Daily News- May 23- 2002- Thursday

  • Shan rebels kill 12 Myanmar soldiers, regime closes border
  • Doors closed to all except casino visitors
  • Police ask court to formally charge Ne Win's relatives
  • Suu Kyi hopes talks can bring democracy to Myanmar
  • Thai PM downplays conflict as Myanmar seals border

    • Shan rebels kill 12 Myanmar soldiers, regime closes border

    CHIANG MAI, Thailand, May 22 (AFP) - The rebel Shan State Army has killed 12 Myanmar soldiers in attacks along the Thai border over the past two days, an SSA spokeswoman said Wednesday as Myanmar announced the closure of three major border crossings with Thailand.

    The SSA had attacked Myanmar army outposts and bases in the area opposite Thailand's Chiang Mai province because they harboured amphetamine and heroin production facilities, and protected drug traffickers, SSA spokeswoman Nam Kher Hsam told AFP.

    "Many ethnic Shan villagers are becoming drug addicts," she said. "The number of addicts is rising daily. How can we stay calm when we are seeing this situation?"

    She said 12 Myanmar soldiers had been killed while 11 SSA rebels died during the attacks, some 750 kilometres (469 miles) north of Bangkok.Nam Kher Hsam also said the rebels had captured 13 Myanmar soldiers, while six had surrendered.

    "We are taking care of those who surrendered and were captured, including one woman, the wife of a Myanmar police officer, according to international law for prisoners of war," she said.

    Meanwhile a military source in Myanmar told AFP that the three main border crossings between Myanmar and Thailand had been closed as of 7:00 pm (1230 GMT) Tuesday.The border crossings at Myawaddy-Mae Sot, Tachilek-Mae Sai and Kawthaung-Ranong would be closed for "an indefinite period", the source said.

    On Tuesday, Myanmar's military regime accused the Thai army of launching artillery attacks against several of its military bases in the same area, in coordination with the SSA, which the regime calls the Shan United Revolutionary Army (SURA).Deputy military intelligence chief Major General Kyaw Win said in Yangon that SURA was receiving heavy artillery support from Thai bases, and the junta may resort to "another option" other than diplomacy to resolve the spat.

    But Nam Kher Hsam denied the rebels were receiving Thai support, and Thailand's Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh also denied the Thais were helping the SSA in comments published by the Bangkok Post Wednesday.Tensions have escalated in the past week, with both sides swapping protest notes Monday after Thai troops and the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a Yangon-aligned ethnic militia, traded fire across the border.

    Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai on Wednesday played down the conflict as a "misunderstanding" between the two countries that would soon be cleared up.

    "We can solve this problem as I have closely consulted via telephone with Myanmar's foreign minister. It has merely been a minor misunderstanding," he told reporters, without mentioning the closure of the border crossings.

    Doors closed to all except casino visitors

    The Bankokpost

    Burma has shut its entire border with Thailand but left the door open for gamblers to visit its border casinos.Since midnight on Tuesday, the entire border, from Mae Hong Son in the North to Ranong in the South, has been closed.The extreme reaction follows Monday's cross-border shelling that has soured relations between the two neighbours, which earlier appeared to have improved.

    However, the casino at the Andaman Club opposite Ranong, another casino in the Golden Triangle area and the Paradise Resort opposite Chiang Rai remained accessible to Thai gamblers yesterday.

    Panithi Tangphati, advisory chairman of Tak's chamber of commerce, estimated the border closure would cost traders about 140 million baht per day in cross-border business. It would have economic repercussions on both Thai and Burmese villagers in the area.The closure would also put a stop to millions of baht worth of joint economic, industrial, farming, tourism, energy, infrastructure, transport and public health projects along the border, Mr Panithi said.About 300-400 million baht in daily circulation in the tourism business would also come to a halt.

    ``It is unfortunate that both sides' efforts, budgets and time invested to bring their relationship to the best-ever level have been suspended,'' said Mr Panithi.

    In Tak, cross-border trading and crossings by people between Mae Sot and Burma's Myawaddy town were completely halted yesterday.A source from the local Thai-Burmese border committee (TBC) in Mae Sot said the panel was verbally informed by Myawaddy authorities yesterday morning that the border had been closed as of 10pm on Tuesday.A barbed-wire barricade manned by five Burmese soldiers was erected in the middle of the Thai-Burmese Friendship bridge after Burma's TBC chairman Maj Thet Lwin received the closure order, the source said.Thai TBC deputy chairman Col Archanai Srisuk said Burma gave no reason for the border closure. Communication by radio and mail between the two countries should not be affected, he said.

    Tak governor Thiraboon Phobukkhadee yesterday warned border villagers in Mae Sot, Mae Ramat, Tha Song Yang and Umphang districts not to try crossing the frontier at this time for their own safety. It would also help avoid causing further misunderstanding between the two sides.In Chiang Rai, Mae Sai district authorities realised the border had been closed only after noticing the border gate on the Tachilek side remained shut yesterday morning.

    The unexpected border closure left some 200 Thai traders and tourists stranded in Tachilek and about 200 Burmese people in Mae Sai.The stranded Burmese were allowed to cross back at 3.20pm after the Mae Sai district chief held talks with Burmese authorities.

    In Ranong, Governor Nopporn Chantarathong warned all Thais not to cross to Burma's Kawthaung province. He said there was a good chance they could be detained there.Somkiat Satthajit, head of the Thai-Burmese Cross-Border Traders Club in Ranong, said all imports and exports across the border were halted yesterday, but he believed the trouble would soon be solved by government-to-government talks.Some 100 long-tailed boats in Ranong stopped taking tourists to Burma's Kawthaung yesterday.However, the Ranong-Koh Son boat service was still open to take gamblers to a casino on the Burmese island.The casino is owned by a Thai senator who has close ties with Burmese authorities.In Kanchanaburi, villagers were also prevented from crossing the border at the Three Pagodas checkpoint.

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    Police ask court to formally charge Ne Win's relatives

    YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Police on Wednesday asked a Myanmar court to formally bring high-treason charges against relatives of former dictator Ne Win who are accused of trying to organize a coup.

    Police also revealed that the suspects Aye Zaw Win, the husband of Ne Win's daughter Sandar Win, and their three sons had applied to the leader of Myanmar's military government for a pardon.

    Myanmar's military government alleges that the four men tried to recruit military units to kidnap junta leaders and force them to form a new regime loyal to Ne Win. They were arrested on March 7. Charges being considered against the four men include high treason, inciting military personnel to commit high treason and the illegal importation and use of telecommunications equipment. High treason is punishable by death. The accused have not issued any public statements on the allegations against them.

    Police Lt. Col. Sein Win, who interrogated the suspects, gave a second day of testimony Wednesday in the trial, which is being held inside the compound of Yangon's Insein prison, where the accused are detained. He also read to the court a petition sent by Aye Zaw Win to Senior Gen. Than Shwe, head of the ruling junta, asking for a pardon for him and his sons.

    In the petition, dated March 17 ten days after their arrest Aye Zaw Win said that he had tried without success to meet Than Shwe to explain to him Myanmar's economic problems, including unfairness regarding favors granted to private businesses.

    Authorities earlier said the family planned the coup because they were upset about losing some of their economic and social privileges.

    Ne Win, 91, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1962. He led Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to economic ruin before stepping down in 1988 in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations that were quashed by the military. The hearing will continue Friday when the court is expected to pass judgment on whether the accused should be formally charged.

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    Suu Kyi hopes talks can bring democracy to Myanmar

    YANGON(Reuters) May 23 - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi told supporters on Thursday she hoped talks with the military government could unite the country and build democracy.

    Suu Kyi, released from 19 months of house arrest this month, has been holding talks with the junta since October 2000 but says they have not yet begun to tackle substantive issues and are still at the confidence-building stage.The military government, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), insists it is committed to democracy but says moving too fast could unleash anarchy.

    ''We believe in the right to disagree. It's a very good tradition to settle a dispute at the table. I believe that if there are any disagreements among political organisations, we can settle them through talks,'' Suu Kyi said.

    ''Similarly, we hope to overcome the disagreements between the SPDC and the democratic forces by holding talks,'' the 56-near-old Nobel peace laureate told a gathering of veteran Myanmar politicians who held a ceremony to welcome her after her release.

    Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) scored a landslide victory in Myanmar's last elections in 1990 but the military refused to hand over power. Suu Kyi has spent years under house arrest since emerging at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement in 1988.

    ''It has been more than a decade, 14 years, since we started working for the emergence of democracy. But there still remain a number of unsatisfactory things,'' Suu Kyi said. ''There are still some political prisoners. And it is also very regrettable that we have not yet embarked on democracy.''

    Since her release on May 6, Suu Kyi has repeatedly called for substantive talks to begin as soon as possible. The international community, which has isolated Myanmar and imposed economic sanctions, also wants to see political progress soon. Suu Kyi said the NLD could not bring about democracy in Myanmar unless the junta showed willing.

    ''Although the NLD is making efforts as a major political force, we cannot accomplish it alone,'' she said. The military has ruled the impoverished country for four decades. Analysts and diplomats say the parlous state of the economy is the main factor pushing the government to make concessions. (Additional reporting by Andrew Marshall in Bangkok)

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    Thai PM downplays conflict as Myanmar seals border

    BANGKOK, May 23 (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Thursday played down the surprise closure by Myanmar of its border with Thailand as a "misunderstanding"."It looks like a misunderstanding. I think the problems will be resolved in a few days," he told reporters after a spate of incidents that has intensified tension on the border."Misunderstandings are normal for neighbouring countries that share a common border."

    Deputy Defense Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa said that "inaccurate reports" may have been responsible for the abrupt decision by Myanmar's ruling military regime."Inaccurate reports from the border area to the government in Yangon may have prompted the authorities to seal off the border," Yuthasak told reporters."The closure of the border checkpoints was very sudden, leaving some Thais stranded inside Myanmar, and some Myanmar nationals stranded here." he added.

    Thai army spokesman Colonel Somkuan Saengpattaranetr confirmed that all three official border checkpoints, plus a temporary checkpoint at the Three Pagodas pass, had been closed on the Myanmar side."We didn't close our checkpoints, and we have no idea why Myanmar closed theirs," Somkuan quoted the Thai army commander-in-chief, General Surayudh Julanond, as saying.

    A Myanmar military source told AFP late Wednesday that the checkpoints of Myawaddy-Mae Sot, Tachilek-Mae Sai and Kawthaung-Ranong were closed for "an indefinite period" from 7:00 pm (1230 GMT) Tuesday.The Thai press reacted angrily to the border closure.

    "It is a direct breach of agreements with Thailand and its people. It is the sort of action that has caused such a lack of respect for the Burmese regime throughout the world," the Bangkok Post said.The paper also noted that crossings to Myanmar's money-making casinos remained open.

    "The dictators ordered the commercial checkpoints closed all along the border. But it left open the crossings to casinos... The Burmese policy of sucking money from Thais at casinos is unappreciated."

    Tensions along the border have escalated in the past week, with both sides swapping protest notes Monday after Thai troops and the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a Yangon-aligned ethnic militia, traded fire across the border in Thailand's Chiang Mai province, some 750 kilometres (469 miles) north of Bangkok.The UWSA is accused of controlling much of the heroin and amphetamine trafficking that is rife along the Thai-Myanmar border.

    On Tuesday, Myanmar's military regime accused the Thai army of launching artillery attacks against several of its military bases in the same area, in coordination with the rebel Shan State Army (SSA).Deputy military intelligence chief Major General Kyaw Win said in Yangon that the group was receiving heavy artillery support from Thai bases, and the junta may resort to "another option" other than diplomacy to resolve the spat.Thai authorities Thursday also sought to distance themselves from the SSA, an anti-Yangon insurgent group often involved in clashes with the UWSA in the border area.

    "We will clarify with the Myanmar government that Thailand has never provided support to the Shan group in an upcoming Township Border Committee meeting," Deputy Defense Minister Yuthasak said.A serious dispute between the UWSA and SSA flared up in February 2001, and sparked a clash between the Thai and Myanmar national armies.

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