BKK Post / 26 August 1998  

Missing Burmese plane found safe  

   An Air Myanmar plane carrying an estimated 39 people has 
been found safe and sound on a small airfield in Laos after 
going missing for almost 36 hours, Thai and Burmese 
officials said yesterday.
   Air Myanmar officials in Rangoon said the Fokker F-27 
aircraft made an emergency landing in Laos on Monday after 
being diverted from its destination at Tachilek in Burma's 
sparsely populated eastern Shan State due to bad weather.
   They said all 39 Burmese nationals on board were safe.  


Singapore Beats Malaysia in Tiger Cup Opener  

   HANOI (Aug. 26) XINHUA - Singapore beat Malaysia 2-0 in 
the  opening match at the 1998 Tiger Cup Southeast Asian 
Football Tournament  here on Wednesday.
   In Wednesday's other game, the Vietnamese national 
eleven overwhelmed  Laos 4-1 after an opening ceremony 
which featured 30-minute music and  dance show.
   Teams from Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Indonesia, the 
Philippines,  Thailand, Myanmar and host Vietnam are 
competing in two groups in the  tournament.
   They will play a total number of 16 matches at the Hanoi 
Stadium and Ho  Chi Minh City's Thong Nhat (Unification) 
Stadium.
   Group B teams Malaysia, Singapore, Laos and Vietnam will 
play at Hanoi  Stadium, while Indonesia, the Philippines, 
Thailand and Myanmar of  Group A will clash with each other 
at Ho Chi Minh City.
   The final is scheduled to be held at Hanoi Stadium. The 
bi-annual Tiger  Cup is Southeast Asia's biggest football 
tournament of the ten  Southeast Asian countries and this 
year's event is the largest  international soccer 
tournament ever hosted by Vietnam.
   The Tiger Cup is sponsored by Tiger Beer Company of 
Singapore, where  the inaugural tournament was held in 
1996.
   This year's Tiger Cup tournament was originally slated 
in Indonesia but  social turmoil and economic crisis in 
that country forced organizers to  look elsewhere for a 
host.
   Malaysia, which had originally offered to stand in as 
late replacement  for Indonesia, decided against hosting it 
because it was too busy  preparing for next month's 
Commonwealth Games there.
   Vietnam had been chosen on June 19, just 10 weeks before 
the Cup was  due to start.
   The Southeast Asian Football Tournament will conclude on 
September 5.