Burmese. This is her second daughter. Her firstborn is two years old. With sad eyes she said: "My husband has been left behind with the Karen National Union 4th Brigade, in Karen State." The area is now under siege by a military government which calls itself the State Law and Order Restoration Council. The family's fate? Who knows, who cares? Such is the life of a refugee. But non-government organisations care. The Thai people, in general, care. The local Thai villagers care. But not Slorc. Not the avaricious businessmen and opportunists in Thailand and neighbouring countries. Not the multi-billion business conglomerates such as Unocal of the USA and Total of France, now working on the Yadana gas pipeline in Burma to feed an energy-hungry Thailand - and shove dollars into their pockets as well. Yet in gratitude, and in desperation, no doubt, the suffering refugees from Phu Nam Rawn camp in Kanchanuburi Province - from a new born baby to a 73-year-old year patriach - managed to deliver this message of appreciation to a Thai MP who was present on the day of their relocation. That was on Tuesday, February 4, 1997. "Your Excellency, we are very pleased to receive your visit to Phu Nam Rawn refugee camp. We respect and recognise all of the Thai peoples sympathy to Karen refugees. "We will never forget the Royal Thai Government's gratitude which has granted shelter to refugees along the Thai-Burma border for a long time. "Due to the Slorc's heavy military offensive many villagers in Burma lost their homes, their land, their heritage and their lives. We see Thailand as a democratic and active protector of human rights." The 2,316 desperate souls include 1,001 boys and 595 girls, aged below 10, as well as landmine victims hobbling around on wooden stumps. The group of 510 families - including 218 males and 502 females over 10 years-old - all fled Burma on February 22 to escape the fierce fighting and the human rights abuses committed by troops of the ruling military junta. They were then trucked to to Phu Muang, the new camp site, under the watchful eyes of 9th Army Infantry Division troops. Thai authorities and the Army have confirmed they will be sent back to Burma as soon as the situation returns to normal. The new camp has a small reservoir inhabited by paddy birds. It is about 20 kilometers south of Phu Nam Rawn and the journey takes about forty minutes by road. It is located in a valley five kilometers away from the Thai-Burmese border where Slorc troops are stationed on the mountains, a good observation point for the Burmese Army but out of mortar range. The Thai Army made sure of this. The refugees' former camp was about two to three kilometres from the border - well within the Slorc's firing range. Choo Dill Charles, 58, the articulate camp leader said: "The division commander and the district chief told us that it is a good place, and it is a place which is good for security and this is the place that he likes, the best. "And so upon their promise we decided to go." Asked whether the relocation was of a forced nature, his tongue in-cheek reply was: "I don't know about that. "We are not forced. We do not say that we are forced. "And we do not say that this is our own choice. It is not. "But we do not have our own choice because we came to Thai soil and we are requesting refuge and they try to give us refuge." Before the refugees could be moved the following day, there was a standoff between the refugees and the Thai Rangers which lasted for more than an hour at the Phu Nam Rawn checkpoint. The Karen community leaders refused to budge from their former site at Phu Nam Rawn despite orders from the checkpoint commander. A tolerant and understanding Ranger captain brought the Karen leaders to the checkpoint for lengthy negotiations. There they met District Chief Pitak Saket who assured them that the new site is safe and that they would be well-protected by the Rangers and local militia. Earlier in the day, fifteen community leaders and a military captain talked and argued at the camp. It was noon and raining heavily. and the negotiators were heavily drenched by then. One Karen leader said: "We are concerned about our children, and only this morning a woman gave birth. "How can we move in a situation like this?" The leader said that they would not move until they received the assurances of the Nai Amphur (district chief). The Karen leader then revealed that he had just received news that the Nai Amphur was against the move. He said the captain at the checkpoint was also confused, who had told him: "My superior told me to move, and then another message said not to move". However, despite the confusion, it seemed the hardships of the refugees - after being moved to a safe area away from the range of Slorc mortar shells - is over. But it is not. Perhaps worse than Slorc, the spectre of death looms as cholera, an infectious disease that causes severe diarrhoea, hovers over the camp. Four are down with it and one case is considered to be serious. (BP) ***************************************************** REUTER: BURMA MILITARY GOVERNMENT GRIPS NATION TIGHTLY March 11, 1997 By Deborah Charles MANDALAY, Burma, March 11 (Reuter) - The soldiers chant loudly as they conduct pre-dawn marches and drills around Mandalay Fort in the centre of the city. They are a visible reminder that despite the commercial bustle of Burma's second city, the military is still in complete control -- in Mandalay, in the capital Rangoon and throughout Burma. "The situation here is very bad," said a well-known Burmese writer who asked not to be identified. "This is worse than a fascist regime." "They shut our mouths, they shut our eyes and make people hear everything they want them to hear," the writer said. "They are watching everything we do. They know you have come to see me and may ask me why, and what I said to you." GOVERNMENT TIGHTENS GRIP WHILE APPEARING TO OPEN UP Many complain that the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) is tightening control over citizens and, at the same time, making it appear as if it is opening up to the rest of the world. This is "Visit Myanmar Year", with the government seeking to open its once-isolated nation up to foreign visitors and their hard currency. Yet since the tourism year began in November, the government has continued to move against the opposition movement led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. "There is severe repression of the NLD and the forces working for democracy," Suu Kyi told a news conference last week. "The situation is getting worse all the time. This is persecution of the NLD," she said, after outlining arrests and intimidation tactics used by the SLORC against NLD members. The SLORC regularly accuses Suu Kyi and members of her NLD party of trying to incite unrest and destabilise the country, and says the actions it has taken are meant to maintain control. The SLORC also closed all the major universities across the country in December after suppressing a series of rare student street demonstrations. It is not known when they will reopen. TERRORIST ATTACKS WORRY GOVERNMENT The military presence in Rangoon has been stepped up recently as the government fears possible terrorist attacks by ethnic guerrilla groups it accused of setting off two bombs at a Buddhist shrine on Christmas Day. In the capital, cars navigate around barricades set up in the middle of the streets. Drivers cast sideways glances at tanks parked in the streets and at soldiers armed with machine-guns who stand guard every few metres on the capital's main roads. "They (the ethnic rebels) can plant bombs at any time," a senior military official said when asked about the heightened security. "We have to be aware of the threat to our security." Diplomats said the government is worried about threats posed by rebel groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) -- the only major ethnic group yet to sign a ceasefire agreement with the SLORC and still fighting for autonomy. An adviser to KNU hardline leader Bo Mya told Reuters last week that the guerrillas planned to step up attacks in key cities such as Rangoon and Mandalay after the SLORC vowed to keep troops at the Thai-Burmese border after recent fighting. "For the SLORC now, the most important thing is to keep security because they need foreign investment. I think the SLORC will try to keep security by using any means they have to," one Asian diplomat said. Burma is not only opening up to tourism, it is also trying to encourage foreign investment. Despite pleas from Suu Kyi to foreigners not to bring money to Burma until the regime improves its human rights record and begins talks with the opposition, foreign investment is rising. Some $6.03 billion worth of foreign projects have been approved by the government since it opened up the economy after seizing power in 1988. But economists estimate only about half of that has actually been invested as some investors, uneasy over threats of U.S. economic sanctions and other international pressure on the SLORC, await more political and economic stability before starting operations. FUTURE STILL UNCERTAIN Right now the situation is still uncertain, analysts say, with several different elements bubbling at the same time. "It's like many different piles of gunpowder spread out," the writer said. "If one explodes it could ignite the rest." Others agree, noting there are some signs of unrest, that students, peasants and even Buddhist monks -- a key element to the national pro-democracy uprisings in 1988 -- may decide to get involved in protests against the military. "It could just take one thing," a diplomat said. "If the SLORC can keep all the different elements happy there is no problem, but if it explodes you don't know what could happen." "We're definitely not going to see dialogue (between Suu Kyi and the SLORC) any time soon," an Asian diplomat said. "I don't think anything else is going to happen right away but we are all waiting to see." ********************************** REUTER:BURMA YADANA GAS PLATFORM SEEN IN PLACE MID-YEAR March 10, 1997 SINGAPORE, March 10 (Reuter) - At least one production platform for the US$1.2 billion Yadana gas field offshore Burma will be in place later this year, a senior Unocal official said on Monday. William Ichord, vice president, Washington office, told Reuters in an interview in Singapore the project was moving forward and first gas production remained on course for 1998. The project aims to provide 525 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) of natural gas to Thailand via a 699-km (416-mile) pipeline under a 30-year period to power a 2,800 megawatt power station. A further 125 mmcfd will be provided to the Burma market via a 260 km (162 mile) pipeline for a 700-megawatt power station and fertilizer plant near Rangoon. Unocal Corp has a 28.26 percent stake in the Yadana field, Total SA TOTF.SA 31.24 percent, Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Co PTTE.BK 25.5 percent and Burma national oil company Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) 15 percent. Ichord said the section of pipeline crossing Burma to the Thai border had been put in place and was being welded and trenched. Unocal has just completed feasibility studies on the pipeline, power and fertilizer plant for Rangoon. *********************** THE NATION: A BT 100M QUESTION CONFRONTS GAS PROJECT March 10, 1997 Kamol Sukin The PTT's environmental report for the Yadana gas pipeline is clearly inadequate, writes Kamol Sukin. But with massive financial penalties facing the agency, will environmental authorities allow it to pass? Compared to other factors such as politics and engineering, the environment has never been a priority for the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT). A case in point is the controversial Yadana project, an ambitious scheme to pipe natural gas from Burma's Gulf of Martaban to Thailand. Despite the PTT's initial optimism that the gas would begin flowing by the middle of next year, construction of the pipeline on the Thai side has been unexpectedly delayed for many months by the energy company's failure to produce an acceptable environmental impact assessment (EIA), which is needed before construction can begin. Work by France-based Total is going ahead on the Burma side. Songkiert Tansamrit, director of the PTT's Public Relations Office, admitted last week that this month is the final deadline for construction to begin. If the project does not get underway by the end of March, the pipeline may not be completed on schedule, as stipulated in the contract among the four-partner consortium, forcing Thailand to pay a hefty financial penalty, as much as Bt100 million per day. Producing an EIA report does not seem to be difficult at first: Just get approval from the Office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP) so the project can go ahead. But the PTT now realises it is not so easy, particularly if the report is to meet acceptable standards. Carrying out the research to meet these standards requires a lot of time, the one thing the PTT cannot afford. In fact, a closer look at the issues reveals that it will be very difficult to gain approval for the project, unless the OEPP's expert committee is willing to accept a weak EIA, which would bring it a great deal of criticism. According to the 1992 Environment Act, the pipeline project requires an EIA before it is approved. So, in June, 1995, the PTT hired Team Consulting Engineers Co Ltd to conduct a four-month study, which it handed over to the PTT in Jan, 1996. The Cabinet approved the project's construction on May 7, 1996, on the condition that the EIA was approved. On May 21, the PTT submitted the EIA report to the OEPP's expert committee on infrastructure projects. But the report was rejected on May 26 due to a lack of information and a failure to fullfil the requirement to hold a technical hearing. The major problem centres around the impact of the project on a dry evergreen forest area soon to be declared part of Thong Pha Phum National Park. According to the PTT, the pipeline will run through 26 km of conservation forest and another 18 km of first-grade watershed area. A lack of sufficient data about the species inhabiting this area is the key factor holding up approval of the EIA. For example, how can one judge the impact of pipeline construction on rare, poorly-understood species such as Kitti's hog-nosed bat and the Royal crab without basic data about their habitat, distribution, feeding and mating patterns, and relationship to other species in the ecosystem? While there were hundreds of species mentioned in the EIA, the report was very unclear as to the project's impact on the animals. The information sources used by Team were mostly secondary sources and out-dated. Data came from document reviews and interviews with local people, rather than real study on the ground. After the initial EIA was rejected, studies on Kitti's bat and the Royal crab were carried out by the Royal Forestry Department and Wildlife Fund Thailand. The PTT held a technical hearing last month at Kanchanaburi to complete the expert committee's requirements, then resubmitted the EIA on Feb 26. The report, however, was again rejected, with insufficient wildlife data again cited as the main reason. Last Wednesday, the PTT once again submitted a revamped EIA, after taking only one week to correct some wording. It has become more obvious than ever that the pipeline's EIA will not contain the necessary impact studies on flora and fauna species. The lack of information has made it difficult for the study to reach a conclusion. It simply states that the forest area in question has ''high bio-diversity", ''ecological significance" and that the pipeline is located near four important conservation areas: Thungyai-Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Khao Laem National Park, Saiyok National Park and forests on the Burmese side. While in one section, the report states that about 90 per cent of their 407 species are ''intermediate", meaning they have no clear status due to a lack of information, it also concludes that 209 of the species (around 50 per cent) will be able to adapt themselves to the project. How can such a report count as an ''academic study"? Finally, the PTT promises to conduct further studies during and after construction. This raises the question of whether the new EIA is simply a facade put up by the OEPP and PTT to convince the public that environmental considerations have been given careful thought before the project is approved. Suspicions will be heightened if the OEPP approves the report this week, as scheduled. If the report is approved based on the current situation, that means EIAs for mega-projects don't require studies: simply planning and promising to study is enough. The main principle of the EIA ­ that studies are needed to mitigate environmental affects and to cancel projects if those affects are too great ­ will have been subverted by the environment agency itself. The WFT's Suraphol Duangkhae has suggested that the PTT should consider the technical hearing as only the first step to providing information on the project to the public. The public should now participate in drawing up a framework for the EIA study, after which experts can be hired to carry out studies in each area for a transparent conclusion, he said. ''Then it will be time to compare the impacts as stated in the EIA with the project's benefits," added Suraphol. ''That is the correct process as stated in the law." (TN) ***************************************************** BKK POST: ITAL-THAI STAKE IN BURMA PLANT March 10, 1997 Italian-Thai development Plc and its partners in Asean will build a cement plant in Burma for 10 billion baht, according to chief executive Premchai Karnasuta. Ital-Thai International Co, a subsidiary of Italian-Thai Development, has taken 35% equity in Myanmar Asean Cement Co. Two other Thai companies also have stakes, one 20% and the other 10%. Singaporean interests have 20%, Malaysian 10% and Filipino 5%, he said, declining to name them. The plant would produce 7,500 tons per day of cement compared with daily demand currently averaging 5,500 tons per day, he said. Burma was now producing only 1,500 tons per day. (BP) ***************************************************** FEER: FLOATING FLASHPOINT March 13, 1997 By Gordon Fairclough in Ranong, Thailand Fishing fleets aggravate regional tensions Sighting a Burmese navy patrol boat on the horizon, the Thai fishing captain ordered his men to cut loose the trawler's net and pick up their weapons. Fishing in the Gulf of Martaban is illegal but lucrative, and he wasn't going to give up without a fight. Aye Soe, a Burmese crewman on the Thai boat, says the Thais fired salvoes from AK-47 assault rifles and launched a rocket-propelled grenade, but failed to deter the fast-closing navy vessel. In the end, the captain lashed the ship's wheel in place, pushed the throttle full out and ordered the crew overboard. The navy vessel pursued the unmanned fishing boat, and Aye Soe and his fellow crewmen spent almost and hour treading water before they were rescued by other fishermen. "It's like a war out there," says the dark-skinned 25-year-old, safe now and lounging on the docks in the southern port city of Ranong. Thailand's trespassing fishing fleet and the fishermen and navies of neighbouring countries are turning the seas of Southeast Asia into a battleground. Some experts fear that the fight for fish could pose a threat to regional security if navies are drawn into the fray to protect their nationals. "The navies try to stay away. But some day, an accident might happen," warns Plodprasop Surawadi, director-general of the Thai fisheries department. "We are close to that every day." To feed the country's huge fish-processing industry and preserve its place as the world's No. 1 seafood exporter, Thailand's fishermen are plundering the waters off Burma, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. But as these countries have become more intent, and better able, to defend their marine resources, they have begun to fight back. There's already been one skirmish. In 1995, Thai warships got into a firefight with Vietnamese coastal patrol boats that were trying to arrest six Thai trawlers in the Gulf of Thailand. Two Vietnamese sailors and one Thai fisherman were killed. Each country claimed the clash took place in its territorial waters. Meanwhile, hundreds of Thai fishermen languish in jails from India and Bangladesh to Vietnam and Indonesia. Many others have paid for the intrusions with their lives. In October last year, two Thai fishermen were killed when their boat was fired on by a Vietnamese vessel. Five others died in a Burmese navy attack on two Thai trawlers in August. And the Malaysian navy killed two, including a 14-year-old boy, during a 1995 pursuit. Despite the danger, Thai fishermen continue to set their nets illegally in foreign waters. The reason: Money. Big fishing-boat owners can make such huge returns - a large boat can catch $3,000 worth of fish a day - that they don't hesitate to send their captains, crews and capital investments into harm's way. Nowhere are the potential profits greater than in Ranong, on the Andaman Sea. Hundreds of Thai fishing boats that ply the waters of neighbouring Burma come here to unload. Tons of mackerel and other fish, jammed into plastic drums, are pulled from their hold daily by Burmese-immigrant crewmen, slick with sweat and fish guts. The catch is weighed and loaded onto a seemingly endless procession of refrigerator trucks headed for local canneries and the giant processing plants up north in Samut Sakhon. The Sino-Thai businessmen who own the boats and control the trade keep a sharp eye on the transfers. Many are clad in T-shirts and shorts, their wealth only evident from the gold Rolex watches on their wrists and their parked Mercedes Benzes. One owner of a small fleet says sending it out to run the gauntlet of Burmese navy patrols is worth the risk. "I've lost three boats, but I'm still way ahead," says the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Thai fishermen, he says, have made a science of raiding their neighbours' waters. The big trawlers can fish nonstop for weeks, supported by a fleet of shuttle boats, which ferry ice and food out and bring the catch back to port. The fishing boats also evade taxes by buying their diesel fuel on the high seas from tankers dispatched from Singapore. Fishermen rely on a radio intelligence centre, which broadcasts reports on the whereabouts of Burmese navy ships. If they happen to be intercepted, they fight. "The big boats have rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns," says the man. Many are better armed than their naval opponents. Often, they win. "It's so easy," he says, pointing to his diamond encrusted Rolex and pinky ring as evidence. The Burmese government says it simply can't enforce its prohibition on fishing by Thai vessels. A diplomat at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok says military air patrols see hundreds of boats fishing in the Gulf of Mataban every day. "But we can't do anything about it. We can't sink all those boats," he says. But the Thais probably won't stop until they're forced to. A shortage of fish in the Gulf of Thailand means that many Thai fishermen have to venture into neighbouring seas to fill their nets. They have been doing it for years. But changes in the law and neighbours' attitudes are making it more dangerous. Southeast Asian countries have claimed their often-overlapping exclusive economic zones. And with better-equipped navies, they increasingly have the means to enforce their claims, as well as to protect their fisheries from encroachment. To head off serious conflict, Plodprasop of the Thai fisheries department says Bangkok has to pay more attention to marine conservation. "The best way out is for Thailand to rehabilitate its own seas, to make them as productive as in the past," he says. "It will cost a lot, but we have to do it." His department already closes part of the Gulf of Thailand to most fishing for three months each years, in an effort to boost mackerel populations. He is also pushing the government to put limits on the number of fishing boats. Chumporn Pachusanond, a specialist on the Law of the Sea at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, also suggests forming a regional fisheries-management body. Many of Thailand's neighbours don't have large enough fishing fleets to harvest the maximum sustainable yield in their own waters. What's left could be divided up among other countries, Chumporn argues. The two men also say that joint-venture agreements with foreign companies or counter-trade agreements could be ways to legally open other countries' waters to Thai fishermen. But similar agreements in the past have collapsed because Thai fishermen cheated, taking more catch then they were due. "Thai people didn't respect the terms of the contracts, and our neighbours didn't like it," says Chumporn. But until Thailand's fishermen play by the rules, the risk of maritime conflict in Southeast Asia will continue to grow. (FEER) ****************************** THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR:NEWS BRIEFS March 9, 1997 From: OKKAR66127@aol.com SECRETARY-L RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF TASAKI SHINJU CO LTD YANGON, 8 March Secretary-1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt received President of Tasaki Shinju Co Ltd Mr Shinju Tasaki and party of Japan at Dagon Yeiktha of the Ministry of Defence at 4.30 pm today. Minister for Foreign Affairs U Ohn Gyaw and Director-General of Protocol Department Thura U Aung Htet were also present. ___________________________________ MYANMAR DELEGATION LEAVES FOR ROME YANGON, 8 March-A Myanmar delegation led by Deputy Minister for Forestry U Aung Phone left here for Rome, Italy, this afternoon to attend the 13th Meeting on Forestry. The delegation was seen off at the Yangon International Airport by Member of the 7 State Law and Order Restoration Council Minister for Forestry Lt-Gen Chit Swe, FAO Resident Representative Dr Prem Nath and heads of department under the Ministry of Forestry. Delegation members are Director-General Dr Kyaw Tint of Forest Department and Director U Aung San Htay. Myanmar Ambassador to Italy U Khin Nyein will join the delegation to attend 8 the meeting. _________________________________ MCB, PUBLIC BANK OF MALAYSIA SIGN MOU TO ESTABLISH JV BANK YANGON, 8 March-Chairman Tan Sri Dato Thong of Public Bank Bhd of Malaysia and party called on Minister for Commerce Lt-Gen Tun Kyi at Sedona Hotel on Kaba Aye Pagoda Road here this evening. They discussed establishment of a joint-venture bank between Myanmar Citizens Bank and Public Bank Bhd, bilateral trade and investment. A ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding on establishment of the joint-venture bank was also held at the hotel. http://www.myanmar.com/nlm/ ********* THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: NEWS BRIEFS March 10, 1997 From: OKKAR66127@aol.com MYANMAR PORT AUTHORITY, SINMARDEV INTERNATIONAL TO BUILD WHARF IN THILAWA PORT AREA YANGON, 9 March Secretary-l of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt this evening attended a ceremony to drive in the first pile for construction of a wharf for general use in Thilawa Port area. This wharf will be constructed jointly by Myanma Port Authority and Sinmardev International Pte Ltd. Accompanied by Minister at the Office of the Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Brig-Gen- Myo Thant, Minister at the Office of the Prime Minister U Than Shwe, Minister at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister U Khin Maung Yin, member of the Security and Management Committee Vice-Admiral Than Nyunt, Minister for Transport Lt-Gen Thein Win, Minister for Labour Maj-Gen Saw Lwin,Deputy minister Transport U Sann Wai, Deputy Commander of Yangon Command Brig-Gen Thura Myint Maung, officials of the Office of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, heads of department, Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore Brig-Gen Patrick Choy Choong Tow, President of Sinmardev International Pte Ltd Mr Albert Hong and officials, local and foreign journalists and guests, the Secretary-l left Nanthida jetty at 12.50 pm today by Malikha Vessel. Myanma Port Authority and Sinmardev International Pte Ltd signed a contract to construct the bridge on 6 July 1996 with the formation of a joint-venture company 'MPA-SMD Port Ltd'. The bridge will be completed within two years. http://www.myanmar.com/nlm/ ***************************** AKO AND OBLF:STATEMENT (abridged) March 4, 1997 From: Benjamin Dunn STATEMENT The latest indiscriminate and vicious onslaught an KNU positions along the Thai-Burma border areas resulting in thousands of refugees fleeing from their home lands, should be viewed by democracy loving nations of the world as an immensely critical situation developing in Burma, as SLORC is able to crush and annihilate with impunity, the last bastion of democracy in Burma. SLORC is not faced by any deterrent, as even all the resolutions of the United Nations have had no affect on SLORC's repression and its increasing human rights abuses. 'The vivid examples of Bosnia are also ignored by them. Must the people of Burma who sought peace and democracy at the 1990 elections, continue living in poverty and immense suffering under the yoke of SLORC's repressive regime?. We call on all peace loving nations to assist the people of Burma fulfil their aspiration for peace and democracy, by working harder to achieve tripartite dialogue, under the supervision of the United Nations. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has also regularly called for dialogue, It is now time for positive action and not words. The Executive Committee OVERSEAS BURMA LIBERATION FRONT (OBLF). 4 March, 1997. -------------------------------- AKO Australia Karen Organisation DECLARATION BY THE AUSTRALIA KAREN ORGANIZATION regarding the recent military operations by SLORC in BURMA. The Karen people want peace, but not peace at any price. The Karen people want PEACE that will ensure DEMOCRACY, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY for all of Burma. The Karens are now facing annihilation, SLCORC has pitted all its might against the KNU and in the process thousands of civilians (Wemen and children) are forced to flee their hames to take refuge in neighbouring Thailand which openly declares its hostility towards them. This is GENOCIDE and the world must take notice. WE, the Karens residing in Australia, now call upon the Australian people, the Australian government and the people government of the world to intervene and avert the great disaster that is looming. WE APPEAL TO THE WORLD COMMUNITY TO HELP US WIN THE WAR AGAINST GENOCIDE, AND THE WAR FOR DEMOCRACY. CENTRAL EXCUTIVE COMMITTEE AKO *********************** KYO-USA: STATEMENT Date: 04 Mar 1997 22:34:41 From: KYO-USA Resent massive assaults by the Burmese Army against refugee camps north of Mae Sot and large scale assaults by Burmese Army units against the Karen in the south of Mae Sot have driven Karen from their homes and villages across the border into Thailand only to face counter measures by the Thai Army forcing the Karens back across the border in to the arms of the Burman Army. The Thai Army in carrying out this mandate indicates clearly the non-humanitarian nature of the Thai government in dealing with Karen refugees. It also points up the belief that the Thai High Command and the SLORC are in collusion regarding the Karen people. There is also pressure from the Thai Army for the Karen to sign a declaration saying they are volunteering to return to Burma on their own free will. Given the long history of the Anti-Karen attitude of the Burman military towards the Karens stemming from the days of the Karen Revolt in 1949 and the clearly expressed desire in a document drawn up by the military and the government under U Nu called "Operation Aung San" "to eliminate the Karens," to which Aung San had no input as he had been assassinated along with his Cabinet earlier in 1947, makes this new drives a further extension of the 4 Cuts program instituted by Gen. Ne Win and now is being extended by the current junta, SLORC, to raze Karen villages and eliminate the Karens. This attitude by the Thai government in allowing its military to play ball with the Burman Army and SLORC forces the conclusion that they both want the Karens "Eliminated." Eyewitness accounts from the border indicate that there is a concerted efforts by the SLORC Troops (Burman Army) to pillage, murder, rape and line villagers up before firing squads. No country, not even a so called "friendly nation" towards Burma such as Thailand should at any time tolerate the Burman Army and SLORC positions. This has clearly becoming a case of genocide and collusion to under any circumstances to participate in these types of actions against the Karen refugees or for that matter any refugees from Burma. It calls for the most forcible of actions not just by the USA, but by the international community. The country initiating these inhumane tactics (Myanmar) must be dealt with by vigorous measures and if Thailand will not accept this then Thailand will also have to face the music. The violations being perpetrated are crimes against humanity and the Thais acquiesce therein by driving the refugees back into Burma and failing to provide adequate defense for the refugees is as guilty as SLORC. A porous border is an open invitation to illegal and inhumane activity. The Karen Youth Organization calls upon the USA, Thailand and all nations to act to quell these rapacious programs of the SLORC and the Burman Army. If physical force must be used then it must be done for not to defend the principles of Human Rights makes the Rights of all Humanity worthless. Karen Youth Organization March 5, 1997 ************************* BURMANET: VIRUS WARNING March 11, 1997 If anyone receives e-mail entitled: PENPAL GREETINGS! please delete it WITHOUT reading it. This is a warning for all Internet users. There is a dangerous virus propagating across the Internet through an e-mail message entitled "Penpal Greetings!" It is a self-replicating virus, and once the message is read, it will AUTOMATICALLY forward itself to anyone who's e-mail address is present in YOUR mailbox. This will destroy your hard drive, and holds the potential to destroy the hard drive of anyone whose mail is in your Inbox, and who's mail is in their Inbox and so on. Pass this message along to all of your friends, relatives and the other readers of the newsgroups and mailing lists which you are on so that they are not hurt by this virus. Library Automation Services **************************************