BurmaNet News: January 15 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

January 15 2003 Issue #2157

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: The fall and fall of health care
DVB: Illegal workers returned to Burma by Thai authorities

DRUGS

AFP: Myanmar’s Wa drug army moving into ecstasy production
DPA: Thai police ordered to work non-stop during anti-drug blitz

MONEY

Narinjara: Burmese gas through Bangladesh
DVB: The rise and fall of commodity prices

ON THE BORDER

AP: Changing politics a worry for Myanmar refugees

REGIONAL

Irrawaddy: Burmese journalist charged in India
Outlookindia.com: Charges framed against Myint a decade after hijacking
Xinhua: China, Myanmar to stop up cooperation: Vice Premier
TV Myanmar: Burmese leader Khin Nyunt welcomes visiting Chinese delegation

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: Myanmar denies UN allegations it recruits child soldiers

EDITORIAL

Bangkok Post: Burma has become land of promises

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma January 14 2003

The fall and fall of health service

Local residents in Rangoon told the DVB that local Rangoon government
hospitals are no more useful for people in need. Before 1988, people
didn’t have to pay money for their treatments in hospital. Then, the
hospitals charged people who had money with the motto ‘Share the cost,
which is people’s health service’. An anonymous doctor told the DVB that
now; this motto is no longer exists.	Everybody has to pay.  Many patients
died because the hospitals could not treat them and they could not buy
medicines. Medical equipments often broke down. At the moment, the machine
for the treatments of cancer patients has broken down and the patients are
queuing for their turn. The government hospitals are suffering from lacks
of medicines and medical equipments and the existing ones are not used for
majority of people. Rangoon Children Hospital’s incubators for babies who
are born prematurely which were donated by Mitsubishi Company are reserved
for the children of the rich. Usually hospital room for mothers and babies
costs 1000-1500 kyats a day but because of the shortage of rooms, mothers
and babies are crammed into unhygienic rooms. The VIP room in the hospital
is
available to all those who have money and patients with no link to the top
are not allowed to be treated in it. The actress Khine Thin Kyi hired the
room for a month and a half to treat her premature baby, and as soon she
left the room was locked, according to a witness. Some doctors and nurses
in government hospitals are known to be very bad [socially and
professionally]. Despite their motto ‘treat the patients warmly’, the
doctors and nurses tend to be rude to patients and some patients died from
negligence. In the said Rangoon Children Hospital, recently, a child died
within days from being given the wrong blood. The government hospitals are
useless for people in really need and the outside clinics are too
expensive for them.

"You have to spend 450,000 kyats at the clinics to give birth to babies,"
a mother told the DVB. A medical check-up with a normal doctor costs 500
kyats and a check-up with a specialist doctor costs between 1000 and 5000
kyats there.
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma January 13 2003

Illegal Workers returned to Burma Thai Authorities

It is reported that 15 illegal migrant workers who have been detained in a
Thai detention centre were handed over to the Burmese authorities this
morning at Myawaddy. DVB’s Maung Too reports:
MT: The 15 workers were taken from Maesod in Thailand and handed over to
the Burmese authorities in Myawaddy by the Thai authorities this morning.
This is said to be the second official repatriation by the Thai
authorities. On the 19th of December, 39 people were repatriated to
Myawaddy from Maesod by the Thai police for the first time. The people who
were repatriated in both occasions were arrested and detained since last
February for illegally entering Thailand. They were detained at the
Bangkok IDC detention centre and they were supposed to be repatriated
immediately but the delay was caused by the Burmese Embassy’s request to
the Thai authorities to check whether they are real Burmese citizens, said
a Thai Immigration official to reporters. During 11 month detention, two
Burmese workers died in prison and the SPDC’s Immigration is also
imprisoning those who could not pay 50,000 kyats each for those who were
repatriated on the 19th of December. Local residents in Myawaddy are
saying that the recently repatriated 15 people could face imprisonments
for illegally crossing the border.

DRUGS

Agence France-Presse January 15 2003

Myanmar's Wa drug army moving into Ecstasy production

Myanmar's (Burma's) drug-financed United Wa State Army (UWSA) is shifting
production in its clandestine jungle laboratories to meet the growing
demand for the designer drug Ecstasy, a news report said Wednesday.

The 20,000-strong militia, allied with Myanmar's ruling junta, already
controls the bulk of the region's opium and heroin production, and has
been blamed for producing an estimated 700 million methamphetamine pills
per year sold in Thailand. Quoting security and anti-narcotics officials,
The Nation newspaper said the UWSA was diversifying further by upgrading
its version of Ecstasy to "European standards".

The anti-drug officials predicted the UWSA would be able to grab a
sizeable share of Thailand's booming Ecstasy market because of its
geographic location and its established distribution networks.

Ecstasy, which gained wide popularity among youth at "rave parties" in
Europe and North America, has spread to many Asian cities over the past
few years.

Local drug suppression officials say it is gaining in popularity among
affluent teenagers while much cheaper methamphetamines, known locally as
"ya ba" or "crazy drug", are popular among the poor and blue-collar
workers.

On Tuesday Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced "all-out war"
on drug trafficking, giving police and other officials a three-month
deadline to clear their areas of drugs or face dismissal.

He ordered his deputy prime minister, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, and
army commander, General Somtat Attanan, to travel to Yangon (Rangoon) to
pressure the Myanmar junta to crack down on drug production within its
borders.
________

Deutsche Presse-Agentur January 15 2003

Thai police ordered to work non-stop during anti-drug blitz

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday ordered all police and
other officials involved in the kingdom's war on drugs to work seven days
a week for the next three months to crack down on the production, sale and
consumption of methamphetamines.

In an impassioned speech to Thailand's provincial governors, police, army
officers and government bureaucrats, Thaksin said the intensified
three-month crackdown would involve raids on nightclubs and other
entertainment places and random searches of vehicles and neighbourhoods.

For the next three months, he said, everyone involved in the war on drugs
would be forbidden from taking days off on weekends or for public
holidays. The speech appeared to mark a sharp escalation in the anti-drug
battle, which has been a recurrent theme since Thaksin took power two
years ago.

In his 75th birthday speech last month, the country's revered monarch,
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, called on the government and the population to
redouble their efforts to bring the use of methamphetamine pills, known
locally as "ya ba" (crazy drug) under control.

The pills have become the drug of choice for hundreds of thousands of
Thais, particularly young people.

Thai military authorities have estimated that more than half a billion of
the pills were smuggled into Thailand last year from clandestine
laboratories in neighbouring Myanmar (Burma). They have predicted the
amount this year could be between 700 million and a billion "ya ba" pills.

Last week Thaksin appointed his deputy prime minister, General Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh, to head the new National Centre to Defeat Narcotics.

In his speech Tuesday, Thaksin singled out the Bangkok slum of Klong Toey
as a centre of methamphetamine dealing and addiction.

"When I see children in the slums addicted to drugs I feel so much pitty
for them. I want to have drug addicts who are now in prison rehabilitated
and given a chance to return to society," Thaksin said.

He called on the public to keep a close watch on their own communities and
help police in their efforts to arrest drug dealers.

"I urge people to watch their neighbours. If they appear to be unusually
wealthy, inform police," Thaksin said. "And I urge police and other
authorities, don't be afraid of influential people or politicians who
might be behind (drug dealers). If there are politicians involved, we will
arrest them."

Thaksin admitted that most of the drug arrests in Klong Toey and elsewhere
have been for users and small-time dealers.

He said the government would devote more resources to catching and
punishing the influential kingpins believed to be behind the proliferation
of illegal drugs.

He said the government would also do more to stop the import of so-called
precursor chemicals used in the production of methamphetamines.

"The government will seek the help of neighbouring countries to stop the
production and transportation of chemicals used in making 'ya ba',"
Thaksin said.

He did not mention Myanmar, where the ruling junta has been accused of
profiting from the thriving trade in methamphetamines.

The national police chief, General Sant Sarutanond, said the
200,000-strong force would give its full support to Thaksin's crackdown.

"The police must take full responsibility to fight 'ya ba' in every corner
of Thailand," he said. "If we can keep the precursor chemicals out of
Thailand, we police are sure we can handle the problem."

The Thai army commander, General Somtat Attanan, is scheduled to visit
Yangon (Rangoon) next week and the war on drugs is expected to be at the
top of the agenda in talks with junta leaders.

MONEY

Narinjara News January 15 2003

Burmese gas through Bangladesh
Dhaka, 15 January 03:  Addressing a weekly meeting of Rotary Club of
Metropolitan Dhaka at a city hotel on 12 January the State Minister for
Energy and Mineral Resources, A K M Mosharraf Hossain said that a proposal
for the cross-border Tripura - Bangladesh gas pipeline for Burmese gas was
sent to the Prime Minister on 11th January, according to news agencies
here. The government of Bangladesh has been reported to be planning to
privatize the problem-ridden losing petroleum sector gradually for
'effective management', the sources said.
The proposed gas pipeline will carry the gas from Burma's Rakhine State to
West Bengal through a pipeline entering India through its north-east
frontier and cross Bangladesh.  The discovery last October stirred a lot
of high hopes in the circle of multinational energy giants.
In a report on the discovery of an offshore gas field near Burma's border
with Bangladesh the weekly Myanmar Times cited Daewoo International last
October that, the gas reserve in the new field could be more than double
those found at the Yadana or Yetagun gas fields that have reserves of 6,7
and 3.2 trillion cubic feet respectively.   It also added that the gas
could eventually be piped to India.
H D Lee, deputy managing director of Affiliate Myanmar Daewoo told the
weekly that the gas reserve in the new findings could be around 13.4 to
47.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  Though the official did not
disclose the exact location of the new site, it is clear that the said gas
field lies at a point between Kyaukpru Island and Sittwe in Rakhine State
in western part of Burma.
The company has been reported to have signed a production-sharing contact
with Burma's Ministry of Energy in August 2000 and in the following
January assigned 20 percent and 10 percent stakes respectively to India's
Oil and Natural Gas Commission and Gas Authority.
The issue of the construction of gas pipeline in Burma is controversial
since the ruling junta have been using large scale forced labour in
construction of gas pipelines.  France's TotalFinaElf and its American
partner Unocal have faced accusations that they used forced labour in the
construction of the Yadana pipeline, which carries Burmese gas to
Thailand,
An estimated 150 million dollars Burma receives annually from the Yadana
pipeline is used by the ruling Burmese junta for violations of human
rights, it is alleged.  In the western part of Burma, the use of forced
labour has been seen as state-sponsored slavery, said a retired judge at
Sittwe while our correspondent from there was talking to him.  There is a
wide fear for the use of forced labour in the 'proposed pipeline'.  Even
at present there is large-scale use of forced labour across the western
state.
For the people of Rakhine State, the poorest state in Burma not because of
lack of resources but because of systematic campaign of neglect and
repression by Burmese juntas since the Burmese independence in 1948, the
gas pipeline will only bring sufferings, the judge added.  Though Rakhine
State has a large highly-potential waterfall at Sandin, in the northern
area, there is no hydro-electric project and 99.8 percent of the state
goes without any source of electricity - so though there is an uproar
among governments and multinational oil giants there will be nothing left
for the people of the state, not even a gas-powered generator except
getting squeezed dry, he concluded.
________

Democratic Voice of Burma January 14 2003

The Rise and Rise of Commodity Prices

The commodity prices are again rising recently in Rangoon and Mandalay and
other major cities in Burma.

The consumers and employers are saying that the prices of houses, cars,
construction materials and basic consumer goods are rising. The iron for
building materials which used to cost 550,000 kyats is now costing 850,000
kyats.  Similarly, the house prices are also rising. In Rangoon, a room
which used to cost 600,000 kyats in the previous month now fetches
1,500,000 kyats.

The price of rice is also rising. A bag of old rice now costs 17,000
kyats said a merchant. The price of rice is also said to be rising in
Mandalay. As it is the season for new rice, the price of rice is supposed
to be dropping said an economist in Rangoon.

He also told DVB that there are two reasons for the price hikes of
commodities: first, the price hikes of train, car and plane fares since
this New Year, and secondly the rumour of the increase pays for civil
servants. Most civil servants are hoping that their salaries will be
increased five folds. If the civil servants’ salaries are indeed increased
to that level, the prices of commodities will keep on rising and if not,
they will still be in trouble with the present price hikes, the economist
told DVB.

DVB contacted a government worker from Rangoon and she told the DVB about
it as follows: “We also have heard about increase of our salary.  If they
increase the civil servants’ salaries, the prices of commodities will
rise. They increase the salaries because of the rising prices and because
of that, the prices are soaring more. Everyone is moaning; both the civil
servants and labourers. Everyone is in trouble because of the high
commodity prices. Everyone is moaning.

Q: Aren’t the civil servants happy getting higher salary?

A: No. As far as I know there is no happiness in it. They are still
worried. The salaries may increase, but they will be followed by the  rice
hikes of commodities. So, there is nothing for them to celebrate. Nothing
is solvable yet, dear. The increasing salaries will not solve people’s
problems because the prices of commodities are also rising with them.

ON THE BORDER

Associated Press January 15 2003
Changing politics a worry for Myanmar refugees
WALLAY, Thailand (AP) - The shifting winds of geopolitics are not
favorable for people fleeing the grip of Myanmar's military government for
neighboring Thailand, as they've been doing for years.
Thailand has lately been seeking to warm up its often frosty relations
with Myanmar, mainly by making refugees less welcome - and even sending
some back.
But Thai hearts are still opening up to poor and frightened people forced
from their homes.
In the tiny northern Thai village of Wallay, about 300 meters (yards) from
the border, relief workers on Tuesday were giving food and shelter to
villagers fleeing battles between government troops and ethnic rebel
guerrillas in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The dry season has arrived, which means that the pace of hostilities is
quickening once again. Some 614 recently-arrived members of Myanmar's
ethnic Karen minority are living on the grounds of the village's Buddhist
temple.
Mothers nurse their sick babies; youths tend the family pigs, a portable
form of wealth that made the journey with them.
Ten heavily armed Thai soldiers overlook the scene, but the mood is not
menacing.
International private relief agencies, which form a consortium called the
Burmese Border Committee, and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, or UNHCR, have sent assistance.
Rice and used clothing are handed out. Old women sit quietly aside,
smoking Myanmar-style cigars called cheroots.
"With the assistance from UNHCR and the Burmese Border Committee, we give
them food and shelter here until the situation is back to normal, when we
send them back,'' said Worasit
Wanichkulchailert, chief of Phopphra district in Tak province, 370
kilometers (230 miles) northwest of Bangkok.
It's a scene that's has been repeated hundreds, if not thousands, of time
over the past few decades.
Since it obtained independence in 1948, Myanmar has faced scores of
rebellions from ethnic groups seeking autonomy.
The most enduring struggle has been that of the Karen, one of the few
groups not to sign a cease-fire with the latest military regime, which
came to power in 1988.
The legacy of the long, hard struggle of the Karen can be found in the
vast number of their people staying in Thailand, many as needed but
exploited laborers whose illicit presence is winked at by officials.
There are probably more than 1 million Myanmar nationals living in
Thailand, most of them Karen. More than 100,000 live in long-established
but ramshackle refugee camps close to the border.
Ethnic rebels such as the Karen, who often use Thailand as a de facto rear
base, have long put a strain on Thai-Myanmar relations.
But critics fear that moves by the government of Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra to curry favor with Myanmar's ruling military junta _
by returning political activists, army deserters and illegal migrant
workers - endanger legitimate asylum seekers. -

REGIONAL

Irrawaddy January 15 2003

Burmese Journalist Charged in India
By Tony Broadmoor

A West Bengal court filed a hijacking charge against Mizzima News Service
Editor Soe Myint yesterday, a penalty that carries possible life
imprisonment, despite calls from prominent Indian politicians, social
activists and journalists to drop all charges. The reopening of the case
after twelve years also has observers questioning just how far New Delhi
is willing to go in order to appease the Burmese regime.
The charge stems from a November 1990 incident, when Soe Myint and another
Burmese student activist took control of a Thai Airways flight bound for
Rangoon from Bangkok and redirected the plane to Calcutta in hopes of
bringing international attention to Burma’s democracy movement. No weapons
were used during the event.
Soe Myint told The Irrawaddy today from Calcutta that he was disappointed
with Tuesday’s decision, and that he had not broken any Indian laws but
was simply trying to highlight Burma’s democracy movement. "If I want to
escape from India, I can right now. But I will not try and escape," Soe
Myint defiantly said today. "I will stay here and fight in court."
Criminal conspiracy, intimidation and wrongful confinement charges were
dropped yesterday.
And Nandita Haksar, Soe Myint’s attorney, says that the public prosecutor
also has the authority to withdraw the remaining charge and should in the
interest of justice. "No public interest will be served in sending Soe
Myint to jail after 12 years of the event," Haksar told reporters on
Monday.
West Bengal Law Minister Nisith Adhikary, however, disagreed, saying that
charges could not be withdrawn without the sanction of the central
government.
Thin Thin Aung, Soe Myint’s wife, says that it is too difficult to predict
whether the charges will be dismissed before the case goes to trial on
April 2, but that it hinges on the communist party of Bengal standing up
to the ruling BJP party in New Delhi. "The West Bengal State government is
willing to dismiss the charge," said Thin Thin Aung today from New Delhi.
"But maybe they are scared because of possible repercussions from the
BJP."
The Indian government has categorically denied that the Burmese regime has
influenced its decision to reopen the case in any way. West Bengal Public
Prosecutor Probodh Roy said this week that: "I have to propose that
charges be framed against the accused before the court. I can assure at
least one thing—we never consider any law above the patriotic cause and
democratic cause of the people."
In the joint petition sent by the group of politicians and activists, they
called for leniency from the Indian government in dealing with the case,
saying: "It would be a violation of all democratic norms to try this young
man after more than 12 years."
Rights groups have been lobbying the Indian government to drop the charges
since Soe Myint was mysteriously rearrested in April of last year.
Observes have connected the reopening of the case to New Delhi’s
rapprochement with Rangoon, namely due to the conspicuous timing of the
April arrest, which came shortly after then Indian Foreign Minister
Jaswant Singh’s return from Burma.
"The Indian government was getting a lot of complaints about me [from the
Burmese government] and the Singh visit was one of these," Soe Myint told
The Irrawaddy back in September concerning his April arrest.
Haksar also says that the reflection of the warming relations between
Burma and India can be seen in the pressure being placed on Burmese
journalists in India. "This is serious," said Haksar in September
_____

Outlookindia.com January 15 2003

Charges framed against Myint a decade after hijacking

Charges were today framed under the Anti-Hijacking Act against Myanmarese
student turned journalist, Soe Myint, by a court here for hijacking a Thai
airliner to Kolkata over a decade ago.
The charges were framed before the Second Additional and Sessions judge
Barasat, Chandan Kumar Lahiri, under sections three and four of the act.
"I am not at all guilty", Myint now running an internet newspaper from New
Delhi on alleged human rights violations in Myanmar, told the judge when
asked whether he pleaded guilty.
His counsel, Nandita Haksar said Myint 'diverted' the Bangkok-Yangon
passenger flight in 1990 armed only with two cakes of soap. It was meant
to draw political attention to the repression by the junta in Myanmar.
The judge fixed April two to 11 for recording of evidence of 29 witnesses.

Myint's counsel had earlier appealed to the West Bengal government for
withdrawal of the case.
Last week a joint petition signed by prominent personalities including
left leaders like Laxmi Sehgal and Sitaram Yechury had been sent to the
West Bengal government appealing that the charges against Myint be
dropped.
The other signatories to the petition under the banner of Asian Social
Forum included Medha Patkar, N Ram, Nirmala Deshpande and Saeed Mirza.
Public prosecutor Probodh Ray told reporters later that if the Centre
withdrew the charges against Myint in writing, then it could be dropped.
_________

Xinhua News Agency Janaury 14 2003

China, Myanmar to step up cooperation: Vice Premier

China is ready to add greater substance to its friendly relations with
Myanmar by promoting bilateral cooperation to a new level, Chinese Vice
Premier Li Lanqing said here Tuesday.

Shortly after arriving in Yangon, capital city of Myanmar, Li held talks
with  First Secretary of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of
the Union of Myanmar, General Khin Nyunt, on Tuesday afternoon. After the
talks, Li and Khin Nyunt attended the signing ceremony of three documents,
including a protocol on writing off part of the due debts that Myanmar
borrowed from China.

During the talks, Li put forward detailed suggestions on strengthening
bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, science,
technology, education, culture, public health and sports.

Li said the heads of state of the two countries have already set the key
areas of cooperation.  Li said the two countries should continue to expand
the scale and scope of two-way trade. He said the two countries should
step up personnel training and exchanges in such fields as science,
technology, education and public health in various forms. He said the two
sides should also strengthen cooperation and coordination in such multi
lateral occasions as the World Health Organization.

Li expressed the belief that under the direct attention of the leaders of
the two countries and the joint effort of the two governments,
Sino-Myanmar cooperation will bear greater fruits.

Khin Nyunt agreed with Li on his suggestion of expanding cooperation in
the scientific, technological and educational areas. He expressed the hope
that China will continue to give support to Myanmar in these areas.
_________

TV Myanmar January 14 2003

BURMESE LEADER KHIN NYUNT WELCOMES VISITING CHINESE DELEGATION

Mr Li Lanqing, vice-premier of the State Council of the People's Republic
of China PRC , accompanied by his wife Madam Zhang Suzhen and party,
arrived at Yangon Rangoon International Airport on a special flight this
afternoon to pay a goodwill visit at the invitation of Gen Khin Nyunt,
secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council SPDC of the Union
of Myanmar Burma .

Mr Li Lanqing, vice-premier of the State Council of the PRC, and party
were welcomed at Yangon International Airport by SPDC Secretary-1 Gen Khin
Nyunt and wife Dr Daw Khin Win Shwe; Yangon Division Peace and Development
Council Chairman Maj-Gen Myint Swe and wife; Foreign Minister U Win Aung
and wife; Communications, Posts and Telegraphs Minister Brig-Gen Thein Zaw
and wife; Science and Technology Minister U Thaung and wife; Education
Minister U Than Aung and wife; Deputy Foreign Minister U Khin Maung Win
and wife; Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Mr Li Jinjun; and responsible
personnel from the PRC Embassy.

Mr Li Lanqing, vice-premier of the State Council of the PRC, was
accompanied by Ms Chen Zhili, minister of education; Mr Xu Guanhua,
minister of science and technology; Mr Gao Qing, deputy secretary general
of the State Council; Mr Wang Yi, vice-minister of foreign affairs; Mr Yu
Guangzhou, vice-minister of the State Development Planning Commission; Mr
Liao Xiaoqi, vice-minister of the Office of State Science, Technology and
Education Leading Group, and PRC departmental officials.

INTERNATIONAL

Agence France-Presse January 15 2003

Myanmar denies UN allegation it recruits child soldiers

Myanmar on Tuesday denied allegations by Human Rights Watch and the UN
Children's Fund that its armed forces had forcibly recruited large numbers
of child soldiers.

"There is no credible evidence of recruitment of child soldiers,"
Myanmar's UN ambassador, Kyaw Tint Swe, told the UN Security Council. In a
report to the council last month, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said
"testimonies received by UNICEF confirm" reports by Human Rights Watch
that the armed forces and armed groups in Myanmar had pressed children
into service.

Swe countered that Annan's report had "departed from its mandate" under
council Resolution 1379 to investigate the abuse of children in conflict
zones on the council's agenda.

"The situation in Myanmar is not a threat to international peace and
security," he said.

In a list attached to his report, Annan named 23 parties in areas on the
council's agenda.

During the meeting, several speakers, including UNICEF director Carol
Bellamy, urged the council to expand the list to include other conflicts.

US representative Richard Williamson said the army in Myanmar should be
listed.

"Some of the worst violations of children on armed conflict are not
included on the list," he said.

British ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said his government was "especially
concerned about Burma (the old name for Myanmar), where consistent reports
indicate wide, systematic and forced recruitment and training of children
for use in combat."

Swe said reports about his country were politicised and based on
interviews with about 30 insurgents in neighbouring countries.

EDITORIAL

Bangkok Post January 13 2003

Burma has become land of promises

Army commander Gen Somdhat Attanand will fly to Rangoon next week for
talks with the ruling junta. Simply put, Gen Somdhat will test the latest
round of promises by the Rangoon regime to help fight drug trafficking. He
would be well advised to take those promises with a large dose of salt.
Burma's list of promises on international cooperation stretch back more
than 40 years. Neighbours and other members of the world community are
still waiting for the promises to be honoured.

The state of Burma today is largely the result of broken promises. Ne Win
launched a military coup that took over the country in 1962. He led _ if
that is the word _ the country into the 1970s with vows to restore
democracy, respect human rights, and end the drug trafficking that was
helping to addict much of the world. Ne Win has died, the country remains
under military rule, and it is widely reviled for running one of the worst
torture chambers in the world.

A great example of why Burma could be called ``The Promise Land'' is the
state of democratic negotiations _ or, rather, non-negotiations. Last May,
the regime freed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. In
succeeding months, it freed a small number of political prisoners. The
generals promised to begin talks with the democrats to end military
dictatorship. Total movement towards democracy since then: Exactly zero.

But nothing illustrates the vast chasm between promises and action in
Burma like drugs. Since the early Ne Win promises to end drug trafficking,
Burma has ``progressed'' from being a second-rate supplier of opium to its
current status as host to the most prolific producer and biggest
trafficking gang in the world. The so-called opium warlord of the 1970s,
Lo Hsing-han, is an honoured citizen and major investor in the Burmese
economy.

Far from keeping the promise to fight drug trafficking, Burma has engaged
in continuous actions that have always ended up helping the dirty
business. When the United States gave Burma military aid to fight drug
gangs, Ne Win battled ethnic insurgents and left the Khun Sa drug cartel
alone. Now, Khun Sa lives in Rangoon as another ally in the Burmese
economy. The same goes for Sai Linn, another drug trafficker wanted
internationally but protected by Rangoon in defiance of its own promises.

Every Thai now knows the history of the United Wa State Army. The former
insurgent gang is referred to as ``blood brothers'' by Rangoon generals,
especially Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, secretary one of the junta and
chief go-between with the Thai government. The price of peace between the
former rebels and Rangoon has been especially heavy for Thailand. Burma
has blessed and condoned the major drug trafficking activities of the
UWSA, which took over the old Khun Sa heroin trade and added a lucrative
methamphetamine cartel which has bled and corrupted many in Thailand.

Based on the past 40 years, one can expect Gen Somdhat to be well received
in Rangoon. He is likely to return to Bangkok, like many before him, with
optimistic forecasts. The military dictators of Burma are likely to
promise new and extended cooperation with the Thai government in a
proposed new, invigorated push against drug traffickers. New lines of
communications will likely be promised.

``Promise'', of course, will be the operative word. Events have reached a
point where the Rangoon regime must begin to deliver. Indeed, there are
signs the generals may act against the most flagrant drug trafficking.
Such action must be seen to be believed. Taking Burma at its word is what
has landed Thailand deep in a drug problem. Neighbours must actually help
each other, and promises are empty until they are fulfilled.