Day: December 30, 2010
Huay Ton Noon border pass gets green light from Myanmar government
By Phitsanu Thepthong
Maj Gen Hla Min, the Chairman of Bago Division Peace and Development Council Commander of the Southern Command, Burma, recently announced full support for Thailand’s road improvement project to link Thailand and Burma through Huay Ton Noon border pass in Mae Hong Son. He noted that the new link had a high potential for cross border trade and tourism.
During the visit of the Mae Hong Son, Lamphun and Chiang Mai trade and tourism delegation to Burma late last month, apart from attending the grand celebration of the Taung Oo city’s 500th anniversary for its establishment, trade and tourism talks were also held between the Thai and Burmese delegates.
“We have raised the trade issues on the five western gateways to Burma by proposing to using the North-South and East -West economic corridors, as well as the improvement plan for the R3W road links, the maintenance work of the first Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot, Tak and then mapping out the building up of the second Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge,” Supoj Klinparneet, President of the Mae Hong Son Chamber of Commerce noted.
A top priority is to accelerate cooperation on the upgrade at Huay Ton Noon and the S
And one of the top priorities, it’s to speed up the cooperation plan to upgrade the Huay Ton Noon – BP13 border pass for trade and tourism to be the permanent check- point in Khun Yuam district, Mae Hong Son, as well as the Sinkhon border pass in Prachuab Khiri Khan. Re-opening closed border passes, such as the one in Three Pagodas in Kanchanaburi also remains a priority.
Finally, they also considered opening new ones at Myawaddy, in Kanchanaburi, and Mae Hong Son.
Earlier this year, Thai Deputy Minister of Commerce Alongkorn Polabutre, Myanmar’s Director of Border Trade Department Aung Soe Thein, and Mae Hong Son Governor Kamthorn Thawornsathit, accompanied by both Thai and Myanmar delegates visited Huay Ton Noon border pass in Khun Yuam District to discuss upgrading it to a permanent border checkpoint.
It was then that the group of business and trade officials visited Myanmar to discuss the status of the pass.
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Wa reserve judgment on Panglong II
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The United Wa State Army’s political wing is reserving judgment over convening a second Panglong Conference, an idea conceived by an ethnic Zomi group and handed over to Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to manage, a UWSA officer says.
A United Wa State Army soldier takes a sip of water from a comrade in Mongyawn, three kilometres from the Thai border in Burma, on May 12, 2001. The army’s political wing revealed at its fifth annual district-level conference, in Mongmaw District in the northeast of Shan State, on December 29, 2010, that it was reserving judgment on the idea of holding a second Panglong Conference to solve ethnic conflicts in Burma. The first such conference in 1947 agreed in principle for “full autonomy in internal administration for the Frontier Areas”. It has never been implemented by any civilian or military government since and many observers blame this fact for 60 years of ethnic conflict. Photo: AFP
The stance was revealed at the United Wa State Party’s (UWSP) fifth annual district-level conference, a 10-day affair that started on December 20 in Mongmaw District in the northeast of Shan State.
“We didn’t clearly understand the idea of convening a second Panglong Conference led by Aung San Suu Kyi so we are still looking into it,” a UWSA officer said on condition of anonymity. Continue reading “Wa reserve judgment on Panglong II”
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