BurmaNet News, April 30, 2008

[Editor]

April 30, 2008 Issue # 3455



INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Twelve ethnic parties urge people to cast 'No' vote
Mizzima News: Foreign journalists likely to be barred from referendum
Irrawaddy: Pre-marked ballots issued in Burmese referendum
Irrawaddy: The ‘third force’ in Burmese politics
DVB: Authorities keep Rangoon monks under close watch
SHAN: Villagers forced to do repairs on the hydropower dam project

ON THE BORDER
The Nation (Thailand): Shortages may drive Burmese refugees to seek work

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup
DVB: Businesses threatened with closure for 'No' vote
Xinhua: Myanmar to designate Singapore, Chinese currencies in trade

DRUGS
Bangkok Post: Thailand, Burma sign anti-drug agreement

REGIONAL
Reuters: Thai PM says Myanmar's Suu Kyi detention is "OK"
AP: Thai PM jokes that neighbor Myanmar's draft constitution offers a '50
percent democracy'

INTERNATIONAL
BBC News: Few gains for press freedom

OPINION / OTHER
Asia Times: Myanmar's spoiled vote for democracy – Larry Jagan

PRESS RELEASE
BCUK: Burma regime receiving an email every minute for Min Ko Naing

OBITUARY
Irrawaddy: U Kovida passes away



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 30, Mizzima News
Twelve ethnic parties urge people to cast 'No' vote

Twelve ethnic parties urged the people today to unanimously cast the 'No'
vote in the referendum to approve the constitution. The 12 parties belong
to the United Nationalities Association' (UNA) an umbrella group.

It said that the constitution is not drafted by people's representatives
but by the junta and it is designed so that the central government is
controlled and manipulated by the junta. It cannot guarantee the emergence
of a genuine federal country with a democratic essence. So the parties
urged the people to cast the 'No' vote with full of political
consciousness and awareness in this historical referendum.

"Now the people are divided over which vote to cast in the referendum.
Some are concerned over their fate after the referendum if they vote 'No'.
So we issued this statement for all the people", Pu Cin Sian Thang, the
leader of Zomi National Congress (ZNC) said.

"Democracy loving voters will have such a rare chance in their whole life
only once. We would like them to exercise their franchise boldly and cast
the 'No' vote in the referendum.

The voters should not worry about the junta's reprisal after the
referendum. Don't think of the post referendum scenario. We have a Plan B
even if the junta manages to convert all the 'No votes to 'Yes' votes. So
we would like to urge the people to cast the 'No' vote," he added.

The 12 parties said that the people should think of the probable dire
consequences if they refrain from going to polling stations and abstain in
this referendum out of fear. This will indirectly support the junta, they
warned.

The parties also profoundly urged the people to be present at the polling
stations at both the opening and closing times to watch the vote counting
and voting irregularities in accordance with the junta's Referendum Law.

"This constitution has many weaknesses. (1) It has no democratic essence.
(2) It will not benefit anyone. (3) It will perpetuate military
dictatorship. So we would like to urge the people in all nooks and corners
of the country to cast the 'No' vote in the referendum," U Ohn Tin from
Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) said.

This statement was issued by 'United Nationalities Association' (UNA)
includes Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) and ALD which won 23
and 11 seats respectively in the 1990 general election.

UNA is a multi-ethnic party group comprised of the SNLD, Mon National
League for Democracy, ZNC, ALD, Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD),
Karen National League for Democracy, Kachin Nationality Democratic
Congress, Kayah State Nationalities League for Democracy, Kayan
Nationality League for Unity and Democracy, Mara People's Party, Shan
State Kokang Democratic Party and Rakhine Democratic United Party. All
these parties except Shan and Kokang parties have already been
deregistered by the junta.

____________________________________

April 30, Mizzima News
Foreign journalists likely to be barred from referendum – Nem Davies

Burma's military junta's Ministry of Information has reportedly leaked
that foreign journalists will not be invited to cover the upcoming May 10
constitutional referendum.

A Rangoon-based journalist, citing an official from the Ministry of
Information, said foreign journalists and media groups will possibly be
prevented from reporting on the referendum's proceedings.

"The official said foreign journalists will not be allowed to cover the
May referendum. But he did not mention the reasons why and we could not
ask him," the journalist told Mizzima.

A Reuters reporter, who has applied for a visa to enter Burma, has had
their application kept pending, another journalist in Rangoon commented on
condition of anonymity.

"We heard that the Reuters reporter will not be allowed to enter. The case
is still pending and no reply has yet been made," explained the
journalist.

Similarly, an Indian journalist in New Delhi told Mizzima that several of
his friends who applied for visas to cover the referendum have had their
initiatives rejected.

"All of their applications for a visa have been denied," said the Indian
journalist.

However, an official at the Information and Public Relations Department in
Burma's new capital, Naypyitaw, denied claims that applications have been
refused.

"I don't know of any such thing. What I know is that we have not stopped
issuing visas. Visas are possible not only for journalists but are
available for any kind of tourist," the official said.

While foreign journalists are finding difficulties in obtaining Burmese
visas, a Rangoon-based journal editor expressed fear that local
journalists would not be allowed to freely cover the upcoming referendum
either.

"Though the government has announced that journalists and media will be
allowed to cover the event, I have a feeling that there will be several
restrictions. What we have learned is that the government will place
people to take photos of journalists who are covering the event. This
could prove intimidating," the editor added.

Meanwhile, sources in Rangoon said the government has ordered all
Rangoon-based weeklies to insert the government's campaign logo, which
urges people to vote 'Yes' in support of the draft constitution, into
their periodicals.

"We have been ordered to put the campaign logo either on the front page,
back page or third page," remarked a Rangoon-based editor of a weekly
journal.

____________________________________

April 30, Irrawaddy
Pre-marked ballots issued in Burmese referendum – Min Lwin

Advance voting for the constitutional referendum began this week in
Myawaddy Township, Karen State, amid allegations that some voters were
issued ballots that had already been ticked “Yes” by polling station
staff, according to sources in Karen State.

A worker from Myawaddy Township said that the authorities had already
prepared ballot papers with a √ already marked in the square on the
ballot where voters are asked to mark a √ for “Yes” or a X for “No”
to the junta’s draft constitution.

“I was given the ballot already marked—my duty was just to put it in the
ballot box,” he said.

According to a local resident, advance voting began on Monday for five
wards in Myawaddy Township, near the Thai-Burmese border. Polling stations
are being overseen by staff from the Ward/Village Peace and Development
Council, he said.

A vendor who lives in Ward 3 in Myawaddy said that all the people who were
invited to vote in advance were in possession of temporary identity cards.

“I was asked to vote in advance by our ward’s authorities, but when I went
to the polling station to cast my vote I couldn’t, because the ballot
papers had run out,” she said.

“Thousands of people have already voted,” she added, noting that the
advance voting was due to continue until May 8.

Advance voting is a process whereby the voter can cast their vote on a
single day or a series of days prior to an election. Advance voting often
takes place by mail and is usually facilitated to allow people who live
abroad to vote.

Meanwhile, government ministries are compiling lists of their respective
civil servants and their family members who are eligible to vote with
instructions that they must vote “Yes,” according to a family member of an
official from the Ministry of Transport.

“Each civil servant and their family members have to vote ‘Yes.’ If they
fail to go to the polling station or if they vote ‘No,’ their official
position will be affected,” she said, adding that civil servants were to
vote at separate polling stations from other voters.

According to a source close to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the ministry
authorities have been collecting signatures from members of the police
force that pledge them to vote “Yes” in the constitutional referendum.

Meanwhile, the Burmese Ministry of Information has instructed all
Rangoon-based weekly journals to publish the government-backed “Vote Yes!”
campaign logo on their respective journals’ back pages in full color, said
a publisher in Rangoon.

The Burmese government has not yet revealed the registers of eligible
voters in each township sub-commission, nor has it announced the locations
of polling stations.

____________________________________

April 30, Irrawaddy
The ‘third force’ in Burmese politics – Wai Moe

Burmese at home and abroad say they don’t think the junta-backed
constitution offers any democratic guarantees, but some have decided to
vote in favor of it, anyway, saying that a ‘Yes’ vote could nudge the
country towards democratization.

One of those who have taken this stance is Aye Lwin, a student leader in
the 1988 popular uprising. He was briefly arrested for demanding democracy
in March 1988 and was later arrested again for a business-related offense.
He has since done a complete about-face, abandoning his pro-democracy
stand in favor of supporting the country’s ruling military regime.

In 2005, he formed the junta-sponsored Union of Burma 88 Generation
Students group, set up to counter the better known and almost identically
named 88 Generation Students group, founded by Min Ko Naing and other
prominent student leaders, some of whom had spent more than a decade in
prison.

Aye Lwin claims his group is neither pro-junta nor pro-opposition; it is,
he says, part of the “third force” in Burmese politics that is seeking a
more pragmatic response to the country’s needs. In 2006, it launched an
anti-sanctions campaign, urging Western countries to stop standing in the
way of the country’s economic development. More recently, it has
reportedly been actively involved in efforts to win support for the
military-drafted constitution ahead of the May 10 referendum.

There are others like Aye Lwin, some of them former members of Aung San
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), including elected
representatives Soe Lin, Kyi Win and Tin Tun Maung, who have also formed
their own “third force group.”

Dissidents who refuse to back the junta’s agenda note that former
colleagues usually win hard-to-get business licenses and lucrative
contracts soon after undergoing their political conversions.

A well-known journalist in Rangoon, Nay Win Maung, and several other
intellectuals, such as Ma Theingi and Khin Zaw Win, have also claimed to
occupy the middle ground. According to Rangoon-based journalists, Nay Win
Maung has told them that although the junta’s constitution lacks basic
democratic foundations, it is better than nothing.

Nay Win Maung also recently called on Aung San Suu Kyi to endorse the
constitution to ensure that the NLD is not “disenfranchised.”

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should provide a goodwill gesture by saying ‘Yes’ to
the constitution,” he wrote in a letter circulated within a circle of
Burmese intellectuals. He claimed that such a gesture would provide junta
leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe with a face-saving way to step down from power.

Nay Win Maung is quite well-connected to the ruling generals—he reportedly
has concessions in the timber industry and is also an executive member of
Kanbawza Bank, which is closely connected to the junta’s No. 2, Vice
Snr-Gen Maung Aye.

Besides economic rewards, members of the “third force” also enjoy greater
freedoms than dissidents. Unlike democratic opposition figures, who are
typically forced to remain in exile if they ever leave the country, Nay
Win Maung, Ma Theingi and Khin Zaw Win have all been permitted to attend
international conferences on Burmese issues in foreign countries, arranged
by diplomats in Rangoon.

Tin Maung Than, a well-known Burmese writer now living in the United
States, said in his regular Democratic Voice of Burma radio program on
April 4 that the “third group” could have a significant impact on the
referendum outcome. But others—notably Moe Thee Zun, a prominent former
student leader of the 1988 uprising—say that Tin Maung Than is
overestimating the influence of the “third force” groups.

“The ‘third force’ is only a few people who claim to be the ‘new elite’
and intellectuals. They are only known among some diplomats,” Moe Thee Zun
wrote on his blog.

“Unlike the democracy icons Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Ko Naing and the 88
Generation Students group, nobody from urban and rural areas of Burma know
about the ‘third force.’”

Thakin Chan Tun, a veteran politician in Rangoon, also said that people in
Burma don’t know anything about the “third force.” They are the product of
a handful of diplomats who want to create a “new political elite,” he
said, and would be completely unknown if not for the attention they
receive from Burmese radio stations based abroad.

“The Burmese political conflict is between the rulers and the subjected
people. The opposition, particularly the NLD, is only a tool of the
democracy struggle,” he added.

“During the struggle period, there is no third group. They are merely
apologists for the rulers, rather than advocates for the subjected
people.”

____________________________________

April 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Authorities keep Rangoon monks under close watch – Naw Say Phaw

A monastery in the former Burmese capital Rangoon has been under the close
watch of government authorities as the constitutional referendum draws
nearer, according to locals.

A resident of Alone township in Rangoon said 17 police vehicles have been
deployed in the township's Thittaw street since 24 April to monitor the
activities of monks from the Zawtanarama lecturing monastery which is
located on that street.

"Locals have seen the police cars parked in the street near the monastery
at night," said the resident.

"The police are armed and accompanied by soldiers, and they hide in the
bushes at the corner of the street to monitor activities at the
monastery."

Zawtanarama lecturing monastery, which was home to over 130 monks before
the monk-led protests in September 2007, was raided by the military
following the demonstrations and now only has around 40 monks living
there.

The national referendum on the government’s draft constitution is due to
be held on 10 May.

____________________________________

April 30, Shan Herald Agency for News
Villagers forced to do repairs on the hydropower dam project – Hseng Khio Fah

Junta authorities in Namkham township, Northern Shan State, have been
forcing villagers to repair the collapsed bank of the Shweli Hydropower
Dam Project which is established on the Shweli River, according to a
reliable local source.

On 21 April, Man Tat based commander from Light Infantry Battalion 144,
Captain Kyaw Than ordered villagers of Wangmeng, Hangkarm, Hinlong,
Kawngkart and Wiangkang village tracts to repair the collapsed bank of the
Shweli Hydropower Dam Project.

On 24 April, a villager from Kawngkart village tract ran away from the
project but the authorities caught him and beat him until the blood came
out from the body. Afterwards, the rest of the villagers also were beaten
and given punishments.

"We did nothing wrong and we did not run away, but we were beaten too,"
said a villager in anonymity. "If we don’t' have people in our family to
work there, we have to pay Kyat 10, 000 ($10)."

There were over 350 people from 5 village tracts at the project. The
authorities announced that 70 people from each village tract were required
to go to the project site. The junta is still eager to call more people
for the repairing project, the source said.

The project was signed between Burmese Ministry of Electric Power and
Chinese Yunnan Machinery Equipment Import and Export Company Limited
(YMEC) in 2002. It was started in 2003, and the installed capacity of the
project will be 600MW. The actual power supply will be 174.8 MW; the
annual power output 4,033 GWh. The electricity will be transmitted to both
Burma and China through 230 KV and 220 KV cables, according to a report
from Palaung Youth Network Group.

The Shweli River, known by Shans and Palaungs as the Mao, is a main
tributary of the Irrawaddy. Its sources lie in China's Yunnan province at
11,000 feet above sea level. The river runs past Burma's Muse and Namkham
and flows into the Irrawaddy north of Mandalay. The project is near Man
Tat village, 17 miles southwest of Namkham, Northern Shan State.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 30, The Nation (Thailand)
Shortages may drive Burmese refugees to seek work

The rice crisis is threatening the livelihoods of 145,000 Burmese refugees
living in nine camps along the Thai-Burmese border.

A consortium of non-government groups operating inside the camps is making
an emergency appeal for an additional US$7.5 million (Bt237 million) to
supply food to the refugees.

Sally Thompson, deputy director of Thailand's Burma Border Consortium, an
alliance of non-government organisations, said the consortium recently
sent an emergency appeal to every international donor asking them to
provide additional financial support on top of the $16 million annual
budget to provide food supplies for the nine camps.

She said the consortium had received a "positive response" from the
Netherlands and Ireland.

Thompson said if the camps could not get the additional budget by July,
the refugee camp administrators may have to cut food portions to the
refugees due to budget constraints.

Otherwise, she said the Thai government may have to consider allowing the
refugees to work outside the camps to earn a living.

Thompson noted that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra once said the
refugees should not stay idle, but current Thai government policy towards
the refugees remained unchanged: the refugees are not allowed to work
outside the camps.

A number of Burmese migrants have become illegal workers due to hardship.
The recent tragedy where more than 50 Burmese workers were suffocated
while being transported by a container truck was an example of the many
hardships Burmese migrants have to face, said Jackie Pollack, of the
Migrants Assistance Programme.

Pollack said she expected the labour issue to come up during the
discussion between Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and his Burmese
counterpart this week. Burmese workers have the right to complain about
unfair treatment because Thai labour law protects the rights of all
workers, regardless of their nationalities, she said.


____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 30, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup – William Boot

EU expands economic Sanctions against Junta

Economic sanctions against Burma’s military government by the European
Union were expanded when EU foreign ministers met this week.

The sanctions include bans on imports of timber and gemstones, a travel
ban and assets freeze on top junta leaders and their relatives and an arms
embargo.

The EU's current sanctions against Burma were imposed following last
year’s violent military crackdown on mass demonstrations calling for
reforms.

The sanctions came up for review in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday.

NGOs campaigning for regime change in Burma and some members of the
European parliament have been putting pressure on the EU to increase
sanctions.

British MEP Richard Howitt wants Europe to copy the United States by
imposing banking and other financial curbs on regime leaders and their key
business backers.

The US-based Human Rights Watch has petitioned Brussels to block all
financial transactions by Burmese junta members with the EU’s
jurisdiction. At present, it is only known assets in Europe held by the
generals that are frozen.

HRW urged the EU to liaise closely with the US, Australia and other
Western sanctions operators on action against the junta generals to
“target their ability to access international financial networks to hide
their profits, to buy arms and other repressive tools.”

US financial curbs include penalizing third parties that do business with
the junta.

Malaysian Firm Quits Palm Oil Venture in Burma

Malaysian palm oil producer Astral Asia has cancelled plans to invest US
$200 million in palm plantation development in southern Burma.

The Kuala Lumpur stock exchange-listed company announced less than six
months ago that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with two
Burmese-based companies, Myanmar Combiz Services Limited and Green Future.

The companies said they planned a joint venture to develop more than
60,000 hectares (170,000 acres) of virgin land at the southeastern tip of
Burma near its border with Thailand at Ranong.

Astral’s chairman Lim Kang Poh told The Star newspaper in Malaysia last
December it was planned to spend $200 million over 15 years and first
planting of palm was expected in late 2008.

The joint venture was to be 85 percent held by Astral and the rest shared
between the other two companies.

Astral has given no reason for its decision to terminate the MoU.

Indian State’s Burma Farm Projects Help ‘Basic Needs’

The Indian state-owned investment vehicle Projects-Equipment-Commodities
Limited is seeking to increase its activities in Burma.

PEC, as it is more commonly known, plans to supply machinery and equipment
for small and medium scale factory developments in the electrical and
textile sectors, the New Delhi-based organization says.

PEC has been engaged in several agricultural projects in Burma for some
years. These are part of a region-wide investment in developing countries
catering to “the basic needs of the people living there,” said a PEC
statement.

Produce from the Burmese farming schemes are currently being advertised
for bids on PEC’s website.

The agency says it is looking for Indian bidders to buy and import about
9,000 metric tons of pulse crops this year from its Burma schemes.

The likely value of the Burmese produce is unknown. PEC says it had a
sales turnover of US $1.07 billion in 2006-2007 from 50 projects in 22
countries.

Military Curbs Rice Sales across Thai Border

The Burmese military at the Three Pagoda Pass border crossing with
Thailand has banned the export of rice.

The move follows a sharp increase in rice prices in Burma’s Mon State
which has been blamed on traders choosing to sell to Thai buyers, reported
the Independent Mon News Agency.

Local rice in Mon has recently risen in price by 10 percent because
supplies were being smuggled across the border instead.

Thai demand for cheaper Burmese rice in the border areas increased
dramatically in the wake of rising prices within Thailand.
Analysts say there is no rice shortage within Thailand but a sudden
increased overseas demand for Thai rice had a knock-on effect on domestic
prices.

Singapore has recently begun buying cheaper Burmese rice because Thai
prices have rocketed in the last two months.

____________________________________

April 30, Democratic Voice of Burma
Businesses threatened with closure for 'No' vote – Naw Say Phaw

Owners of beauty and massage parlours in Rangoon are the latest to face
pressure from the city authorities to vote Yes in the upcoming referendum,
according to Rangoon residents.

The business owners have been threatened with closure if they do not vote
in favour of the new constitution.

A resident of Rangoon's Lanmadaw township told DVB that owners of beauty
parlours and massage businesses were called to a meeting on 27 April at
around 7pm by township authorities who ordered them to vote Yes in the
referendum.

"Over 100 beauty and massage parlour owners were told at the meeting that
they and all their employees must vote Yes," said the Lanmadaw man.

"The township chairman said their businesses would be shut down if they
refused to do so."

The Burmese government has been putting pressure on a number of groups,
including government workers and farmers, ahead of the 10 May national
referendum on the draft constitution.

The government is running an ongoing campaign of incentives and
intimidation aimed at persuading people to vote in favour of the new
constitution.

____________________________________

April 30, Xinhua
Myanmar to designate Singapore, Chinese currencies in trade

Myanmar is deliberating to designate Singapore dollar and Chinese Renminbi
yuan as main currencies in its foreign trade transactions in order to
facilitate such undertakings of the country, leading local weekly the
Yangon Times reported Wednesday.

Myanmar has been using for decades five currencies -- US dollar, Sterling
pound, Japanese yen, Swiss Franc and Euro in its foreign trade
transactions.

The introduction of the two foreign currencies in three state-run banks
will be sought which are Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB),
Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Economic Bank (MEB), the
report quoted the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development
and the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry
as saying.

By introducing the use of the two foreign currencies in its foreign trade
transactions, Myanmar could overcome some of its difficulties currently
encountering in its foreign trade, the report commented.

The transaction of US dollar account were much affected ever since United
States' financial sanctions against Myanmar were introduced in 2003.

Myanmar's foreign trade hit nearly $8 billion in 2006-07, registering a
record high in 18 years since 1989. The foreign trade during that year was
up 42.9 percent from $5.54 billion in 2005-06, enjoying a trade surplus of
$2.08 billion.

Such surplus has been gained in the past five consecutive years since
2002-03, before which the country suffered a trade deficit for many years.

Latest statistics show that Myanmar's foreign trade in the first half
(April-September) of 2007-08 was up 30.46 percent, reaching $5.049 billion
compared with the same period of 2006-07.

____________________________________
DRUGS

April 30, Bangkok Post
Thailand, Burma sign anti-drug agreement

Thailand and Burma Wednesday signed agreements on natural gas production
in the Gulf of Mataban and on joint cooperation in drug suppression along
their common border, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said.

Both pacts were signed at Government House on the second of a three-day
official visit to Thailand by Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein.

PTT Exploration and Production Public Co., Ltd. (PTTEP), listed on the
Stock Exchange of Thailand, earlier located a combined 71.48 million cubic
feet per day field of natural gas at two zones located in the Gulf of
Mataban, about 300 kilometres south of Burma's former capital of Rangoon.

PTTEP first struck natural gas at M9 Block in early 2007. The company has
held a production sharing contract with the Burmese government since 2003
and has a 100 per cent interest in M9 Block.

The two countries, however, failed to agreed on a contract farming
agreement as expected. The issue has yet been discussed by the Burmese
cabinet, Mr Samak said.

Under the contract farming project, Thailand will use Burma to produce and
supply agricultural products to Thailand while this country will transfer
technological expertise to Burmese farmers to assist them in earning extra
income.

Mr Samak and his Burmese counterpart also discussed cooperation in
transportation networks designed to link the two countries with Laos and
China upon completion.

The Thai prime minister said he would travel to China and meet President
Hu Jintao on May 15 and would discuss on a plan to build a new railway
line from Kunming to the Laos capital of Vientiane, and then through to
the western Thai province of Kanchanaburi bordering Burma, and ending at
the Tavoy seaport.

The two leaders, according to Mr Samak, also discussed problems regarding
Burmese people who are staying and working illegally in Thailand.

Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama has said that there are an
estimated 2.2 million Burmese people in Thailand illegally of which two
million are workers and the remainder have fled their homeland and are
living in this country as refugees or displaced persons.

Mr Noppadon said Thailand would not push back these displaced persons to
their country, but will provide assistance on a humanitarian basis.

Touching on Burmese politics, Mr Samak said Gen Thein Sein had told him
that a general election would be held in Burma in about two years, as
political parties will have to be established first.

Burma is scheduled to hold a national constitutional referendum on May 10.

Gen Thein Sein, who is paying his first official visit to Thailand since
taking up his post in October, was granted an audience by His Majesty the
King at Chitrlada Palace on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, he is due to inspect a crop substitution project in
Thailand's northernmost province of Chiang Rai before leaving for home.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 30, Reuters
Thai PM says Myanmar's Suu Kyi detention is "OK" – Pracha Hariraksapitak

Thailand has no problem with the prolonged house arrest in Myanmar of
opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime
Minister Samak Sundaravej said on Wednesday.

After a meeting in Bangkok with his counterpart from military-ruled
Myanmar, Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, Samak said the former Burma's
ruling generals had no plans to release 62-year-old Suu Kyi either before
or after next month's constitutional referendum.

"They are not releasing her, but they will not interfere with her. They
will put her on the shelf and not bother with her, which is unacceptable
to foreigners," Samak, a vitriolic 72-year-old right-winger, told
reporters.

"We think it's OK if she is put on the shelf. But others admire her
because of it," he said.

Samak's comments are at odds with Bangkok's standard line that Suu Kyi's
release would be welcome as part of moves towards democracy and political
reconciliation in its pariah neighbour -- a major supplier of energy to
Thailand.

Oxford-educated Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Aung San and as
such the icon of the democracy movement, has been under house arrest or in
prison for more than 12 of the last 18 years. Her last period of detention
stretches back to May 2003.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a crushing election
victory in 1990, with more than 80 percent of the seats, only to see the
junta ignore the result and refuse to cede any power.

The current junta is billing the May 10 referendum as a key stage in a
seven-step "roadmap to democracy" that should culminate in multi-party
elections in 2010, as a replacement to the absolute power wielded by the
army since a 1962 coup.

The NLD and Western governments dismiss the roadmap and the army-drafted
constitution as a blueprint for the generals cementing their grip on
power.

The NLD is leading a "no" campaign against the charter, which gives the
army a quarter of the seats in parliament, control of key ministries and
the right to suspend the constitution at will.

Thai Foreign Minister Noppadol Pattama said Bangkok did not want to see
cheating or intimidation in the plebiscite after reports of opposition
campaigners being arrested or beaten.

"The referendum must be credible and be participated in by all sides with
a standard that the world community likes to see, and most importantly it
must be a free and fair exercise," he told reporters.

Earlier this month, the United States had circulated a draft statement to
the United Nations Security Council which said if the May referendum and
elections planned for 2010 were to be "inclusive and credible", the junta
had to "allow full participation of all political actors," including Suu
Kyi, and called on the military to move quickly to a genuine dialogue with
her.

(Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by
Darren Schuettler and Valerie Lee)

____________________________________

April 30, Associated Press
Thai PM jokes that neighbor Myanmar's draft constitution offers a '50
percent democracy'

Thailand's prime minister joked Wednesday that neighboring Myanmar is
striving to become a "50 percent democracy" because the ruling junta's
draft constitution would keep detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
from elected office.

Myanmar's people will vote in a May 10 referendum on a proposed
constitution that critics say is a sham designed to cement military rule.

One clause effectively bars Suu Kyi from power by stating that no one
married to a foreigner can hold elected office. Suu Kyi, whose late
husband was British, is under house arrest and has been detained for 12 of
the past 18 years.

"They will not release her. They're keeping her on the shelf," Thailand's
notoriously outspoken Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej joked while speaking
to reporters after meeting with Myanmar's Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein
Sein in Bangkok.

"This is the way of a 50 percent democracy," Samak said.

Today in Asia - Pacific
After troubled tour, Olympic torch in ChinaChild labor cases uncovered in
ChinaAfghan forces raid hideout of assassination plotters
 Thein Sein was in Thailand on a three-day visit and discussed the
referendum with Samak.

"Myanmar's prime minister said they are holding the referendum on the
constitution because they want the world community to know that Myanmar is
a democracy lover," Samak said on behalf of Thein Sein, who declined to
speak to reporters.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta says
the constitution will pave the way for elections in 2010.

Myanmar's main opposition party, Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy,
has urged voters to reject the draft charter.

Opponents have staged scattered, mostly low-profile protests against the
draft charter but harassment of pro-democracy activists and restrictions
on freedom of speech have made a mass movement difficult.

According to Samak, Thein Sein said that once the constitution is approved
the government will allow political parties to "form and develop. Those
parties will run in elections, and after elections the military will pull
out of politics."

Despite his joking, Samak reiterated Thailand's "support for the
referendum and their efforts toward establishing democratic rule."

Myanmar's leaders "are confident they will be able to create political
parties and politicians in two years," Samak said.

Samak's government has publicly voiced support for Myanmar's
military-backed draft constitution in spite of criticism from the United
Nations and many Western countries.

Samak said that Thailand offered to have its election commissioners help
manage the Myanmar referendum, but that Thein Sein did not respond.

The junta has also ignored the U.N.'s offers to send international
election observers to oversee the referendum.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 30, BBC News
Few gains for press freedom

An annual survey of media freedom has reported a mixed picture in East
Asia - with some losses and some gains.

The US-based Freedom House organisation says China tightened some
restrictions in 2007, but also tolerated more investigative journalism
into cases of official corruption.

The report noted gains last year in Thailand and Malaysia, but said
Vietnam and Laos continue to fare poorly.

It ranked North Korea as the world's most restricted media environment.

"Moderate breakthroughs"

Freedom House reported that China made some progress in 2007 in allowing
investigative journalists to carry out their work - in cases including
corruption and enforced child labour.

But it said these gains were offset by "an elaborate web of regulations
and laws", which allowed the tightening of media control and internet
restrictions in China.

Freedom House said the Burmese media environment remained among the most
tightly restricted in the world during 2007, with conditions worsening in
August and September due to the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.

As many as 15 journalists were detained during the unrest.

The report said Vietnam had reversed some of the gains in press freedom
that had been made in 2006, with a crackdown on dissident writers.

It said the country's fledgling community of online pro-democracy writers
was targeted by the government - with six cyber-dissidents imprisoned
within one week in May.

Freedom House says press freedom has declined in the world overall.

Finland and Iceland are described as the world's freest media environments.


____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 30, Asia Times
Myanmar's spoiled vote for democracy – Larry Jagan

On May 10, Myanmar holds a national referendum on a new constitution, a
charter which very few of the military-run country's citizens have
actually seen and one which the media and commentators are barred from
publicly criticizing in the run-up to the vote. If passed, the charter
will move the country into a new political era, though one still firmly
controlled by the military.

Myanmar's military rulers are leaving little to democratic chance, as they
apply restrictions and processes to orchestrate a "yes" vote, which by
most international standards will not be considered a free and fair
referendum. To be sure, without opinion polls, public sentiment is hard to
gauge in Myanmar's tightly controlled society.

The vote significantly represents the first time since 1990 general
elections, which military-backed candidates resoundingly lost to the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), that Myanmar's voters will
go to the polls. The military famously annulled the 1990 election results
and set in slow motion a 14-year process for drafting a new charter aimed
at paving the way for new general elections.

There are competing interpretations of what the vote actually means. Some
analysts believe both rural and urban voters, frustrated by the
government's severe mismanagement of the country, will overwhelmingly vote
"no" as an expression of their discontent.

"They see it as a referendum on the military government; so expect a
resounding 'no' from them," said a Western aid worker in reference to
rural voters in the country's main central rice growing area. "It's the
first opportunity since the 1990 election that they have had to express
themselves," she said.

Others view it differently. "I'm going to vote 'yes' because I'm tired of
the top brass running the country, and doing it very badly," said a
military colonel who wanted to remain anonymous due to concerns over his
personal safety. "It's time to get them out of government and a new
constitution is the only sure way of doing that," he added.

"You don't need to read the constitution to know its simply conferring
power on the military for eternity," said an elderly Burmese academic who
likewise wanted to remain anonymous. "The choice is simple - a vote in
favor of adopting the constitution means we want the military to play the
leading role in politics and run the county," he said.

For its part, the military has repeatedly promised the referendum will be
transparent, fair and systematic. Political opposition groups and
diplomats, meanwhile, have expressed strong concerns that the results
could easily be rigged in the military's favor.

For instance, the regime has already said the results at each polling
station will not be announced, even at a provincial level. The only
announcement of the vote's result will come from the military's equivalent
of an electoral commission in the new capital of Naypyidaw. "This is very
different from the 1990 elections, when the election results were made
public at each local polling station," said Zin Linn, a former political
prisoner and now spokesman for the Burmese government in exile. "It means
they will be able to manipulate the results to their own ends."

Adding to those concerns is the fact that the general public, not to
mention the political opposition, will not be allowed to scrutinize the
actual vote counting. A senior general recently told military and
government officials in Yangon that only the last ten voters before the
polls close would be allowed to stay and witness the actual count.

"These last 10 voters who can monitor the counting of the votes by the
poll commission members will certainly be members of the Union Solidarity
and Development Association, who Than Shwe has given the job of running
the referendum and getting the result he wants," said Win Min, a Burmese
academic at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand.

See no evil
Significantly, international election monitors have been banned from
overseeing the vote and it is likely that only a few regime-friendly
foreign journalists will be given visas to cover the referendum. Foreign
monitoring is essential if the referendum is to have any international
credibility, the former United Nations rapporteur for human rights in
Myanmar, Paulo Pinheiro, told Asia Times Online in an exclusive interview.

"After decades without an election, at least international observers could
verify the conditions of the vote," said Pinheiro, who served in his UN
capacity for seven years through April this year. "And the UN has a unit
that just deals with elections, but the military government has refused
their help."

"I've been following political transitions throughout the world, including
Asia for more than 30 years and I am yet to see a successful transition to
democracy without a previous phase of liberalism," he said. "There isn't
the faintest sign of that yet in the case of Myanmar."

Indeed, state-run newspapers are predictably flush with statements
endorsing the new constitution. "To approve the state constitution is a
national duty of the entire people, let us all cast a 'yes' vote in the
national interest." Meanwhile the local media have been forbidden from
reporting the "no" campaign, which has been perpetuated on the Internet
and by political opposition groups.

The government has issued orders banning any criticism of the new
constitution and violations are punishable with a possible ten-year jail
sentence. Those who have dared to defy those orders have come under
physical attack by pro-government thugs and at least twenty young NLD
members have recently been arrested for wearing T-shirts that read "Vote
No".

The NLD has nonetheless launched a vigorous campaign in opposition to the
constitution. "For the people who have the right to vote, we would like to
encourage again all voters to go to the polling booths and make an 'x'
[no] mark without fear," the NLD urged voters in statement released to the
press last week. It nonetheless portrayed the process as a sham. "An
intimidating atmosphere for the people is created by physically assaulting
some of the members of [the] NLD," its statement read.

International observers endorse that assessment. "The whole process is
surreal - to have a referendum where only those who are in favor of the
constitution can campaign," said Pinheiro in an interview. "A referendum
without some basic freedoms - of assembly, political parties and free
speech - is a farce. What the Myanmar government calls a process of
democratization is in fact a process of consolidation of an authoritarian
regime," he said.

The new constitution took more than 14 years to draft, a tightly
controlled process that excluded the NLD's participation. The actual
constitution was only revealed to the public a few weeks ago and is now on
sale at 1,000 kyat per copy - the equivalent of US$1 in a country where
more than eight out of 10 families live on less than $2 a day. Even then
it's nearly impossible to find copies, according to Western diplomats who
in recent days have scoured the old capital of Yangon in search of the
document.

Under the proposed constitution the president must hail from the military,
while one-quarter of the parliamentary seats will be nominated by the army
chief and key ministries under the military's control, including the
defense and interior portfolios. According to the charter's text, the army
also reserves the right to oust any civilian administration it deems to
have jeopardized national security.

NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, meanwhile, will be barred from politics under
the charter because she was married to a foreigner, the eminent British
academic and scholar of Tibet and Buddhism, Michael Aris, who died of
prostate cancer in 1999. Nonetheless, the military is pitching the passage
of the new charter as a step towards multi-party democracy, as laid out in
the junta's seven-stage roadmap to democracy.

The junta's second in command, General Maung Aye, recently told a parade
of new recruits that the constitution would pave the way for democracy.
"Comrades, it is the Tatamadaw [military] that is constantly striving for
the emergence of a constitution capable of shaping the multi-party
democratic system," he told the army recruits last week.

But even if the junta fixes the referendum's results in its favor, it will
face other major challenges in the run-up to general elections in 2010.
That includes the formation of a transition government, which will entail
the wholesale sacking of the current military cabinet, many of whom have
entrenched business interests protected by their positions. It also in
theory must allow new political parties to be formed and freely associate
and campaign to contest the 2010 polls.

These steps will all likely be delayed substantially if there is a
significant "no" vote at next week's referendum. While the real vote count
may never be made public, top military leaders will know whether or not
voters support their envisaged transition to a form of military-led
democracy. Depending on how the people vote, a negative result could cause
Than Shwe and other top junta officials to yet again redraw their
political reform roadmap.

Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British
Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in
Bangkok.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

April 30, Burma Campaign UK
Burma regime receiving an email every minute for Min Ko Naing

Supporters of the Burma Campaign UK are sending an email every minute to
Burmese embassies worldwide.  The emails are demanding the regime allow
immediate access to Min Ko Naing, who has an eye infection.

³In the 24 hours since we launched the campaign Burmese embassies have
received an email every minute in support of Min Ko Naing,² said Mark
Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. ³This is a fantastic response. We
are showing the regime that the world is watching.²

Min Ko Naing, a leading democracy activist, is being held in Rangoon¹s
notorious Insein Prison. He is suffering from a serious eye infection and
may go blind because he is being denied medical treatment. It is reported
that his eye condition has deteriorated to the point that he is unable to
sleep or eat because of the pain the infection has caused.

Min Ko Naing has been in prison since August last year. He was arrested
for leading protests in Rangoon. The protests triggered the biggest
demonstrations in Burma since the 1988 uprising, but were brutally crushed
by the dictatorship. We will never know how many were killed during the
regime¹s brutal crackdown. Today, the situation in Burma remains as severe
as ever. Arrests continue and torture is routine. Political prisoners are
singled out for brutal treatment, including the denial of medical
treatment.

Min Ko Naing is one of the most famous student leaders from the 1988
uprising. He was arrested in 1989 and spent more than 16 years in prison.
He was severely tortured and held in solitary confinement for most of his
sentence. He was released in 2004 and despite constant threats and
harassment by the regime, he has continued to campaign for freedom and
democracy in Burma.

____________________________________
OBITUARY

April 30, Irrawaddy
U Kovida passes away – Aye Lay

Renowned Burmese monk U Kovida passed away peacefully on Tuesday at 13:07
Eastern Standard Time in New York. He was 81 and had been hospitalized
that morning suffering from heart disease.

Also known as Masoeyein Sayadaw, U Kovida was a highly respected senior
monk who was born in Irrawaddy Division in Burma in 1927.

For 50 years U Kovida was one of the abbots at Masoeyein Monastery, one of
the oldest Buddhist schools in Mandalay, where he taught Buddhist
literature.

In1990, U Kovida led a patam nikkujjana kamma—an alms boycott of military
families—in response to a violent crackdown on Buddhist monks in Mandalay.
He was subsequently imprisoned from 1990 to1993.

After the Burmese junta violently cracked down on monk-led protesters in
September 2007, U Kovida founded Sasana Moli—the International Burmese
Monks Organization—to promote Buddhist monks’ affairs and democracy in
Burma.

Since 2001 he had been dividing his time between Burma and New York, where
he worked for the Sasana Joti Center.

Pyinnya Jota, a leading member of the All Burma Monks Alliance who fled to
Thailand in February, told The Irrawaddy: “Sayadaw respected Buddhist
religion, promoted Burmese Buddhism and was a well-known teacher of
Buddhism.”

He added, “In his last days, Sayadaw was urging Burmese people to boycott
the referendum.”