Lawyer: Snake strangulation an accident
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Testimony is under way in the trial of a Sumter County couple whose Burmese python attacked and killed a 2-year-old girl.
Suu Kyi's father Gen. Aung San is an independence hero who was assassinated in 1947.
Suu Kyi has spent much of the last decade detained by authorities in the repressive nation. She was freed from house arrest in November.
Her spokesman Han Thar Myint told reporters Monday the government had invited her to attend Tuesday's ceremony at a mausoleum near the famous Shwedagon pagoda in Myanmar's main city Yangon.
The ceremony's scope has gradually been downgraded since Suu Kyi rose to prominence in a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that was crushed by the junta.
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In 1989, following the collapse of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), a number of armed ethnic armies entered into a series of ceasefire agreements with Rangoon. The fighting stopped, to a degree, but deep down nobody believed it would last. It was just a matter of time before the various groups resumed fighting.
For more than two decades, the so-called peace deals rested on shaky ground with little effort to resolve differences and allow them to integrate into Burmese society and administration. The ethnic armies held their turf, running special administrative areas with a high degree of autonomy. Some entered into the lucrative drug trade. Others went into logging and gems.
The ceasefire deals were the work of former security tsar General Khin Nyunt in the years following the bloody crackdown on huge nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988. But with the regime intelligence chief ousted and put under house arrest in October 2004, things haven't been the same. Hardliners in junta were determined to disband the ethnic armies and put them under the command of the country's notorious army, locally known as the Tatmadaw.
Other groups who refused to come into the "legal fold", such as the Karen National Union, continued their armed struggle. Gross human rights violations have been committed for many years as the Tatmadaw classed civilians in areas where rebel forces were active as allies of enemy fighters. Rangoon intentionally uprooted and attacked civilians in a bid to deny rebel groups any form of support. This tactic, part of the notorious 'Four Cuts' policy, displaced hundreds of thousands of villagers, many of whom made their way to refugee camps dotted along the Thai-Burma border. But the Tatmadaw didn't stop there. Rape was has long been employed as part of their ugly tactics to demoralise ethnic armies and the local population.
A hard-hitting report released in 2002 by the Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) - 'A Licence to Rape' - outlined in great detail the use of such a despicable ploy. International organisations and foreign governments looked into the allegations and confirmed the practice really was occurring. That was nine years ago. The junta denied it - as they do with virtually every accusation - but things appear to have hardly changed over the past decade.
Today, with a number of former ceasefire groups facing the guns of the Burmese military, the use of rape has extended to women from these ethnic communities as well. At this moment, the northern part of Shan State is the centre of attention. The area is of "crucial strategic importance for Burma's military rulers, who are seeking to secure it for major Chinese investments, including hydropower dams and transnational gas and oil pipelines," according to a recent statement released by SWAN and the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF).
"Foreign governments dealing with Burma should not be silent about these atrocities. 'Business as usual' means ongoing rape in our communities," SWAN's Hseng Moon said. The latest report about rapes in Shan State comes only weeks after the Kachin Women's Association Thailand denounced the rape of 18 women and girls during renewed fighting last month in Kachin State in the far north.
Rape brings stigma, shame, and reluctance on the part of victims to speak out about what happened to them. But an increasing number of women and girls from Burma - the ones that survived - have begun to tell of their experiences of rape and other forms of sexual violence in the country's war-torn areas. Burmese Army deserters confirm that rapes occur regularly and usually go unpunished. The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women has published material that corroborates details in 'A Licence to Rape' and adds many new cases.
Nevertheless, years on, a UN investigation has yet to take place, because the military junta refuses to grant the UN access to the country. Incidents of rape continue to be reported, and the Burmese military must surely know what is happening. But the junta engages in Orwellian double-speak. It has rejected the reports, instead launching its own investigations, which are conducted in such a manner one can hardly have confidence in their credibility.
While the United Nations and a number of Western countries have spoken out against the use of rape in Burma's military campaigns, members of the Asean community have been conspicuously quiet.
In 2000, the UN Security Council recognised that gender-based violence thwarts security and adopted Resolution 1325, which calls on parties in conflict to respect the rights of women and children, and particularly to prevent gender-based violence. In 2004, Asean governments vowed to end the impunity states like Burma have enjoyed and signed the Declaration to Eliminate Violence Against Women in this region. But these resolutions won't mean much unless action is taken.
Burma refuses to live up to the standards of decency that Asean has set for itself. That says a lot about its government and its military. But what about Asean countries and the organisation itself? Surely more can be done. Sadly, there seems to be little political will to do anything about ongoing atrocities in Burma. Asean needs to act, because its credibility erodes every day that nothing is done.
The family of a soldier who survived three years of forced labour on the Burma Railway have donated his medals to his regimental museum.
Kenneth McLeod, from Bridge of Weir, died in March this year, aged 92.He was captured by the Japanese during World War II and endured injury, severe conditions and the threat of execution.
Mr McLeod's family are donating his war medals, Glengarry bonnet and sporran to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum at Stirling Castle.
The former soldier was based at Stirling Castle more than 70 years ago.
He was sent with the Argylls for training in jungle warfare in Malaya and was there when Imperial Japanese forces landed unexpectedly.
He fought with the 2nd Battalion at the Battle of Slim River but was cut off and stranded behind enemy lines and eventually captured.
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“Start Quote
End Quote Moira Johnston Kenneth McLeod's daughterWe would hear the funny stories from the army but not much about anything else. He kept those experiences to himself”
After recovering from paralysis brought on by poisoning he joined forced labour groups used for the construction of the Burma Railway and the bridge over the River Kwai.
Mr McLeod had volunteered to go to Siam rather than return to Singapore with wounded prisoners, but sabotaged his own work by farming termite eggs which he placed on joints and uprights.
His hand had also been badly injured but he continued laying rails and using a sledgehammer to chisel rock for blasting cuttings through the hillsides.
After the railway was completed the Japanese segregated Mr McLeod and the other Allied officers from the enlisted men.
He later discovered they were all to be executed but the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, forcing the Japanese surrender and the end of the war, is believed to have saved his life by 48 hours.
His daughter, Moira Johnston, said: "The army was a huge part of his life and I think it's appropriate that his medals, Glengarry and sporran are going to the regimental museum at Stirling Castle.
"As children we would hear the funny stories from the army but not much about anything else. He kept those experiences to himself."
In 2004 August, activists in ASEAN area launched an international campaign calling for Burma to be disqualified from chairing the regional bloc in 2006, saying it would affects the grouping’s credibility and reputation.
At that time, a delegation led by Dr Gothom Ariya, the then secretary-general of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) presented Thai Foreign Ministry officials an open letter with signatures by organizations from the region, East Asia, Europe and North America. Copies of the letter addressed to respective ASEAN governments were delivered by a group of activists to member nations’ embassies in Bangkok.
The Then activists spotlighted the ASEAN diplomats in Bangkok especially about a vital report – ‘A Licence to Rape’ – released in 2002 by the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN). It described thoroughly the use of rape or shameful maneuver by the Burmese soldiers. The accusations were scrutinized and confirmed International organizations and foreign governments that using rape as weapon really was taking place. As the report exposed concrete evidences, the junta’s denial of it was in vain.
Moreover, the activists also explained about the most atrocious chapter of contemporary Burmese history or the latest assassination attempt by the Burmese military junta on the pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi – leader of the National League of Democracy (NLD) and her entourage at Dapeyin on 30 May 2003. Burmese troops and government sponsored goons and thugs attacked the NLD motorcade led by Aung San Suu Kyi who fortunately survived with injuries, subsequently arrested and put under house arrest.
The officials from the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon visited the site of the May 30 violent attack on Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters and told that there was a premeditated ambush on the Lady’s motorcade. Circumstances and reports from local residents around Dapeyin indicated that the regime-backed thugs conducted the attack.
As a result, Burma lost its opportunity of becoming chairman of the ASEAN in 2006 due to tough international disapproval.
Now, another chance for Burma comes out again in 2014. Senior diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are likely to think about international opinion when they decide on whether to allow Burma to chair the regional grouping by 2014.
“We live, interact, synergize and benefit from our relationship with the (rest of the) world. Certainly we will be open to hear their sentiments,” Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN secretary-general, told reporters Jakarta on 13 July, according to Ria Rose Uro (Interaksyon.com).
He emphasized that “ASEAN is where it is (today) because of the goodwill of dialogue partners.”
The secretary-general is attending the ministerial meetings which will run from July 15 to 23. Consideration of the matter is with the foreign ministers meeting (FMM).
Earlier, Indonesian parliamentarian Eva Kusuma Sundari, president of the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC), warned about the potential backlash from Western governments should Burma (Myanmar) take over ASEAN’s chairmanship.
Sundari said that based on their interactions with government officials in Australia, the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), the would-be impact “will not be good for ASEAN as a whole.”
“You cannot help it. These governments still look at Aung San Suu Kyi as the icon of democracy in Myanmar,” she stressed.
However, most important point to put into consideration for Burma is no other than its human rights record.
Human Rights Watch pointed out in its 6 May Statement that Burma has failed to address concerns repeatedly raised by ASEAN leaders in past summits.
“Rewarding Burma with ASEAN’s chairmanship after it staged sham elections and still holds 2,000 political prisoners would be an embarrassment for the region,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) released a press statement on 21 June denouncing the Burmese government’s armed forces for using use of rape as a weapon of war in northern Burma offensive. According to the press release, at least 18 women and girls were gang raped by Burmese soldiers; four of whom were killed after being raped. The soldiers killed three girls and raped a woman in front of her husband, who was then forced to work for them. In frontline areas, Burmese soldiers are committing crimes freely as there are no effective or appropriate penalties in place by senior authorities.
A press release has been delivered 14 July by the Shan Women’s Action Network (SWAN) and the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) condemning Burma Army of using rape as war weapon. The Burma Army is clearly authorizing rape as a terror policy in its offensive against the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), according to information documented by SWAN and SHRF.
In such a situation, ASEAN must think very cautiously to accept Burma at its chair so as to avoid the grouping’s ethical standard. It will be better for ASEAN to support a UN-led ‘Commission of Inquiry’ into longstanding allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Burma.
The man, Htoo Htoo Han, told The Age yesterday he can no longer keep his past a secret and has begged for forgiveness from the families of his victims.
''I want to apologise to the people of Burma,'' he said. ''I want to say sorry for what I've done, please forgive me for what I did, for the people who will never come home.
''I have achieved a lot in Australia, I've become an artist, been involved in global justice issues, environmental issues. I'm a changed person.
''So I became very guilty about something I did when I was very young. I have nightmares, I couldn't sleep, I struggle with this nightmare for a very long time. Sooner or later, the truth will come out.''
Mr Han - an Australian citizen who has married and has three young children - has been a prominent figure in the Burmese refugee community in Australia, which was yesterday reeling in the wake of the 44-year-old artist's claims, originally reported by Australian Associated Press.
Mr Han told The Age yesterday he could not remember exactly how many people he had ''destroyed'' while working undercover for the military intelligence service in the wake of the anti-regime uprising in 1988. It is impossible to verify Mr Han's claims, but he provided The Age with a list of 24 people aged between 18 and 48 he claims to have murdered, along with the locations in which the killings took place and descriptions such as ''student'', ''Islam'' and ''Burmese Communist Party''. He said the actual number of people he killed was greater.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Robert McClelland described the claims as ''extremely serious'' and said they would be referred to the AFP for ''assessment''.
''Australia has a strong framework in place for protecting the Australian community from the perpetrators of war crimes and for ensuring their proper investigation and prosecution,'' the spokesman said.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop last night called for Mr Han's claims to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation.
Mr Han said that as a young army officer, he was ordered to infiltrate the student opposition movement. He then identified targets for assassination and arranged for them to be arrested by security services.
He said he would then put a hood over their heads and shoot them in the back of the head. Their bodies were taken to a cave to be burned and their ashes thrown into a river, leaving no evidence of the executions.
Mr Han said he spared many of his intended victims because of their age, or because he knew them or their families.
He said he was later imprisoned in Burma in order to spy on opposition members in jail, before travelling to Thailand in 1993 and infiltrating the Burmese student movement in exile. He arrived in Australia in 1996 and was eventually given citizenship.
Burmese community members were in shock yesterday over Mr Han's claims.
Prominent Burmese dissident Dr Myint Cho said he found it difficult to believe Mr Han was capable of what he claimed to have done.
''To be frank, Htoo Htoo Han is unlikely to be a war criminal,'' Dr Cho said.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/burma-refugee-says-he-was-a-killer-20110718-1hlpy.html#ixzz1SXrv1I38
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/burma-refugee-says-he-was-a-killer-20110718-1hlpy.html#ixzz1SXrcfmbo
2010年に作成され、監督ティッ。ターとビルマのコミュニティで、日本でイラワジ川の悲しみは、俳優として参加、サイクロンナルギスでの静物を失った人々に捧げビルマの映画です。
Junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe made the assessment about the country's first elections in two decades in a speech marking National Day, which celebrates a 1920 student strike against British colonialism.
According to the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, Than Shwe said the successful completion of "free and fair elections" left just two steps to complete in the junta's self-styled 'roadmap to democracy:' convening Parliament and building a modern developed democratic nation with a Head of State elected by Parliament.
Government opponents and outside observers were critical of the Nov. 7 polls, saying they were held under unfair conditions and that the results were manipulated to allow the military-backed party to win.
The U.N. special envoy to Myanmar said Sunday that he told the military government that it must address concerns about the polls. Vijay Nambiar, speaking after a two-day visit, said concerns about the elections have to be addressed "as transparently as possible."
"This is important for laying the foundation of a credible transition" to democratic rule, he said.
Than Shwe in his speech said that plans were now under way "to hand over state power to the public."
Although final official results have yet to be announced, a tabulation based on reports in state media shows the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party garnered nearly 80 percent of the seats in the two-house Union Parliament.
The election results assure that the military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, will continue to wield decisive power.
The disbanded party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi also marked National Day, with the 65-year old Nobel Peace laureate, recently released from 7 1/2 years of detention, calling for unity, courage and perseverance to achieve peace, security and prosperity. She called on the junta to release all political prisoners.
calendar, 1st December on this year’s Western calendar. It is a day of abrupt change in political meaning, which celebrates a boycott by university students of the nation protesting the British colonial regime’s the 1920-Act of Rangoon University. People of Burma believe the 1920-boycott as the country’s foremost step towards independence. The 1920 Rangoon University Act gave access to higher education only for students from the wealthiest families. However, students from poor families had no chance to study University education. Thus, the University Student’s called for boycott in due course to review the act.
Burma’s universities have produced many national figures; the most outstanding student leader was Aung San, father of Democracy Icon Aung San Suu Kyi. In the 1988 revolution, student leaders were also the initiators of the nation-wide uprising. National Day in Burma has become an important strong linkage between political and educational liberty.
On Wednesday (1st December, 2010), Burma’s key figure of democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi urged political leaders and their parties, social workers and their civil networks, citizens and civil-servants including military personnel to be courageous, unyielding and united in joining political activities as the country needs their contributions. In an interview with the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), Aung San Suu Kyi said the first step toward national reconciliation is to "change the people's mindsets."
Suu Kyi, General-Secretary of the NLD, also said that she is ready to work in partnership with anyone or any group that is trying to endorse national reconciliation, in a speech on 1st December on the 90th anniversary of National Day at the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
According to her, the NLD has been alive as a political party, not for the party's survival but to work for the people.
“I have worked to accomplish national reconciliation, and I will keep struggling to endorse national reconciliation,” she said.
“The current education system in Burma has many weak points,” Burma’s Nobel peace laureate said in her National Day talk. “If the citizens are weak in education, there will be many negative consequences. We have to reduce those weaknesses in the education system.”
On the same day, Burma’s Junta chief Senior General Than Shwe made the assessment regarding the country's first elections in two decades in a speech marking National Day, which honors the 1920 student boycott against British colonialism.
According to the junta’s mouthpiece newspaper New Light of Myanmar, Than Shwe said the triumphant achievement of "free-and-fair elections" left just two steps to complete in the junta's self-styled 'roadmap to democracy'; the remaining two steps are to hand over state power to the public through Parliament and to construct an advanced developed democratic nation with a Head of State elected by Parliament.
The junta’s challengers and political analysts have been criticizing the 7-November polls as launching under unfair setting and that the voting-stations were handled by the military and its followers giving favor to the junta-backed party.
For that reason, numerous nations condemned the voting as a charade due to unfair election laws that barred many opposition parties and candidates to take part in the polls.
In the meantime, the NLD is in the hunt for a judicial resolution to restore the party as a legal political party after losing its status in last May after it refused to reregister for the recent election. The party boycotted the voting to complain the biased law that forced to drop Aung San Suu Kyi as a member if the NLD wanted to contest in the polls.
The NLD on this occasion of the 90th Anniversary National Day released an announcement urging the military regime to release all political prisoners without delay so as to commence a process of national reconciliation.
The special news for this ceremony is Journalist U Win Tin sent message for burma democratic activity in Japan , and his message show the way what Burmese activits must follow the meaning of Burma national day , the message was got by phone , Burma Campign Japan reporter Ye Min Oo has request message from U Win Tin , yesterday . The complete message was shown by video files on Burma Campaign Japan web site ,and also the ceremony with performance video recorded news also available at http://www.burmacampaignjapan.net/ BCJP Television News .
Reported by Kyaw Hlaing Aye ( Director )
National Day is a public holiday in Myanmar.
As National Days go, they often celebrate independence of a region or country from harsh political or military rule. Often the history of the National Day involves a deposed leader, an expelled governing body, or the start of a revolution. In most cases, a new government is installed, a new constitution ratified, or genuine change is enacted. However, there are rare cases when the celebration comes full circle and turns into a call for new revolution. National Day in the Union of Myanmar typifies this very well.
History of Myanmar National Day
Before there was Myanmar, there was Burma. Burma was conquered by the British in 1824, and it remained in full British control until around 1886 when a majority of the country fell under British India and was ruled as a province.Growing anti-British sentiment by the Buddhist and student communities increasingly caused friction for British India. In 1919, Buddhist monks of the Eindawya Pagoda in Mandalay tried to physically evict Europeans that refused to respect local custom and remove their shoes before entering the pagoda. In a controversial move by the British, the leader of those monks was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder.
On December 5, 1920, tempers flared when Rangoon University students protested against new government regulations made by the British. News of the protests spread throughout the land, and many more schools held protests of their own. This day is considered the source of National Day in Myanmar, a day that marks the real beginning of mass protests against British control. However, it wasn’t until January 4, 1948 that Burma gained its independence from Britain.
Myanmar National Day Traditions, Customs and Activities
It’s worth noting a few things about this particular holiday. First, Myanmar’s National Day is the only non-religious public holiday celebrated. Second, the actual date of this holiday changes every year. The actual date of celebration is determined by the Myanmar lunar calendar, and it falls on the tenth day after the full moon in the month of Tazaungmon. (Tazaungmon roughly falls between October and November.)Finally, it should be noted that today Myanmar is politically in nearly identical chaos to that of early British colonial times. While
National Day typically celebrates the start of protests in 1920 against the British occupation, today National Day is frequently marked by protests against the current ruling military junta. Buddhist monks, students, and even the international community turn out to the protests with cries for revolution anew.
2010年に作成され、監督ティッ。ターとビルマのコミュニティで、日本でイラワジ川の悲しみは、俳優として参加、サイクロンナルギスでの静物を失った人々に捧げビルマの映画です。
Four time bombs were found and defused this week at a hotel in downtown Yangon, Myanmar’s state-controlled press reported on Friday. Thanks to a “duty conscious citizen,” authorities found two suspicious-looking packages on Wednesday under a table in an Internet shop at a hotel, the Myanma Ahlin
The explosives were discovered as the country copes with the political aftermath of its first election in two decades and the freeing of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi last week.
Though terrorism is rare, several bomb blasts have rocked Myanmar this year, including three in Yangon that killed nine people and wounded 170. The military government usually blames exiled opposition groups for such incidents.
The newspaper warned that terrorists and unscrupulous elements are carrying out destructive acts to harm the public, and authorities urged citizens to inform them of any suspicious activities.
Myanmar held a general election November 7 and results so far released showed the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party gaining a majority of seats, including Prime Minister Thein Sein.
newspaper said. The bomb squad defused the four explosive devices and were looking for the “terrorists who planted the bombs,” it said.
The explosives were discovered as the country copes with the political aftermath of its first election in two decades and the freeing of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi last week.
Though terrorism is rare, several bomb blasts have rocked Myanmar this year, including three in Yangon that killed nine people and wounded 170. The military government usually blames exiled opposition groups for such incidents.
The newspaper warned that terrorists and unscrupulous elements are carrying out destructive acts to harm the public, and authorities urged citizens to inform them of any suspicious activities.
Myanmar held a general election November 7 and results so far released showed the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party gaining a majority of seats, including Prime Minister Thein Sein.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Suu Kyi called her detention illegal and said she was released simply because the decreed period of her house arrest had ended.
"I don't think there were any other reasons," she said in her small, Spartan office, decorated with little except a vase of flowers and a black and white photograph of her late father, Aung San, who helped lead colonial Burma to independence from Britain. "My detention had come to an end, and there were no immediate means of extending it."
The 65-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, set free from her lakeside residence Saturday, has made it clear she plans to pursue her goal of a democratic Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, but has been careful not to verbally challenge the junta or call for its overthrow.
Her most recent detention began in 2003 after she was blamed for an attack by government thugs on her convoy. It was extended in 2009 when she briefly sheltered an American man who swam uninvited to her decaying villa.
"I never should have faced detention," she said.
Since Saturday, though, the generals and their longtime archrival have had no contact.
"I haven't seen any sign of the junta at all since I came out. They haven't made any move to let us know what they feel about the situation," said Suu Kyi, an unflappable and deeply charismatic woman who speaks with an upper-class British accent.
She added, though, that her goals would not change: "I had better go on living until I see a democratic Burma," she said, laughing.
She has called for face-to-face talks with junta leader Gen. Than Shwe to reach national reconciliation
For years, the military regime of resource-rich Myanmar has blunted the impact of US and European punitive measures by cultivating trade and investment links with neighbours led by Thailand, China, India, Singapore and Malaysia.
Suu Kyi's freedom and this month's rare election may reduce the stigma of doing business with Myanmar, even though her party boycotted the vote and the results were dismissed as a sham by much of the outside world.
"It is a welcome sign. We hope this is the start for a change and that it will encourage more investments in Myanmar," said a senior official from the Malaysian trade ministry who declined to be named.
But opponents of the junta fear that any increased money flowing into the impoverished country will not improve the lives of ordinary people.
Myanmar is one of the world's least developed countries, with nearly a third of the population living below the poverty line as the generals and their associates exploit raw materials for their own benefit.
Asian neighbours China, India, and Thailand already overlook human rights concerns in favour of engagement with Myanmar, which boasts oil, gas and other natural resources as well as tremendous tourism potential.
India gave Myanmar leader Than Shwe a red-carpet welcome in July and the two countries signed pacts on border security, road building and finance.
But for India, as the world's largest democracy, Myanmar's recent moves could ease domestic political pressure not to prop up the regime.
"The release of Aung Sang Suu Kyi gives India a greater diplomatic space to engage with Myanmar without the fear of being criticised while dealing with the military dictatorship regime," said C. Uday Bhaskar, director of the New Delhi think-tank National Maritime Foundation.
He is one of the Thai delegates at the Acmecs Summit. Acmecs or the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy is a cooperation framework covering Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam.
TAVOY DEEP-SEA PORT
Tanit said there was no mention of the name of the deep-sea port but it was acknowledged as the Tavoy deep-sea port project.
The South-South Economic Corridor would also complement the Bt200-billion railroad project with proposed financing by China from Nong Khai in the northeast of Thailand, through Bangkok and the south of Thailand to Padang Besar in Malaysia. It would be an extension of the railroad to be built in Laos to connect the south of China.
This would be a new gateway following the East-West Economic Corridor, linking Burma to Vietnam via Thailand and Laos, and the North-South Economic Corridor, connecting Kunming in the south of China to the south of Thailand.
Italian-Thai Development, Thailand's largest construction company, on November 2 signed the framework agreement with the Burmese Port Authority to develop the Tavoy Deep Sea Port, industrial estate and road link to Thailand. The total project value is US$8.6 billion, or about Bt260 billion.
The project will be located in Tavoy, about 160 kilometres west of Kanchanaburi or 300 kilometres west of Bangkok. The deep-sea port will be 10 times larger than Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri, which can handle up to 7.5 million 20-feet containers a year.
The contractor aims for the project to become a logistics and trading hub for the region that links Southeast Asia and the South China Sea via the Andaman Sea, to the India Ocean.
A financial industry source said Bangkok Bank is now interested in providing loans to the Tavoy project. Some firms in Taiwan, Japan and China are also keen on participating in the development.
However, many industry watchers are sceptical about the project’s massive scale.
ITD’s stock yesterday rose by 4.6 per cent or 22 satang to close at Bt5 on turnover of Bt1.32 billion
It gave no other details or source for its information.
Witnesses said hundreds of her supporters rushed to her home after Myanmar authorities removed barricades in front of her compound, raising speculation of her release.