Daily News- January 05 - 2002- Saturday


  • Independence Day of Myanmar
  • Break away Mon leader formed political party
  • Thai army kills three fighters of Myanmar drug baron
  • Bangkok police seize two million "speed" pills


  • Independence Day of Myanmar

    Manila Bulletin

    MYANMAR celebrates today its Independence Day. The country is a member, together with the Philippines, of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It was admitted to the organization in 1997.

    Myanmar has much potential, being rich in natural resources. It has approximately 250 commercially useful kinds of trees. Mineral deposits include lead, zinc, tungsten, coal, iron ore, natural gas, and petroleum, as well as deposits of precious stones such as rubies and lapis lazuli. The present government is opening up its economy and has intensified its economic cooperation with its ASEAN neighbors as well as with China and Japan.

    Myanmar has a proud history. Formerly known as Burma, the country entered a period of greatness in the early 11th century when King Anawrahta unified the country and created the first Myanmar Empire with its capital in Bagan. The empire, which lasted until the end of the 13th century, produced a glorious civilization whose monuments still endure.

    The second Myanmar Empire with its capital in Bago was created in the middle of the 16th century by King Bayinnaung. The third and last Myanmar Empire was founded by King Alaungpaya in 1752 and had a number of capitals, the last being Mandalay.

    In the later years of the last empire, Myanmar was annexed by the British in three stages, in 1825, 1852, and finally in 1885 when it became a British colony. The British ruled the country as part of India until 1937. Myanmar was occupied by the Japanese in World War II. In the postwar period, the independence movement, which had begun in the early 20th century, came to a climax when Myanmar attained its independence on January 4, 1948.

    In 1998, Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Prime Minister of the Union of Myanmar, visited the Philippines. His visit was reciprocated by former President Fidel V. Ramos in October of the same year. Since then, the bilateral relations and goodwill between the Philippines have improved, bound as they are by the common vision of ASEAN. We congratulate the government and people of Myanmar on the occasion of their Independence Day.

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    Break away Mon leader formed political party

    KAO WAO NEWS GROUP-December 25, 2001 - January 5, 2002

    Monland, December 29, 2001-The splinter group led by Col. Pan Nyunt issued a formal declaration of the formation of a new political party named Hongsawatoi Restoration Party and a vow to fight against the military junta, given in a statement signed by Col. Pan Nyunt, the Chairman.

    Monks and civilians attended the ceremony from both inside and outside of Monland. It outlined in plain words to all monks, community leaders, and civilians how the cease-fire deal between the New Mon State Party and the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) on June 29, 1995, has not yet reached a political solution for the Mon people and only a few groups were benefiting from minor economic and development projects. It accused the cease-fire agreement as being flawed from the beginning and for over six years there has been no positive results.

    The statement leaked a meeting between two army officers attended by Col. Nai Saik Htow, Col. Pan Nyunt, Lt Col Htawara of the Mon army and Burmese Brigadier Yae Win on 23/8/2001 where Mon troops were pressured to move from the western areas of motor road to make rooms for the SPDC to expand the Tactical Command Headquarters (SaKaKha) 19 with 10 regiments in the area. The statement warned of the difficult situation for the Mon people regarding forced labour, land confiscation, and human rights violations on an ever-increasing wider scale including the destroying of Mon culture and literature through suppression.

    Under these conditions, Col. Pan Nyunt, with the support of 153 Mon troops, separated from the NMSP on 8/9/2001 to fight against the Burmese regime for the future betterment of the Mon people. He said that other armed groups led by Nai Bin, Nai BaRaNa and Nai Soe Lwin were united with him and agreed to form the Hongsawatoi Restoration Party and a national army called the Monland Restoration Army. Hundreds of monks and civilians from the eastern and western regions of Monland gathered together to elect (19) Central Committee, (7) Central Executive Committee and (7) Military Committee members.

    Col. Nai Pan Nyunt (a) JanahNonrot who served in the NMSP since 1970 and a member of the Central Committee and a senior officer of the Tactical Command No (1) of the Mon National Liberation Army was selected as the Chairman. Major Ong Seik Chai was selected as Vice-Chairman, Major Ong Hmoin as a Secretary General, and Nai Bin, Nai Lavi KaoNyan, Nai Non KaoMarn were appointed as battalion commanders respectively.

    Col. Pan Nyunt signed the statement No. 2/2001 issued from the stronghold area inside Monland, on November 29, 2001. In addition to resuming the fight for nationwide democracy it also urged the military regime to hold a tripartite dialogue in accordance with a democratic political system, which must ensure absolute rights for self-determination and national rights; to transfer political power to the elected people's representatives; to withdraw Burmese troops immediately and unconditionally; and to release all political prisoners and students including the Mon leaders.

    Meanwhile, the deadline issued from the NMSP is due on December 31, 2001, which gives amnesty to the followers of the splinter group to return to the party forthwith, as observed by a local Mon watcher from the Thai Burma border, "the armed conflict may occur well into the New Year."

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    Thai army kills three fighters of Myanmar drug baron

    BANGKOK, Jan 5 (AFP) - Thailand has ordered extra troops to patrol the border with Myanmar after a clash with the forces of a drug baron that left three guerrillas dead, a military official said Saturday.

    Guerrillas of the Wa Daeng group, a major cross-border trafficker of methamphetamines, fought with Thai army 'Naresuan' commandos on Thursday, army spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Srichan Ngathong told AFP.

    She said the battle erupted after the guerrillas were seen on the Thai side of the border in Maehongson province, 900 kilometers (540 miles) north of Bangkok."Seven or eight Wa guerrillas opened fire when they saw Naresuan troops. Three of the Wa guerrillas were killed in the gunbattle and the rest got away," the spokeswoman said.Thai troops found several AK47 assault rifles with ammunition at the scene after the clash and the army had since sent extra troops to patrol the border districts.

    The Wa Daeng group is controlled by Maha Sang Wei, one of a band of drug lords who traffic narcotics from jungle bases in Myanmar across the border to Thailand and from there to western markets.

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    Bangkok police seize two million "speed" pills

    BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police on Friday seized more than two million methamphetamine pills, known as "speed", with a street value of 205 million baht ($4.65 million) hidden in a truck with military markings parked at a busy shopping mall in eastern Bangkok.

    Police said they searched the vehicle, left in a parking lot overnight, after security guards became suspicious it may contain explosives. Police said the feared bomb turned out to be methamphetamines packed into 18 fruit boxes on the back of the pickup truck.

    "In the truck we found 2.05 million tablets of methamphetamine and an army uniform, which may or may not belong to a real officer," police Colonel Somporn Tumsawad told Reuters. The street value of the drug was 100 baht a tablet, he said. Common street names for the drug, known in Thailand as Ya Ba or crazy medicine, are speed, meth, crank, or crystal. The Thai Ministry of Public Health said in November more than four percent of the country's 62-million people were addicted to drugs, mostly methamphetamines.

    Manufacture of methamphetamine pills is increasingly supplanting heroin in the infamous drug production area called the "Golden Triangle" -- where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand converge. Thai authorities say most of the pills are produced by the United Wa State Army, a militia allied to the Yangon government in neighbouring Myanmar. Thailand is expected to be flooded with over 900 million methamphetamine pills in 2002, 200 million more than last year, due to higher demand and new plants in Laos.

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