News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 07 January, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 07 January, 2011
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Military Firms Excluded From Tax Evasion Law
Chin Party Meets to Discuss Ethnic Alliance
Airport Just Latest Chinese Foray into Burma's Transport Sector
Ban Discusses Burma with Chinese FM
Fuel Shops Closed in Mandalay
China outward bound through Myanmar
Did Shan army become militia units because of free car licenses?
Thailand again sullies its human rights record
Roadshow to Burma slated for January 18
Interest in Travel to Myanmar Surges
China to rebuild the allies' wartime lifeline through Burma
Luc Besson quietly filming Aung San Suu Kyi biopic in Paris already
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Military Firms Excluded From Tax Evasion Law
By WAI MOE Friday, January 7, 2011

Burma’s Internal Revenue Department has announced a new law targeting companies that evade tax as from Jan.1. However, the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL) and several other government enterprises are still exempt from the regulation, said an official.

The director of the Internal Revenue Department—which is under the direction of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue—explained the new regulation at a press conference on Dec. 31 at the office of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Rangoon, according to local journalists.

A cargo ship from Five Star Shipping, owned by the UMEHL, sails from Rangoon. (PHOTO: Moemakha)
Director Aung Moe Kyi of the department said that the “Withholding Tax” law is aimed at all businesses, traders, NGOs and individuals with assets higher than 300,000 kyat (US $300), and states that they are liable to pay taxes of between 3 and 20 percent of their profits or earnings.

“However, state organizations and the UMEHL are not included in the Withholding Tax regulation,” Aung Moe Kyi said.

He did not clarify whether another military enterprise, the Myanmar Economic Corporation, is also excluded from the new tax regulation.

The military junta issued Decree 41/2010 on Withholding Tax on March 10, 2010, with a view to making it law by April last year.

However, the date for enforcement of the law was set as Jan. 1, 2011. The Internal Revenue Department also stated that only companies and individuals that comply with the regulation will be able to open legal bank accounts in Burma.

Since state enterprises and the UMEHL are excluded from the Withholding Tax regulation, a handful of military cronies who have stakes in massive state enterprises such as factories, mines, hydropower projects and state-owned buildings would appear to be exempt from the tax regulation too, said business sources in Rangoon.

The UMEHL was founded in 1990 under the 1950 Special Company Act, designated to support regimental welfare organizations, in-service and retired military personnel, and veteran organizations.

The military-run UMEHL has since enjoyed the privilege of tax exemption, analysts said, as it existed under the adjutant-general office of the military. Adjutant-General Maj-Gen Khin Zaw Oo currently chairs the organization.

However, from 2002 to 2010, the UMEHL was under the office of Military Ordnance, headed by Lt-Gen Tin Aye who is one of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s most trusted subordinates. Tin Aye took over at the UMEHL when Lt-Gen Win Myint, a former adjutant-general, was removed in 2002.

Although Khin Zaw Oo is officially chairman of the UMEHL, Tin Aye reportedly still oversees the bureau, according to military sources. The UMEHL is currently managing at least 51 firms directly or within partnerships.

Observers routinely criticize Burma as being one of the most mismanaged nations in the world with a barely functioning economy and a corrupt tax system. According to data from the Internal Revenue Department, only 1.09 percent of more than 50 million people in the country pay tax.

On Jan. 4, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) suggested in an economic analysis that systematic taxation throughout the nation would help to resolve Burma's spiraling inflation and financial problems.

The NLD also recommended that the rule of law be upheld and transparent, with accountable governance as well as equal business opportunities for all citizens in the country.

Irrawaddy correspondents in Rangoon contributed to this story.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20488
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Chin Party Meets to Discuss Ethnic Alliance
By SAI ZOM HSENG Friday, January 7, 2011

The Chin National Party (CNP) is currently holding a three-day conference at Hakha, the capital of Chin State, and will mainly discuss the forming of an alliance with other ethnic parties, according to Pu Zo Zam, the party's chairman.

The conference started on Jan. 6 and is being attended by about 60 representatives and party members, he added.

“We will discuss the CNP’s future plans, including the possibility of forming an alliance with other parties, but we haven’t made any decision so far,” Pu Zo Zam told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

The CNP was formed on March 27, 2010 in Rangoon. The party fielded 25 candidates in last year's Nov. 7 election and won nine seats.

Meanwhile, the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the largest ethnic party that contested the election, said that it would not be a part of an alliance with the CNP, according to Sai Hla Kyaw, a member of the party's central executive committee.

“If there is an alliance, there will be rules, regulations and many other things that we have to agree to and sign. If someone breaks the rules, there are sure to be problems between us. That's why we've decided not to be part of the alliance,” he said.

However, he said that the SNDP would make joint statements with other parties and work together with them when they shared common positions.

At a conference in December, the SNDP decided to form a company to financially support the party. The company will issue one million shares valued at 10,000 kyat (US $12) apiece to invest in mining, agriculture and logging businesses in Shan State, party sources said.

According to the sources, the SNDP will soon form a committee to facilitate the sale of shares, which will only be sold to party members. The person who owns the most shares will be named managing director.

The SNDP fielded 157 candidates in the election, winning a total of 57 seats. The party came in third, after the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party and the pro-military National Unity Party.

Like the SNDP, other ethnic parties that contested the election were also cool to the idea of forming an alliance.

“We have good relations with the other ethnic parties, but we don’t have any ambition to be a part of an alliance. We just want more understanding among the parties,” said Hla Soe, the secretary of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, which won 35 of 44 constituencies in Arakan State.

Burma's state-owned media declared that the USDP won in 882 of the 1,154 constituencies where they contested. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20487
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Airport Just Latest Chinese Foray into Burma's Transport Sector
By YAN PAI Friday, January 7, 2011

A Chinese company will invest US $100 million toward the construction of an airport near Naypyidaw, the new capital built by Burma's ruling junta in 2004, in the latest move by China to expand its involvement in the Southeast Asian country's transport sector.

The company, China Communications Construction (CCC), signed a deal to work on the project on Dec. 15 following a summit attended by Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and senior officials from China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in Phnom Penh in November, according to a report by The South China Morning Post on Jan. 3.

Work on the project began in 2009, when Asia World, one of Burma's largest conglomerates, won a $250 million contract to build the new airport on the site of a disused airport in Ela Township, according to Burmese business sources.

Weekly Eleven News, a Rangoon-based news journal, reported at the end of last year that the airport's domestic and international terminals and runways are still under construction and are expected to be completed sometime in early 2011.

On its website, CCC said its contract with Burma's Department of Civil Aviation will be financed by a loan from the state-owned China Exim Bank.

“This project will significantly increase the internationalization of the Myanmar [Burmese] capital of Naypyidaw and increase CCC's influence in Myanmar,” the company said.

China has dramatically stepped up its investment in Burma in recent years and is increasingly turning to major infrastructure projects aimed at improving access to the country's natural resources.

Among the more ambitious projects under discussion is a 1,920 kilometer rail link between Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan Province, and Burma's main commercial city and former capital, Rangoon.

According to business sources, the railway line may be extended even further, to Tavoy in southern Burma's Tenasserim Division, where Thai investors are planning a massive port development project.

Work on the railway line, which is part of a grand project to link China and its Southeast Asian neighbors, is reportedly set to begin construction this year.

There is also a plan to rebuild the Stilwell Road, constructed during the Second World War to enable the Allied Powers to assist China in its resistance to Japan's occupying Imperial Army.

According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, the road, which stretches from the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina to Pangsau near the Indian border, will be rebuilt by the Yunnan Construction Engineering Company in a joint venture with Burma's Yuzana Group under an agreement reached on Nov. 22 last year.

Last June, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao traveled to Burma to further promote already strong economic ties between the two countries. According to official statistics, China invested an estimated $8.2 billion in the Burmese economy in the first five months of last year, including $5 billion in the hydro-power sector.

One of the largest joint projects between China and Burma is a pipeline that will carry natural gas to Kunming from Burmese offshore fields in the Bay of Bengal. China also hopes to construct a railway line along this route, linking Kunming and the Arakan State deep-sea port of Kyaukpyu.

Despite rumors that Burma's military leaders are wary of growing too dependent on Beijing for economic support, there are no signs that they are scaling back on plans to increase cooperation.

Following a state visit to China by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe last September, the Chinese government agreed to provide a 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) interest-free loan to the regime.
http://irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20486
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Ban Discusses Burma with Chinese FM
By LALIT K JHA Friday, January 7, 2011

WASHINGTON—The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on Thursday discussed the current situation in Burma with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

No Burma-specific readout of the meeting held at the UN headquarters in New York was available. Diplomatic sources, however, said the UN Secretary-General sought China’s help in restoring true democracy in the country and the release of all political prisoners.

According to UN spokesman Martin Nesirky, Ban and Yang also discussed Sudan, Ivory Coast and North Korea. During Thursday's meeting, Ban expressed strong appreciation for China's "active efforts" to revive the nuclear talks involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia, which have been stalled for nearly two years.

Rising tensions and the threat of war between North and South Korea also topped the agenda of Yang's meeting in Washington on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Burma also was one of the topics of discussion when Yang met US leaders, including President Barack Obama, during his stay in Washington earlier this week.

The United States has a two-track approach in Burma, the State Department Deputy spokesman, Mark Toner, said.

“We do have a relationship [with the junta],” Toner said in response to a question. “And at the same time we’re seeking engagement, which admittedly hasn’t shown much progress and borne much fruit. But we’re also pushing them hard to release political prisoners and to take clear democratic steps.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20480
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Fuel Shops Closed in Mandalay
By KHIN OO THAR Friday, January 7, 2011

At least 91 roadside fuel shops in Mandalay have been ordered to close as from Friday, Jan. 7, according to local sources.

One gasoline vendor told The Irrawaddy that he and other vendors were worried by threats from district-level authorities that serious action would be taken against the shop owners if they did not comply with the order.

He said the 91 fuel shops had opened for business around 2002 and that many are located along the Mandalay-Pyin Oo Lwin Road outside the city. Authorities told the gasoline vendors to move out of the area and told them the decision had been made for reasons of road expansion and fire prevention, he said.

“I think it could be an attempt by the authorities and local businessmen to get rid of small-scale fuel shops like ours,” said the shop owner.

Informal, or black market fuel shops have been operating on Burmese roadsides for decades. But since Burma's military regime transferred state-owned gas stations into the hands of private companies in June 2010, the small roadside shops have faced renewed competition.

Many of the country's formerly state-owned gas stations reopened as private businesses operated by organizations and investors with close links to the ruling junta, including the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, and 18 other privately owned companies.

The privatized gas stations are no longer required to ration sales of gasoline and petrol, removing one of the reasons many customers turn to black-market petrol dealers. But for a host of other reasons, many customers still prefer to fill up at illegal roadside stands.

Some customers said they avoided the new gas stations because of delays and fears of overcharging. Others said they prefer the roadside dealers because they guarantee the quality of their petrol and are open 24/7.

A Mandalay resident said one gallon of gasoline costs 3,200-3,250 kyat [US $3.70 to $3.80] at the black market shops, which is the same price as the private gas stations.

“If there are no roadside shops, we'll have to wait overnight to get fuel from the gas stations,” he added.

Currently, there are two state-owned gas stations and 12 privately owned ones operating in the city of Mandalay.

A gasoline vendor in Maha Aung Myay Township said the order to close roadside fuel shops will affect people like him and many other families.

The Irrawaddy contacted the District Office and the fire brigade in Mandalay and asked for details about the order, but they refused to make any comment.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20479
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China outward bound through Myanmar
By Brian McCartan

CHIANG MAI - Myanmar is set to become an important regional rail hub connecting China and India with markets in Southeast Asia and beyond should proposed spending plans come to fruition. As with many infrastructure developments across the region, Beijing is the driving force behind the ambitious designs.

China plans to construct several routes linking its remote southwestern region with ports in Myanmar and on to Southeast and South Asia. In particular, a major rail line is planned to connect Kunming with a new deep-sea port and special industrial economic zone under construction at Kyaukpyu on Myanmar's western coast.

Plans for the route were first announced in the Myanmar Weekly Eleven News magazine on October 16 and is expected to be finished in 2015. China is also involved in developing the port and the industrial zone, both of which are part of its plan to develop a trade outlet for its land-locked southwestern region and an oil and gas transshipment point connected to oil and gas pipelines already under construction.

Another rail route will connect the 1,920 kilometers between China's Yunnan province capital Kunming to Myanmar's former capital and major port Yangon. Construction will likely build on Myanmar's existing north-south rail line rather than lay completely new tracks.

This route would also link with a railway connecting to a new port project at Dawei on the country's southern coast. A component of the port project announced late last year is the construction of a new rail line between Dawei and Bangkok.

A third route will run through Myanmar's eastern Shan State connecting Kunming with the northern Thai town of Chiang Rai and from there link into the Thai rail network. This link, together with a route currently being surveyed in Laos, will enable the shipment of goods by rail between China, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore.

Wang Mengshu, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told Chinese media in December that "an expert delegation from the Ministry of Railroads visited [Myanmar] and Laos in mid-November to conduct a survey: as soon as a route for the China-[Myanmar] railroad is determined, construction could start in as early as two months, and may serve as the main transportation route of China's [rail] link with countries in Southeast Asia".

Two additional routes connecting southwestern China with Myanmar's rail network are planned between the Chinese town of Dali with Myitkyina and Lashio. Both Myanmar towns are large trading centers and railheads. China has also contributed to upgrade Myanmar's rail stock: in October 2010, Beijing donated thirty engines from the rail transport department as "friendship gifts", according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Once completed, the new routes will strengthen China's already substantial economic ties with Myanmar and contribute to a more integrated regional economy. China is already in the midst of an estimated US$1 trillion project to expand its domestic railway system from the current 78,000 kilometers to 110,000 by 2012 and 120,000 by 2020. The project aims to connect all major Chinese cities with high-speed lines with trains capable of speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour.

Myanmar occupies an especially important position in Beijing's ambitious plans to construct a high-speed rail network linking China with the economies of Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Much of this network, especially through Myanmar, corresponds with the 14,000 kilometer Trans-Asian Railway initiative the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) first proposed in the 1960's. If completed as planned, it will represent the largest infrastructure project in history.

The exact routes of the lines are still unclear, but they will follow three general directions. A northern route will extend through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and on to connect to the European rail network. A middle route will go through Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran to Turkey. A southern route will link China to Singapore through Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. Currently, China's only rail connection to Southeast Asia runs to Vietnam.

Missing links
One major obstacle for the project is Beijing's insistence on the use of the same gauge of tracks as its domestic high-speed network. The rail systems in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian nations use different gauges, meaning it will be necessary to replace current tracks or lay new ones to make the connection.

Another is the high cost and how it will be shared. China is reportedly in talks about track gauge, line direction and expense allocations with the tipped 17 countries. However, many observers are skeptical of estimates that the network could be completed over the next 10 years. Beijing must also ensure the long-term profitability of the railways in order to make the huge investment necessary for the project justifiable. So far the only portion of China's planned network actually under construction is a link between Yunnan province and northern Myanmar.

China has offered to bankroll the construction of new routes and upgrades to Myanmar's existing system in exchange for access to the country's rich natural resources. Wang Mengshu, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University and a key member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told German Magazine Der Spiegel in March "We will obtain commodities that the huge Chinese population needs. [Myanmar], for instance, has no money but plenty of resources. We will help such underdeveloped countries to build railroads and to exploit their resources. Many countries have oil, gas and water resources."

In addition to providing expanded export routes for Chinese goods from its remote southwestern region, the railways will also enable more efficient transportation of energy resources from suppliers in the Middle East and Africa. New deep-sea ports at Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh and Kyaukphyu and Dawei in Myanmar will with new rail links cut almost in half the distance needed to transport oil from the Middle East and Africa by sea.

The new ports and rail links will provide alternative routes for Chinese strategic resources that avoid potential maritime bottleneck areas such as the Malacca Straits, where currently as much as 80% of China's imported energy travels. Strategic analysts have noted that the US could block those energy flows in a potential conflict with China.

China and Bangladesh have discussed establishing a rail link between Kunming and a new deep sea port project under construction at Cox's Bazaar via Myanmar's rail network. An agreement with Dhaka has yet to be signed, but the proposed 111-kilometer route is expected to pass through eastern Bangladesh to Gundum in Myanmar where it will either connect with Myanmar's existing rail network or with the new high-speed route.

Regardless of Chinese assistance, Dhaka seems eager to construct a railway to the Myanmar border. In July 2010, Dhaka announced plans to build a railway to the Myanmar border by 2014 at a cost of $260 million. Construction of the single-track meter gauge route was set to begin in July, but some Bangladeshi observers say this may be more talk than substance. Chinese involvement, however, would put more financial firepower behind Dhaka's plans.

Bangladesh-Myanmar ties have been problematic in recent years due to disputes over their shared border, Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, as well as smuggling and ownership disputes of lucrative offshore oil and gas deposits. A new rail link, however, may go some way to interconnecting their economies and reducing the possibilities of further disputes.

India, not to be outdone by Chinese financing of Myanmar's railway infrastructure, authorized its state-owned EXIM Bank to lend $60 million to Naypyidaw to finance railway projects. The announcement of the funding came during a recent visit by Myanmar leader Senior General Than Shwe to New Delhi where he met with Indian leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

India's assistance is a component of its ambitious Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) project to link New Delhi with Hanoi by rail. India signed a pact for the project in 2000 with Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia. As part of the project, it has extended a $56 million line of credit to Naypyidaw to construct modern railway facilities in its central and northwestern regions. New Delhi has also assisted in the upgrading of the central Yangon-Mandalay rail line.

In order to connect the two countries by rail, Indian Railways has begun initial preparations to extend a broad gauge track from Jiribam in southwestern Manipur state to Moreh on the border with Myanmar. The line will connect with a proposed track in Myanmar from the current railhead at Segyi in its western Sagaing Division to the town of Tamu on the Myanmar-India border.

An established rail link between India and Myanmar would also allow for the more efficient shipment of goods between India and China. Trade between the two countries has been fast growing. China is now India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade projected to have reached $60 billion last year. While rivals for influence in the region, especially in Myanmar, their economies are becoming increasingly interdependent despite complaints by some Indian businessmen carping about a trade imbalance which favors China.

Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MA08Ae01.html
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Did Shan army become militia units because of free car licenses?
Friday, 07 January 2011 16:02 Hseng Khio Fah

According to latest sources coming from the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ areas, some of the SSA brigades that transformed themselves into junta-formed militia units have recently received dozens of car licenses by the ruling military junta.

Two weeks ago, Brig-Gen Aung Kyaw Zaw, Commander of the Northeastern Region Command, has granted car licenses to the transformed groups of SSA ‘North’s 3rd Brigade, 7th Brigade and its Hsengkaoew Headquarters.

The licenses are for about 30 cars, with a value of nearly 1,000 million Kyat (US $). In Burma, the cost of a license is about Kyat 3 million (US $) each.

“Before the Shan army accepted the program, the junta’s top negotiator had promised them that they would be granted car licenses if the group transformed into border guard forces,” a source said.

According to him, the promise was given by former Chief of Military Affairs Security (MAS) Lt-Gen Ye Myint to SSA ‘North’’s former Chairman Maj-Gen Loi Mao at the headquarters of the Northeastern Region Command.

It is apparent that the transformed militia units will be treated differently from non militia units which have already been seen with Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’. For instance, the SSA’s 1st Brigade, which did not accept the BGF program, was attacked by the Burma Army five times.

Regardless, the transformed groups have not received any other significant benefits, only the car licenses, a source close to the SSA said. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3401:did-shan-army-become-militia-units-because-of-free-car-licenses&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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REPATRIATION BY FORCE
Thailand again sullies its human rights record

* Published: 7/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: News

Deja vu is a French term meaning "already seen". Refoulement is also French, meaning "to force back". Upon receiving a report on Christmas Day that Thai authorities had just forced back 166 refugees to Burma, I knew that I had seen this before - at Christmas 2009 in fact.

An armed Thai soldier stands guard as Burmese refugees wait for food at a border police base in Mae Sot on Nov 9 last year. Before the year ended many of the refugees were forcibly sent back to Burma.

Indeed, only a year ago this weekend, a colleague and I had written an article in this newspaper decrying the Thai government's 2009 record on refugee protection. In late December 2009 - likewise seemingly calculated to coincide with the slowest week of the year - the army forcibly returned to Laos around 4,500 ethnic minority Hmong, among whom were 158 recognised refugees and many other asylum seekers.

A year later, only the facts had changed: the 166 refugees forcibly returned on Dec 25 had fled fighting in eastern Burma between the Burmese army and several ethnic minority armed groups. Of these refugees, 120 were women and children. They had taken refuge in Waw Lay village in Phop Phra district of Tak province, where authorities had likewise forced back at least 360 Burmese refugees on Dec 8, roughly 650 on Nov 17, and approximately 2,500 on Nov 10, 2010.

Along with the year-end symmetry, however, the human rights violations are the same. Everyone has the right to seek asylum, and those recognised as refugees have a right to not be sent back to fighting or persecution - the principle of non-refoulement.

The Thai government denied this right to the 166 people from Burma, all considered refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The fact that Thailand has not ratified the UN Refugee Convention makes no difference: like the prohibition against torture, non-refoulement is customary international law, meaning that it applies to all states regardless of their treaty obligations. Once again, Thailand has committed a clear and direct violation of international refugee law.

Despite the ugly precedent set a year earlier, this action still came as a shock, given that on Oct 7 the Thai Foreign Ministry had publicly denied any "plans to repatriate to Burma displaced persons after the [Burmese] elections". It was election day itself, Nov 7, when the first of roughly 20,000 refugees from Burma began to arrive in Thailand. And on Dec 6 - though after several incidents of refoulement had already occurred - Tak Governor Samart Loifa was quoted in this newspaper as stating that Thailand would not send refugees back as long as the fighting continued. This, sadly, was often not the case, for while most refugees have returned to Burma, many - like the 166 on Christmas - did so involuntarily. And the fighting has continued throughout.

My colleague and I concluded in our article a year ago that "Thailand's disregard for its international legal obligations should not go without a response by the international community", and I can only restate that now. UNHCR, which issued a statement in late December calling on Thailand to not forcibly return the 166, should condemn the action and reiterate its call vis-a-vis all refugees who remain in Thailand or may yet arrive. Embassies in Bangkok should do likewise, while countries on the UN Human Rights Council (which includes Thailand as a member and Thailand's ambassador to Geneva as its president) should also raise concerns about this violation.

Indeed, it is now too late for the 166 Burmese refugees who have been forcibly returned, just as it was in 2009 for the 158 Lao Hmong refugees. But given ongoing conflict in Burma, refugees from there will continue to cross the border during 2011. Thailand, regardless of which party is in power, must acknowledge and uphold its international legal obligations. Once is already once too often for human rights deja vu.

Benjamin Zawacki is Amnesty International's researcher on Thailand and Burma. http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/214831/thailand-again-sullies-its-human-rights-record
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DEEP-SEA PORT PROJECT
Roadshow to Burma slated for January 18
By WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG
THE NATION
Published on January 7, 2011

Industry Minister Chaiwuti Bannawat will lead a Thai delegation to Burma later this month for talks about the establishment of an upstream steel project at Dawei (Tavoy) - the site of a proposed deep-sea port adjacent to Kanchanaburi province.
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Chaiwuti said he would visit the capital Naypyidaw and meet the Burmese minister who oversees industrial development. Thai investors accompanying him will be taken to Dawei, where the deep-sea port and industrial complex are planned.

Chaiwuti said it was possible that some industries could be diverted to Burma, such as the upstream steel project, as a joint investment scheme involving both countries.

"We'll see what investment opportunities we can explore, in the areas of the deep-sea port and logistics. Our view is that Asean will come under one roof after the Asean Economic Community [comes into effect], and Thailand could be the investment centre," he said.

Chaiwuti, who had a meeting with overseas officials of the Board of Investment this week, said the BoI's new mission was to promote Thai investment overseas and woo foreign investment into Thailand. The foreign investors targeted by Thailand are still those from the United States, Europe and Japan, as well as those from new targets like China and India.

The Board of Investment expects to receive applications for privileges covering investments worth Bt400 billion this year, compared with Bt447 billion in 2010. The 2010 figure fell short of the BoI's target of Bt500 billion.

Despite the low figure, Chaiwuti said Thailand was ranked 15th in the world in terms of investment expansion last year, and fifth in Asia after China, India, Hong Kong and Singapore.

"Thailand has some competitive advantages to draw foreign investment," he said, giving as examples its geographical location, infrastructure and hospitality.

However, he said that for its continued prosperity, Thailand had to improve in many areas, particularly the country's political condition and its regulatory framework, to avoid more conflicts like the 3G issue.

BoI officials have been urged to work hand in hand with the Foreign Affairs and Commerce ministries. They should also offer privileges for value-chain investments, like those that add value to rubber, or are environmentally-friendly, the minister said.

The BOI is also planning to open a new office in Mumbai, India, to facilitate investments to and from India. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2011/01/07/business/Roadshow-to-Burma-slated-for-January-18-30145879.html
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Interest in Travel to Myanmar Surges
- January 6, 2011

With the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in November 2010, many travelers now feel more comfortable visiting Myanmar (Burma), a destination that many had felt discouraged to visit in the past.

Yet, visiting Myanmar, the land of a million pagodas, is a retreat to a country whose great allure lies in its warm-hearted and welcoming people, peaceful Buddhist culture and bucolic landscape.

Asia Transpacific Journeys, the nation's leading tour company specializing exclusively in Custom Journeys and Small Group Trips in the Asia/Pacific region, is reporting that bookings to this intriguing country have almost tripled year over year. The company has been organizing travel to Myanmar for the past 15 years and is the hands-down Burma expert in the industry.

Marilyn Downing-Staff, Asia Transpacific Journeys' founder and President, says: "It's a golden moment to see Myanmar and take a step back in time to the Southeast Asia of old. The country still moves via ox cart, water buffalo plough the fields and smiling children run to greet the traveler."

Ms. Downing Staff made her first visit to the country in 1987 and describes travel to Burma as captivating - "a place that I go back to time and again, to renew my deep affection for Southeast Asia's people. " Many of Asia Transpacific Journeys' travelers have made friends for life with the hospitable Burmese people and there is no better place to immerse one's self in Asian culture than in Burma, according to Ms. Downing Staff. The country offers tremendous value, with comfortable to luxurious accommodations and attentive service. English is widely spoken, making it easy for travelers to interact with the locals.

Asia Transpacific Journeys' Small Group tour "Burma - Land of the Golden Pagoda" January 2011 departure is sold out and demand for their custom journeys to Myanmar have also risen considerably in recent months. Their list of Myanmar travel tours include three expertly led small group trips with five annual departures, as well as customized, privately guided tours.

The company's next Small Group tour "Hidden Burma" departs January 28 and "Burma—Land of the Golden Pagoda" departs again in October, while Custom Journeys can be arranged at any time of the year, with October through February being the best time to visit.

Highlights of a custom trip to Myanmar include witnessing the annual Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival, one of the most popular pagoda festivals in Myanmar, where thousands of floating luminaries dot Inle Lake for the first few nights of the festival. Other highlights include riding bicycles at sunrise through the countryside around Bagan or through the Lisu and Rawang tribal villages in the far north, or enjoying a spectacular sunrise balloon ride over the temples of Bagan, the former capital of several ancient kingdoms in Myanmar.

Asia Transpacific Journeys also recommends visiting lesser-known areas of the country such as the mountainous areas of extreme northern Myanmar or some of the remote towns of Shan State including Hsipaw, Kengtung and Putao. "The morning markets in these areas are second to none in Southeast Asia, filled with colorfully dressed tribal villagers, local crafts and freshly prepared food", says Ms. Downing Staff.
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China to rebuild the allies' wartime lifeline through Burma
Dean Nelson, The Daily Telegraph
January 6, 2011
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China is to rebuild Burma's historic "Stilwell Road", the route from India used by British and American forces to supply Chinese troops in the battle against Japanese occupation during the Second World War.

The road was named after the American general "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell by Chiang Kai-shek, China's nationalist leader, to honour his determination to find a faster way to get more military supplies from India to Kunming.

Allied forces had been hampered after Japanese troops seized the Burma Road, and were forced to transport supplies to their Chinese allies by air over the Himalayas. U.S. army engineers started work on the 478-mile road from Ledo in Assam (now in Arunachal Pradesh), India, to Mogaung in Burma in 1942.

With the help of Chinese troops, they cut through the high Pangsau Pass as an alternative route to Burma at Mu-se in January, 1945.

Gen Stilwell was a bitter critic of Winston Churchill's decision to focus Britain's war effort on the fight against German forces in Europe and believed it was more concerned with retaining its colonies than defeating imperial Japan.

The road is now to be rebuilt by the Yunnan Construction Engineering Company in a joint venture with the Burmese military-backed Yuzana Group.

The deal was signed by Burmese ministers and leaders of the Yunnan Communist Party on Nov 22. A 194-mile stretch of road will be built from Myitkyina to the Pangsau Pass, close to the Indian border.

The plans have added to concerns in India about China's territorial claims in Arunachal Pradesh. In recent months, tension has grown between New Delhi and Beijing over China's claim to sovereignty over Tawang district, which it claims is part of Tibet.

India is also disappointed that its own hopes of constructing the road have been quashed. Security commentators, however, said that while the road could pose a strategic threat to India if relations with China deteriorated, it could also lead to greater trade between India and both Burma and China. "It could be a good thing or a bad thing," said Vikram Sood, the former head of India's main intelligence agency. "It could serve either trade or military purposes. It was a vital road to China during the Second World War and it remains so. Whether it is good or bad depends on how we take care of our interests."

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Luc Besson quietly filming Aung San Suu Kyi biopic in Paris already

Filming started on the movie about the Burmese opposition leader last year and Deadline Hollywood claims it has resumed in Paris.

It's been reported Besson has been trying to keep filming on The Lady as quiet as possible because of the political situation after Suu Kyi's release from prison in November.

Besson has been shooting the movie in Oxford, England, as well as Bangkok, Thailand, and it is claimed they were filming in Bangkok on the day of Suu Kyi's release two months ago.

The movie follows Suu Kyi's decision whether to fly back to England and look after her dying husband, who will be played by David Thewlis, or continue fighting for Burma's democracy.

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