------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: September 25, 1997 Issue #828 HEADLINES: ========== REUTER: NLD GOES AHEAD WITH PARTY CONFERENCE NO PETRO-DOLLARS FOR SLORC: TEXACO SALE OF GAS PROJECT NATION: SPECULATION MOUNTS AS NE WIN REACHES JAKARTA REUTER: BURMA SAYS IMF SHOULD GIVE MONEY TO JUNTA NATION: HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SLAMS HANDLING OF BURMA SHAN DEMOCRATIC UNION: SLORC'S ETHNIC CLEANSING NATION: UNOCAL REMAINS BULLISH ON BURMA WASHINGTON POST: LETTER - FIFTY DIFFERENT TRADE POLICIES? SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: STAYS EXTENDED AP: KIM, DAW SUU'S SON IN BURMA REUTER: UNOCAL HEADQUARTERS SET UP IN MALAYSIA SCMP: 'CHILD SOLDIERS THREAT TO FUTURE' THE NATION: FIVE FIRMS GIVEN LOGGING PERMITS BKK POST: PLOT TO PASS ILLEGAL THAI WOOD OFF AS BURMESE BKK POST: SINO-THAI EXPECTS TO WIN BIG BKK POST: BURMESE AGENCIES BOAST VARIED TALENT POOL -------------------------------------------------------------------------- REUTER: NLD GOES AHEAD WITH PARTY CONFERENCE September 24, 1997 RANGOON, Sept 24 (Reuter) - Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party vowed on Wednesday to go ahead with plans to hold a two-day special meeting in the capital from Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of its founding. ``We have decided to go ahead with our planned conference without fail. About 700 delegates are expected to attend,'' an NLD source told Reuters. ``Some delegates from Mandalay and Magway Divisions have already arrived in Rangoon.'' The Rangoon Division NLD office, on authorisation from the party's headquarters, had informed the ruling military-led State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) of its intention to hold the planned meeting, he said. When the NLD planned a similar meeting on September 28 and 29 last year, the military thwarted it by detaining over 400 delegates and preventing them from attending temporarily. Military spokesmen were not available for comment on whether or not the NLD party congress would be allowed to proceed. The NLD, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landlside victory in 1990 elections but the military never recognised the result. The party has been at loggerheads with the SLORC since Suu Kyi was released from six years of house arrest in 1995 over human rights abuses, repression and the military's curbing of its political activities. Analysts said the NLD may not be able to hold the special meeting because of freshly damaged ties with the military. ``It is very hard to say for sure that the NLD will be able to hold the meeting because of the abortive meeting between the NLD chairman and the SLORC's Secretary One last week,'' said one analyst who declined to be identified. Some key NLD leaders declined to meet powerful Secretary One of the SLORC, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt on September 16. ******************************************* NO PETRO-DOLLARS FOR SLORC: TEXACO SALE OF GAS PROJECT September 25, 1997 From: Pamela Wellner FREE BURMA: NO PETRO-DOLLARS FOR SLORC Please Distribute For Immediate Release Media Contact: Pamela Wellner, 415-695-1956, September 25, 1997 Joe Drexler, OCAW, 303-987-2229 TEXACO SALE OF BURMA GAS PROJECT A BIG VICTORY FOR BURMA'S DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT San Francisco, Sept. 25 -- US oil giant Texaco's announcement yesterday to sell its stake in a natural gas project off Burma's coast is a major win for the Burmese democracy movement and its supporters worldwide. The sale to Premier Oil of Britain follows a decision in April by President Clinton to bar new investment in the military-ruled Burma in the interest of human rights, democracy and counter narcotics efforts. In recent months both Canada and the European Union have taken supportive action. Multinational oil company investment in Burma provides the largest legal source of foreign currency to the regime. Burma's junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a flagrant human rights abuser was condemned by Secretary of State Albright for involvement in drug money laundering. In July, Albright said, "We are increasingly concerned that Burma's drug traffickers, with official encouragement, are laundering their profits through Burmese banks and companies -- some of which are joint ventures with foreign business." SLORC has a right to a 15% stake in the gas project. The gas project's future could also now be jeopardized. Premier is likely to come under pressure from the new UK government which is considering sanctions against SLORC. Additionally, Petronas of Malaysia, which will acquire part of Premier's stake, is thought to be lacking the technical capacity to manage the project alone. "We welcome Texaco's gesture, but we also appeal to Premier to seriously reconsider their deal with Burma's illegitimate regime. We believe it is against the current trend of the UK government's Burma policy and the position of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the legitimately elected National League for Democracy, who advocates no foreign investment with SLORC." said Bo Hla-Tint, spokesperson for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. "We believe the Texaco decision to leave Burma sends another message to the oil companies that corporate downsizing and exploiting US workers to raise capital for investments in totalitarian countries, where slave labor and wholesale repression are routine, will not go unchallenged." said Robert Wages, President of the 90,000 member Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union, OCAW. "Now that Texaco realizes that Burma is no place to do business, how can ARCO and Unocal justify dealing with this brutal regime? If they stay we will continue boycotting ARCO products and intensify on-going efforts against Unocal." said Pamela Wellner, campaign coordinator, Free Burma: No Petro-dollars for SLORC. ******************************************** THE NATION: SPECULATION MOUNTS AS NE WIN REACHES JAKARTA September 24, 1997 The Nation, Agencies Suharto may have role to play in Burma dialogue JAKARTA - Burma's former leader Ne Win arrived in Jakarta yesterday amid speculation that Indonesian President Suharto is to ask the Burmese patriarch to influence Rangoon's military junta to open dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Sun Kyi. A state protocol official told The Nation yesterday that Ne Win had arrived in Jakarta on a private plane with his daughter Dr Daw Khin Win, his son-in-law U Aye Zaw Win, his grandchild Maung Kyaw Ne Win and several aides. Ne Win was welcomed by Indonesian Chief of State Protocol Dadang Sukandar. An aide to Suharto explained on Monday that Ne Win was coming to Jakarta as the private guest of Suharto. "This is a private visit to the President and he is very willing to visit the grave of the former first lady, the late Ibu Tien Suharto, in Solo," said Cabinet Secretary Moerdiono, referring to Suharto's wife who died in April last year and was buried in her home town Solo around 600 kilometres east of Jakarta. Speculation started to circulate in Jakarta two months ago that Indonesian Ambassador to Burma, Poerwanto Lenggono, had handed over Suharto's invitation to Ne Win in a bid to discuss the issue of democratisation in Burma. Suharto, who supported Burma's admission into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in July, suggested Ne Win have a holiday in Indonesia. Burma observer Bonar Tigor Naipospos doubted whether Ne Win still has influence over Burma's current politics. "It's just a reunion between friends," he said. Naipospos said Suharto is not really the peace broker type. "He's not a Nelson Mandela. His character doesn't go that way. Frankly speaking, I don't see what can be expected from Ne Win's visit," he said. Many Burmese believe Ne Win still exercises control over the present military government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), which succeeded him in September 1988. Some analysts have written that there is little hope of breaking the political stalemate between Slorc and the democracy movement until Ne Win dies. His last public appearance was on Armed Forces Day in March 1989. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 1990 election and captured about 60 per cent of the vote. But the Burmese generals, who have been ruling Burma since 1962 under Ne Win, refused to hand over power. Ne Win staged a coup d'etat against the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister U Nu in 1962. He ruled Burma for 26 years and drove the resource-rich country into poverty with an isolationist policy he called "the Burmese Way to Socialism". The 86-year-old former leader was scheduled to dine with Suharto in the Merdeka Presidential Palace yesterday evening. The Jakarta Post quoted an official as saying that the Indonesian government was very cautious about arranging the visit. Jakarta does not want to give Rangoon the wrong impression, he said, adding that Slorc chairman General Than Shwe fully supported the visit. ----------------------------------------- [related excerpts] FINANCIAL TIMES: NE WIN RE-EMERGES IN PUBLIC September 24, 1997 Ted Bardacke The Burmese junta has long expressed a desire to adapt the Indonesian political system - with its extreme presidential power and guaranteed political representation for the country's armed forces - for Burma's political future. Diplomats said the fact Ne Win's trip comes in what may be a turbulent week in Burma - the opposition National League for Democracy plans to hold a congress days after a dialogue with the military government was cancelled - shows he is no longer involved in day-to-day running of the country. ****************************************************** REUTER: BURMA SAYS IMF SHOULD GIVE MONEY TO JUNTA September 24, 1997 HONG KONG, Sept 24 (Reuter) - Burma appealed to the IMF and World Bank on Wednesday to be allowed to benefit from their funding, saying its admission to ASEAN in July showed it was no longer a pariah. Brigadier Win Tin, Burma's finance minister, told the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund: ``The warm welcome we received from the other ASEAN countries when we were accepted as its full member bears witness to the fact that Myanmar's image is contrary to that propagated by some countries and the media.'' Burma (Myanmar) joined the Association of South East Asian Nations on July 23, despite pressure from the West that said its human rights record meant it was unfit for membership. ``I would like to request that the Fund and the Bank avoid applying double standards and seriously reconsider all the points I have made to...extend tangible support to Myanmar,'' said Win Tin. He told the meeting multilateral assistance to Burma ended in 1988, the year the junta crushed the democracy movement, jailing thousands of demonstrators. Win Tin said foreign direct investment had increased $2.8 billion in 1996/7 to a total of $6 billion and said inflation had subsided to 20 percent in 1996/7 from 25 percent the previous year. Growth had slowed to 6.4 percent from an annual average of 7.5 in the previous five years. **************************************** THE NATION: HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SLAMS HANDLING OF BURMA EXILES September 24, 1997 The Nation LONDON-BASED human rights group Amnesty International (AI) has slammed the Thai army in its recent monthly report for violating international norms by forcing thousands of Burmese ethnic minorities fleeing persecution to return to the trouble-plagued country. In the report entitled "Kingdom of Thailand: Erosion of Refugee Rights", AI accused the Thai army of violating the -principle of non-refoulement [the principle of providing asylum to refugees] by forcibly returning thousands of refugees to Burma earlier this year, where they face widespread human rights violations from the military government. "The internationally recognised principle of non-refoulement forbids the returning of any person to a country where he or she would be at risk of serious human rights violations. AI is concerned about the Thai authorities' violation of international obligations to protect refugees and fears that it sets an ominous precedent for the future of refugee protection in Thailand," AI said in the report. It added that Thai authorities may have plans to return more refugees during the upcoming dry season, which begins in November. AI said it was not certain if the Thai army was acting on its own or just following orders from the civilian government. "Either way, the Thai government is not living up to its duties for it is the responsibility of that government to ensure compliance with Thailand's international obligations," the report said. According to the report, the 9th Infantry Division of the First Army sent back over 4,000 refugees in Thailand's western province of Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi between February and March of this year. Similar incidents also occurred in May and June. The report said that in the midst of forced repatriation, thousands of refugees trying to enter Thailand were barred from doing so by Thai security forces. "The 9th Division also reportedly designated the end of June as the final date when refugees from Myanmar [Burma] could cross the border. They asserted that by then the fighting had stopped and it was therefore safe for the refugees to remain in Myanmar," the report said. While the Thai government regards members of Burma's ethnic minorities seeking refuge in the camps along the border as "displaced people", other Burmese refugees outside these temporary shelters are considered "illegal immigrants" and are liable to arrest, fines and deportation to the border, according to the report. AI called on the Thai government to abide by the principle of non-refoulement, conduct training for military officers regarding international standards on the treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers, work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to promote respect for human rights and take immediate measures towards ratifying the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. ******************************************************* SHAN DEMOCRATIC UNION: SLORC'S ETHNIC CLEANSING September 8, 1997 From: shan Statement on SLORC's ethnic cleansing campaign in Shan State ( 8 September 1997 ) Since early 1996, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) has been conducting a massive forced relocation campaign in Central Shan State. So far, an estimated 200,000 villagers in 9 townships have been forced at gunpoint to abandon their homes and move to relocation sites near main roads and towns. Nothing has been provided by the SLORC at these sites, and, dispossessed of their ancestral land, the relocated Shan farmers have been forced to survive as wage labourers or beggars. The SLORC has been intensifying the relocation campaign since the start of 1997, forcing many villagers who were relocated last year to move again closer to towns. They have also been cracking down with increasing brutality on villagers caught trying to return to their homes. A recent and shocking development has been the repeated massacres of large groups of men, women, and children caught outside the relocation sites. The result of the relocations and brutality has been a massive exodus to Thailand of tens of thousands of Shan refugees. There are no refugee camps, so the refugees must work as illegal labourers, living from hand to mouth in work-sites together with their elderly dependents and children. Large areas of Central Shan State, formerly fertile and prosperous, have now become depopulated "free-fire" zones. At the same time, increasing numbers of SLORC troops have been deployed in local army bases. The SLORC claims that the relocations are part of an anti-insurgency operation to cut off support for the Shan resistance. The SDU states categorically that there can be no justification for destroying the livelihood of the villagers of Central Shan State, nor for massacring large numbers of men, women and children, actions which are tantamount to an "ethnic cleansing" of the people of Shan State by the SLORC. - The SDU therefore calls on the United Nations to take urgent appropriate action against SLORC to end the ethnic cleansing operations in Shan State. - The SDU urges the international community to take strong action against SLORC to end its crimes against the people of the Union of Burma, especially against ethnic minorities. - The SDU calls on the governments of ASEAN to either review their policies supporting the SLORC, or demand that the SLORC end their criminal actions against the people of Burma and the ethnic cleansing in Shan State immediately. ****************************************** THE NATION: UNOCAL REMAINS BULLISH ON BURMA DESPITE EMBARGO September 24, 1997 [abridged] Economics before politics, says firm SINGAPORE - Unocal Corp of the US will continue to focus on economics before politics for its oil, gas and power investments world-wide, Unocal president John F Imle said yesterday. "Political decisions follow economic fundamentals," Imle said, pointing to Unocal's controversial investment in Burma, also known as Myanmar, as an example. "We believe engagement works better than isolation," Imle said. "That aligns us a lot more with Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] than it does with official US policy or some of our friends on Capitol Hill." Malaysian national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, and Premier Oil Plc of the UK announced on Monday they would buy Texaco Inc's stake in the Yetagun gas field project located south of the Yadana field in Burmese waters of the Andaman Sea. Texaco's apparent divestment plans follow a US embargo on new investment in Burma, announced earlier this year. Texaco's departure would consolidate Unocal's position as the largest US investor in Burma, although Atlantic Richfield -Co (ARC) has exploration activities there. "We can take the heat ... We intend to stay," he said. Unocal's Yadana gas field project is scheduled to come on-stream in July 1998 at an initial rate of 525 million cubic feet a day. Production from the field is being sold under long-term contract to Thailand via a cross-border pipeline. ****************************************************** WASHINGTON POST: LETTER - FIFTY DIFFERENT TRADE POLICIES? September 16, 1997 Thaung Tun The attempt by Massachusetts to restrict business ties with Myanmar [Burma] - as described in Fred Hiatt's Aug. 25 op-ed column, "Boston's Stand on Human Rights" - is an ill-considered move. The United States is a large and diverse country with global responsibilities. It does not take a fertile imagination to consider what would happen if local governments were allowed to carry parochial concerns to the international stage. The failure of the United States to speak with one voice and live up to international agreements can have disastrous repercussions. Obviously, state and local governments are not appropriate bodies for the making of foreign policy. While the measure taken by Massachusetts may succeed in pressing a few US business entities to withdraw from Myanmar so as to be eligible for business in the state, such action will only undermine efforts at the federal level to promote US business globally. What is the international community to make of a superpower that signs an agreement only to have local governments challenge it at the urging of "Burma activists" such as Simon Billenness who, in their clamor for human rights, forget that their actions will end up depriving a nation of its right to development? In the circumstance, it is not surprising that the European Union and Japan are seeking to redress the situation by demanding a three-judge panel to hear the case in accordance with WTO procedures. Mr. Hiatt recycles propaganda in referring to the Myanmar government as "narco-thug junta of military bullies." It is one thing to perceive the situation in Myanmar as a "good" vs. "evil" situation ripe for indignation, but it is quite another to denigrate the leaders of a nation. The problem of narcotic drugs transcends borders and can be solved only with the cooperation of both the drug-producing countries and drug-consuming countries. While the United States accuses Myanmar of being the biggest producer of opium in the world, it has not lifted a finger to help Myanmar overcome the menace posed by drugs. In fact, since 1988, the United States has suspended all assistance to Myanmar, notwithstanding Myanmar's willingness to cooperate with Washington in ascertaining the yield of opium in remote areas. Tying counter-narcotics assistance to human rights performance will not end the problem. The government of Myanmar has been waging a relentless war against drug traffickers. Thousands of Myanmar soldiers have sacrificed life and limb in combating the scourge of narcotic drugs. Since the advent of the current government, thousands of kilos of opium, heroin, morphine, opium oil, liquid opium, marijuana and precursor chemicals have been destroyed in public on 11 occasions, witnessed by representatives of international organizations and the diplomatic corps. The Myanmar government's sole interest is to lead the country to a stable and prosperous future. Thaung Tun Minister Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of the Union of Myanmar Washington ******************************************* SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: STAYS EXTENDED September 23, 1997 Bangkok; Hundreds of illegal immigrants will be spending longer than expected in a Thai detention centre because the Government can not afford to send them home, an immigration official said yesterday. An austerity program prescribed by the IMF has included a freeze on Thailand's budget for repatriating illegal immigrants. _ Reuter ********************************************* AP: KIM, DAW SUU'S SON IN BURMA September 23, 1997 [abridged] RANGOON, Burma (AP) - The younger son of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has arrived in Rangoon on his first visit to see his mother in more than 1 1/2 years. Kim Aris, 20, arrived Sunday, foreign diplomats said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. He last visited his mother during the Christmas holidays in 1995, along with Suu Kyi's husband, British academic Michael Aris. Suu Kyi's husband has not been allowed to visit her since that Christmas trip. The ban is apparently in retaliation for his carrying out a statement from his wife. Suu Kyi has declined to leave the country for fear that the military government won't let her back in. Burma's state-controlled media have made frequent references to the fact that Suu Kyi is married to a foreigner, suggesting that this makes her a puppet of foreign powers. It also has made attacks on her older son, Alexander, for alleged personal problems. Suu Kyi was kept in isolation until 1992, when she was allowed visits by members of her immediate family and a very few selected other guests. This week's visit by Kim is his third since his mother was released from house arrest in July 1995. It was not known how long he would stay. ***************************************** REUTER: UNOCAL HEADQUARTERS SET UP IN MALAYSIA September 23, 1997 SINGAPORE, Sept 23 (Reuter) - Unocal Corp has set up a joint global headquarters in Malaysia, but president John Imle stressed the company was still American. "We are operating a twin headquarters system," Imle, who is based in Kuala Lumpur, told Reuters on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference. Imle said Unocal's chairman and key officials were still based in Los Angeles. The joint headquarters was set up in the middle of the year and partly reflects the growing Unocal business in Asia. The company is a major gas supplier to Thailand and is actively exploring for gas and oil in Asia. Its biggest project in Asia is the Yadana gas field offshore Burma, where the company has a 28 percent stake. Unocal also has plans for power stations in Indonesia. "It (the Kuala Lumpur headquarters) makes us more Asian in terms of our understanding of the region and the outlook, but we are still a U.S. company. We are no less U.S. than we were. "The reason to be in Asia is to get a better understanding and to be closer to customers. You just can't do all these (things) from California," Imle said. ******************************************* SCMP: 'CHILD SOLDIERS THREAT TO FUTURE' September 24, 1997 By William Barnes The Burmese military's routine use of child soldiers is reducing its chances of ever living at peace with the country, claimed its exiled critics yesterday. Boys of 14 are regularly used to swell the ranks of the armed forces, which may have doubled in size to 350,000 in a decade, the human rights group Images Asia reported recently. Military analysts say such young soldiers can be easily controlled and instilled with formidable loyalty. But the State Law and Order Restoration Council - the junta - is merely producing an obstinate military caste that will prove an obstacle to peace in the future, claim its opponents. "The junta's ideal soldier is an unquestioning robot. It is obvious why they like to pick such young soldiers," said one political activist in Bangkok. "But young people can be warped by such experiences. You can bet that they are not being trained to respect democracy and human rights." The 70-page Images Asia report, No Childhood At All, argued that the junta may be reluctant to shun the use of child troops when its publicly stated target is a military force 500,000 strong. The report noted that Burma signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child six years ago, prohibiting the use of soldiers below the age of 15. **************************************** THE NATION: FIVE FIRMS GIVEN LOGGING PERMITS September 24, 1997 Kamol Sukin, The Nation MAE HONG SON - The continued illegal logging activities in the Salween wildlife sanctuary and national park may become more extensive now that five Thai firms have received new timber concessions from the Burmese government. Logs are being illegally cut in Thailand and floated down tributaries of the Salween River to Burma, where they are stamped as Burmese timber before being floated back into Thai territory as "legally" imported logs, explained Boonyian Yaibuathes, chief of an investigative team from the Anti-Deforestation Command (ADC). Whenever illegal timber is seized, all the companies deny that it belongs to them, according to a local official source. Over 10,000 logs have been removed from the Salween conservation area over the past month even though it is the rainy season, he said. The huge timber traffic has made the logs pier in the Mae Sam Lap increasingly muddy and the traffic had to be halted several weeks ago until a new pier is in place. The new concessions will certainly make the situation worse because it is very difficult in practice for inspectors to distinguish legal logs - cut down in Burma - from illegal timber cut down in Thailand, a local official said. "The ADC has only been able to seize a few [of the illegal logs]," the source said. Last week, the ADC confiscated 300 teak logs found floating down the Salween River. Boonyian revealed that five teams, comprised of officials from various agencies aided by the ADC, were sent into the area for the third time to block illegal logging routes and halt the illegal activities. "During the first two operations, from March through May, over 4,500 illegal logs [mostly teak] were seized. This time around, the three-month operation will end in October," Boonyian said. The Burmese Embassy's First Secretary Ngo Kho Pau told The Nation that four companies have received concessions from the Burmese government for logging in the area across from Mae Hong Son: Thai Sawat Import-Export Co Ltd, Thailand Korean Veteran Welfare Co Ltd, Polpana Co Ltd and B&F Goodrich Co Ltd. However, a source from the logging companies confirmed that another firm Skabi Co Ltd - has also received a concession. None of the sources - which included officials from the Burmese Embassy, the Ministry of Interior and the National Security Council (NSC) - would reveal the sizes of the concessions. B&F Goodrich also refused to specify the exact amount of logs to be cut under its concession, but said it is about 20,000 tonnes. It would not be worth investing in a smaller concession, the company source said. Aphichit Ingkhasirisap managing director of Skabi, which is now awaiting a licence to complete work on a previous concession, insisted that all the timber which has come through Mae Sam Lap over the past month was illegally felled as his company was the only one to have a licence during the period and it did not remove any logs during the rainy season. Asked directly whether it is possible that some of the logs being imported legally by concession holders were actually cut down in Thailand's Salween conservation area, Burmese Embassy official Ngo Kho Pau said he had no comment. But businessmen are very tricky, he added. A senior source at B&F Goodrich, meanwhile, said all the cutting activities in Burma are done by Burmese officials. She said the company was involved mainly with the transportation and customs procedures. "We do business with the timber that is sent to us so long as it is the correct amount and type of log. Deciding whether it was cut legally or illegally is the duty of the government officials, not us," she said. Another logging company source said trees in Thailand tend to be larger than those cut on Burmese soil because they come from conservation areas while the forests have been subject to concessions for many decades. Following the seizure of 300 logs, the ADC's joint task force was sent to inspect other logs floating in the Salween River. The team clashed with 14 heavily armed men patrolling the river, said Pol Gen Sidhiphorn Srichan who joined the team. "The log seizure caused a loss of benefits to many groups involved in the illegal logging trade. The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army has lost protection money, and some local authorities like kamnan and village headman are also involved and blocked the investigation." ****************************************************** BKK POST: PLOT TO PASS ILLEGAL THAI WOOD OFF AS BURMESE REVEALED September 24, 1997 Chewin Sattha, Mae Hong Son A quantity of illegally-processed wood is expected to be smuggled from a Thai forest to Burma this week, so that it can be given a permit seal before being shipped to Thailand. Sources said a group of Thai timber traders had hired 10 long-tail boats from local people to transport some 1,200 cubic metres of processed wood from Mae Pai forest in Mae Hong Son to a border village of Ban Huay Dua. The wood is expected to be sent to Burma via Ban Nam Phiang-Din checkpoint by the end of the week. The wood will later be stamped with a fake permit seal before being sent back to Thailand. According to the sources, a logging group had earlier approached Thai police and military officers to help persuade local Burmese authorities to conspire in logging activities by hauling wood from the forest to be kept in Burma. But the negotiations failed, as Burmese officials feared being dismissed from government service and asked the group to show them an official document. ********************************************* BKK POST: SINO-THAI EXPECTS TO WIN BIG September 24, 1997 Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc (Stecon) says it expects to win an additional contract worth one billion baht from Mitsubishi Corp of Japan to undertake civil work for Asean's largest gas-fired power station under construction in Ratchaburi. Stecon officials said yesterday they were finalising a deal with Mitsubishi for the second batch of work on the 2,800-megawatt plant. Mitsubishi was named the main contractor for the project by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. The Japanese firm then let subcontracts to companies including Stecon. Stecon is receiving 780 million baht for initial civil work for the plant which will be fuelled by natural gas piped from Burma. Construction began last May and is scheduled for completion in October 1999. Work on the plant and laying of the pipeline from the Burma-Thai border at Tong Pha Phum in Kanchanaburi to the site was 60% complete, the company said. *************************************************** BKK POST: BURMESE AGENCIES BOAST VARIED TALENT POOL September 24, 1997 Nondhanada Intarakomalyasut Creative staff needed as business booms Advertising is becoming a major money spinner in Burma with total billings in the first six months of this year doubling over the whole of last year to US$6 million. However, while Thailand has a large pool of trained personnel with degrees in communications, the situation is quite different in Burma. At Myanmar Spa Today Advertising Ltd, a joint-venture between Thailand's Spa Advertising and Burmese based agency Today Advertising, none of the staff have a background in advertising. The managing director of Myanmar Spa Today, Dr John Lim, has a bachelor's degree in medicine and most of the creative team hold engineering degrees while many of the client service officers are lawyers. With millions of US dollars at stake, the company has established a regional coordinating department to train staff in the skill of marketing and creating advertisements, the executive regional coordinator, Somporn Ma-Uthorn said. "The department was mainly implemented to train the staff at Spa's branches in the region," Mrs Somporn said. "Many of our branches, especially in Burma and Cambodia, are still new in the advertising area, we have to try to change their attitude and let them see the importance of the business." The department will act as a centre for Spa's branches and conduct market research in each country. Dr Lim said the advertising industry in Burma was still in its infancy. In other word, about 20 years behind Thailand. "It is much less sophisticated and must be culturally sensitive," said Mrs Somporn. In contrast with Thailand, the overall business in Burma has been in high gear compared to last year, especially in property development and international joint-venture manufacturing. The business boom has encouraged advertising spending and Myanmar Spa Today Advertising has been reaping the benefits. After a year of operation, Dr Lim said the company's billings have increased from US$400,000 last year to U8$2 million in the first half of this year. It hopes to increase its billing by 100% next year. The company's major accounts include Jumbo mosquito coil, Listerine, Nivea, Decolgen and the Chinsu housing project. The top full service advertising agencies in Burma are Bates Advertising, Myanmar Media International, Myanmar Spa Today, McCann-Erickson and Prakit/FBC from Thailand. According to the media analysts, TV is by far the most popular medium accounting for 55% of the advertising dollar, followed by print with 28%, outdoor billboards with 16% and radio with 1%. *******************************************************