Vol

Vol.20 No.208, 2003 CONTENTS Message to the Reader Letters Shan Diary Quotes Human Rights - ICRC visit sets off exodus Drugs - Still going strong Shan Exchange Shans / History - Shans let down by seminar Reader' Input

Message to the Reader Dear reader:  I was regretfully away from home (You'll remember I live with my work) most of the time last month which was the reason for my low output (only 8 pieces for the whole July). My absence was unavoidable. I've been getting all various precious news from the sources for years, most of whom have been giving it free out of friendship and trust. Then came the day they said they wanted me to do something for them and to have turned down their request would have meant losing them forever. And I couldn't very well afford the loss, could I?  Still the fact is there are still a lot of facts and data lying around, waiting to be reported.  I've therefore tried to put them altogether and present them to you in one whole load. And I sincerely hope you are satisfied and my sins are forgiven.  See you again next time as soon as our new budget is (hopefully) approved.  Mysoong! (Wishing You Progress & Prosperity)      S.H.A.N.

Your ideas and assessments of S.H.A.N. reports are welcome. Apart from editing for lack of space and touching up on some words for clarification, we will gladly reproduce your letters in full.

6 June 2003

9 June 2003

Your cartoons dated 6 and 9 this month were used to demonstrate a lecture on ASSK at Oxford today. It is about protective custody.
Sk

New newsletter about Shans?
My friend, European told me yesterday that his friend, a Malaysian, did not know where Shan State is and who the Shan are.

This reminds me of what (one of our respected Shans), our historian, who came here to do research told us. He said: you, overseas Tai people, know English well; live close enough to good libraries and also have freedom; you should write more about Tai so that more people come to know about us.

Maybe it is time we think about a newletter published in the west to publicise about Tai history, culture, our suffering and aspirations and so on.
JD

There are unfortunately ignoramuses everywhere. S.H.A.N. & Shan-EU are both doing an excellent job, but obviously it seems more is needed to be done.

There are also a number of good Shan/Tai websites with relevant information.

There must be some Tai expatriates in Malaysia, if there are, they should be encourged to tell their Malaysian friends about ourselves instead of hiding behind another label - Thai, Burmese or whatever. Indeed Tai expatriates everywhere should be telling their non-Tai/Shan friends about us. I am not sure that writing another article, however readable and entertaining, on any website is going to do any good, if non-Tai/Shan
persons are not logging on to it. We must promote ourselves, If we do not - who will?
Hsokhanpha

SHAN DIARY
May - July2003

The World  26 May 357 out of 6,809 living languages are each spoken by fewer than 50 people. (Time) 4 June Hope for peace re-emerges as prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas put up 'road map' to create a Palestinian state in 2005. (Reuters)  14 June Canada calls for sweeping UN reform, including expulsion of members who violate the fundamental principles of the world body. (Globe and Mail) 18 June Russia, China and India, Asean's dialogue partners say they will sign on to the grouping's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), effectively a non-aggression pact. (News 24) 22 June Indian PM Atal Behari Vajpayee arrives in China as the first Indian leader to visit the country in a decade to "sweeten ties". He is received by his counterpart Wen Jiabao. (Bangkok Post) 1 July Italy assumes EU presidency from Greece. (AFP) 6 July WHO announces Sars has been contained worldwide. (AFP) International Relations 2 June Burma is condemned all round by world's nations except China and India. (ITN)  10 June Razali meets ASSK under detention for 30 minutes, in the presence of Brig-Gen Than Htoon. (XNA)    14 June 15 countries, including North Korea and Burma, have made no significant efforts to stop human trafficking, said US State Department's Trafficking in Persons annual report. (Channel News Asia)  17 June Asean breaks its tradition of non-interference by calling on Burma to quickly release Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters. (The Nation)  18 June Burma: A Time for Change, published by New York-based Council of Foreign Relations Task Force, calls for UN Security Council action on Burma. (AFP) 20 June EU strengthens sanctions by extending the visa ban to include families of ministers and senior army officers. (EU Journal) 4 July Deputy FM Khin Maung Win, currently in Tokyo, told by FM Yoriko Kawaguchi new aid will be put off. (Reuters/ Kyodo) 7 July 15 member EU broadens its arms embargo against Rangoon. (AP) 8 July UN has elected Burma as one of the 21 vice presidents for its 58th General Assembly beginning in September. (Myanmar Times) 10 July Canada bans visas to members of Burma's past and present military juntas. (AFP) 19 July Burma's military junta has been put on US rogue government list. (VOB) 24 July ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) emerges with a common document for the first time - urging Rangoon to immediately release Suu Kyi and resume efforts towards national reconciliation and democracy. (AFP) 28 July President Bush signs Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act that imposes economic sanctions on the junta. (Bangkok Post)

Thai-Burma Relations 2 June  Shwe Ser, founding member of KNU, dies at 78. He had served as commander of its 6th Brigade and chairman of NDF.  18 June Clash at Doi Saeng, Maehongson, leaves 2 Thai soldiers wounded. (Bangkok Post) 21 June  Burma and Thailand sign pact on migrant workers. (The Nation)  26 June 11 Burmese at a textile factory in Bangkok's Phasi Charoen district, nabbed for preparing to protest in front of Burmese embassy on 30 June. (Bangkok Post)  Plan to raid the embassy is denied by Than Khe, chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front. (Irrawaddy)      29 June Intensified sanctions against Burma will only cause another huge spillover of illegal immigrants into Thailand, say FM Surakiart Sathirathai. (Bangkok Post) Labor minister Suwat Liptapanlop says Bangkok will extend work permits for the final time this year. (Bangkok Post) 2 July UNHCR agrees to provide financial support for the transfer of all Burmese Persons of Concern to border camps. (Bangkok Post)   4 July Two former security men for Ms Suu Kyi, Wunna Maung, 27, and Khin Zaw, 50, seek asylum at UNHCR office. (Bangkok Post) Politics 3 June Mass action committees under the umbrella Democratic Federation of Burma formed in America, Australia, Japan, Thailand and India. (NMG) 12 June CRPP has plans to call a parliament and form a rival government by its 5th anniversary, 16 September. (NDD) 2 July The generals are currently discussing taking off their uniforms and becoming a civilian administration. (Bangkok Post) 13 July Leaflets, distributed by the People's Oway Front, calls for the people to join hands with POF in bringing down the military rulers. (DVB) 18 July Burma's junta says it has released 91 prisoners detained over 30 May clashes. (DVB) Junta-run New Light of Myanmar stresses the need for the armed forces to play a role in national politics, for the emergence of a democratic state. (XNA)  26 July Burma's ruling generals say 12 people have been detained who had planted time-bombs in the capital and nearby townships. (Reuters)  Forestry Minster Aung Phone and Industry 1 minister Aung Thaung sacked for "malpractice" (expression that refers to corruption). (Bangkok Post)  Shans 7 June 9 non-Burman parties, including SNLD, are 'deeply saddened' by recent violence and 'strongly condemn those who have created these acts of violence. (Statement) 9 June Representatives of Shan and Karen opposition urge EU to "heighten and broaden" existing sanctions and consider a full blown trade and financial sanction as a means to restore democracy and rights of self-determination in Burma. (Statement) 13 June It's too late to revive the National Convention (that has been suspended since 1996), says Khun Toon Oo. Dialogue, an all-inclusive one, should come first, he tells DVB.

14 June The five party military alliance (ALP-CNF-KNPP-KNU-RCSS) vows to "make appropriate response" against Rangoon's "war of terror". (Statement)  1 July Seven ceasefire groups release statement demanding a tripartite dialogue: KIO, KNLP, KNPLF, PSLA, NMSP, SSPC and SSNPLO. (Mizzima) Business / Economy 25 June The biggest foreign investor in Burma is Total, the French oil company. (Financial Times) Human Rights 2 July Soe Myint, who was re-arrested last year by Indian authorities for his 1990 hijacking of a Thai Airways plane flying from Bangkok to Calcutta acquitted by the court for lack of evidence. (ABC / Irrawaddy) Environment 21 June Kengtawng will be denuded of its teak forest by 2005 at the present speed of destruction, says a member of a logging company. Kengtawng is 100 miles southwest of Taunggyi. (S.H.A.N.) 30 July The crackdown in Mae Sariang district is related to the proposed dam construction on the Salween, says an environmentalist NGO worker based in Chiangmai. (S.H.A.N.)  Drugs 2 June United Wa State Army has been added to the list of foreign drug kingpins, notifies President Bush to the Congress. The initial list was released in June 2000. (Statement) The list includes Chang Chifu (Khun Sa) and Wei Hsueh-kang. (S.H.A.N.)  26 June Junta burns 3 tons of drugs, an event boycotted by EU diplomats. (AFP)  27 June Thailand's Phamuang force ambushes drug convoy from Mongyawn in Chiangmai's Mae Ai. Two dead "Wa" soldiers, an AK-47 rifle and 100,000 speed pills are captured. (Bangkok Post)  8 July June report of UNODC estimates Burma's 2003 opium output at 810 tons, based on satellite and field surveys. (XNA) 20 July Diplomatic sources say Australians have confirmed all 125 kg of heroin seized on 19 April on North Korean freighter Pong Su have been traced to Burma. (Bangkok Post)  24 July Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, China and India agree to restrict precursor chemicals. (Bangkok Post) War 7 July Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland says its stronghold was overrun by Burmese troops last week. (BBC) 21 July  21 July has been designated by Rangoon as the day for People's War against foreign aggression. (DVB) General 9 July Maw Thiri a.k.a Chandra Prakash Prabhakar, 70, a native of Kyaukme, whose name is synonymous with Burmese literature in India, passes away in New Delhi.

Quotes

Wa are not innocent. But I think it would be wrong and very incorrect to only point to the Wa. 
Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Rangoon representative of UNODC, Irrawaddy, May 2003

The problem with getting an accurate story is that everyone who could speak the truth in Burma is under arrest.
A democracy advocate in Washington, Weekly Standard, 16 June

Shans, Minorities?
I would like to point out that we are not ethnic minorities. We gained independence as equal partners and within the Shan State, Shans are the majority people. 
Sao Noan Oo of Lawkzawk, 10 May 2003

This repressive behavior confirms the regime's lack of interest in the return to democracy. 
Javier Solana, EU representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, 3 June 2003

The regime knows Asean will do nothing. 
Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK, 3 June 2003

30 May is a virtual declaration of war on the opposition.
Larry Jagan, BBC, 4 June 2003 

Free democrats betray their unfree brothers and sisters when they seek to appease dictatorships. 
Editorial, Boston Globe, 4 June 2003 

This is something that I have noticed for some time - the inabilities of the region to be able to deal with issues that are important to the region and this is one of them.
Razali Ismail, BBC, 4 June 2003

How can Asean even exist when the year 2006 comes around and it's Burma's turn to become chairman of Asean?
Kraisak Choonhavan, quoted by Yadana, 4 June 2003 

We are not a brutal people. We have loving kindness for everybody. We are not a heartless people.
FM Win Aung, at Asean Regional Forum, 19 June

If there were an election today, the NLD would win simply because people want change. 
A hotel worker, quoted by Bostan Globe, 29 June 

Sovereignty is not a blank check. The junta has been hiding behind a sovereignty curtain, when actually it has no legitimacy to be given such a protection under accepted international norms.
Wansai, General Secretary, Shan Democratic Union, who is on a European tour, 1-5 July 2003 

(The attackers of Aung San Suu Kyi on 30 May) did not look like they were drunk on liquor but they looked as if they were high on drugs. 
Bangkok Post, quoting Wunna Maung, eye witness, 9 July 2003 

Burma has no problem to find, beat and imprison political opponents, so claims ring hollow that drug traffickers are difficult to find. 
Bangkok Post, 15 July 2002 

How can genocide, killing of innocent civilians, continuing human rights abuses, rape, looting (and) destruction (by a government) be an internal matter. It is an international matter. 
A Karen commander, quoted by Benedict Rogers, Asia Wall Street Journal, 17 July 2003

Human Rights

ICRC visit sets off exodus

The International Committee of the Red Cross, or World Red Cross as it is known by people in Burma, had already made two visits to Laikha, a township 79 miles northeast of Taunggyi, the Shan State capital, the first time in November 2002 and the second in January. 

On 27 May, another 8-person team, led by Jean Christophe Sandoz and Philippa Nicholson, returned again for the third time to interview the villagers about their life under the military rule. "We believe that the mere fact of being present in conflict affected areas and repeating our visit to the people there can have a preventive protection effect," Michel Ducraux, head of its Burma delegation had said. 

Burmese commanders, however, had warned the people of dire consequences for those who betrayed the army including "your tongues (will be) severed and your throats cut". Nevertheless, some villagers who were interviewed by what was believed to be the Red Cross team were taken away from their homes by "Shan rebels who spoke fluent Burmese but pidgin Shan" never to be see again. 

The mysterious disappearance of their fellow villagers generated terror among the locals who finally decided to leave their homes. "In January, we had only 976 arrivals in Fang (Chiangmai province)", said a Shan relief worker. But now in June, the number has reached 1,474, the highest in six months." 

Other causes of the migration were cited as forced purchase of paddy from farmers, conscription of army recruits and new forced resettlements in some townships. 

Drugs

Still going strong

According to reports received by S.H.A.N. in June, drug operations in Burma are not in a hurry to go away despite crackdowns in northern Shan State and Thailand. 

Kunhing, 130 miles east of Taunggyi, is said to be the distribution center for "goods" coming down from the north and the Wa region to eastern and southern parts of Shan State. Moreover, as Rangoon appears to mean business on drugs in the north, production in the south and east has increased (poppy fields could be seen within sight of the historic town of Panglong) with more Kokang operators from the north seen setting up refineries in the south. 

As Thailand's northern provinces have become harder to penetrate, drug traders have turned to its western and eastern borders. Drug fighters in Thailand say more methamphetamines are entering the Kingdom through its northwestern provinces. They are also reportedly spreading into Cambodia and Vietnam through Laos. 

As a result, drug operations in eastern Shan State carried out by groups with close ties to the military have largely been unaffected by the Thai crackdown. In Mongton township opposite Chiangmai a refinery run by a local militia group was overrun by the Wa on 30 March only to be replaced by one of their own later. 

In Tachilek Township, opposite Chiangrai province, three "factories" in Nampoong, Jaka along the Mekong and Monghai operated by local militias continue to run under security provided by Burmese military units. 

The only fly in the ointment, is reported to be the ongoing bank disaster that has prevented the traders from using the bank service either to withdraw or transfer their money, forcing them to turn to the private money lenders. Their services cost and one undesirable result has been a rise in the price of the goods. 

Expert speaks about Wa 

On 8 July in Chiangmai Ronald Renard, author of Opium Reduction in Thailand, 1970-2000: A thirty-year journey, related his findings during his visit to Burma early this year (he came out in March). "The Wa may be wilder without opium" was the title he chose for his subject. Here are the notes S.H.A.N. took:

Wa and Kokang together produce some 40% of the total output. 

Map Kokang / Wa

The distance from Kengtung to the Wa area is some 8 hours drive. But not so isolated that opium did not get to them. It may have been there for centuries, but opium as a cash crop only began after the Opium War. 

The Wa population is 600,000. Wa are found on hilltops and Shans in the valley. There are more Wa in the northern part than in the southern, where mixed communities exist side by side. Population density: 20-30 per square kilometer. 

(Compared to Wa, Kokang has a smaller population: 90-100,000. Population density however is 200-300 per square kilometer.) Understandably, the language is not homogenous. 

The main cities are Panghsang and Mongma? (Mongmai). 

Administration is top-down. 

For economy, rubber plantations are seen in some areas. They sell tin to China but either they don't have a lot of business acumen or they are unlucky to find themselves at the downside of the market economy. Their refined tin does not sell well. (Kokang is also finding its Japanese-supported buckwheat project a disappointment. JICA is coming with more agriculturists and more ideas.) 

UN projects "look good on paper." Wa has hospitals without doctors and schools without teachers. 

As for education, only Kachins and Lahu are following the government's curricula. Most of the rest are busy learning Chinese. 

Wa still faces a lot of problems: water, roads, markets, expertise, politics and time factor ("living out three years with no income".) 

'I was quite optimistic (that all would turn out well) after this three-way negotiation process," he concluded. "But then (on 30 May), Aung San Suu Kyi was hijacked." 

Asked later about the Wa resettlement program as reported in last year's Unsettling Moves, he answered laconically, "Nobody's really happy about it." 

Shan exchange

On 9 July, a meeting of 60 Shan youths, women and elders took place "on the periphery" of northern Thailand. The following are extracts from speeches made by the Shan elders: 

Chao Tzang Yawnghwe
An official working with the UN, who has met Shan groups both at home and abroad, commented that Shans are the most united. We have different groups (like different parts of a vehicle) but they work well together. 

I'm happy to say I agree with his assessment. What he said is in line with 'Unity in Diversity' and 'Common Goal, Diverse Action' principles that we have been espousing. Of course, it is not dictatorial unity (one blood, one voice, one command) as some uninformed people are taught to believe, but a democratic unity. 

Harn Yawnghwe
Some people say if the US could invade Iraq, it can invade Burma too. But we have different situations here. While US had no external power to worry about when it attacked Saddam, it now has to worry about China's reaction. Our welcome for US troops may turn out to be an invitation for Chinese troops to aid the Burmese military. 

So, do we have any chance at all? I'd say the golden opportunity has come our way and we need not feel low. 

Khurhsen Heng-awn
The Burmese military, following the international outrage over License to Rape, says whether we do it or not, we have been tainted with the stigma. So let's keep on doing it. 

Input for lobbyist
On 21 July, Shan activists met together to share data with visiting Shan Democratic Union General Secretary, Wansai who had, during the past two years, been traveling in Europe with his Karen sidekick, Saw Sarky, meeting influential personages for the cause of Burma, especially the non-Burmans. Here are the excerpts:

Sao Sengsuk, the SDU's spokesperson 
On 8 July, the Ethnic Nationalities Solidarity and Cooperation Committee (ENSCC) met. It had agreed that while the confrontation strategy with a focus on regime change adopted in the aftermath of the 30 May massacre was a natural reaction, it would not help the non-Burmans to adopt the same position. The meeting re-confirmed the Tripartite Dialogue and National Reconciliation stand and decided that, for the non-Burmans, the moderating and mediating role would serve best. 

Personally, I have no objection to Rangoon's position: to talk to each non-Burman group separately. It is a game that two can play. 

Some international assistance groups had recently visited Burma and were impressed with the UNA (United Nationalities Alliance formed by 8 ethnic parties), for its cohesion. However, all appeared to be asking the international community to do more to help change inside. 

Shan Women's Action Network representatives
Some of our Burmese friends are urging the International Community to set up investigative teams to look into the charges made by SWAN in License to Rape. We are against it because the move would only endanger the victims inside further, as last year's experiences proved. Our standing demand therefore is to call for a nationwide ceasefire before investigations are conducted. 

The report has now been translated into 3 languages: Thai, German and Burmese. The Shan, Hindi, Japanese and French translations are still going on. We are also planning to translate it into Chinese. 

Shan Human Rights Foundation representative
De facto refugee camps have been established during the past few years: 

In addition, Shan relief workers are helping thousands of those coming through Fang district. 

The total number of Shan migrants inside Thailand since 1996 has been estimated at 300,000. 

Shans / History

Shans let down by seminar

A seminar held in Chiangmai's Wianghaeng on 29 July concerning the actual place of death of King Naresuan the Great (1555-1605) has somewhat put off the Shans who had arrived at the meeting with considerable eagerness. 

The principle speaker, Chaisri Chaiyawong, education inspector from Fang, said he was convinced that the king, revered by Thai and Shans alike, did not die in Mongharng (in Mongton township, opposite Chiangmai province) as previously held. Backed by old palace records, especially a translation from a Burmese court chronicle, by a Nai Taw during Rama V's reign, he contended that the warrior king, as a matter of fact, died in Muanghaeng, 140 km northwest of Chiangmai and the district seat of Wianghaeng. 

The seminar, supported by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, was attended by some academics from Chiangmai. The closing speech was delivered by Chao Duangduan na Chiangmai, Chairwoman of the provincial Culture Department. 

Shans, led by Paimuang Laisai, a former resistance commander, had little to say due to the time limit. "We urge our brethren to make final conclusions only after weighing all the evidence and the counter-evidence," said their representative. 

According to the accepted history, King Naresuan was on his way to relieve his ally, Prince Kham Kainoi of Hsenwi, who was under attack from a joint Sino-Burmese offensive, when he suddenly took ill and died just before his crossing of the Salween. His unexpected death cost Shans their independence from Ava. 

The Shans, in any case, had very little evidence to support their stand as the monument in Mongharng, believed to be the king's memorial, was demolished in 1960 by the Burmese army. Another historical structure, Kengtung Palace, was also destroyed in 1991 much to the resentment of the populace. 

The seminar however did not adopt any definitive stand. 

The conveners of the seminar, led by the ebullient district officer Adisuan Nanthachaiyaphand, hoped that official endorsement from higher authorities, would change Wianghaeng from a "lost world" into a tourist destination. How tourism would help the cause of EGAT's: project to excavate lignite coal from the area, however, was not discussed at the seminar. 

"This is aiding and abetting the Burmese military's design to cut off the ties between the Shans and Thais," concluded Paimuang. He was not alone. 

Reader's Input
(May 2003)

First of all, S.H.A.N. sincerely thank our readers, who, regardless of the time and stamp cost they had to pay, responded to our questionnaire. There is no denying your feedback has been crucial for S.H.A.N.'s continued and improved service. We therefore hope you will continue to respond to our surveys in future. 

Altogether, there were 172 respondees (6.88%), a more than 1 percent increase from previous surveys. Also, a significant increase in responses by non-Burman readers, 49 of them (24.5%), have been noted. 

Replies to S.H.A.N. questionnaires came from all over Thailand, Thai-Burma border areas and 3 from US and India: 

On the Thai side, we received answers from Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Ayuddhya, Samut Prakarn, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chiangmai, Chumphon, Lamphun, Maetaeng, Pharn, Suanphung, Pisanulok, Hangdong and Maerim. 

On the Thai-Burma border, responses came from Maehongson, Ranong, Chiangrai, Maesod, Fang, Mae Ai, Wianghaeng, Chiangdao and Pai. 

They have responded to our questionnaire in this way: 

In addition, readers have made the following suggestions: 

• More hard-hitting cartoons, please

• Shan history (in series)

• Biographies of distinguished persons, both Shan and non-Shans

• More pages

• To give short information in both English and Burmese on each article written in the mother tongue

• Health issues

• Science and Technology news

• Economic news

• Two issues per month

• Quarterly or half-annual news digest

• Missing person column

• Can you also do a Shan-English dictionary? 

• Culture and literature

I don't know how we can cater to all your requests, but we promise to do our best and hope in the meanwhile May what S.H.A.N. proposes is endorsed by the donors. 

Thanks and Mysoong!

    S.H.A.N.