BurmaNet News: November 5 2002

[editor at burmanet.org]

November 5 2002 Issue #2116

Reuters: Myanmar says Red Cross to investigate rape claims
DVB: Interview with Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
TV Myanmar: Burmese officials inspect, advise on regional projects in Shan
State
Irrawaddy: Dissidents likely to be sentenced

GUNS

Narinjara: Burmese junta issues orders to stop forced conscription
DVB: Indian arms shipment arrives in Rangoon

MONEY

DPA: Lauda Air defies human rights objections to start Burma link
Eastday.com: ASEAN countries’ investment in Myanmar plunges to zero

REGIONAL

Irrawaddy: Responsibility for bombs lies with the junta
AFP: Koizumi presses Myanmar to democratize

OPINION

IHT: The Mekong River as a road to riches
Bangkok Post: Continuing failure to confront Burma

____INSIDE BURMA______

Reuters
November 5 2002

Myanmar says Red Cross to investigate rape claims

YANGON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government said on Tuesday
the Red Cross was in the process of investigating allegations of
systematic rape by government troops against ethnic minority women and
girls. Government spokesman Hla Min said a Red Cross team had left the
capital Yangon for the eastern state of Shan on November 2. There was no
immediate comment from the Red Cross.
The government, which has denied the allegations of rape, said the move
was in response to pleas by U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.
Pinheiro, who wound up an 11-day visit to Myanmar last week, called for an
independent investigation into the claims that the army was using rape as
a weapon in a war against ethnic minority separatists in Shan. He said an
investigation could help prevent possible future rights violations. "This
invitation has been extended in constructive response to the suggestion
of...Pinheiro following his recent visit to our country," Hla Min said in
a statement faxed to Reuters.
"We sincerely appreciate his efforts, and we are determined to assist in
every way possible to investigate all allegations," he said.
Myanmar's ruling generals, isolated by political and economic sanctions
imposed by several Western countries, are keen to improve their
international image in a bid to garner desperately needed aid and
investment for a crumbling economy.
They have released more than 400 political prisoners in the last two years
and freed pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from 19
months of house arrest in May.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won the country's last
elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to rule by the
army, which has held onto power for the last four decades.
Last week, Pinheiro called for the immediate release of an estimated
1,200-1,300 political prisoners. He said he had turned down a government
offer to visit Shan to investigate the rape allegations because of
insufficient time.
The United States criticised Myanmar in July after two minority rights
groups released a report saying Myanmar troops had raped at least 625
girls and women between 1996 and 2001 in Shan State. Myanmar has often
denied the allegations.
"Violence against women is not now, nor has it ever been a policy or
practice of our government," Hla Min said on Tuesday.
"This is written into the laws of our country, and it applies equally to
all members of the Tatmadaw (defence forces) in all aspects and
activities." (Additional reporting by Dominic Whiting in Bangkok)
_____________

Democratic Voice of Burma
November 5 2002

Interview with Mr Paulo Sergio Pinheiro

Q: The Financial Time newspaper on 31st Oct reported that you had asked
international community to increase humanitarian assistance.  Can you
comment on that?

Mr. Pinheiro: I have read many stories during my stay in Burma that I had
appeal for an increase of humanitarian aid to the country. It is not what I
said.  What I said is that I think that it is very important to consider
the possibility of engaging with the society in the country. But I didn't
ask for anything about the change of humanitarian aid to the country.

Q: When should international community increase aid to Burma, then?

Mr. Pinheiro: Mr Razali (UN Special envoy to Burma) and I propose several
scenarios when this question can be organized.  But for me, this is
conditionality, I don't think the international aid and international
investment to the country has to be changed before the condition of
political participation of other forces in this endeavor.

Q: "Myanmar Time" - published in Rangoon on 28th October also reported that
you had asked for increased cooperation with the military regime in
Burma.  How did this misunderstanding arise?

Mr. Pinheiro: I think that there is a perhaps the selection of something
that I have written or people have not read everything that I said.  And as
things are moving very slow, some people think that I am happy this
situation.  Not at all! I will not continue with my mandate if things are
not improved in the near future.  I will not prepare to stay years and
years with this pace.  I will be two-years with my mandate and I don't want
to continue with just waiting things to happen.  I will say this tomorrow
during my speech at UN General Assembly in New York.

Q: What are the main points in your speech tomorrow?
Mr. Pinheiro: In my view, there can be no credible democratic transition
without five fundamental conditions.   These are inclusion of all component
of society in the political dialogue, immediate and unconditional release
of all political prisoners, the lifting the restrictions which continue to
hamper the ability of political parties, individual and groups, explicit
discussion of political democratization that cannot take place without free
election and accountability through judicial mechanism of abuse committed
by state agents.

Q: After returning from Burma, did you get any impression of when the
dialogue could  start?
Mr Pinheiro: Let me put it this way.  After the release of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, I was suspecting that the move forward will be not so slow but in fact
it is very slow.  At that time, I was suspecting something different.

Q: Is the dialogue stop?
Mr Pinheiro:What I can say is that dialogue is not stop.  It is not correct
to say that there is a still mate.  The contact continues and both side -
the SPDC and the NLD confirmed me that the contacts have happened. Many
many contacts had happened in the past and continue to happen.  But
political negotiation has not started. That is what ambassador Razali and I
would think that that is essential.
_________

TV Myanmar
November 3 2002

BURMESE OFFICIALS INSPECT, ADVISE ON REGIONAL PROJECTS IN SHAN STATE

Member of the State Peace and Development Council Lt-Gen Aung Htwe of the
Ministry of Defence, who had been visiting Taunggyi, left the town by
motorcade on the morning of 1 November in the company of Brig-Gen Khin
Maung Myint, chairman of Shan State Peace and Development Council and
commander of Eastern Command. At 1020 local time , Lt-Gen Aung Htwe
arrived at the project site of Tikyit coal-powered power station of the
Myanma Burma Electric Power Enterprise MEPE near Pyintha Village in
Pinlaung Township.

Later, MEPE project director U Myo Lwin briefed the visiting officials
about the construction of the power station that will be powered by
locally produced coal is 10 per cent completed. The plant, which will
generate 120 MW, is expected to be fully operational by September 2003.
Managing director of Eden Co., Ltd., U Chit Khaing reported about the
situation concerning the pouring of concrete and driving of piles to
strengthen the foundation. Lt-Gen Aung Htwe gave instructions on the
quality of construction and timely completion of the project in accordance
with set standards. Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party then inspected construction
work underway, including the driving of piles and laying of foundations.
Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party then attended the harvesting ceremony of
special high yield paddy in Banmauk Village in Lonpyin Village Tract in
Pinlaung Township where a project using advance techniques is being
implemented with a goal of producing 10,000 baskets a basket of paddy
weighs 32 kg of paddy per 100 acres. Chairman of Pinlaung Township Peace
and Development Council U Myo Aung reported on area of the township,
cultivation of special high yield paddy, cultivation of 5,605 acres of
maize, 830 acres of Pesinngon beans, 3,873 acres of seed groundnut, 136
acres of sunflower, and health and education conditions in the township.

Township Manager of Myanma Agriculture Service U Sein Win reported on
2002-2003 cultivation of paddy and monsoon crops and providing
technological assistance to local farmers. Commander Brig-Gen Khin Maung
Myint said there are 21 townships in Taunggyi and Loilem districts in
southern Shan State. Previously, out of the 10 townships in Taunggyi
District, model paddy plots were cultivated only in Hsi-Hseng and Ho-pong
townships, and of the 11 townships in Loilem District there was model
paddy cultivation in Lai-hka Township only. This year, model paddy
cultivation was undertaken in every township of southern Shan State and
townships competed against each other. Plans are being made to extend
model paddy cultivation competition to district and state levels later. If
the plan were to succeed, every township would be producing at a rate of
10,000 baskets of paddy per 100 acres in the years to come...

Next, Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party inspected roads along the Pinlaung-Pekon
Road and cultivation of paddy on both sides of the road. Later, they
arrived at Moebye reservoir in Pekon Township. At the briefing hall at
Moebye reservoir, Manager U Maung Maung Gyi explained that the water level
at Moebye reservoir reached 2,897 feet this year and that power was being
generated the whole year round under a controlled system. In addition,
20,000 as received farmland is being supplied with water so that villages
around the reservoir could cultivate agricultural crops and water channels
have also built so that boats can ply between Yawnghwe and Loikaw. The
water reached the targeted level of 2,897 feet in October this year, but
last year, the water reached that level only in November. Even if the
water level falls next year, there is sufficient water for generating
power at the Lawpita Power Station and to irrigate the farmland...

Lt-Gen Aung Htwe and party then left the region and reached Loikaw in the
evening. Later, he met state, district, and township-level officials at
the meeting hall in Loikaw. Lt-Gen Aung Htwe spoke of the need for all
ministries to help achieve regional sufficiency in rice. He said efforts
were being made to quickly transform agriculture into mechanized
agriculture since the use of machines would help bring better results in a
shorter time with less workers. The government, he said, was providing
assistance in the production of plowing machines, and work must be done to
ensure agriculture production in Shan State in 2002-2003 was better than
last year. It was necessary for officials in charge to adopt advanced
techniques and educate farmers, he added.

Then, Chairman of Kayah State Peace and Development Council Col Thein Swe
reported on undertakings of agriculture, education, health, economic,
rural development and management matters in the region, and Kayah State
Manager of Myanmar Agriculture Service U Myint Swe reported about
agriculture cultivation in Kayah State in 2002-2003, noting that paddy
cultivation was 100.33 per cent, maize 103.2 per cent, pulses and beans
102.52 per cent, and monsoon crops 106 per cent. He noted that Pesinngon
beans and sunflower were also cultivated in virgin land in the state...

Next, Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Brig-Gen Khin Maung
reported about the cultivation of opium-substitute crops, the situation of
rice sufficiency in the state where the production target is set to
achieve 108.3 per cent, and arrangements for poppy elimination. Deputy
Minister for Home Affairs Brig-Gen Thura Myint Maung reported on community
welfare tasks to be carried out and prevention against trafficking of
women and children in Kayah State. Deputy Minister for Livestock and
Fisheries U Aung Thein reported on meat and fish sector being undertaken
in the state, prevention against illegal smuggling of animals, and plans
for sufficiency of meat and fish in the state. Deputy Minister for
Progress of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs
Brig-Gen Than Tun reported on regional development tasks and future plans
being made by his ministry...
__________

Irrawaddy
November 5 2002

Dissidents Likely to be Sentenced
By Kyaw Zwa Moe
November 05, 2002—Three Burmese activists arrested in a late September
crackdown in Rangoon are likely to be sentenced to several years in
prison, according to reliable sources in Burma. The three were part of an
estimated group of 30 activists rounded up by Burma’s military
intelligence officers for possessing different opposition journals,
including the New Era Journal (Khit Pyaing), which is printed in Bangkok
by Burmese dissidents.
The three—all former political prisoners—represent the only individuals
who were not eventually freed after initial interrogation sessions, and it
also continues to remain unclear why they have been singled out by the
regime. Sources close to their families said they have been sent to
Rangoon’s Insein Prison, but they have yet to be notified as to what
charges they are being held under.
"Myint Yee, Hla Htut Soe and Ko Htay will face charges and be sentenced to
several years by the junta’s special court," a Rangoon activist told The
Irrawaddy. "We heard that some copies of the New Era journal were found at
Myint Yee’s house by the MI [military intelligence]."
In July, two members of the opposition National League for Democracy were
sentenced to three years for possessing the journal. And in 1993, 17
activists were sentenced to seven to 20 years in prison on similar
charges.
Sources also said that roughly half of those detained during the September
25 crackdown were alleged sympathizers of the Communist Party of Burma
(CPB). During the interrogations, they were questioned about the CPB’s
activities as well as their relationship to the party, which disbanded
after a 1989 mutiny by rank and file soldiers in Burma’s northern Shan
State.
The CPB fought against the Burmese government after it achieved
independence from Britain in 1948. Burma’s military government also
accused the CPB of masterminding the 1988 democracy movement.
____GUNS________

Narinjara News
November 5 2002

Burmese junta issues orders to stop forced conscription
The Western Command in Rakhine State in the western part of Burma has
issued directives to stop forceful conscription for the Burmese Army, our
correspondent quoting an official source said.
Previously the Burmese junta used to allot its administrative units in
townships and villages of the state to enlist new recruits for the Burmese
Army.  Besides that, every soldier going for official retirement had to
find three new recruits as his replacement, without which his retirement
used to get delayed or even denied.
The villages which could not fill the quota of the numbers of recruits
were made to pay 'fines' to the tune of kyat 100,000 or more.  The system
became a 'means' of earning extra money for those military personnel who
came to Rakhine State on official transfer orders.
Though the 'official order' was issued a few months earlier, no one seemed
to follow the orders from 'high above'.  So the junta have been compelled
to issue new orders banning forced recruitment soon after the news on
child conscription has been talked about in the international arena.
Children as young as 13 and 14 year olds were conscripted from Rakhine
State.  An official source told our correspondent that, the number of
Rakhine soldiers in the Burmese Army is about 30% out of the total of
350,000 Burmese forces.
The official order included ban on forced conscription, bribing or making
monetary deals for escaping from being conscripted, enlistment through
allotments made to towns and villages, and troop recruitment by making
temptations to minors.  The order also contained threats of punitive
actions for non-compliance of the order.
________

Democratic Voice of Burma
November 4 2002

Indian arms shipment arrives in Rangoon

The Indian authorities have handed over weapons and ammunition to the SPDC
(State Peace and Development Council) army in Tamu on 2 November.

A contingent led by the Indian military attache to Burma, Col S F Pibirao
and the deputy commander from Imphal based Indian battalion handed over 30
truckloads of weapons and ammunition including heavy artillery shells.

The weapons shipment was accepted by the SPDC army delegation led by
Kalemyo based Brig-Gen Tin Maung Oo, General Staff Officer Grade-1 Lt Col
Tin Aung, and Commander of No 365 Artillery Battalion Maj Aung Zin Oo and
then taken to Kalemyo.

Regarding the transfer of weapons and ammunition, border sources say it is
not clear whether the shipment was an aid from the Indian government or
whether it was purchased by the SPDC.

_______MONEY______

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
November 5 2002

Lauda Air defies human rights objections to start Burma link

Austria's Lauda Air started a direct flight service to Myanmar (Burma) on
Tuesday in defiance of international bodies opposing cooperation with the
military regime on human-rights grounds.

The Lauda Air service is the only direct flight by a European airline.
Each Tuesday there will be a non-stop flight from Vienna to the capital
Yangon (Rangoon), with a return via Phuket, Thailand.

The Burma link brought condemnation in advance from the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which put Lauda Air on its blacklist
of 325 firms operating in the Asian country.

The confederation, representing 157 million workers in 148 countries,
accused the airline of supporting the "brutal and repressive military
dictatorship".

Under a resolution of the International Labour Organization (ILO) of
November 2000, international firms should boycott Myanmar due to use slave
labour in the country.

The confederation said that as well as using slave labour, the regime was
guilty of other human rights violations and was involved in
money-laundering and opium production.

The organization's blacklist includes international names such as American
Express, Boeing, Deutsche Bank, Qantas, Nestle, Hyundai and Daewoo.

The Austrian Airlines (AUA) Group, which owns Lauda Air, said it was not
supporting the regime, but "making a contribution to international
understanding among peoples, and a partial opening of markets and travel
destinations unknown up until now".
_________

Eastday.com (China)
November 5 2002

ASEAN countries' investment in Myanmar
plunges to zero

Investment in Myanmar from member states of the Association of the
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plunged to zero in the first half of
2002, the latest data of the Ministry of National Planning and
Economic Development showed.

Such a sharp drop of investment from ASEAN, which used to be Myanmar's
largest foreign investor, has never been experienced in the past, it
was noted.

According to official statistics, Myanmar attracted US$32.28 million
of contracted foreign investment from ASEAN members in the first six
months of last year, of which Thailand represented US$25.75 million,
Singapore 3.53 million, Malaysia and Indonesia 1.5 million each.

Besides the sharp drop of ASEAN investment in Myanmar during the first
half of this year, the same happened with investment from other
countries and regions with US$1.516 million coming from China's Hong
Kong only.

In sharp contrast, Singapore absorbed foreign direct investment(FDI)
of 13 billion dollars in 2001, accounting for 65 percent of ASEAN's
total FDI of 20 billion, while Myanmar attracted 58.97 million,
representing a negligible 0.29 percent of ASEAN's total FDI during the
year.


The statistics also showed that during the five years since Myanmar
joined the ASEAN in July 1997, Myanmar had brought about atotal of
1,169.5 million dollars' contracted foreign investment, of which ASEAN
investment was 673.6 million, accounting for 57.59 percent of the
total during the period.

Since opening up to foreign investment in late 1988, Myanmar had
absorbed a total of 7,399 million dollars of contracted foreign
investment, of which ASEAN's took up 3,800 million or 51.35 percent.

Major ASEAN investors in Myanmar were lined up as Singapore (1,507
million dollars), Thailand (1,289 million), Malaysia (595 million),
taking up 20.36 percent, 17.42 percent and 8.04 percent of the total
foreign investment, respectively.

The sharp fall of ASEAN investment in Myanmar was inseparable from the
negative impact of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Sept.11 terrorist
incident, the slowing down of global economic growth and the
unfavorable domestic investment environment.

Meanwhile, on March 1 this year, the Myanmar government introduced a
new measure, which restricted foreign investment by stopping issue of
import and export permits to Myanmar-based foreign trading companies.
_____REGIONAL______
Irrawaddy
November 5 2002

Responsibility for Bombs Lies with the Junta
By Aung Zaw

November 05, 2002-The Burmese government is continuing to aver that
several of its diplomatic missions were delivered parcels rigged with
mild explosives over the weekend, while maintaining that the letters
originated from dissident groups in Thailand.

A senior official from Burma's Embassy in Singapore confirmed that it
received a parcel bomb, and said that the they were the work of
political groups trying to incite hatred against his government.
Similar letters also turned up at Burma's diplomatic posts in both
Japan and Malaysia.

The Burmese Embassy Counselor in Singapore, Ohn Kyaw, took the
opportunity to equate these parcel bombs to acts of terrorism. Shortly
after the bomb was defused without harming anybody, he said, "It was
an act of terrorist groups which are opposing the Myanmar government,
and these groups are based in Thailand."

Other regime spokespeople also took the occasion to finger Burmese
exiles living in Thailand-including Lt-Col Nyan Linn, from Burma's
military intelligence. While addressing a weekly press conference in
Rangoon, he said, "This is definitely the work of a dissident
terrorist group being harbored there [Thailand] aiming to disrupt
peace inside Burma."

But did these alleged "terrorists" have any serious intentions of
disrupting peace inside Burma?

What would their motivations be in sending bombs to Burmese embassies
abroad?

Singapore police said preliminary investigations of the letter showed
it contained a low-grade detonator without any explosives. "Had the
letter been opened, it may have caused a mild burn," said a
Singaporean police spokesman.

Rangoon's claim that the letters were the acts of Thai-based terrorist
groups has drawn a skeptical response from senior Thai government
officials. Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathi voiced his
doubts about the origin of the parcel bombs. However, he and Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra later ordered a full investigation.

Analysts say that it is quite unlikely that any mainstream opposition
group would implement such tactics at this time, given the possible
fallout that it could spawn at home and abroad as the international
war on terror continues. Opponents in exile went further, saying that
the country's military regime is responsible for the parcel bombs as
they attempt to discredit the opposition by portraying themselves as
the victim of a terrorist attack. Thai-based Burmese democracy and
dissident groups say the bombs were staged by the regime in hopes that
Thailand would take drastic action against them.

Just last week, much to the chagrin of the junta, the UN special
rapporteur to Burma, Sergio Paulo Pinheiro, was in Thailand to meet
with three Shan groups who released the report "License to Rape",
which identifies 625 sexual assaults committed in Burma's Shan State
by the Burmese army. Pinheiro, who had completed his third trip to
Burma before coming to Thailand, was still in the Kingdom when news of
the parcel bombs broke.

The likelihood that Burmese dissident groups in Thailand were involved
in such endeavors does not seem plausible as they already face
mounting pressure from the Thai government to curtail their
activities.

Could it be border-based insurgents? Doubtful. Their targets are
Burmese troops attempting to push them out of their territories along
the border, nor do they have the capabilities to successfully send
explosives through the international mail.

Meanwhile, such allegations from the regime are troubling for the Thai
government, which has been busy quelling international fears that
Thailand is now home to Islamic fundamentalist terrorist
organizations.

Burmese analysts and critics of Rangoon, however, feel the generals
may indeed have ulterior motives.

The regime officially gave their wholehearted backing to the US-led
war against terrorism recently, and said they are prepared to join the
US government in eradicating global terrorism. However, the US still
remains one of the junta's most vocal critics. Senior analysts and
Burma watchers in Rangoon say the regime is attempting to prove that
they are serious about terrorism in hopes that the US government will
ease its sanctions against Burma.

So who are the culprits behind these parcel bombs? While skeptics
quietly point the finger at the Burmese government and its
elements-the regime's opposition says the bombs are most likely the
work of the government's intelligence wing. And given the regime's
track record this is not as specious as it may sound.

In 1989, after a bomb was found in Burma's Embassy compound in Tokyo,
the regime was also quick to blame Burmese dissidents. However, after
an intensive investigation, Japanese police found that Tun Ngwe, then
Counselor of Burma's Embassy in Tokyo, was behind the bomb. Tun Ngwe
was later transferred to Germany.

In April 1997, a parcel bomb exploded at the home of Lt Gen Tin Oo,
who was then Burma's fourth most powerful general, killing his
daughter, Cho Lei Oo, when she opened the parcel. The junta
immediately accused Burmese dissidents Thomas Gon Aung and Thein Ngwe,
who lived in Tokyo at the time, of sending the bomb. However, after
yet another thorough investigation by Japanese police, no evidence
linking the two to the bomb was ever unearthed.

Before the parcel bomb killed Tin Oo's daughter, a bomb exploded at a
Kaba Aye pagoda festival in Rangoon just minutes before Tin Oo was set
to arrive. Opposition members strongly believed that a rival faction
within the junta was targeting Tin Oo, who later died in a helicopter
crash in February 2001. Despite the crash occurring during bad
weather, many people attributed Tin Oo's death to foul play.

Nevertheless, senior Burma watchers say that the latest accusations by
the junta show that the generals in Rangoon are desperate to gain
entrance to the international stage, perhaps seeing the war on terror
as their ticket to ride. However, it is going to take more than a
half-baked scheme for the international coalition against terror to
take one of the world's most oppressive regime's seriously.
_______
Agence France-Presse
November 5 2002
Koizumi presses Myanmar to democratise

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he pressed Myanmar military
leader Senior General Than Shwe to pursue democracy when they met on the
sidelines of the annual ASEAN summit here Tuesday.

Koizumi said Than Shwe, the number one in Yangon, had told him that his
country was continuing to pursue democracy and opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi was free to carry out political activities across the country.
"Aung San Suu Kyi, he said, is free to engage in political activity in any
part of the country... and she has been travelling to various parts of the
country for her political activity," Koizumi reported.

Koizumi said he told Than Shwe the international community was expecting
Myanmar to continue with its democratisation process and nation building
for Myanmar to be a success.

"And we count on further efforts," Koizumi said.

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has drawn leaders from
15 countries for a series of annual summits in Phnom Penh.

Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta for more than 40 years and it
refused to recognise an overwhelming victory by Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1990 elections, instead confining
her to house imprisonment.

She was allowed to leave her house and resume political activities in May
in what international observers hoped would be the start of Myanmar's
return to democracy.

However diplomats and observers have been disappointed by the lack of
progress.
____OPINION____

International Herald Tribune
November 5 2002

The Mekong River as a road to riches
By Michael Richardson

PHNOM PENH The Mekong River is a broad, brown-colored highway by the time
it passes the Cambodian capital on its long journey from the Tibetan
plateau in China. Some ships even sail hundreds of kilometers inland from
the South China Sea, through the winding channels of the Mekong delta in
southern Vietnam, to Phnom Penh to load and unload cargo.

Further upriver, the Mekong is far less placid - as French explorers
seeking a new and easy trade route into China found to their cost in the
19th century. The Mekong has many local names; one is the River of Rocks.
Some formidable rapids and shoals make navigation dangerous and sometimes
impossible along stretches of the Mekong in northern Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand, Burma and China.

Yet that hasn't deterred latter day traders, especially from China and
Thailand. They see the river as a road to riches. Despite frequent
accidents to boats that hit hazards, trade along the Mekong between
China's Yunnan Province and the ports of Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong in
Thailand more than doubled to reach nearly $88 million in 2001, from $43
million in 2000.

More than 100 vessels regularly ply the route, bringing Chinese products
to Thailand, including garments, electrical appliances, processed timber,
garlic and apples. On the return journey, they carry Thai rice, seafood,
chicken and lychees for sale in Yunnan and adjacent Chinese provinces.

This is only a fraction of the trade between Thailand and southern China.
The rest goes by sea between Thailand and ports on China's southeast
coast. Such cargo takes at least a week to reach its destination, compared
to two or three days by river. Shipping goods along the Mekong also costs
about one-third less than by sea, according to traders.

The lure of increased trade and tourism prompted China, Thailand, Burma
and Laos to sign a navigation agreement covering their sections of the
Mekong in April 2001. To make the river less hazardous to commercial
vessels, they also drew up a plan to remove 11 major rapids and shoals,
and 10 scattered reefs, by blasting and dredging along a 331-kilometer
(206-mile) stretch between the China-Burma border and Ban Houei Sai in
Laos which is opposite Thailand.

The aim of the first phase of the Mekong navigation improvement project is
to enable vessels of up to 150 tons to pass safely for 95 percent of the
year, even during the dry season from November to April when the water
level drops. Planned second and third stages were intended to make the
river safe for vessels of up to 500 tons.

Environmental activists based in Thailand objected to the project,
asserting that it could have a wide-ranging and adverse ecological impact.
They noted that clearing rapids and reefs, which provide breeding grounds
and safe havens for fish, would increase the flow of the river and the
risk of erosion, river bank collapse and flooding.

Several independent reviews paid for by the Mekong River Commission also
found that the project was proceeding too quickly, without adequate
studies of the changes it could cause. As a result, the second and third
stages have been suspended, commission officials said.

Only about 10 percent of the channel clearing for the first phase of the
project has been completed. Now the environmentalists find that they have
an unlikely new ally - the Thai military.

The Mekong forms about 1,000 kilometers of the border between Thailand and
Laos. But the river frontier has not yet been defined, and won't be at
least until 2003. To do so, both sides have to agree on the thalweg - a
technical term for the middle of the main navigable channel of a waterway
that forms the boundary between states.

Thai military officials say that faster flowing water from clearing the
Mekong channel upsteam could change the course of the thalweg and
complicate the negotiations with Laos.

As a result, Thailand has indicated that its participation in the project
is on hold. "It's safer and better to leave the river untouched until
Thailand and Laos demarcate the area," one Thai official said.
International Herald Tribune
____________

Bangkok Post
November 5 2002

Continuing failure to confront Burma

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra correctly took the problem of
security to Phnom Penh for the Asean summit. Terrorists have attacked
the region and taken root. But the biggest security threat to Thailand
remains the huge influx of drugs, both into and through the country.
Drug abuse and its twin problems of a ruined generation and massive
corruption also threaten many of our neighbours.

It is curious and irritating, then, to see Mr Thaksin proceed to Phnom
Penh only to avoid any discussion on the biggest drug menace to
Thailand. He went armed with maps of opium cultivation to present to
his Burmese counterpart. His plan is to discuss the location of opium
fields so Burma can act against them. Thailand will stand ready to
help Rangoon if that country seriously wants to help farmers stop
growing opium and sow other, more profitable cash crops.

This is not a bad idea _ but it is spectacularly unimaginative and
dangerously outdated. Mr Thaksin will not be the first to show
accurate maps of opium cultivation to the Rangoon generals. Both the
United Nations and the United States have been making such information
available to Rangoon on a regular basis. Many satellite maps are
freely available on the internet. To its credit, Rangoon has moved
against many opium farmers in the past two years. In fact, a crackdown
on opium farming actually has helped Rangoon achieve its racist
programme to move the Shan out of the hills area of the north in order
to move in settlers from the Wa minority.

This brings up the real drug problem faced by Thailand, and Mr
Thaksin's inexplicable failure to confront it. The Wa, specifically
their Rangoon-friendly United Wa State Army, have become the biggest
drug dealers in Asia. They deal in heroin, for certain. But the main
product of their huge and profitable drug trafficking enterprise is
methamphetamines.

Speed kills, and the methamphetamine tablets produced by the Wa are
extremely dangerous to Thailand. Thai officials know who produces the
drugs, who sells it, who smuggles it into Thailand. Yet, for
complicated if unacceptable reasons, the Thaksin government has
completely reversed both its foreign and its drug policies.

Neither Mr Thaksin nor any member of his cabinet has mentioned the
existence of methamphetamines for more than six months. Last year, the
prime minister sponsored and spoke at a large drugs seminar that
correctly identified methamphetamine trafficking, once again, as the
biggest threat to Thai security. This year's follow-up seminar was
remarkable for its lack of any discussion on the subject. Army
officers indiscreet enough to mention Burma-based drug trafficking of
methamphetamines have been quickly and publicly replaced.

This policy decision not to confront the Burmese generals over their
drug-smuggling allies is curious given the lack of achievement. To
many, the refusal to face Rangoon on the subject has gained nothing.
Burma recently reopened some Thai border crossings but trade between
Thai and Burmese companies remains banned. Nor has Rangoon restored
any privileges removed during past confrontations.

When Mr Thaksin swept to power in such a convincing manner last year,
one of the top planks in his policy platform was a strong war on
drugs. This made excellent sense because of the major threats posed to
Thailand by drug traffickers. It is time for the prime minister to
explain to the country why he has changed _ some say abandoned _ his
vigorous campaign against smuggling and the sale of methamphetamines.
The threat from heroin trafficking is serious but small when compared
with speed tablets. The country would like to know why Mr Thaksin has
backed off and is refusing to address the problem of methamphetamines.