Daily News-February 18 - 2001- Sunday

  • Thai king appoints cabinet, to deal with Burmese issue
  • Burma Warms to Indian's Visit
  • India knew about SPDC-Aung San Suu Kyi talks
  • Burmese, Wa troops close in on Shan army
  • Burmese shoots kamnan
  • Gen Chavalit stuns army with remark sided with Burma
  • Villager in Mae Sot district gunned down by Burmese troops
  • Indo-Burma border and AIDS

    • Thai king appoints cabinet, to deal with Burmese issue

    BANGKOK Feb. 17 Kyodo - Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Saturday formally appointed Thaksin Shinawatra's cabinet, to be sworn in Sunday, which is expected to immediately address the current border conflict with Myanmar.

    The king's approval of the prime minister and cabinet nominees is required by law, as he is Thailand's head of state.Among those appointed were former Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, of the New Aspiration Party, as defense minister and one of the five deputy prime ministers, Somkid Chatusripitak as finance minister and Surakiat Sathirathai as foreign minister.

    Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party won 248 seats in the Jan. 6 general election, just short of a majority in the 500-member House of Representatives. He was then elected as prime minister by the legislature Feb. 9.On Feb. 10, the Thai Rak Thai party decided to allow 14 members of the Seritham Party to join it, bringing the total number of current Thai Rak Thai members in the legislature to 262. The merger of the two parties gave Thaksin a majority in the chamber.Thaksin presented his list of nominees to the king at the Klai Kangwol Palace in southern Thailand for his endorsement and appointment. The new cabinet is expected to hold its first meeting Monday.

    Thaksin said the new cabinet will consider how to resolve the current border conflict between Thailand and Myanmar.Thaksin and Chavalit had earlier indicated that Myanmar would be the first country they would visit after assuming office.

    Chavalit, 68, a former army chief, has repeatedly said he is a ''good friend'' of the top military leaders in Myanmar.

    Thaksin, 51, through his telecom and satellite business empire, is also believed to have amicable ties with the Yangon military government.Thailand and Myanmar have reinforced troops stationed along their northern border following a clash Feb. 10.
    Burma Warms to Indian's Visit

    source : International Herald Tribune
    Celia W. Dugger New York Times Service- Saturday, February 17, 2001

    NEW DELHI Burma, ruled by one of the world's most repressive military governments, welcomed a high-level Indian cabinet minister this week - the first to visit Burma since its generals set aside results of elections there in 1990 and crushed a democracy movement. .India has continued diplomatic and trade relations with Burma during the past decade, but the last important official to venture to Burma was Rajiv Gandhi, who went there in 1987 when he was prime minister.

    But the chill between the two countries turned into a warm embrace this week. .Throughout his three-day visit, which ended Thursday, India's foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, spoke about a growing partnership between the two countries with an enthusiasm that was clearly a welcome change for a government that has often faced international scorn.

    India, the dominant power in South Asia and the world's largest democracy, has a border with Burma, also known as Myanmar, that is more than 1,540 kilometers (960 miles) long. .On Thursday, Mr. Singh inaugurated the "Myanmar-India Friendship Center for Remote Sensing and Data Processing," developed with Indian technical expertise and designed to help the Burmese generate weather forecasts as well as crop and groundwater surveys.

    On Tuesday, at a ceremony to mark the opening of a road that India built for Burma, Mr. Singh said it was a privilege for India to be a partner in Burma's development.

    Mr. Singh made no public calls during his visit for the generals to restore democracy or release the leader of the country's democratic opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for much of the past decade. Rather, he said he hoped India could encourage a return to democracy through engagement with Burma and said India had raised such questions at an "appropriate time."
    India knew about SPDC-Aung San Suu Kyi talks
    source :Mizzima News Group
    By Our reporter: New Delhi, February 16, 2001

    Indian authorities were aware of the talks that had been taking place between Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the military junta even before the news of “breakthrough” came into limelight in January this year.

    Former Indian ambassador to Burma Mr. G. Parthasarthy told today that academics and diplomats in India were informed during General Maung Aye’s visit to India that there had been informal contacts between SPDC and Aung San Suu Kyi.

    “Though these were never spelt out, they (Burmese generals) do keep us informed”, said Mr. Parthasarthy who is also a research fellow at New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

    Maung Aye who is Vice-Chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) made a state visit to India from 14th to 21st November last year.

    On January 9, the United Nation’s special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, after his five-day visit to Rangoon, broke the news and revealed that talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and senior leaders of the military regime had been taking place since October last year.

    The news came as a surprise to most observers and exiled pro-democracy movement of Burma.
    Burmese, Wa troops close in on Shan army

    source : The Nation
    BY CHAIWAT PUMPUANG

    MAE SAI - Burmese troops and their allies from the Wa army are closing in on a Shan State Army camp on Doi Kaw Wan bordering Mae Fah Luang district, in what appeared to be an all-out offensive to overrun the position, Thai Army officials said.

    About 500 Shan soldiers are based at the SSA camp, which they said was near Ban Pang Noon, the area where Thai and Burmese troops exchanged gunfire and shelling last Sunday.Army chief General Surayudh has ordered Thai troops to prepare for an influx of Shan refugees along the northern border.

    Thai and Burmese soldiers last week exchanged gunfire and mortar shelling after the latter refused to retreat from the Ban Pang Noon hill, which they had taken from a platoon of 19 Thai Rangers the day before.

    Other districts along the northern border also erupted in fighting, including Chiang Mai's Mae Ai where a Thai army helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing after being hit by a Burmese bullet.

    The US government has issued an advisory warning its citizens to exercise caution in the region.

    "Three Thai citizens were killed when the Burmese army shelled the border town of Mae Sai in Chiang Rai province," it said."Americans should exercise caution when travelling close to the Burmese border within Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces," it said.

    Burma denied responsibility for the attack on Mae Sai. The junta accused the rebel SSA of shelling the town.However, Thai Army officials who witnessed the shelling dismissed the claim and pointed to the unexploded Burmese rocket dug up from a residential area as evidence to back up their claims.

    Burma's state-run media lashed out at the Thai Army's role in the affair, accusing it of being in league with drug traffickers along the rugged border region."It is obvious that the units of the Thai [Third Army] giving protection to the drug-trafficking insurgents are involved in the drug trade," the New Light of Myanmar claimed.The paper said the Thai Army was in the throes of reviving the World War II-era "Greater Thailand Policy," aimed at annexing parts of Laos, China and Burma.

    "The Thai Army is found to have taken steps in an attempt to invade the area of Tachilek with the use of force ... It is thus suspected that the Royal Thai Army is attempting to implement again the Greater Thailand Policy," it said.

    Tensions along the northern border area remained high as Thai and Burmese troops showed no sign of pulling back. Border checkpoints remained closed and many residents are afraid new fighting could break out at any time.
    Burmese shoots kamnan

    source : The Nation

    A KAMNAN in Tak's Mae Sot district was shot by a Burmese soldier while fishing on the Moei River, an eyewitness said.

    Teerayutd Khamkaen, 44, the headman of Tambol Mahawan village, received a bullet wound from shots fired by a Burmese soldier positioned on other side of the river, said Dao Reung, who witnessed the incident.

    The river is the natural boundary between the two countries. The Burmese soldier fired eight to 10 rounds. The shots were fired without warning, Dao said. Meanwhile, Mae Sot's district chief issued a warning to all residents to be careful when travelling near the border area.

    The Burmese Army has mobilised its troops - together with those of its ally, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a splinter group of the rebel Karen National Union - in the area following last weeks' clashes between Thai and Burmese government troops in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district.
    Gen Chavalit stuns army with remark sided with Burma

    Source : Bangkok Post

    Senior army officers have questioned New Aspiration leader Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's suitability for the defence portfolio after he blamed the lack of a clear border line for the incursion of Burmese troops into Thailand.

    Gen Chavalit, a former army commander-in-chief, said last week he was confident the clash in Chiang Rai's Mah Fah Luang district would not have occurred if the border had been clearly demarcated in the area.

    "Burmese forces intentionally encroached on our sovereignty by seizing our forward outpost in Mae Fah Luang, which is nearly a kilometre inside our territory," a Third Army colonel said.

    "It has nothing to do with the border line, since it was quite clearly marked that the outpost is in Thai territory."Other senior officers were also amazed by the remark, he said.

    The Burmese military had shown its contempt and disrespect for Thai sovereignty by using force to take the base for use as a springboard to attack the Shan State Army.

    An estimated 200 Burmese troops had seized Ban Pang Noon paramilitary outpost on the night of Feb 8, capturing 19 paramilitary rangers.

    The Burmese were forcefully evicted, leaving behind several dead, in the early hours of Feb 10 after the rangers escaped.

    Burma has denied that any such incursion occurred.

    A cavalry officer who was in charge of security at Mae Sai border town said Gen Chavalit's remark was inappropriate from a man who would soon become the country's next defence minister.

    It was totally contrary to statements made earlier by several leading armed forces officers, including Supreme Commander Gen Sampao Chusri, army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont and Third Army commander Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, who had all condemned the incursion and said it was intentional.

    Several Third Army officers said they were concerned the new defence minister might take a compromising approach toward the Burmese military junta, which could run against national interest.

    "To deal with them [Burmese] we have to negotiate from a position of strength and unity, not weakness," one officer said.

    None of the officers who commented thought the time appropriate for Gen Chavalit to make a trip to Rangoon.

    Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said his first official foreign trip will be to Burma for talks on drug trafficking and border security issues.

    Gen Chavalit has also criticised the outgoing administration for its failure to complete the demarcation of the border between the two countries.
    Villager in Mae Sot district gunned down by Burmese troops

    Source : Bangkok Post

    A Thai villager was seriously wounded yesterday when Burmese troops opened fire across the Moei river in Mae Sot district, border officials said.

    Thirayuth Kakaen, 47, of Ban Mae Kokane, was shot in the hip and body and was receiving treatment at Mae Sot hospital.

    Mr Thirayuth and three other men were fishing in the Moei river near Koh Manao when they spotted 20 Burmese soldiers and members of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.

    The soldiers opened fire with assault rifles, the border officials said.

    Thai troops from the Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force and 346th Border Patrol Police Company were sent to secure the area following the shooting.
    Indo-Burma border and AIDS

    Source : AIDSonline

    Manipur is a small land-locked State in the north-east of India. Its borders include the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and a 358 km border with Burma to the east. The Burmese border includes the large Sagaing Division and a section of the northern Chin Hills. Manipur is one of the poorest and least developed regions in India, with a 1996 per capita income estimated at 3500 rupees/year, about one-third of the Indian national average.

    Manipur has been governed under Indian security laws since the 1950s, and is currently patrolled by five Indian military services, in addition to two Manipuri security agencies. The political situation is complex, with a large and long-standing insurgency seeking autonomy, many smaller ethnic insurgencies, numerous armed groups, and several thousand political and economic migrants and refugees from Burma. A state of low-intensity chronic civil war pervades, and armed clashes, human rights abuses, and violence are endemic.

    Manipur appears to have no significant indigenous tradition of opium poppy cultivation. Local officials and drug users are consistent in reporting that heroin form Burma, called locally "Number 4", began to appear in Manipur in 1982-84. After 1984 the availability and use of heroin increased steadily, reaching epidemic proportions after 1990. Although precise numbers of addicts are difficult to assess, a 1991 estimate was 15000 IDU (Injecting Drug Users), it is clear that heroin use is common and has been attributed to widespread availability of Burmese exports (Note: Burma produces approximately 60% of the world's heroin.)

    Nearly all heroin users studied were injectors. Needle sharing appears to have been common until quite recently; this has begun to change in the last 2-3 years among addicts seeking care and those involved with local information networks.

    Local heroin use, however devastating for local people, is only a small fraction of the heroin trade in the state. Since the early 1990s, Manipur has increasingly become a major trade route for Burmese heroin, particularly across the border zone of Moreh (Indian side)-Tamu (Burma side). According to local traders and official, the bulk of heroin moving across the Moreh border is from north-east Burma, from the Shan, Wa, and Kokang growing and manufacturing areas to Mandalay, then across the Sagaing Division to Tamu and inland to Mandalay to purchase heroin. They also report "self-testing" heroin, and consequent needle sharing with traders in Mandalay as part of their drug purchasing behaviors. "Self-testing" is the injection use of heroin by the prospective purchaser to assess the potency and quality of the drug through its use. Key informants in Manipur reported that sharing of both drugs and injection equipment among buyers and sellers was a common feature at these exchanges.

    The first HIV infection in the state was detected in an IDU in 1989, the same year that HIV became an epidemic among injectors in Burma and Thailand. Between 1990 and 1991, the HIV prevalence rose form under 1% among addicts to over 50%, and reached 80.1% by 1997. HIV spread to other risk groups has since been remarkable rapid; after the epidemic among injectors, there has been subsequent spread to their sex partners, wives and children.

    Although the data are far form complete, a comparison of Manipur with the rest of India is illustrative: Manipur has about six times the HIV prevalence of the next most affected state, Maharashtra, and 20 times the HIV rate of the India's third most affected region, Tamil Nadu. An estimated 2% of pregnant women were HIV infected in 1997, and 14.4% of tuberculosis patients in 1996, a figure which had risen form 3.3% only 2 years earlier. Using cumulative data form 1990, however, 73.9% of known HIV infections have occurred among injecting drug users. Surveillance data suggests that the bulk of cases are in the capital, Imphal (69%). However, this is likely to be an artifact of increased screening and testing facilities.