MONTHLY REPORT--BANGKOK BUREAU--NOVEMBER 1987

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-00733R000100030002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 2, 1987
• Content Type: MEMO

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ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (Optional)
Monthly Report -- Ban kok Bureau
FROM:
EXTENSION
NO.
Chief, Operations Group
3-5991
DATE
November 1987
TO: (Officer designation, room number, and
building)
DATE
OFFICER'S
COMMENTS (Number each comment to show from whom
RECEIVED
FORWARDED
INITIALS
to whom. Draw a line across column after each comment.)
1.
C/Ops
2.
A' C/E&PS
21
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4.
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C/AS
11.
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12.
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C/AG
13.
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Admin Staff
y
14.
C/B&F
15.
Exec. Reg.
FOR
1-79M 610 usE PREVIOUS
1-79
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2 December 1987
FBIS-3204-87
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
THROUGH : Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT : Monthly Report -- Bangkok Bureau -- November 1987
1. FBIS Deputy Director and Chief of Operations
visited the bureau 11 to 15 November. Included in
eir busy schedule was a Buddhist merit-making Tham Bun ceremony
at the bureau in which nine traditionally-garbed monks blessed
the new computer system, followed by a feast consisting of the
traditional specialties of the bureau's various nationalities. A
trip to Bang Ping that included a sumptuous meal put on by the
local personnel was also on their agenda. They also met with
2. The bureau has the distinction of being the
"authoritative" translator for the Office of the Personal
Representative of HRH Norodom Sihanouk in Kampuchea and Asia,
located in Bangkok, of FUNCINPEC, the National United Front for
an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia. It
has been learned that because the FUNCINPEC office no longer has
any native speakers on its staff, it considers the FBIS versions
of items more authoritative than its own press communiques. The
press communiques, which are mailed to various government offices
and news agencies around town, including FBIS, contain a
statement or speech in French, then (UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION),
followed by its English rendition. The bureau has no idea how
the office is obtaining FBIS items, but is glad to be of
assistance.
3. A record drug bust by Thai authorities in October led to
two death threats in mid and late November against Consulate and
USIS officials in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai by the
Burmese-based Khun Sa rebel forces. As a precautionary measure,
all official dependents were evacuated to Bangkok and local
security was stepped up at U..S. official offices and residences
in Chiang Mai following reports that the Khun Sa group was very
unhappy over the seizure of 680 kilos of its heroin and blamed
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for its loss. At month's end,
the dependents were still awaiting clearance to return to Chiang
Mia, while U.S. tourists were obliviously flocking there in
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
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droves to take advantage of the "Year of Thailand."
II. OPERATIONS
A. Monitorial/Editorial
1. The South Asian Unit was kept busy throughout the
month with the summit meeting of the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation 2-4 November, from which numerous
presidential speeches were filed, the ongoing accounts of the
Indian Peacekeeping Forces' activities to restore peace in Sri
Lanka, and the continuous strikes and demonstrations by the
opposition parties in Bangladesh in their attempts to topple the
Ershad government. In a counter move, the Ershad government
declared a state of emergency on 27 November and the president
gave a speech on 28 November calling for the restoration of peace
in the country. Because of communications problems somewhere in
the circuit between the bureau and headquarters, resulting in
extensive garbling at the headquarters end, the bureau advised
that it was staying open two hours beyond its normal closure to
answer any queries that the Wire might have on the Ershad speech.
However, this measure proved unnecessary when Headquarters lost
all its communications, although the answer to one query received
just before the outage was phoned in.
2. Vietnam's much ballyhooed withdrawal of 20,000 of its
"volunteer" troops from Cambodia on 27 November resulted in a
spate of rallies, speeches, interviews, and commentaries, but
failed to achieve one of the objectives Vietnam was seeking: the
attendance of ASEAN observers at the event. The Indochina media
lashed out at those who termed the withdrawal "merely a troop
rotation," and maintained that many countries would have sent
observers to the event except for "certain deplorable
difficulties."
3. The celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the
Great October Socialist Revolution were not limited solely to the
Soviet Union. In addition to processing the speeches and
activities of the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao leaders at the
event itself, the Indochina monitors were kept fully occupied
covering local events, speeches,interviews, and editorials in
praise of the USSR and its all-round assistance to the three
Southeast Asian countries.
B. Cruising
1. While awaiting the arrival of parts from Headquarters
to repair the analysis and operational Roset antennas, the former
has been fixed permanently on the 60-east satellite and parts
from it installed in the latter so that bureau coverage and
cruising can be maintained.
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2. After the Philippines' Quezon City RPN Channel 9 went
unheard for a few days, it was found to have moved from the
77-east Palapa to the 113-east Palapa and coverage resumed.
Unfortunately, this may be short-lived as AFP has reported that
Indonesia has canceled the satellite lease of an unnamed private
Philippines TV station for failure to pay its bills. Channel 9
is the only Philippine station found on satellite.
3. At MOD's request, a check was made for Soviet Ekran
transmissions beamed to Ho Chi Minh City, but nothing was found.
4. On 24 November, an unscheduled feed was observed on
the 80-east carrying a live broadcast of the inaugural ceremonies
of "the Hanoi-Moscow Television Link."
C. Lateral Services
1. At the request of the embassy in V'e iane, Laos, the
bureau continued to send all its traffic to it despite a 5-19
November minimize.
2. The new second secretary of the Australian Embassy
personally requested that he receive two copies of the bureau's
incoming and outgoing file on Indochina, Thailand, and Burma, one
for himself and one to pass on to his counterpart at the embassy
in Hanoi. His predecessor had been receiving the Indochina file
but found that he couldn't keep up with it.
D. Technical
1. After being on the altroute for almost a month while
the embassy telecommunications unit was awaiting a part to
restore our primary circuit, the bureau thought its problems were
over when the necessary repairs were made. However, it was not
to be. Headquarters and, to a lesser extent, BBC, began
receiving our copy garbled, and despite constant contact with
headquarters, the problem had still
not been resolved by month's end. The fact that the fault is
definitely not at our end of the circuit has given little solace
to the editorial staff, who have been kept busy answering up to
15 queries a day from frustrated DR editors.
2. A new PABX internal telephone system was installed
throughout the bureau. The contractor is now in the process of
installing the tie lines to connect the bureau with Bang Ping,
which is expected to be completed some time in December.
3. A new Concord modem was received from the embassy
telecommunications unit and installed on the bureau's primary
circuit.
STAT
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A. Personnel
1. During the month, three monitors were promoted to
FEN-10--the senior monitori monitoCambodian monitor and Indonesian
South Asian monitor
was promoted to FBN-9.
2. On a much sadder note, the father of teletypist
passed away suddenly on 23 November.
B. Building and Grounds
1. At Bang Ping, a garage for the official vehicles was
constructed and a retention wall and landscaping completed at the
main building site there.
S Deputy Director and Chief of Operations
visited the bureau iu-rti ovember.
2. On 17 November, the newly arrived embassy personnel
officer, Terry Larson, visited the bureau.
n the same day, headquarters Thai Analyst
visited the bureau to discuss requirements. She strongly
praised the bureau's file on Thailand.
4. On Tuesday, 24 November, Tim Mazzarol, second secretary of
the Australian Embassy in Bangkok, and Sean Kelly, second
secretary of the Australian Embassy in Hanoi, visited the bureau
to discuss lateral services for both embassies.
Chief, Bangkok Bureau
STAT
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I TOTALS FROM ALL SOURCES:
TOTAL. PUBLISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH: 802, 780
TOTAL. NON--PUBL.ISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH: 245,440
TOTAL NUMBER OF PUBLISHABLE SHABLE ITEMS FILED DURING MONTH: 1 , 747
INDIA
INPUT OF REGULAR COVERAGE:
(mi nu..ites or issues per week.-)
OUTPUT FROM ROSET SOURCES:
(publishable words per month)
BROAD-- PRESS F- UBL I --
CASTS AGENCIES CATION
20,637 22,135 336.46
min. min. issues
Delhi General Overseas Service in
English S, 060
Delhi Doordarshan Television Network in
English 17,930
Delhi Domestic Service in
English 49,240
Delhi Domestic Service in
Hindi 160
INDONESIA
Jakarta ANTARA in
English 6,260
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur RTM Television Network 1 in
Malay
Kuala Lumpur- BERNAMA in
Engl i sh
NEPAL.
3, C)90
Kathmandu Nepal Television Feed in
Eng 1. i sh 7 , 770
PHILIPPINES
DueZon City RPN 9 Television in
EngI i. sh
Manila PNA in
En g l i sh
4, .340
7, 380
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SR I LANKA
Colombo LANKA F'UWATH in
E:ngl i sh
IV. OUTPUT FROM ALL. SOURCES:
publishable words per month)
AUSTRAL. I A
Me:Lbourne Overseas Service in
English
Sydney THE AUSTRALIAN in
English
Sydney THE BULLETIN in
EnglI
Sydney THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN in
English
BANGLADESH
BROAD- PRESS PUBL I --
CASTS AGENCIES CATION
29,080
Dhaka
Overseas
English
Service in
900
Dhaka
Domestic
English
Service in
15,920
Dhaka
Domestic
Service in
Bengal i 4, 300
Dhaka THE BANGLADESH OBSERVER in
EngI i sh
Dhaka SANGBAD in
Bengali.
BRUNEI
Kuala Bel ai. t THE BORNEO BULLETIN in
English
BURMA
Rangoon Domestic Service in
Burmese
Rangoon WORKING PEOPLE'S DAILY in
English
Rangoon BOTATAUNG in
Burmese
Rangoon LOKTHA PYEITHt! NEZIN in
Burmese
Rangoon MYANMA At-IN in
Burmese
CAMBODIA
Phnom) Penh Domestic Service in
Cambodian
Phnom Penh SPIN:: in
English
Phnom Penh SF'V:: in
French to PL. Vientiane
6,380
26,170
25,48(--)
1.3, , 920
2, 110
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BROAD- PRESS P'UBL I -
CASTS AGENCIES CATION
CAMBODIA (continued)
Phnom Penh SP'k:: in
French
10,830
CHINA
Beijing International Service in
Bengal i
Beijing International Service in
Burmese
Beijing International Service in
Indonesian
Bei. jinc7 International Service in
Lao
Beijing International Service in
0
430
0
240
Thai
730
Be:i jing in
Cambodian to Cambodia
1 1390
Beijing in
Hindi to India
0
Beijing in
Malay to Malaysia
650
Beijing in
Urdu to India and Pakistan
C)
B+ei jinc7 International Service in
Vietnamese
C)
CLANDESTINE
(Clandestine) Voice of Democratic Kampuchea in
Cambodian
9,160
(Clandestine) Voice of Malayan Democracy in
Mal ay
5,440
(Clandestine) Voice of the Khmer in
Cambod i an
7, 010
(Clandestine) Voice of the National Army of
Democratic Kampuchea in
Cambod i an
3, 260
(Clandestine) Voice of the People of Burma in
B1_1rmese
540
HONG k::ONG
Hong Kong AE=F' in
E".nglish 55,77(")
IND:EA
Delhi General Overseas Service in
Engl. ish s,060
Delhi Doordarshan "ielevision Network i.n
EngI i sh
Dc,-,l hi Domestic Service in
En gI:iss:.t-+ 49,240
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BROAD-
CASTS
PRESS
AGENCIES
PURL I ---
CATION
...............
181
Information Service in
1
1
Delhi
. ]. F;
-i
En(1
INDIAN EXPRESS in
h
E
l i
Delhi
. 5
nc
PATRIOT in
E::nq 1 i sh
F-
950
Delhi
THE H I NDUSTAN
English
'TIMES in
500
Delhi
INDIA TODAY in
English
1,120
Madras DINAMALAR in
Tamil
160
Bombay NAVBHARAT TIMES in
Hi ndi
Calcutta ANANDA BAZAR PATRIKA in
Bengali
I NDONES I A
Jakarta International Service in
Eng I i. sh
Jakarta Domestic Service in
I ndonesi an
Jakarta ANTARA in
English
Jakarta JAKARTA POST in
Eng 1 i sh
Jakarta THE INDONESIA TIMES in
English
Jakarta BERITA BLJANA in
Indonesian
Jakarta KOMPAS in
Indonesian
Jakarta MERDEFK::A in
Indonesian
Jakarta TEMPO in
Indonesian
Jakarta SUARA PEMBARUAN in
Indonesian
1,390
8 , 830
6,260
LAOS
Vientiane Domestic.. Service in
Laor
Vientiane KPL in
English
Vientiane F~::PL in
English to SPF+. Phnom Penh
Vientiane KPL. in
F-rend; to SPK. Phnom Penh
Vientiane SPK in
French to SP'F::: Phnom Penh
Vientiane PASASON in
Lao
Vientiane VIENTIANE MAI in
Lao
37,990
1,360
830
10, 020
560
1,700
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MALAYSIA
BROAD- PRESS PULL I -
CASTS AGENCIES CATION
Kuala
Lumpur
English
International. Service in
4,840
Kuala
Lumpur
English
Domestic Service in
560
Kuala
Lumpur
Malay
Domestic Service in
590
Kuala
Lumpur
Malay
RTM Television Network 1 in
3,090
Kuala
Kuala
Lumpur
English
Lumpur
English
BERNAMA in
NEW STRAITS TIMES in
1, 490
Kuala
Lumpur
English
NEW SUNDAY TIMES in
C)
Kuala
Lumpur
Malay
BER I TA HAR I AN in
200
Kuala
Lumpur
Malay
LEER I TA M I NGGU in
1,010
Kuala
Kuala
NE PAL
Lumpur
Malay
Lumpur
Malay
M I NGGUAN MALAYSIA in
UTUSAN MALAYSIA in
Kathmandu External Service in
Engl i sh
Kathmandu Nepal Television Feed in
English
Kathmandu THE RISING NEPAL in
English
NEW ZEALAND
Auckland THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD in
English
Wellington THE EVENING POST in
7,770
6,480
English
I STAN
Islamabad Oversea Service in
English
1 , 090
Islamabad Domestic Service in
English
3,270
Islamabad Domestic Service in
Urdu
11,220
Islamabad Oversea Service in
Urdu
0
Islamabad THE MUSLIM in
English
6,780
Karachi DAWN in
English
C.)
Rawalpindi HAIDER in
lirdu
50ra
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PAKISTAN (continued)
Lahore JANG in
Urdu
Karachi NAWA-I-WAQT in
Urdu
PHILIPPINES
Quezon City RPN 9 Television in
English
Manila PNA in
English
SINGAPORE
Singapore Domestic: Service in
English
Singapore THE STRAITS TIMES in
English
Singapore THE SUNDAY TIMES in
English
SRI LANKA
Colombo International Service in
English 4,150
Colombo Domestic Service in
English 0
Colombo Domestic Service in
Tamil
Colombo LANKA PUWATH in
English
Colombo DAILY NEWS in
English
Colombo SUN in
English
Colombo WEEKEND in
English
Colombo VIRAKESARI in
Tami 1
THAI LAND
Bangkok Voice of Free Asia in
English
Bangkok Voice of Free Asia in
Cambodian
Bangkok Voice of Free Asia in
Thai
Bangkok Domestic Service in
English
Bangkok Domestic Service in
Thai
Bangkok First Army Division Radio in
Thai
Bangkok Army Television Channel 5 in
Thai
BROAD- PRESS PUBLI-
CASTS AGENCIES CATION
1,390
4 , 340
2,330
25,480
i.., 820
C_)
6,600
1,470
6,170
1,040
2, 360
220
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THAILAND (c_onti.need)
Bangkok BANGKOK POST in
English
Bangkok THE NATION in
English
Bangkok KHAO PHISET in
Thai
Bangkok LAK THAI in
Thai
Bangkok MATICHON in
Thai
Bangkok MATICHON SUT SAP'DA in
Thai
Bangkok NAEO NA in
Thai
Bangkok SIAM RAT in
Thai
Bangkok SIAM RAT SAPDA WICHAN in
Thai
Bangkok SU ANAKHOT in
Thai
Bangkok THAI RAT in
Thai
Bangkok ZHONG HUA R I BAO in
Chinese
Bangkok XING XIAN RIBAO in
Chinese
Bangkok XIN ZHONG YUAN RIBAO in
Chinese
Bangkok DAILY NEWS in
Thai
Moscow International Service in
Tami 1
Moscow International Service in
Vietnamese
Moscow in
Bengali to Bangladesh
Moscow in
Burmese to Burma
Moscow in
Cambodian to Cambodia
Moscow in
Hindi to India
Moscow in
Indonesian to Indonesia
Moscow in
Lao to Laos
Moscow in
Thai to Thailand
Moscow in
Urdu to India
Moscow in
Urdu to Pakistan
0
1, 070
0
C>
4,190
380
C>
2,570
0
BROAD- PRESS PURL I --
CASTS AGENCIES CATION
36, 310
38,920
0
1,640
4,790
590
C>
1,890
2,870
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BROAD- PRESS PUBLI-
CASTS AGENCIES CA'TI ON
UNION OP SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS (continued)
Moscow Radio Peace and Progress in
Indonesian 0
UNITED 1