Daily News- March 31- 2002- Sunday
US, ASEAN to hold economic-ministerial talks on April 5
Myanmar seeking 'Alamo' for 'Fulcrums'
Wa says it regrets Wiang Haeng raid
Crack units deployed at border
US, ASEAN to hold economic-ministerial talks on April 5
Bangkok, March 30, Kyodo/OANA/IRNA -- The United States and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will hold economic- ministerial talks in Bangkok on April 5 to discuss issues including global trade under the World Trade Organization (WTO), government sources said Saturday.
US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and economic ministers from 10 ASEAN member nations will participate in the one-day session, the first of its kind between the US and the ASEAN, the sources said.
Participants will discuss collaboration to promote trade liberalization in the agricultural sector as part of a new round of global trade liberalization measures under the WTO, as well as issues arising from free-trade agreements in the region, the sources said. They will also exchange views on accession to the WTO by Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, three ASEAN members which have not obtained membership to the global trade body.
The other seven ASEAN nations--Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand--are all WTO members. After the gathering, Zoellick is scheduled to visit Japan and China.China and the ASEAN have agreed to establish a China-ASEAN free trade zone in 10 years, while Japan has proposed a "comprehensive economic partnership" for Japan and South East Asia during a tour of five ASEAN countries earlier this year by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Trade sources say the US does not want to be left behind Japan and China in exerting influence in South East Asia.
Myanmar seeking 'Alamo' for 'Fulcrums'
source : Jane's Defence Weekly
Myanmar is seeking to obtain the R-27 (NATO reporting name: A-10 'Alamo') medium- to long-range, infra-red and radar-guided air-to-air missile for 10 MiG-29.
To The TopWa says it regrets Wiang Haeng raid
Subin Khuenkaew
The Bangkokpost
A Wa battalion has admitted it engaged in the March 25 clash with Thai soldiers in Wiang Haeng district, and refused to return belongings seized from the body of a dead Thai soldier.
Tengyun Phainang, headman of Piang Luang village in Wiang Haeng, said Lao Thang, commander of the Wa's rapid movement battalion 616, had asked him to forward a message to Col Chavalit Sirikit of the 2nd Cavalry Battalion's special task force.
He wanted to express his regret for the Wa's involvement in Monday's fighting which killed a Thai soldier and several Wa troops.However, the Wa were not ready yet to return items seized from the body of Thai soldier Mst-Sgt Suban Onla, since they were still searching for some missing items, he added.
According to the village headman, the Thai cavalry task force yesterday refused toopen talks with the Wa battalion, now about 1km away from Ban Lak Taeng border crossing. Plans are in place to evacuate villagers from Ban Paek Saem, Ban Lak Taeng and Ban Piang Luang, should fighting flare up again.
``Lao Thang told me that he sent soldiers to check out reports of Thai troops on a mountain, and a gunfight followed [on March 25]. ``I asked him whether he knew if the Queen would be visiting Paek Sae village on that day. Lao Thang said he did not know that because Burmese troops had not told him. But I do not believe him,'' the village headman said.
It was reported the stand-off by both sides continued along the border of Wiang Haeng district. Three Wa bases with some 300 soldiers sit opposite Ban Paek Saem and are directly controlled by the Wa's 171st special company led by drug warlord Wei Hsueh-kang. These Wa troops are under supervision of Burma's infantry battalions 65, 225 and 227 from the rapid movement battalion 314. Royally-sponsored cremation rites for Mst-Sgt Suban will be held in his hometown in Nan today.
To The TopCrack units deployed at border
Wassana Nanuam
The Bangkokpost
The Third Army has established at least five crack military units at points along the Burmese border in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces to support anti-drug operations of the Pha Muang Task Force, Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasing, Third Army commander, said yesterday.
The 18-strong units would replace or support the task force on occasions when a rapid response was required, he added.Such crack units were put into action for the first time last Saturday, when a drug caravan was intercepted in Wiang Haeng district of Chiang Mai. A total of 1.6 million methamphetamine pills were seized and 13 suspected traffickers were killed. One Thai soldier also died in the gunbattle.
The army's two newly-acquired Black Hawk helicopters would be used to ferry the task force to target areas around the clock. Meanwhile, army chief Gen Surayud Chalanont has ordered the Chiang Mai-based 2nd Special Warfare Regiment to deploy 12-member units to gather intelligence and conduct anti-drug operations at hilltribe villages along the border, according to a source. These units would work in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai and Chiang Dao districts, and Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district.
The army has also deployed Powder, an 11-month-old Golden Retriever sniffer dog, to villages in Mae Fa Luang district to help search for drug stockpiles.A suspected Red Wa drug trafficker was shot dead in a gunfight with police in Pang Ma Pha district of Mae Hong Son early yesterday.
Two Thais suspected of dealing in drugs were also arrested. One of the men started shooting as provincial anti-drug officers and local police raided a house in tambon Sobpong about 1am. Maung Win, 30, was killed while Srisawat Paokham, 33, and district military volunteer Opas Wilaikhunnatham, 34, were arrested with 8,500 speed pills and two motorcycles.
The suspects said they bought the methamphetamines from Maung Win and sold them to Thai workers and farmers in the area.Police said Maung Win was a member of a Red Wa drug gang based near Ban Mai Lan border crossing in Pang Ma Pha district.
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