Burma Related News - July 08, 2001.

[TIN KYI]

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - July 08, 2001.

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HEADLINES

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Channel NewsAsia - Man found dead at Geylang identified as Myanmar national

The Sunday Times(UK) - Burma poised to free Suu Kyi

Bkk Post - Ports play catch-up before trade expands

Bkk Post - Postbag - Refugees pay no rent to me

Xinhuanet - One-Fourth Farmland Ploughed by Machines in Myanmar

Xinhuanet - Myanmar Sets Up 18,129 Cooperatives in Nine Years

ST - Thailand's latest films could upset its neighbours

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Channel NewsAsia

Sunday July 8, 6:21 PM

Man found dead at Geylang identified as Myanmar national
 
Police has identified the man found dead in a back lane of a Geylang Lorong 24 hotel on Saturday as a Myanmar national.
They are withholding his identity till they have informed the 36-year-old's next of kin.

 

The man was found dead with head injuries and police have classified the case as murder.

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The Sunday Times

July 8 2001 FAR EAST 

Burma poised to free Suu Kyi

Micahel Sheridan

 

BURMA'S opposition leader, the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, could be freed from house arrest under a deal with the military regime to secure new elections.

 

Thailand's defence minister said yesterday that, following secret talks, Suu Kyi and the regime were ready to form a national government ahead of elections. The minister, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, is known to be close to the Burmese military junta.

 

Chavalit told Bangkok newspapers that the regime's military intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, had come to an agreement with the opposition leader.

 

"Once all groups are engaged in . . . a national government and get to work, confidence among the former rivals will soon be established," he said. "After a while, a new election should be held."

 

The German press agency DPA also reported that Suu Kyi may be freed before July 19, known as Martyrs Day to commemorate the assassination of her father, Aung San.

 

A breakthrough in Burma will be welcomed around the world. The country's atrocious human rights record has attracted international condemnation and sanctions.

 

Suu Kyi returned from Britain to Burma after the junta cracked down on student protests at the end of the 1980s. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won elections but the generals ignored the result and placed her under arrest. In recent weeks the military has released 129 members of the NLD from detention, including seven members of parliament.

 

Diplomats have cautioned that serious issues remain to be resolved, with two rebel groups still waging a guerrilla war along the Thai border.

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Bangkok Post - July 08, 2001.

Ports play catch-up before trade expands
Direct links to China cause security worry
Nauvarat Suksamran, Jinghong, China

 

Thailand joined China, Laos and Burma in inaugurating four-nation commercial navigation on the Mekong river in Jinghong on June 26 but it has been a reluctant participant.

 

Thailand appears to be wondering whether it can prosper from trade and tourism without putting national security at risk.

 

One year after signing an agreement on Quadripartite Co-operation in Commercial Navigation on the Lancang-Mekong river, Thailand now faces the challenge of catching up with the three other signatory nations in developing facilities to accommodate increased international shipping.

 

The country also may need to establish direct trade by water with China as a way to combat contraband smuggling through Burma. Trade relations would also help promote investment in shipbuilding, transportation and tourism.

 

Under the agreement, the four countries can use the Mekong waterway for commercial purposes without having to pay border charges.

 

The commercial route covers the 14 ports of Si Mao, Jinghong, Meng Hai and Guan Lei in China; Ban Sai, Ban Xieng Kok, Muang Mo, Ban Khouane, Ban Houei Sai and Luang Prabang in Laos; Wan Seng and Wan Pung in Burma and Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

 

The Chinese fleet was the first to make use of the 4,880km river, dubbed the Eastern Danube, for trade expansion in 1947. Si Mao and Jinghong have been developed into modern ports and China later signed a joint agreement on navigation in the Mekong river with Laos.

 

Trade and shipping between Thailand and China via the Mekong river began a decade ago. Businesses, however, have been dominated by Chinese investors as most Thai traders considered the tax system, customs regulations and troubles at the Thai-Burmese border too big an obstacle.

 

Pioneers from Thailand were a few businessmen in the North.

 

Thanomsak Serivichayasawat, former chairman of Chiang Rai's chamber of commerce, said efforts by the public sector to promote trade relations and navigation co-operation were still inadequate.

 

Mr Thanomsak said the private sector, which had set a milestone for commercial use of the Mekong river, now wanted immigration rules relaxed so Chinese tourists could enter Thailand through the two ports using only border passes.

 

He expected the amount of goods traded between Thailand and China, and their value, would continue to grow, particularly at Chiang Saen where about 100 cargo ships docked every year.

 

Thailand sold lamyai, rubber and sugar to China while Chinese goods brought in included apple, garlic and electrical appliances.

 

Mr Thanomsak said, however, that since Thailand did not have direct river-trade ties with China, most Thai goods were not labelled as products from Thailand.

 

Most Chinese goods were also sent to Burma first because its ports were duty-free zones. The merchandise would then be smuggled into Thailand.

 

Mr Thanomsak said a thriving shipping business had encouraged investors, most of them Chinese, to build freighters which could charge about 300-700 yuan per tonne of goods transported (up to 3500 baht a tonne).

 

Freight business on the Mekong river could carry on all year round now China was able to build ships that could sail even when the water was at a low level.

 

In Thailand, however, infrastructure to accommodate the growing number of river trips was poorer than that of the other countries.

 

Mr Thanomsak said the Chiang Saen pier was not in good shape while the Chiang Khong port was built in shallow water and could not receive large ships.

 

Construction of new facilities at Chiang Khong has been disrupted. Thai and Laotian officials still could not settle disputes on river border demarcation, he said.

 

Rachan Veerapan, chairman of the Chiang Mai chamber of commerce, said authorities should look beyond selling Thai goods to neighbouring countries. They could, however, use river transportation links to seek help from China to develop a road system enabling inland travelling from northern Thailand to different parts of the Growth Quadrangle-a joint economic development zone between China, Laos, Burma and Thailand.

 

Mr Rachan said China stood to benefit the most from commercial navigation. That country had a modern fleet and port facilities and was eager to make passage to the South China Sea to further expand its exports through the Mekong river.

 

China had already helped build roads from ports in Burma and Laos to several of its border towns, he said.

 

Kanyani Rutarakarn, a Thai businessman in Kunming, said internal campaigning was needed to increase awareness about new investment channels.

 

Thailand had already wasted opportunities to bring in foreign exchange through the Mekong river because of tax barriers against Chinese goods, Mrs Kanyani said.

 

The Commerce Ministry reported that Sino-Thai trade via the Mekong river last year was valued at 800 million baht.

 

Mrs Kanyani said Thai investors had shown little interest in trading with China. It was a disappointment for that country that there were only a few Thai businessmen in the delegation to the June inauguration, she said.

 

Vichai Charnrungruang, manager of Lancang Transport Co which delivers goods between Thailand and China, said income was good but added that Thailand would earn more if it established direct trade links with China.

 

Mr Vichai said his China-registered ships could not unload certain types of Chinese goods at Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong ports but had to send them to Muang Mo in Laos and Wan Pung in Burma.

 

Thailand was missing out on big revenues from port fees, he said.

 

Sawat Boonplian, a Chiang Mai city councillor, said restrictions on sales of strategic goods to neighbouring countries had made way for contraband trade to prosper in border areas.

 

State agencies said they had to limit free trade activity along the Mekong river to prevent an influx of illicit drugs and illegal immigrants from Burma and southern China.

 

Mr Sawat said that reflected a weakness by Thai authorities in safeguarding their own country and suggested intelligence be improved along with the ability to suppress drug traffickers and foreign criminals.

 

Security sources said allowing Chinese tourists travelling by water to enter the country using only border passes could impose big demands on officials. Chalermsak Suranan, director of the Northern Tourism Office, predicted that the Mekong river cruise may not be popular because target groups would be confined to adventurous people willing to accept discomfort as part of the journey.

 

Mr Chalermsak also questioned whether Thailand could win a bigger share of the outward-bound travel market from southern China, from which one million people travel overseas each year.

 

Representatives of the four nations at the inauguration, however, agreed that trade and tourism would grow after four-nation commercial navigation under the agreement made its debut.

 

There were forecasts that cargo flows on the river would reach 1.5 million tonnes a year and no fewer than 500,000 people would opt to make river tours within the next 10 years.

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Bangkok Post  - July 08, 2001.

Postbag - Refugees pay no rent to me

Gree Thongmanogoon

I write in response to an article in Perspective of June 17, 2001 about Mae La refugee camp in Tak province.

 

Two paragraphs in the article said: "In some areas such as the Mae La Camp in Tak province, the RFD granted reafforestation concessions to two businessmen.

 

"Thus, refugees at the camp have to pay rent which they raise by selling sacks of rice."I think I'm one of the two businessmen you mentioned. And I must stress here that I have never received any payment from the refugees.

 

I was granted a 30-year reafforestation concession from the Royal Forestry Department in 1995. The 300-rai area is located in Tambon Mae La of Tha Song Yang district in Tak.

 

How did my reafforestation area became the Mae La refugee Camp?Back in early June 1995, I was told to meet a Thai official at Tha Song Yang district office who told me that he wanted to move displaced persons from other camps to one large camp, and a part of it would be on my property. This would be done "for national security reason," he said, adding that NGOs and BBC (Burmese Border Consortium) would be responsible for the damage to my property.

 

He later asked me to go with him to meet NGO personnel at the site. He told me not to say anything to the NGOs. We just stood right in front of the NGO people for about a minute and returned to our car. The wide-eyed NGO people looked at us in surprise. I found out later that the official took me there to show the NGOs that I was completely under his order.

 

The Mae La refugee camp has been on my property for over five years now. During this period I have never received any payment from the NGOs, the Ministry of Interior or the refugees.

 

As far as I know, the refugees at Mae La camp sell rice (provided by BBC) to people who come to the camp in pickup trucks.

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One-Fourth Farmland Ploughed by Machines in Myanmar
2001.07.08 12:57:54 

 

YANGON, July 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A total of 2.835 million hectares of farmland are now ploughed by machines in Myanmar, accounting for  23.34 percent of the country's cultivated land which stretches 12. 15 million hectares, according to the Myanmar Ministry of  Agriculture and Irrigation Sunday.

 

The land which is ploughed by draught animals covers 9.315  million hectares, taking up 76.66 percent of the total cultivated  land.

The ministry disclosed that so far the number of tractors in  the country has gone to 8,600, of which 5,500 are owned by the  private sector and 3,100 by the department.

 

Besides, the number of power tillers owned by the private  sector has reached 49,000.

Meanwhile, the country has also set up 22 mechanized farming  villages across the country to boost agricultural production and  to reduce labor cost and time in the undertaking. At the same time, the government has also exempted the import duties of agricultural machinery along with fertilizer, pesticide and improved variety.

 

Myanmar, with its economy based on agriculture, is striving to  transform its traditional farming to mechanized one for the  development of its agriculture and food security of its 52-million population which is estimated to grow 2 percent annually.

The country's agriculture represents 37 percent of its gross  domestic product and 25 percent of the export value.

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Myanmar Sets Up 18,129 Cooperatives in Nine Years
2001.07.08 12:57:54 

 

YANGON, July 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Altogether 18,129 cooperatives have  been established in Myanmar since the country promulgated its  Cooperative Society Law in 1992, giving priority to the  development of agricultural productivity, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Cooperatives Sunday.

 

The cooperatives include 10,994 agricultural producers' and 1, 280 industrial producers'.

The agricultural producers' cooperatives produced 12.27 billion Kyats (about 2.045 billion U.S. dollars) worth of agricultural  crops in fiscal year 2000-01 which ended in March, the sources  said.

 

Meanwhile, the industrial producers' cooperatives produced 714. 7 million Kyats (about 119.12 million dollars) worth of import- substitute items in the same fiscal year, it added.

In addition, the cooperative sector has achieved 11.2 percent  growth rate in the 2000-01, the sources claimed, targeting to  achieve 8.4 percent annual growth in the value of production and  services during the country's current five-year plan period (2001- 02 to 2005-06).

The Central Cooperative Society of Myanmar joined the  International Cooperatives Alliance (ICA) in 1993.

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The Straits Times - July 08, 2001.

Thailand's latest films could upset its neighbours
Movies about Thai victories over Laos and Myanmar are meant to boost ticket sales, but the ancient enemies see them as harming bilateral ties

By James East
STRAITS TIMES THAILAND BUREAU

 

BANGKOK - Legendary female warriors from the country's past are the latest weapons being employed by Thailand's blossoming movie industry to boost cinema ticket sales.

 

Next month, the long-awaited period piece Suriyothai will finally hit the cinema screens after two years of filming by a Thai prince with ambitions to take on Hollywood.

 

The film features the heroic Queen Suriyothai, who sacrificed herself to save her king and protect the ancient capital of Ayutthaya from invading hordes from territory that subsequently became Myanmar.

 

A separate film about heroine Thao Suranee is also on the sketch board.

 

According to historic chronicles, the commoner led a women's detachment in 1826 and saved the country from Laotian invaders.

 

Thailand is now experiencing something of a revival in movie making following the success of other female-inspired themes - one about the female ghost Nang Nak and the other titled Satree Lek, or Iron Ladies, about a team of transvestite volleyball players.

 

Both topped domestic box-office ratings and won international acclaim.

 

While period-piece dramas are now all the rage and some, such as Bang Rajan, have won several film festival awards, the occasional nationalistic focus within them can sometimes rile Thailand's neighbours.

 

The nationalistic overtones of the movie Bang Rajan, which featured the heroic efforts of a village to protect itself from invading forces from Myanmar, as well as the patriotic bent of several TV productions has angered the Myanmar government.

 

The forthcoming film about Thao Suranee has likewise led to diplomatic protests from Laos' sensitive communist rulers.

 

They have called for the movie to be scrapped in order to preserve harmonious ties.

 

Suriyothai, a 500-million-baht (S$20.45 million) production with tie-in merchandise, has the same potential to upset Myanmar despite the best efforts of director Chatrichalerm Yukol to make the story as historically accurate as possible.

 

Starring a personal aide of Thailand's Queen Sirikit in the lead role, very little is known of Queen Suriyothai.

 

Nevertheless her picture can be found hanging in shophouses throughout Thailand thanks to her supposed role in riding an elephant to intercept invading troops.

 

Historians debate the truth of the 16th-century tale.

 

Nevertheless Prince Chatrichalerm, a noted director of gritty social comment pieces, said the story about Suriyothai would not upset Myanmar.

 

'I do not think it will be a problem,' he said. 'We do not show them as baddies, but as warriors and a great nation.'

 

He said scholars from Myanmar had seen clips from the movie and praised it for its accuracy.

 

He is currently negotiating with several Hollywood distributors, including Miramax, and if a deal can be pulled off, Suriyothai is likely to go on to become the most successful movie ever made in Thailand.

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