BurmaNet News Oct 1, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Oct 1, 2003 Issue # 2338


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: UN envoy meets with Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar PM
Irrawaddy: Ex-Political Prisoners Seek Justice

ON THE BORDER
Shan: ICRC on fifth trip to Shan township
Kao Wao: Over 1,400 Familiies Relocated For New Railway Station

REGIONAL
Nation: Burma tells UN progress is real
AFP: Indonesia welcomes Aung San Suu Kyi house arrest but calls for full
release Xinhua: Mekong riparian countries step up cooperation

INTERNATIONAL
Miami Herald: Junta's goal is to achieve legitimacy
AP: Annan calls for democracy in Myanmar by 2006

OPINION /  OTHER
Bangkok Post: Road Map For Burma Is Greenhorn Diplomacy
Boston Globe: The High Cost Of Ecotourism


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ___________________

AFP, OCT 1
UN envoy meets with Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar PM
United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail met Wednesday with
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her residence, the first
independent figure to see her since her shift to house arrest last week.
Razali entered the democracy icon's famous lakeside home on University
Avenue at around 5:20 pm (1150 GMT) after spending an hour in separate
talks with Myanmar's Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt. Aung San Suu Kyi
was confined to her residence last Friday after being held in custody by
the ruling generals for four months, sparking an international furore.
The 58-year-old opposition leader was taken home after undergoing major
gynaecological surgery on September 19, marking the beginning of her
third stint under house arrest since 1988. Razali is on a crucial
three-day mission to military-ruled Myanmar aimed at securing the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the restart of the national
reconciliation process abandoned earlier this year. UN sources said the
veteran Malaysian diplomat had postponed his departure due Thursday by
several hours. Details of his programme were not available, but analysts
said they viewed the extension tentatively as a sign that at least some
progress was being made during his 11th visit to the country. Razali
acted as the catalyst for landmark national reconciliation talks between
Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta which began in October 2000 but collapsed
following the diminutive opposition leader's detention. He now faces the
difficult task of reviving the contacts and advancing a seven-point
"roadmap" for democratic reform unveiled by Khin Nyunt in August.
Earlier Wednesday Razali asked ethnic political parties to support the
reconciliation initiative by working towards the success of the first
step in the roadmap -- a national convention to draft a new constitution
under which free and fair elections would be held, an ethnic leader
said. "Please endeavour to make the national convention successful by
working together -- the military, the ethnic minorities and the NLD,"
Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) chairman Khun Tun Oo quoted
Razali as saying after talks with the envoy. Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) quit an earlier national convention in 1995,
saying it was illegitimate and unrepresentative because participants
were hand-picked by the government. "Razali said he would now be taking
that message to the government in his meeting with Khin Nyunt," Khun Tun
Oo said. The roadmap plan was widely dismissed by Yangon analysts as a
rehash of previous pledges to launch reforms in the country, but some
observers now say they are hopeful Razali may prod them to use it to
pursue genuine reforms. On Tuesday the envoy met with Home Minister Tin
Hlaing, several NLD members and diplomats, before attending a dinner
hosted by Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win. Myanmar's junta is
under intense pressure to release Aung San Suu Kyi before an Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Bali next month, which
risks being overshadowed by the issue. ASEAN member Singapore called
Wednesday for Myanmar to lift all restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi and
said her plight would be raised at the Bali meeting. "All restrictions
on Aung San Suu Kyi should be lifted so that the national reconciliation
process can move forward," a foreign affairs ministry spokesman said.
Indonesia meanwhile welcomed Myanmar's decision to shift Aung San Suu
Kyi from detention to house arrest but said it was still hoping for her
full release. "It is our hope as well as the international community
that at the end Aung San Suu Kyi receives a status of complete freedom,"
its foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda said. Indonesian President Megawati
Sukarnoputri, who sent former foreign minister Ali Alatas to Yangon last
week to negotiate Aung San Suu Kyi's release, has already made a blunt
call for the regime to say clearly what its plans are. Observers in
Yangon have said however that it WAs unlikely the government would be
willing to release her so soon, raising the prospect that Khin Nyunt
might choose not to attend the summit.
___________________________________
Oct 1, Irrawaddy
Ex-Political Prisoners Seek Justice
October 01, 2003—Bo Kyi knows how cruel a prison term in Burma can be.
He spent seven years behind bars for his political activism, and he was
just in his 20s when the ordeal began. Former Political Prisoner Bo Kyi
Here in Mae Sot, Thailand, a border town of small, winding streets and
dilapidated buildings, there are many others living who can identify
with Bo Kyi; men like Nay Rein Kyaw and Tate Naing, who have suffered a
similar fate at the hands of Burma's military government. Rein Kyaw was
jailed from 1992 through 2000. For six of those years, Rein Kyaw was in
Insein, the largest prison in Burma, home to an estimated 9,000 to
10,000 prisoners, including political activists. But their flight to
Thailand has meant neither an escape from the past nor an attempt to
start anew as free people from Burma. On the contrary, they have chosen
to cash in the liberty they currently enjoy—however fragile that is—to
bring down the walls of oppression in their country. The path they have
opted for is the one they know best: confronting Rangoon’s junta about
the prisons in the country, in general, and the plight of the over 1,600
political prisoners in particular. "We want the world to know about our
experience and to keep reminding the world about the many still in
prison who have been isolated or forgotten," says Bo Kyi who belongs to
the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) known as
AAPP. I still have nightmares after what they [the military government]
did to me in prison. This is, in a way, my revenge for what they did. To
expose their crimes. —Rein Kyaw, a former political prisoner
Membership to the AAPP requires only one qualification—having served a
jail term in Burma as a political prisoner. Currently the association
has 49 members, 20 of whom live in Mae Sot. The association monitors
prison conditions, publicizes arrests, and helps the families of the
arrested. AAPP has also built Mae Sot’s only museum—one that seeks to
preserve the horror that prevails in the 39 prisons spread across Burma.
This small museum, built in the shape of a large square cell and with a
cell door for an entrance, has on its walls a narrative of torment and
violence that the junta has unleashed on its civilians, both within and
outside prison. The cell shows the positions prisoners have to assume
when taking a bath. Prisoners form a line facing each other and can only
pour water from a flat container when ordered to do so. Iron bars keep
the men and women shackled. One wall is covered by the names and faded
photos of the people who have been imprisoned for their political views
following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma. The faces that stare
out include the 82 people who have died in prison, the 18
parliamentarians in jail and the 59 Buddhist monks locked up for their
politics. "I still have nightmares after what they [the military
government] did to me in prison," says 33-year-old Rein Kyaw, who chose
the contents and designed the museum, located at the back of the AAPP
office. "This is, in a way, my revenge for what they did. To expose
their crimes." It is an effort that lends weight to the pressure being
mounted by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and
environmental lobbies like EarthRights International about the plight of
the political prisoners and those forced into labor camps.
 The faces that stare out include the 82 people who have died in prison,
the 18 parliamentarians in jail and the 59 Buddhist monks locked up for
their politics.
Bo Kyi, however, is well aware of the risk the AAPP members are taking.
Part of that stems from the conditions under which the former political
prisoners, like thousands of other Burmese, live in Thailand. They do
not enjoy rights as refugees, since Thailand is not a signatory to the
international refugee convention. As a result, they are dogged by the
fear of being hauled up by Thai authorities if and when their political
activities against Rangoon touch a raw nerve in Bangkok. "We are living
under a form of self-imposed house arrest," says Bo Kyi. "We don’t feel
secure, we can be arrested." Recent actions by the Thai government have
exacerbated these worries, after it threatened to crack down on Burmese
political activists protesting the May 30 arrest of pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. "The Thai government has only one policy now. It will
not tolerate the activism of any Burmese group in the country," said
Sunai Phasuk, from the regional human rights lobby Forum Asia. It is a
policy that runs against the reputation Thailand has earned as a country
hospitable to dissidents, freedom fighters and victims of war fleeing
the nations around it. Cambodians, for instance, were among those who
found sanctuary while their country was ravaged by war. Currently,
however, the Burmese are the ones who continue to cross the border,
seeking refuge from the iron grip of the junta, which has been in power
since 1962. There are close to 100,000 refugees confined to camps along
the Thai-Burmese border, an estimated one million migrant workers, and
thousands of political exiles. But organizations like AAPP have also
another reason to feel edgy—the possible presence of Burmese
intelligence officers monitoring the activities of dissidents in Mae
Sot. "It is a genuine fear, because we are not sure about who the new
Burmese in town are," says Myat Thu, of the Burma Correspondents Club,
whose membership includes over 50 Burmese journalists working in the
area. For groups like the AAPP to champion their cause the face of such
worries is "remarkable," he adds. "It is difficult and tough work they
are doing to help the political prisoners in Burma."

_____________ ON THE BORDER ______________

Sept 30, Shan
ICRC on fifth trip to Shan township

For the fifth time since late last year and for the second time in the
same month, the International Red Cross has been in the Shan township,
79 miles northeast of Taunggyi, where reports of human rights violations
continue to flood across the Thai-Burma frontier.

According to reports reaching Chiangmai, a 12-men team of the
International Committee of Red Cross arrived in the township on 22
September, ten days after the last trip to the area ended.

During that trip, the group had reportedly complained about heavy
presence of Burma Army troops in the villages where they had been
conducting their survey, the upshot of which was the villagers' extreme
reluctance to cooperate with the ICRC's fact finders.

The team would be staying for a week visiting 30 villages east of the
township seat.

Shan Human Rights Foundation had documented extrajudicial killings of 58
people, 4 of them also raped, during the 1997 forced relocation campaign
launched by Rangoon. Shan Women's Action Network also identified 17 out
of a total of 173 cases of sexual violence committed by Burma Army
officers and men between 1996-2001.

ICRC, according to its statement, believes that "the mere fact of being
present in conflict affected areas and repeating our visit to the people
there can have a preventive protection effect."

Shan State Army's 758th Brigade commanded by Lt-Col Moengzuen is active
in Laikha and the surrounding townships.
___________________________________
Sept 24, Kao Wao (IMNA: September 24, 2003)

Over 1,400 Familiies Relocated For New Railway Station

Residents in two wards in the Mon state capital of Moulmein have been
ordered to abandon their houses for a new railroad project.

According to local sources, over 1,400 houses in Myenegone and Hlaing
wards have already been destroyed, following order by the SPDC
authorities.

A businessman from Moulmein said the authorities will compensate those
whose houses are being relocated, but the price varies from a thousand
kyats per square feet for brick houses to 200 kyats for wooden houses
and 140 kyats for thatched roof houses.

In return, local residents will be granted land available for housing in
Phetkhin and NganTe wards.  They will have to buy their land in these
new areas but prices are not yet known.  The new sites will be on lots
approximately 80 by 60 feet per household, according to a report from
Moulmein.

Photos of houses being destroyed were taken on September 21 by ward
authorities.  The owners had to pay 1, 500 kyats to get a photo taken.

The source reported that the authorities would resettle those who can
afford to build more expensive brick houses along the main road, while
those who can afford wooden house will be on side streets and the poor,
who can only afford thatch roofed houses, will be given land farther
away from the main scene/streets.

The Burmese junta has launched a mega project to make the capital of Mon
State the terminal point for the rail line from Rangoon.   The railway
station itself is scheduled to be built at the Myenegone cemetery in
Moulmein.  The space reserved for the new station occupies about 200
acres.

Up until now, the Rangoon-Moulmein railway line ended at the terminal in
Mottama, on the opposite bank of the Salween (Thanlwin) river, but when
the new road and rail bridge presently under construction across the
river is opened passengers will be able to ride all the way by train
without taking a ferry.


_____________ REGIONAL ______________

Oct 1, Nation
Burma tells UN progress is real

Burma has complained to the United Nations that the international
community has given it little credit for trying to build a modern
democracy.

'Now that firm foundations have been laid, we have moved on to the next
phase to commence work on the drafting of a new constitution and to
build a modern democratic nation in keeping with it,' Burmese Foreign
Minister Win Aung said in a statement.

The statement was delivered to the annual meeting of the UN's General
Assembly at the same time that Razali Ismail, the UN's special envoy to
Burma, arrived in Rangoon yesterday to meet opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and junta generals.

'It is important that the international community recognises the
positive changes. Credit must be given where credit is due,' Win Aung
said.

Khin Nyunt, the newly appointed prime minister, has announced a
seven-point road map to democracy and the National Convention, a
constitution drafting body, was set up as its first step, he said.

'Our common aspirations for peace and development can only be fulfilled
if nations avoid double standards and adopt a more positive attitude,'
he said.

Commenting on the Burmese statement, Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai said his Norwegian counterpart, Jan Petersen, indicated his
country would lend its assistance to Burma if positive developments were
forthcoming. ___________________________________
Oct 1, AFP
Indonesia welcomes Aung San Suu Kyi house arrest but calls for full
release  JAKARTA:Indonesia welcomed Myanmar's decision to release Aung
San Suu Kyi from detention and place her back under house arrest, but
expressed hope her freedom would be soon forthcoming, Foreign Minister
Hassan Wirayuda said Wednesday. Wirayuda said Indonesia and other
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) deemed the
military junta's decision to transfer Aung San Suu Kyi from secret
detention to house arrest, where she is convalescing after major surgery
a "positive, progressive step." "It is our hope as well as the
international community that at the end Aung San Suu Kyi receives a
status of complete freedom," he added. Should the Nobel peace laureate
and democracy leader remain under house arrest until next week's
regional summit in Bali, other ASEAN members will try to get a "direct
explanation" from Myanmar Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt during the
summit, Wirayuda said after a cabinet meeting led by President Megawati
Sukarnoputri. Indonesia is the current ASEAN chair.
Asked if he sees a possibility for Aung San Suu Kyi to be released
before the summit, Wirayuda said: "Let us all pray that such a hope can
be carried out." Megawati said last week that to prevent the issue from
overshadowing the summit of the 10 Southeast Asean nations as well as
China, Japan and South Korea, Myanmar has to make clear its plans for
the fate of Aung San Suu Kyi. Megawati last week sent former foreign
minister Ali Alatas to Yangon to push for the opposition leader's early
release. Alatas has said he was only told that the restrictions placed
on Aung San Suu Kyi were temporary in nature and that the regime would
carefully consider Indonesia's request for her early release.
___________________________________ Oct 1, Xinhua
Mekong riparian countries step up cooperation

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The 8th Dialogue Meeting between the
Mekong River Commission (MRC) and the two upstream countries, China and
Myanmar, was held here Wednesday aimed at enhancing the cooperation and
promoting the development among the six Mekong riparian countries.

Nguyen Hong Toan, chairman of the MRC's Joint Committee for 2003/2004,
opened the meeting with government delegates from China, Myanmar and the
MRC member countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, located
downstream.

Chinese head of delegation Zhang Wanhai stressed the importance of
enhancing the regional cooperation, saying the failure of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Meeting in Cancun last month showed
that "the active regional cooperation becomes more important."

"It is our view that the cooperation in the development of
Lancang/Mekong River riparian countries could be beneficial to the
common prosperity of the sub regional countries, promote the process of
ASEAN integration and gives active impetus on the development in Asia,"
Zhang added.

He went on to say that "the Chinese government will never engage the
activities that will benefit itself at the expense of others."

During the meeting, the government of Myanmar proposed to establish
river level monitoring operations on the Upper Mekong in cooperation
with the MRC, which will take upstream cooperation to a new stage,
adding to the ongoing technical cooperation between China and the MRC.

Concrete technical cooperation between the MRC and China began in April
2001 with an agreement by China to provide daily data on river levels to
the MRC for use in flood forecasting.

To support the ongoing cooperation, the MRC has assisted China in
modernizing two river monitoring stations in Yunnan province on the
Upper Mekong, or Lancang as it is know in China.

__________________ INTERNATIONAL ____________________

Oct 1
AP: Annan calls for democracy in Myanmar by 2006

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has set a timetable for ending
military rule in Myanmar and turning the country into a democracy by
2006.

In a report to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, he urged the United
Nations and the international community to work together to bring about
the transition to democracy in Myanmar by 2006 when the country takes
over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
known as ASEAN.

The report on the human rights situation and the activities of Annan's
special envoy, Razali Ismail, was released on the day that Razali
arrived in Myanmar, also known as Burma, on a mission to revive the
national reconciliation process and to secure the release of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The secretary-general also met with Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Win
Aung to personally deliver his message that Suu Kyi should be freed, the
government should start a dialogue with her National League for
Democracy and other ethnic groups, and the transition to democracy
should be completed within three years, a U.N. official said.

In his speech on Monday to the General Assembly, the minister rejected
accusations that the government deliberately created an impasse to delay
the transfer of power and said that Myanmar is "firmly committed to
bringing about a systematic transformation to democracy."

The new prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, who was appointed on Aug. 25,
has outlined a seven-step "road map" for the transition to democracy
including the holding of a national convention, drafting and adopting a
new constitution and holding legislative elections, Win Aung said.

But the map has no timeline and U.N. officials, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said Annan wanted to set a target date to spur the process.

In his report, the secretary-general said there has been "no substantive
progress toward national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar,"
but "there is still a small window of opportunity at the present moment
to save the process."

If Myanmar's military rulers don't immediately release Suu Kyi and
quickly initiate a "substantive dialogue" with her party, Annan said the
General Assembly will have to review the situation and decide on further
action that can be taken to promote reconciliation and democratization.

"The United Nations, ASEAN and the international community at large must
join hands in order to facilitate the democratic transition in Myanmar
in time for 2006," Annan said.

ASEAN members have so far been reluctant to criticize Myanmar's
detention of Suu Kyi, but are scheduled to meet in Bali, Indonesia on
Oct. 7-8 to discuss the issue.

Razali, a former Malaysian diplomat, is credited with launching
closed-door talks between Suu Kyi and the ruling junta nearly three
years ago.

He last visited Myanmar in June, just days after Suu Kyi, a 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize winner, was detained at an undisclosed location following a
violent clash on May 30 between members of her entourage and a
government-backed mob in the country's north.

Suu Kyi has been recovering from what the junta said was major
gynecological surgery earlier this month. She is under house arrest for
the third time since 1989, when she was held for six years. She was
detained again in late 2000 and released in May 2002.

Razali planned to talk to Suu Kyi about the role of her National League
for Democracy party in the junta-proposed "road map" to democracy, said
Hkun Tun Oo, a chairman of the ethnic Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy.

Military authorities have said Suu Kyi will be freed but have not
specified a date.

Myanmar's military seized power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy
uprising. It held elections in 1990, but refused to recognize the
results after Suu Kyi's party won. ___________________________________

Oct 1
Miami Herald: Junta's goal is to achieve legitimacy – Richard Lugar

The military junta that rules Myanmar, formerly called Burma, has long
been known as a group committed to retaining power at any cost. The
price has been paid mainly by Burmese citizens, but the consequences may
now spread well beyond Myanmar's borders.

Until now, their record of bloody repression and economic ruin has
primarily victimized their own people, and world attention has often
drifted away from what some consider an internal problem. But it is time
to take a closer look. Myanmar's generals are quietly moving in new
directions that could make that dismal country a source of instability
throughout South and Southeast Asia.

Strategically situated between regional rivals India and China, Myanmar
is seeking to leverage the two powers' battle for influence.

China is the regime's major arms supplier and has assumed significant
economic power over the country, recently extending debt relief and a
$200 million loan to Myanmar, which has been cut off from most other
external funding. China, reports indicate, has built a port and shipyard
south of Rangoon to help export products from China's landlocked western
provinces.

India, concerned about China's rising dominance, has stepped up its
relations with Myanmar. Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee met
with the Myanmar foreign minister earlier this year, the highest-level
contact between the two countries in more than a decade, and India is
also reportedly building a port on Myanmar's coast.

Improving ties with regional powers is not necessarily a bad thing,
especially if they would push Myanmar toward more-civilized behavior.

But neither Beijing nor New Delhi has shown any such inclination.
Instead the two huge neighbors are using Myanmar as a pawn in their
rivalry, making it a potential source of friction, not a buffer. Japan
is increasingly concerned about China's penetration of Myanmar, and it
was to counter China's influence that the regional grouping of smaller
countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, decided to admit
Myanmar as a member several years ago. These countries see now that the
junta was cynically using them to try to gain legitimacy.

Ties with North Korea

More troubling is the news that Myanmar, one of the poorest countries on
earth, has contracted with Russia for a nuclear reactor. Both sides
insist that it is for medical research purposes, but even if that's
true, it would add an unnecessary proliferation risk to a world where
terrorists are on the prowl for nuclear material. Some 300 Burmese have
been in Russia receiving training to operate the facility, and Myanmar
also has bought 10 MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia.

Most disturbing of all, Myanmar and North Korea are renewing ties; they
had been cut off after North Korean agents in 1983 set off a bomb in
Rangoon that killed 21 people, including four visiting South Korean
cabinet members. Besides possibly reestablishing diplomatic relations,
the two have held high-level discussions on military cooperation.

The link-up of these two pariah states spell trouble. North Korea's main
export is weapons technology, and there have been reports that Myanmar
is getting missiles and other arms from Pyongyang.

These developments have been largely overlooked as we concentrated on
Iraq, the Middle East and the Korean peninsula. But they are the seeds
of a major threat to Asian security and stability. The world should take
notice, and the United States needs to make Myanmar a priority in its
relations with Russia, China, India and ASEAN so that we can forge a
multilateral plan to turn the generals from their dangerous course.
___________________________________

OPINION

Oct 1, Bankok Post
Bangkok Post: Road Map For Burma Is Greenhorn Diplomacy - Asda Jayanama

Many of us were puzzled by the lightning half-day visit of Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai on Sept 25 to Rangoon ''to follow up'' on
the Thai road map proposal. We were puzzled because this Thai process
should have been allowed to die a natural death when Burma rejected it
and came up with its own road map, which the Thai government gratefully
embraced as it could save us from further embarrassment.

But Mr Surakiart is not giving up because Burma's rejection of the Thai
road map has never been revealed to the Thai public. Publicity and
face-saving are so important to this government that this charade over
this road map must go on, like the Asian Cooperation Dialogue, except
the consequences of the road map are life and death to all the people of
Burma, while the Dialogue is gimmickry and free partying.

Readers will recall that the Thai road map was announced officially by
Mr Surakiart on July 24, at a meeting of Asian and European foreign
ministers in Bali. At the time, and since, he has never explained to the
public the elements of this proposal, except to say it is a road map
towards national reconciliation for Burma, that many countries supported
the proposal, and Thailand intended to invite various countries, the
United Nations secretary-general's special envoy, and all parties in the
Burmese conflict to a meeting.

Four days later, the Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand
reported from Langkawi, Malaysia, that Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
had told his Malaysian counterpart, Mahathir Mohamad, and UN special
envoy Razali Ismail, that Thailand might have to arrange a conference as
''the problem is beyond Burma's ability to resolve''. He also explained
that the Thai plan was not interference in Burma's domestic affairs but
an attempt to help strengthen the country.

On the same day, the same government news agency quoted Deputy Prime
Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's remarkable comment that Mr Thaksin knew
General Than Shwe, the Burmese junta's seniormost general, better than
anyone else and he ''needed only to speak one word and everything would
be solved''.

On Aug 1, Mr Surakiart conferred with Foreign Minister Win Aung in the
first face-to-face meeting on the road map with a high ranking Burmese.
In spite of Mr Surakiart's smooth talk and Win Aung's polite
cooperation, the substance of the meeting was Win Aung's statement that
his government would have to study it further. Burma has since rejected
the Thai plan, for a second time, after it was set aside by its deputy
foreign minister.

It was clear to diplomats, even junior officers, at the Foreign Ministry
that the Thai road map was doomed from the very beginning.

First, in such an important and complex issue, Mr Surakiart should never
have initiated the road map without first consulting Rangoon. Maybe,
after the many diplomatic events in June, he thought this was
unnecessary. If that was his thinking, it was a monumental misjudgment.

Second, Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council has never
accepted the concept of national reconciliation, only national
reconsolidation. Mr Surakiart claimed on June 5 that Foreign Minister
Win Aung had confirmed to him in writing that Burma had obligations to
the process of national reconciliation. I simply don't believe that Win
Aung used that phrase. I challenge Mr Surakiart to publish Win Aung's
letter.

This is because national reconciliation and national reconsolidation are
politically quite different. National reconciliation implies fair and
peaceful compromise for all nationalities in Burma, Burmans and
minorities. National reconsolidation means strengthening the ruling
clique and its organisations.

Third, it may not be obvious to fly-by-night politicians, but to well
trained diplomats it is political common sense that the State Peace and
Development Council would never accept the Thai proposal for holding a
forum if it considered the forum as interference in its domestic affairs
or a platform which gave the opposition and others equal status with the
government.

Moreover, countries ''supporting'' the Thai road map may also not attend
the forum, if it is ever held. The Chinese, whom Mr Surakiart claimed as
his supporters, declared on Aug 20 they would not interfere in Burma's
internal affairs. Mr Razali, another supporter claimed by Mr Surakiart,
may not attend the forum if it contravenes UN resolutions, and he is
most concerned about Southeast Asia sending conflicting signals. Western
supporters of the Thai plan may also not attend if they believe Thailand
is trying to save the State Peace and Development Council from further
condemnation and delay the process of democratisation in Burma.

Fourth, Thailand is not qualified to be a facilitator in this Burmese
problem because:

- As long as Burma's domestic policies affect us negatively, our
relations with Burma can never be good. And with due respect to Gen
Chavalit's observation quoted earlier, I still think Mr Thaksin cannot
solve Thai-Burmese problems with a single word.

- The present Thai government has too many vested economic interests in
Burma to be able to play an impartial role.

- Thailand needs a competent, experienced and transparent foreign
minister to lead it if it is serious about this task. No
Johnny-come-lately can successfully facilitate Burma's 50 years-plus
problem, let alone solve it.

In short, the Thai road map has been a monumental diplomatic blunder
that contradicted this government's own emphasis on non-interference in
the internal affairs of Burma.

Moreover, the map was merely an opportunistic reaction to Aung San Suu
Kyi's detention, rather than a well-thought-out sincere initiative to
resolve the Burma problem. It was also an attempt to prevent the West
from interfering in Burma.

But by presenting a hurriedly unprepared ''initiative'' without first
consulting Burma, Thailand's road map is not an initiative at all but,
from what I can see, a collection of old ideas already stated in the
various UN resolutions. It appears that what we achieved was publicity
verging on duplicity, and certainly not diplomacy.

It was a sad day for Thai diplomacy when such a complex issue was so
cavalierly handled, top-down of course, as is the fashion these days.
Sadder still, this blunder has probably reduced, if not destroyed, the
trust that the State Peace and Development Council leadership might have
had in the Thai leadership. Saddest of all is the fact that our esteemed
prime minister seemed to have believed in this bragging, bungling,
greenhorn performance.

- Asda Jayanama is a former permanent representative of Thailand to the
UN. ___________________________________

Oct 1, Boston Globe
The High Cost Of Ecotourism

Some of the world's poorest countries are hot spots for tourists
interested in nature and indigenous cultures, but the influx of resort
developers, affluent travelers, and their money has its pitfalls,
according to a new report.

The report on "Tourism and Biodiversity" from Conservation
International, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit environmental
organization, calls global tourism "the world's largest industry" and
points out that ecotourism more than doubled between 1990 and 2000.

   Among the poorest hot spots for ecotourism were Laos, Myanmar,
Madagascar, and Tanzania. More affluent nations that had huge
increases in tourists seeking out natural phenomena or traditional
communities included Costa Rica, Brazil, South Africa, and Australia.

The report, released last month, warns that without proper planning,
tourism in fragile ecosystems could kill "the very things that attract
tourists in the first place." Hazards include the depletion of scarce
freshwater resources, introduction of nonnative species, and threats to
local culture.

The report, which was prepared with the help of the United Nations
Environment Programme, advocates better planning by governments to,
among other things, protect sensitive ecosystems from construction, to
give tourists an opportunity to donate directly to the maintenance of
nature preserves, and to enforce laws against polluters.
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