The Epoch Times - The Saffron Revolution Continues
How Burma’s monks are now faring
By June Kellum Epoch Times Staff
Created: May 20, 2010 Last Updated: May 20, 2010
This summer marks three years since the world first saw the smuggled cell phone footage of ferocious attacks by Burmese junta forces on the country’s Buddhist monks. Since 2007, Burma’s monks have faced continuous abuse and tight surveillance by the country’s military rule.
“I’m being watched all the time,” one monk said in 2009, in a report by Human Rights Watch.
“I am considered an organizer. Between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. I am allowed to go out of the monastery. But then I’m followed. I had to shake off my tail to come to this meeting today," the monk said. "I’m not afraid, not for myself. I’m not afraid to tell foreign journalists what happened. And I’m prepared to march again when the opportunity arises.”
In 2007, tens of thousands of monks began marching to protest poor living conditions in Burma.
The monks were shot, beaten, and arrested in droves. The monks that remained in the country after the violence are still being detained, tortured, and forced to do hard labor and the media's suppression by junta powers has made it difficult for the world to know the full extent of the atrocities.
Other monks have gone into hiding and some have fled Burma. In March, Reuters reported that most of the monks who found asylum in the United States and have given up their robes, find the need to support themselves too great.
Some monks however are still active, in the wake of the revolution, a group of senior monks formed the All Burmese Monks Alliance (ABMA), and two other senior monks founded International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO). Both organizations support monks inside and outside Burma as they continue to struggle for basic rights.
The IBMO website reminds readers that Buddha prescribed 10 rules for kings. These rules include: almsgiving, liberality, justice, kindness and endurance. For centuries, Burmese kings followed these rules. Even after all that has happened to them, the monks still hold hope, and strive for the day when Burma’s rulers will again adhere to these principles.
Buddhism is Burma’s main religion and out of a population of 54 million, Human Rights Watch quoted estimates that there are between 300,000 and 400,000 monks, and around 50,000 nuns.
Burma’s monks have historically played an active role in both spiritual and secular society.
Supported by patronage of kings and commoners, the Buddhist Sanghas (order of monks), were responsible for education, yearly festivals, making offerings (merit making), the ordination of young novices.
"Any other communal activity in the village—circled around the monastery,” according to the Human Rights Watch report, which said that the goodwill of the Sangha was always sought by kings and more lately by political leaders including former opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
How Burma’s monks are now faring
By June Kellum Epoch Times Staff
Created: May 20, 2010 Last Updated: May 20, 2010
This summer marks three years since the world first saw the smuggled cell phone footage of ferocious attacks by Burmese junta forces on the country’s Buddhist monks. Since 2007, Burma’s monks have faced continuous abuse and tight surveillance by the country’s military rule.
“I’m being watched all the time,” one monk said in 2009, in a report by Human Rights Watch.
“I am considered an organizer. Between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. I am allowed to go out of the monastery. But then I’m followed. I had to shake off my tail to come to this meeting today," the monk said. "I’m not afraid, not for myself. I’m not afraid to tell foreign journalists what happened. And I’m prepared to march again when the opportunity arises.”
In 2007, tens of thousands of monks began marching to protest poor living conditions in Burma.
The monks were shot, beaten, and arrested in droves. The monks that remained in the country after the violence are still being detained, tortured, and forced to do hard labor and the media's suppression by junta powers has made it difficult for the world to know the full extent of the atrocities.
Other monks have gone into hiding and some have fled Burma. In March, Reuters reported that most of the monks who found asylum in the United States and have given up their robes, find the need to support themselves too great.
Some monks however are still active, in the wake of the revolution, a group of senior monks formed the All Burmese Monks Alliance (ABMA), and two other senior monks founded International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO). Both organizations support monks inside and outside Burma as they continue to struggle for basic rights.
The IBMO website reminds readers that Buddha prescribed 10 rules for kings. These rules include: almsgiving, liberality, justice, kindness and endurance. For centuries, Burmese kings followed these rules. Even after all that has happened to them, the monks still hold hope, and strive for the day when Burma’s rulers will again adhere to these principles.
Buddhism is Burma’s main religion and out of a population of 54 million, Human Rights Watch quoted estimates that there are between 300,000 and 400,000 monks, and around 50,000 nuns.
Burma’s monks have historically played an active role in both spiritual and secular society.
Supported by patronage of kings and commoners, the Buddhist Sanghas (order of monks), were responsible for education, yearly festivals, making offerings (merit making), the ordination of young novices.
"Any other communal activity in the village—circled around the monastery,” according to the Human Rights Watch report, which said that the goodwill of the Sangha was always sought by kings and more lately by political leaders including former opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
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The Daily Bruin - Taking risks to teach lessons: One Bruin’s long journey to bring a school to ethnic Karen refugees in Burma
By Alexa Parmisano
May 21, 2010 at 12:48 a.m.
Suffering from food poisoning, he finally made it to the river separating Burma and Thailand.
Benjamin Moore was ready to embark on an hour-long ride in a wooden riverboat, camouflaged so that no one knew an American college student was there to help the refugees.
Fourth-year UCLA student Benjamin Moore is one of four students who received the Charles E. Young Humanitarian Award for their involvement with Bruins for Burma.
It was dark. The guards had guns. But that didn’t matter; he would make it into the camp.
For non-natives, crossing the Thailand-Burma border takes patience, stamina and a willingness to journey through the dark Thai jungle, concealed from the sight of army guards and exhausted from hours of travel.
Though crossing the border incognito was only the beginning of his stay in Burma over spring break, Moore, a fourth-year political science student, arrived at the refugee camp for the Burmese ethnic minority group known as the Karen.
He came equipped to oversee and implement his project to provide refugees with free secondary education.
With the help of Burma Community Builders, a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding displaced refugees along the Thailand-Burma border, and a $10,000 outside scholarship to fund his education project, Moore, in working with Burma Community Builders, was able to bring his own curriculum entitled “Non-Violent Communication” to the new school, he said.
After more than a year of construction, the school is finally ready to open next week, he added.
Burma’s military dictatorship has displaced of thousands of people from their villages – about 3,000 of whom now reside at the camp where Moore stayed, he said.
The lives of these refugees are simple, but difficult. Moore said he was amazed at how they maintained the will to keep on living, despite having to leave their homes and watch while countless husbands, fathers and brothers fight as rebel soldiers against the government.
“It’s dangerous and highly illegal to help pro-democracy rebels,” said Moore, who had to be covered upon arriving at the camp so military leaders wouldn’t know he was there.
Moore said he had to spend two hours each day in hiding when the Thai military was patrolling the camp.
The rest of his time was dedicated to talking to camp leaders and students about the future of education at the camp, ascertaining their needs and connecting with them through games of volleyball and barefoot soccer.
“I stayed at the camp leader’s house and would talk to him every night to debrief about the day –he told me he’d been praying for two years for something big like this to happen,” said Moore, who was deeply impacted by the camp leader’s hope to one day give back to someone in the same way Moore was giving with the new school.
Burma Community Builders’ work at the camp will continue, as the organization plans to provide the school with its first few years of program support, said Edith Ben-Horin, Burma Community Builders Board of Directors member and UCLA alum.
She added that Moore’s work in Burma highlighted his inspirational ability to seemingly erase any barriers between learning and actually experience and was impressed with his interest and understanding of world affairs.
As a member of Bruins for Burma, Moore was able to get involved with Burma Community Builders and make his very first trip to Burma two years ago. It was there that, rather than making the journey to the camp, he remained on the Thai-Burma border to work with non-governmental organizations and Karen human rights groups, Moore said.
He added that he hopes to be able to take more trips to Burma in the future, but would much rather have the money go towards the maintenance and success of the education project.
Moore was accompanied on his trip to Burma by Gordon Welty, founder and executive director of Burma Community Builders, who said that because of Moore’s education project, the school will be only the second public high school in existence in the entire region – an unprecedented undertaking.
“Being fully involved in this school project from start to finish, Moore’s involvement has been quite significant,” said Welty, also a UCLA alum.
He added that it is the dedicated efforts of Bruins like Moore that have made Burma Community Builders a successful organization that can continue to aid the people of Burma.
After graduation, Moore, whose project was honored with the 2010 Charles E. Young Humanitarian Award in May, will attend Columbia University in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs.
He said he will forever be inspired by the connections he made in Burma and by the refugees’ tenacity and drive to thrive, despite the conditions brought about by the military regime.
By Alexa Parmisano
May 21, 2010 at 12:48 a.m.
Suffering from food poisoning, he finally made it to the river separating Burma and Thailand.
Benjamin Moore was ready to embark on an hour-long ride in a wooden riverboat, camouflaged so that no one knew an American college student was there to help the refugees.
Fourth-year UCLA student Benjamin Moore is one of four students who received the Charles E. Young Humanitarian Award for their involvement with Bruins for Burma.
It was dark. The guards had guns. But that didn’t matter; he would make it into the camp.
For non-natives, crossing the Thailand-Burma border takes patience, stamina and a willingness to journey through the dark Thai jungle, concealed from the sight of army guards and exhausted from hours of travel.
Though crossing the border incognito was only the beginning of his stay in Burma over spring break, Moore, a fourth-year political science student, arrived at the refugee camp for the Burmese ethnic minority group known as the Karen.
He came equipped to oversee and implement his project to provide refugees with free secondary education.
With the help of Burma Community Builders, a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding displaced refugees along the Thailand-Burma border, and a $10,000 outside scholarship to fund his education project, Moore, in working with Burma Community Builders, was able to bring his own curriculum entitled “Non-Violent Communication” to the new school, he said.
After more than a year of construction, the school is finally ready to open next week, he added.
Burma’s military dictatorship has displaced of thousands of people from their villages – about 3,000 of whom now reside at the camp where Moore stayed, he said.
The lives of these refugees are simple, but difficult. Moore said he was amazed at how they maintained the will to keep on living, despite having to leave their homes and watch while countless husbands, fathers and brothers fight as rebel soldiers against the government.
“It’s dangerous and highly illegal to help pro-democracy rebels,” said Moore, who had to be covered upon arriving at the camp so military leaders wouldn’t know he was there.
Moore said he had to spend two hours each day in hiding when the Thai military was patrolling the camp.
The rest of his time was dedicated to talking to camp leaders and students about the future of education at the camp, ascertaining their needs and connecting with them through games of volleyball and barefoot soccer.
“I stayed at the camp leader’s house and would talk to him every night to debrief about the day –he told me he’d been praying for two years for something big like this to happen,” said Moore, who was deeply impacted by the camp leader’s hope to one day give back to someone in the same way Moore was giving with the new school.
Burma Community Builders’ work at the camp will continue, as the organization plans to provide the school with its first few years of program support, said Edith Ben-Horin, Burma Community Builders Board of Directors member and UCLA alum.
She added that Moore’s work in Burma highlighted his inspirational ability to seemingly erase any barriers between learning and actually experience and was impressed with his interest and understanding of world affairs.
As a member of Bruins for Burma, Moore was able to get involved with Burma Community Builders and make his very first trip to Burma two years ago. It was there that, rather than making the journey to the camp, he remained on the Thai-Burma border to work with non-governmental organizations and Karen human rights groups, Moore said.
He added that he hopes to be able to take more trips to Burma in the future, but would much rather have the money go towards the maintenance and success of the education project.
Moore was accompanied on his trip to Burma by Gordon Welty, founder and executive director of Burma Community Builders, who said that because of Moore’s education project, the school will be only the second public high school in existence in the entire region – an unprecedented undertaking.
“Being fully involved in this school project from start to finish, Moore’s involvement has been quite significant,” said Welty, also a UCLA alum.
He added that it is the dedicated efforts of Bruins like Moore that have made Burma Community Builders a successful organization that can continue to aid the people of Burma.
After graduation, Moore, whose project was honored with the 2010 Charles E. Young Humanitarian Award in May, will attend Columbia University in the fall to pursue a master’s degree in international affairs.
He said he will forever be inspired by the connections he made in Burma and by the refugees’ tenacity and drive to thrive, despite the conditions brought about by the military regime.
***************************************************
The Underground - Christian band spared death by Myanmar general
May 21, 2010 by The Underground Staff
Filed under Arts & Culture, Featured
A popular Christian band cheated death recently through the intervention of a Myanmar general after they had illegally sneaked into the country to perform in a concert, according to CNN News.
The Irish Christian band Bluetree cheated death when they slipped into Myanmar through Thailand to sing for the Karen Christians, CNN reported.
Bluetree’s popularity soared in the United States last year when Chris Tomlin covered its praise song “God of This City” and videos of American Idol winner Kris Allen singing the tune were posted on YouTube, according to CNN.
After the concert for the Karen Christians, the band became the point of dispute between high ranking members of two different military units, both of them screaming, yelling and pointing at one another.
The band’s interpreter fell silent, and Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International (CFI), the NGO that had brought the band there said, “This is bad. This is really, really bad.”
It was only when they were back in Thailand that the band members were told it was their fates that was being debated by the troops. “We were told later their general said ‘we’re not even going to waste our bullets with them, we’re just going to slice their throats,’ ” Boyd told CNN.
In Myanmar, Christians are targeted and killed. The conflict between the government and the Karen and other ethnic groups such as the Karenni, Mon and Shan is considered to be the longest-running civil war in the world.
CFI’s Jim Jacobson is a wanted man in Myanmar. He and Bluetree chose a time when the riverbeds dry up to slip into Myanmar. They brought food, clothing, Bibles and whiskey–to bribe the militia that, according to Boyd, threaten to burn down Christian villages and kill the men.
They gave the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) the booze and food in exchange for access to a refugee camp where Bluetree sang and listened to the children sing some songs, Boyd told CNN.
They could only stay a few hours, lest the Myanmar army detect them, label them as spies and execute them. But the DKBA general who had allowed their safe passage asked them to come up to his office and demanded that they sing for him, CNN reported.
“They didn’t ask politely,” Boyd said. They were on a balcony and even before they could sing, members of the Myanmar army saw them, and the screaming match between the generals occurred.
Boyd believes the DKBA general offered the army troops part of the bribe to dissuade the military regime’s general. Later the general even showed Jacobson the school where his troops’ children were being educated, according to CNN.
The general “asked Jim for his help in bringing up his kids,” Boyd said. ”This, from a guy whose mission in life is to kill Christians,” CNN reported.
Jacobson and the band members left as quickly as possible, driving the five hours back to Thailand in silence.
The trip was recorded and will be released in July as a DVD documentary, Boyd said. An audio recording of the Karen children is also an added track to a live album the band recorded in Belfast in March.
May 21, 2010 by The Underground Staff
Filed under Arts & Culture, Featured
A popular Christian band cheated death recently through the intervention of a Myanmar general after they had illegally sneaked into the country to perform in a concert, according to CNN News.
The Irish Christian band Bluetree cheated death when they slipped into Myanmar through Thailand to sing for the Karen Christians, CNN reported.
Bluetree’s popularity soared in the United States last year when Chris Tomlin covered its praise song “God of This City” and videos of American Idol winner Kris Allen singing the tune were posted on YouTube, according to CNN.
After the concert for the Karen Christians, the band became the point of dispute between high ranking members of two different military units, both of them screaming, yelling and pointing at one another.
The band’s interpreter fell silent, and Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International (CFI), the NGO that had brought the band there said, “This is bad. This is really, really bad.”
It was only when they were back in Thailand that the band members were told it was their fates that was being debated by the troops. “We were told later their general said ‘we’re not even going to waste our bullets with them, we’re just going to slice their throats,’ ” Boyd told CNN.
In Myanmar, Christians are targeted and killed. The conflict between the government and the Karen and other ethnic groups such as the Karenni, Mon and Shan is considered to be the longest-running civil war in the world.
CFI’s Jim Jacobson is a wanted man in Myanmar. He and Bluetree chose a time when the riverbeds dry up to slip into Myanmar. They brought food, clothing, Bibles and whiskey–to bribe the militia that, according to Boyd, threaten to burn down Christian villages and kill the men.
They gave the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) the booze and food in exchange for access to a refugee camp where Bluetree sang and listened to the children sing some songs, Boyd told CNN.
They could only stay a few hours, lest the Myanmar army detect them, label them as spies and execute them. But the DKBA general who had allowed their safe passage asked them to come up to his office and demanded that they sing for him, CNN reported.
“They didn’t ask politely,” Boyd said. They were on a balcony and even before they could sing, members of the Myanmar army saw them, and the screaming match between the generals occurred.
Boyd believes the DKBA general offered the army troops part of the bribe to dissuade the military regime’s general. Later the general even showed Jacobson the school where his troops’ children were being educated, according to CNN.
The general “asked Jim for his help in bringing up his kids,” Boyd said. ”This, from a guy whose mission in life is to kill Christians,” CNN reported.
Jacobson and the band members left as quickly as possible, driving the five hours back to Thailand in silence.
The trip was recorded and will be released in July as a DVD documentary, Boyd said. An audio recording of the Karen children is also an added track to a live album the band recorded in Belfast in March.
***************************************************
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Japan Times - Thailand risks taking road that ends in a Burma night
By GWYNNE DYER
LONDON — "The government does not want to negotiate, so I think many more people will die," said "red-shirt" leader Sean Boonpracong in Bangkok on Monday. "This will end as our Tiananmen Square." Or more precisely, it may end up as Thailand's "8888": the massacre by the Burmese army of thousands of civilians demanding democracy on Aug. 8, 1988.
The army still rules Burma today and commits further massacres whenever the citizens show resistance (most recently in 2007). The Burmese army's successful resort to violence in 1988, after so many Asian dictatorships had been overthrown by nonviolent demonstrations, might even have emboldened the Chinese Communists to use extreme violence on Tiananmen Square in 1989. But I would never have put Thailand in the same category.
Even two months ago, I would have said Thailand is a flawed but genuine democracy, and I would have pointed to the nonviolent behavior of the prodemocracy red shirts who took over central Bangkok in mid-March as evidence that the Thais would sort it out peacefully in the end. But a lot of people have been killed by the Thai army since then, and now I'm not so sure there will be a happy ending in Thailand.
It's quite possible that there will be a massacre in Bangkok, and that the military will end up back in control permanently, riding a tiger from which they cannot dismount. Then the whole country would start down the road that leads to Burmese-style tyranny, isolation and poverty.
Thailand wouldn't get there right away, of course. It took 40 years of repression to transform Burma from the richest country in Southeast Asia to the poorest, and Thai generals are not ill-educated thugs like their Burmese counterparts. But they would find themselves in essentially the same position: condemned to hold the whole country hostage at the point of a gun forever, lest they be punished by some later government for mass murder.
The protesters in central Bangkok are already being picked off by army snipers: five or 10 a day killed and dozens per day wounded. (The army insists it shoots only "terrorists" hiding among the protesters, but there is ample footage that shows unarmed people being shot down.) Almost all the dead are civilians.
The roots of this crisis are in the military coup of 2006, when the Thai army overthrew the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, an ex-policeman who became a telecommunications billionaire, was not an ideal prime minister: His "war on drugs" involved thousands of illegal killings of dealers and addicts, and his response to unrest in the Muslim- majority far south was clumsy and brutal. But he endeared himself to Thailand's poor.
Thailand has been a democracy since 1992, but Thaksin was the first politician to appeal directly to the interests of the rural poor rather than just bribing their local village headmen to deliver their votes. He promised them debt relief, cheap loans, better health care, and he delivered — but that was not how the urban elite wanted their tax money spent.
A "yellow-shirt" movement seized control of the streets of Bangkok, seeking Thaksin's removal and demanding strict curbs on the voting rights of peasants because most rural people were too ignorant to make wise choices. After months of confrontation in the streets, the army took control in 2006, ejecting Thaksin from office, but it was not unequivocally on the side of the yellow shirts either.
The soldiers allowed a new election in late 2007, and Thaksin's supporters won again, of course. His opponents used the courts to dismiss two prime ministers drawn from the pro-Thaksin party for "conflict of interest" — in one case because the prime minister appeared on a television cooking show — and ultimately had the whole party banned and its members ejected from Parliament.
The rump of Parliament, cleansed of most representatives of the rural poor, then voted in the current prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. The red shirts are demanding his resignation and a fresh election, and their demands may yet be met. Abhisit almost gave in last week, mainly because the urban elite are not certain the army will act on their behalf.
Thai army officers are not usually from the privileged Bangkok elite that sponsored the yellow shirts. Many are from humble backgrounds, and most of their troops are country people, just like the red shirts behind the barricades.
So Thai generals are doubly reluctant to give the order to clear the city center: They do not want a massacre that would trap them in power forever, and they cannot be sure that their troops would obey the order anyway.
There is still some hope, therefore, but the situation is very grave. People are being killed every day, and there are predictions of civil war if the protesters in Bangkok are massacred.
Nobody knows for sure which way the army will jump, but if it "restores order" in the way that the elite wants, then a long, dark night will fall on Thailand. Though not, one hopes, as long and dark as the Burmese night.
Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist.
The Japan Times - Thailand risks taking road that ends in a Burma night
By GWYNNE DYER
LONDON — "The government does not want to negotiate, so I think many more people will die," said "red-shirt" leader Sean Boonpracong in Bangkok on Monday. "This will end as our Tiananmen Square." Or more precisely, it may end up as Thailand's "8888": the massacre by the Burmese army of thousands of civilians demanding democracy on Aug. 8, 1988.
The army still rules Burma today and commits further massacres whenever the citizens show resistance (most recently in 2007). The Burmese army's successful resort to violence in 1988, after so many Asian dictatorships had been overthrown by nonviolent demonstrations, might even have emboldened the Chinese Communists to use extreme violence on Tiananmen Square in 1989. But I would never have put Thailand in the same category.
Even two months ago, I would have said Thailand is a flawed but genuine democracy, and I would have pointed to the nonviolent behavior of the prodemocracy red shirts who took over central Bangkok in mid-March as evidence that the Thais would sort it out peacefully in the end. But a lot of people have been killed by the Thai army since then, and now I'm not so sure there will be a happy ending in Thailand.
It's quite possible that there will be a massacre in Bangkok, and that the military will end up back in control permanently, riding a tiger from which they cannot dismount. Then the whole country would start down the road that leads to Burmese-style tyranny, isolation and poverty.
Thailand wouldn't get there right away, of course. It took 40 years of repression to transform Burma from the richest country in Southeast Asia to the poorest, and Thai generals are not ill-educated thugs like their Burmese counterparts. But they would find themselves in essentially the same position: condemned to hold the whole country hostage at the point of a gun forever, lest they be punished by some later government for mass murder.
The protesters in central Bangkok are already being picked off by army snipers: five or 10 a day killed and dozens per day wounded. (The army insists it shoots only "terrorists" hiding among the protesters, but there is ample footage that shows unarmed people being shot down.) Almost all the dead are civilians.
The roots of this crisis are in the military coup of 2006, when the Thai army overthrew the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, an ex-policeman who became a telecommunications billionaire, was not an ideal prime minister: His "war on drugs" involved thousands of illegal killings of dealers and addicts, and his response to unrest in the Muslim- majority far south was clumsy and brutal. But he endeared himself to Thailand's poor.
Thailand has been a democracy since 1992, but Thaksin was the first politician to appeal directly to the interests of the rural poor rather than just bribing their local village headmen to deliver their votes. He promised them debt relief, cheap loans, better health care, and he delivered — but that was not how the urban elite wanted their tax money spent.
A "yellow-shirt" movement seized control of the streets of Bangkok, seeking Thaksin's removal and demanding strict curbs on the voting rights of peasants because most rural people were too ignorant to make wise choices. After months of confrontation in the streets, the army took control in 2006, ejecting Thaksin from office, but it was not unequivocally on the side of the yellow shirts either.
The soldiers allowed a new election in late 2007, and Thaksin's supporters won again, of course. His opponents used the courts to dismiss two prime ministers drawn from the pro-Thaksin party for "conflict of interest" — in one case because the prime minister appeared on a television cooking show — and ultimately had the whole party banned and its members ejected from Parliament.
The rump of Parliament, cleansed of most representatives of the rural poor, then voted in the current prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. The red shirts are demanding his resignation and a fresh election, and their demands may yet be met. Abhisit almost gave in last week, mainly because the urban elite are not certain the army will act on their behalf.
Thai army officers are not usually from the privileged Bangkok elite that sponsored the yellow shirts. Many are from humble backgrounds, and most of their troops are country people, just like the red shirts behind the barricades.
So Thai generals are doubly reluctant to give the order to clear the city center: They do not want a massacre that would trap them in power forever, and they cannot be sure that their troops would obey the order anyway.
There is still some hope, therefore, but the situation is very grave. People are being killed every day, and there are predictions of civil war if the protesters in Bangkok are massacred.
Nobody knows for sure which way the army will jump, but if it "restores order" in the way that the elite wants, then a long, dark night will fall on Thailand. Though not, one hopes, as long and dark as the Burmese night.
Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist.
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The Irrawddy - EU Denounces Burma's Election
By MIN NAING THU - Friday, May 21, 2010
The European Parliament (EP) denounced Burma's electoral law and asked for the military junta to repeal it in order to open the political process for the participation of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, according to a press release issued by the 27 countries of the EP on Thursday.
The EP “calls for the electoral laws published in March 2010, which make the holding of free and transparent elections impossible, to be repealed,” and urged the Burmese authorities “to heed the appeals of the international community to allow Aung San Suu Kyi and all other prisoners of conscience to participate in the political process.”
The EP “condemns the holding of elections under completely undemocratic conditions and on the basis of rules which exclude the main democratic opposition party and deprive hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens of their right to vote and stand for election, in a clear attempt to exclude the country's entire opposition from the ballot.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Ohn Kyaing, a spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD), said: “The European Parliament's resolution is right because we will be on the wrong track if we accept the [election] law. The EP acted for the benefit of the people of Burma.”
However, Chan Htun, a veteran politician and long-time supporter of the democracy movement in Burma, doubts the effectiveness of the EP resolution.
“I don't think there will be any change just because of this new pressure,” he said. “We have to change the situation by ourselves, but the military regime here is so strong that it's hard for pro-democracy activists to initiate even a small campaign.”
Meanwhile, an official delegation to Burma from the Czech Republic led by Jiri Sitler, Deputy Foreign Minister, met NLD leaders such as Tin Oo, vice-chairman of the NLD, Win Tin, Nyan Win, Ohn Kyaing and Han Thar Myint at the British Club in Rangoon on Thursday.
Asked about the NLD's future plans, Tin Oo told the delegation that the NLD will continue its unfinished political work, explaining that the party's current social work included helping people satisfy their basic needs, such as getting access to clean water, in some areas hit by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
On Wednesday, the Czech delegation met with regime authorities in Naypyidaw, but the state-run New Light of Myanmar did not report the delegation's visit.
The Czech Republic and its former president, Noble Peace Laureate Václav Haval, who nominated Aung San Suu Kyi for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been strongly supportive of the democratic movement in Burma.
By MIN NAING THU - Friday, May 21, 2010
The European Parliament (EP) denounced Burma's electoral law and asked for the military junta to repeal it in order to open the political process for the participation of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, according to a press release issued by the 27 countries of the EP on Thursday.
The EP “calls for the electoral laws published in March 2010, which make the holding of free and transparent elections impossible, to be repealed,” and urged the Burmese authorities “to heed the appeals of the international community to allow Aung San Suu Kyi and all other prisoners of conscience to participate in the political process.”
The EP “condemns the holding of elections under completely undemocratic conditions and on the basis of rules which exclude the main democratic opposition party and deprive hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens of their right to vote and stand for election, in a clear attempt to exclude the country's entire opposition from the ballot.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Ohn Kyaing, a spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD), said: “The European Parliament's resolution is right because we will be on the wrong track if we accept the [election] law. The EP acted for the benefit of the people of Burma.”
However, Chan Htun, a veteran politician and long-time supporter of the democracy movement in Burma, doubts the effectiveness of the EP resolution.
“I don't think there will be any change just because of this new pressure,” he said. “We have to change the situation by ourselves, but the military regime here is so strong that it's hard for pro-democracy activists to initiate even a small campaign.”
Meanwhile, an official delegation to Burma from the Czech Republic led by Jiri Sitler, Deputy Foreign Minister, met NLD leaders such as Tin Oo, vice-chairman of the NLD, Win Tin, Nyan Win, Ohn Kyaing and Han Thar Myint at the British Club in Rangoon on Thursday.
Asked about the NLD's future plans, Tin Oo told the delegation that the NLD will continue its unfinished political work, explaining that the party's current social work included helping people satisfy their basic needs, such as getting access to clean water, in some areas hit by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
On Wednesday, the Czech delegation met with regime authorities in Naypyidaw, but the state-run New Light of Myanmar did not report the delegation's visit.
The Czech Republic and its former president, Noble Peace Laureate Václav Haval, who nominated Aung San Suu Kyi for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been strongly supportive of the democratic movement in Burma.
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The Irrawaddy - Junta Top Brass to Meet in Naypyidaw
By WAI MOE - Friday, May 21, 2010
Leading members of the Burmese military junta are scheduled to meet in the coming week in Naypyidaw. The meeting is expected to concentrate on finals preparations ahead of the announcement of a date for a general election.
Sources in Burma’s remote capital said government officials are busy setting the agenda for the junta’s meeting, an event held every four months when all major issues are discussed, including any military reshuffles.
Next week's meeting is expected to be different, sources said, as junta head Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his top generals have several hot topics on the table to discuss—the most important being the internal issue of who will stay within the Tatmadaw [Burma’s armed forces] and who will resign and join the parliament as appointed military officials—in effect, the regime's next step in outlining its future administration.
“I think the meeting which is scheduled to be held for three days in Naypyidaw is likely to be the final four-monthly meeting before the election, as the generals will be very busy in the months ahead,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, an observer who focuses on Burmese military affairs and is based at the Sino-Burmese border.
Sources in Rangoon said military officials, including commanders, have been called in for the meeting.
Due to the junta’s habit of secrecy and the existing hierarchy within the Tatmadaw and the government, it is often the case that the meeting is concluded with a speech and instructions from Than Shwe without any debate or discussion.
“This is normal at the four-monthly meeting,” said Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “Only the top generals, senior commanders and senior ministers do the talking at the meeting.”
He said that during the last meeting in November, Than Shwe talked about the importance of the Myitsone Dam project and that, following the meeting, all junta officials went to work dynamically on the project.
In April, the Myitsone Dam was hit by a series of bomb blasts. No one has taken responsibility for the attack. However, observers said the blast was either part of an internal conflict within the junta or an attack by a dissenting armed group.
Military sources in Naypyidaw said after the last meeting in November that despite expectations of a major reshuffle before the election, Than Shwe, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Tamadaw, did not use the meeting to make changes.
Observers said that next week's meeting is almost certainly the stage where decisions will be taken with regard to the junta's pre- and post-election strategies.
Under the 2008 constitution, the Tatmadaw’s commander-in-chief will appoint military officials for a quarter of the seats for the upper and lower houses of the Burmese parliament—56 out of 224 seats in the Upper House, also known as the National House (Amyotha Hluttaw); and 110 seats out of 440 in the Lower House, commonly called the People’s House (Pyithu Hluttaw).
Aung Kyaw Zaw said that alongside discussing election strategy, Than Shwe may question his commanders about the border guard force (BGF) plan and the tensions between the Burmese army and the armed ethnic groups, particularly the major armies situated near the the Sino-Burmese border.
The junta has been trying to convince several ethnic cease-fire groups to join ranks with its BGF, but most groups have either rejected or are yet to respond to the proposal.
Among them, the United Wa State Army, which has more than 20,000 troops, and the Kachin Independence Organization, have resisted the plan. Both are historically and geographically close to China.
Experts on Burma have said that if civil war breaks out again in Burma, instability could badly affect Chinese interests in Burma, as well as the Sino-Burmese relationship. Beijing has repeatedly called for a peaceful solution and national reconciliation in Burma’s ethnic affairs.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will talk with the junta over stability in Burma during his trip in the near future. The trip is scheduled for a few days after the junta’s four-monthly meeting.
By WAI MOE - Friday, May 21, 2010
Leading members of the Burmese military junta are scheduled to meet in the coming week in Naypyidaw. The meeting is expected to concentrate on finals preparations ahead of the announcement of a date for a general election.
Sources in Burma’s remote capital said government officials are busy setting the agenda for the junta’s meeting, an event held every four months when all major issues are discussed, including any military reshuffles.
Next week's meeting is expected to be different, sources said, as junta head Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his top generals have several hot topics on the table to discuss—the most important being the internal issue of who will stay within the Tatmadaw [Burma’s armed forces] and who will resign and join the parliament as appointed military officials—in effect, the regime's next step in outlining its future administration.
“I think the meeting which is scheduled to be held for three days in Naypyidaw is likely to be the final four-monthly meeting before the election, as the generals will be very busy in the months ahead,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, an observer who focuses on Burmese military affairs and is based at the Sino-Burmese border.
Sources in Rangoon said military officials, including commanders, have been called in for the meeting.
Due to the junta’s habit of secrecy and the existing hierarchy within the Tatmadaw and the government, it is often the case that the meeting is concluded with a speech and instructions from Than Shwe without any debate or discussion.
“This is normal at the four-monthly meeting,” said Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “Only the top generals, senior commanders and senior ministers do the talking at the meeting.”
He said that during the last meeting in November, Than Shwe talked about the importance of the Myitsone Dam project and that, following the meeting, all junta officials went to work dynamically on the project.
In April, the Myitsone Dam was hit by a series of bomb blasts. No one has taken responsibility for the attack. However, observers said the blast was either part of an internal conflict within the junta or an attack by a dissenting armed group.
Military sources in Naypyidaw said after the last meeting in November that despite expectations of a major reshuffle before the election, Than Shwe, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Tamadaw, did not use the meeting to make changes.
Observers said that next week's meeting is almost certainly the stage where decisions will be taken with regard to the junta's pre- and post-election strategies.
Under the 2008 constitution, the Tatmadaw’s commander-in-chief will appoint military officials for a quarter of the seats for the upper and lower houses of the Burmese parliament—56 out of 224 seats in the Upper House, also known as the National House (Amyotha Hluttaw); and 110 seats out of 440 in the Lower House, commonly called the People’s House (Pyithu Hluttaw).
Aung Kyaw Zaw said that alongside discussing election strategy, Than Shwe may question his commanders about the border guard force (BGF) plan and the tensions between the Burmese army and the armed ethnic groups, particularly the major armies situated near the the Sino-Burmese border.
The junta has been trying to convince several ethnic cease-fire groups to join ranks with its BGF, but most groups have either rejected or are yet to respond to the proposal.
Among them, the United Wa State Army, which has more than 20,000 troops, and the Kachin Independence Organization, have resisted the plan. Both are historically and geographically close to China.
Experts on Burma have said that if civil war breaks out again in Burma, instability could badly affect Chinese interests in Burma, as well as the Sino-Burmese relationship. Beijing has repeatedly called for a peaceful solution and national reconciliation in Burma’s ethnic affairs.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will talk with the junta over stability in Burma during his trip in the near future. The trip is scheduled for a few days after the junta’s four-monthly meeting.
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The Irrawaddy - State Media in Burma Silent on Thai Unrest
By KO HTWE - Friday, May 21, 2010
While Thailand's increasingly volatile political crisis attracts the attention of much of the world's media, people in Burma are getting only a trickle of information about the situation in a country that is host to a vast Burmese migrant population.
State-run television in Burma has provided scant coverage of the protests that paralyzed Bangkok for the past two months. The protests ended yesterday after Thai troops finally moved in to shut them down with a massive show of force that sparked riots that left much of downtown Bangkok in ruins.
According to residents of Rangoon, the only reports of the unrest that are widely available to the public are those that appear in privately owned weekly news journals. For more up-to-date information, some are turning to foreign-based shortwave radio stations, the Internet, or international news networks such as CNN, BBC or Al Jazeera.
State-owned Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), which has a monopoly on TV broadcasting inside Burma, has a channel—MRTV-4—that carries foreign news broadcasts, but only with a delay that allows censors to block any news deemed potentially harmful to the country's ruling regime.
“I haven't seen any news about Thailand broadcast on state-owned television. I know about the situation there only through the Internet and journals,” said Si Thu, who lives in Rangoon.
Win Tin, a leading member of the National League for Democracy, said that most of his information about Thailand was coming from shortwave radio stations.
“Because of the lack of electricity, we get our news mostly from the radio,” he said, adding that the situation in Thailand is “very complicated and difficult to assess.”
In Burma, the Ministry of Information's Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, which oversees the censorship board, routinely inspects and censors books, journals and newspapers, rejecting any politically sensitive material.
So far, however, it hasn't prevented private publications from reporting some of the details of the crisis in Thailand.
“The state-owned media rarely reports about what is happening in Bangkok, but our journal can report the death toll and publish some photos,” said the editor of a Rangoon-based weekly journal who spoke to The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
Mandalay-based freelance reporter Nyein Chan said that now that the protests in Bangkok have been brought under control, the Burmese media may be given more freedom to report on events in Thailand.
“Now they will be permitted to report more because the Thai army has crushed the Redshirt demonstrators,” said Nyein Chan. “But only journals closely connected to the regime will be able to report freely about the situation in Thailand.”
There are 326 licensed newspapers, magazines and journals in Burma.
By KO HTWE - Friday, May 21, 2010
While Thailand's increasingly volatile political crisis attracts the attention of much of the world's media, people in Burma are getting only a trickle of information about the situation in a country that is host to a vast Burmese migrant population.
State-run television in Burma has provided scant coverage of the protests that paralyzed Bangkok for the past two months. The protests ended yesterday after Thai troops finally moved in to shut them down with a massive show of force that sparked riots that left much of downtown Bangkok in ruins.
According to residents of Rangoon, the only reports of the unrest that are widely available to the public are those that appear in privately owned weekly news journals. For more up-to-date information, some are turning to foreign-based shortwave radio stations, the Internet, or international news networks such as CNN, BBC or Al Jazeera.
State-owned Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), which has a monopoly on TV broadcasting inside Burma, has a channel—MRTV-4—that carries foreign news broadcasts, but only with a delay that allows censors to block any news deemed potentially harmful to the country's ruling regime.
“I haven't seen any news about Thailand broadcast on state-owned television. I know about the situation there only through the Internet and journals,” said Si Thu, who lives in Rangoon.
Win Tin, a leading member of the National League for Democracy, said that most of his information about Thailand was coming from shortwave radio stations.
“Because of the lack of electricity, we get our news mostly from the radio,” he said, adding that the situation in Thailand is “very complicated and difficult to assess.”
In Burma, the Ministry of Information's Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, which oversees the censorship board, routinely inspects and censors books, journals and newspapers, rejecting any politically sensitive material.
So far, however, it hasn't prevented private publications from reporting some of the details of the crisis in Thailand.
“The state-owned media rarely reports about what is happening in Bangkok, but our journal can report the death toll and publish some photos,” said the editor of a Rangoon-based weekly journal who spoke to The Irrawaddy on Thursday.
Mandalay-based freelance reporter Nyein Chan said that now that the protests in Bangkok have been brought under control, the Burmese media may be given more freedom to report on events in Thailand.
“Now they will be permitted to report more because the Thai army has crushed the Redshirt demonstrators,” said Nyein Chan. “But only journals closely connected to the regime will be able to report freely about the situation in Thailand.”
There are 326 licensed newspapers, magazines and journals in Burma.
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Laila to rain on Burma’s northwest coast
Thursday, 20 May 2010 23:16 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Cyclone Laila, which originated in the southern Bay of Bengal, will cross the Burmese coast near the port of Sittwe in the next three days, according to meteorologists.
Laila last night (May 20) was crossing the Indian coastline north of Chennai, with core winds reaching speeds of 140 km/h, and it may cross Burma’s coast near Sittwe in the next 72 hours, Tun Lwin, a government meteorologist based in Rangoon, said.
“According to my calculations, it may cross the Burmese coast at the northern tip of Rakhine (Arakan) State,” he told Mizzima. “The storm will weaken as it moves into the interior land areas and may cause only heavy rain.”
“[However] If the storm hits Burma from the sea it will get stronger”, he said.
Laila may take another three days to reach the Arakan coast so it was impossible to estimate the exact wind speed in advance, he added.
“It is currently moving over land in the Indian interior and we’ve heard that it is quite strong,” he said. “The storm should move to the northwest in the monsoon season but as the monsoon has not yet arrived, it could not … so it is turning towards us.”
Laila originated as a low pressure system in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal on Monday (May 17) and developed into a low-intensity storm the following day. It then intensified and was given the “yellow” code and named “Laila” by Pakistan.
Singapore-based Fugro Global Environmental and Ocean Sciences senior marine meteorologist Stewart Tin Tun Myint said Cyclone Laila may enter Arakan State and Bangladesh through India but by that time would not be dangerous.
“If it turned to Burma, its surface wind speed will be between 25 to 30 knots only. It will not be in a dangerous stage.” he said. “It will weaken when it reaches inner land areas since it can’t get the water vapour required [to maintain its strength].”
Today’s daily papers in Rangoon ran stories titled “Storm Warning and Reminders for Preventive Measures”, reporting that “Laila” was at a strong stage affecting the southwest and midwest of the Bay of Bengal but that it would not enter Burma.
The reports also said the “maximum surface wind speed” of the storm might reach 75 mph (120km/h).
Thunderstorms were expected elsewhere along the Burmese coastline and offshore with torrential rains and strong winds causing squalls and rough seas, experts said. Surface wind speed may reach about 40 mph (72 km/h) when Laila hits Burma.
Generated by Laila, “seas towards the Rakhine (Arakan) coast will still be rough for the next two to three days off and along the Rakhine (Arakan) coast, [with swells] estimated at three to four metres (nine to 12 feet),” Dr. Tin Tun Myint said. “Conditions are still hazardous for fishermen in small boats.”
“According to observations this afternoon offshore from Rakhine, the wave height is 3.5 metres (10 feet),” he said.
Thursday, 20 May 2010 23:16 Kyaw Kha
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Cyclone Laila, which originated in the southern Bay of Bengal, will cross the Burmese coast near the port of Sittwe in the next three days, according to meteorologists.
Laila last night (May 20) was crossing the Indian coastline north of Chennai, with core winds reaching speeds of 140 km/h, and it may cross Burma’s coast near Sittwe in the next 72 hours, Tun Lwin, a government meteorologist based in Rangoon, said.
“According to my calculations, it may cross the Burmese coast at the northern tip of Rakhine (Arakan) State,” he told Mizzima. “The storm will weaken as it moves into the interior land areas and may cause only heavy rain.”
“[However] If the storm hits Burma from the sea it will get stronger”, he said.
Laila may take another three days to reach the Arakan coast so it was impossible to estimate the exact wind speed in advance, he added.
“It is currently moving over land in the Indian interior and we’ve heard that it is quite strong,” he said. “The storm should move to the northwest in the monsoon season but as the monsoon has not yet arrived, it could not … so it is turning towards us.”
Laila originated as a low pressure system in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal on Monday (May 17) and developed into a low-intensity storm the following day. It then intensified and was given the “yellow” code and named “Laila” by Pakistan.
Singapore-based Fugro Global Environmental and Ocean Sciences senior marine meteorologist Stewart Tin Tun Myint said Cyclone Laila may enter Arakan State and Bangladesh through India but by that time would not be dangerous.
“If it turned to Burma, its surface wind speed will be between 25 to 30 knots only. It will not be in a dangerous stage.” he said. “It will weaken when it reaches inner land areas since it can’t get the water vapour required [to maintain its strength].”
Today’s daily papers in Rangoon ran stories titled “Storm Warning and Reminders for Preventive Measures”, reporting that “Laila” was at a strong stage affecting the southwest and midwest of the Bay of Bengal but that it would not enter Burma.
The reports also said the “maximum surface wind speed” of the storm might reach 75 mph (120km/h).
Thunderstorms were expected elsewhere along the Burmese coastline and offshore with torrential rains and strong winds causing squalls and rough seas, experts said. Surface wind speed may reach about 40 mph (72 km/h) when Laila hits Burma.
Generated by Laila, “seas towards the Rakhine (Arakan) coast will still be rough for the next two to three days off and along the Rakhine (Arakan) coast, [with swells] estimated at three to four metres (nine to 12 feet),” Dr. Tin Tun Myint said. “Conditions are still hazardous for fishermen in small boats.”
“According to observations this afternoon offshore from Rakhine, the wave height is 3.5 metres (10 feet),” he said.
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DVB News - Thai soldier shot dead by Burmese corporal
By NAW NOREEN
Published: 21 May 2010
A Thai army soldier was been shot dead earlier this week by a Burmese army corporal on the Thai-Burma border, locals say.
The shooting happened on the Burmese side of the Moei (or Salween) river on Tuesday, close to Thailand’s northwestern Mae Sariang. The Burmese soldier was from Light Infantry Battalion 434, which operates across the river from Mae Sariang.
A local in Mae Sam Laep village, close to Mae Sariang, said the Burmese corporal shot the Thai soldier after he refused to give a ride to two colleagues who were critically wounded after stepping on a landmine near their base.
“Three Thai boats were sending a group of [Thai] forestry officials to [a village up river] and upon passing Eu Thu Tha [near LIB 434 base] they were asked by Burmese soldiers to take two of their men who stepped on a landmine to the battalion’s base,” said the villager.
“The Thai boats refused to take them as they were on orders to send their officials upriver. One of the boat captains, a Thai soldier known as Ah Young who spoke Burmese, was talking to a Burmese soldier [on the river bank] and when he returned to the boat, he was shot multiple times in the back by the corporal.”
The villager said Ah Young was a friend of the Burmese soldiers and had helped them previously. The Burmese corporal who carried out the shooting was reportedly drunk at the time.
DVB was unable to contact Thai authorities.
Saw Steve of Thailand-based Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) said similar incidents occur often at the border area.
“These happen quite often. Normally, boats will not dare to travel in the river for one to two days following this. However, both sides will start using the river again when [the problem] is over.”
By NAW NOREEN
Published: 21 May 2010
A Thai army soldier was been shot dead earlier this week by a Burmese army corporal on the Thai-Burma border, locals say.
The shooting happened on the Burmese side of the Moei (or Salween) river on Tuesday, close to Thailand’s northwestern Mae Sariang. The Burmese soldier was from Light Infantry Battalion 434, which operates across the river from Mae Sariang.
A local in Mae Sam Laep village, close to Mae Sariang, said the Burmese corporal shot the Thai soldier after he refused to give a ride to two colleagues who were critically wounded after stepping on a landmine near their base.
“Three Thai boats were sending a group of [Thai] forestry officials to [a village up river] and upon passing Eu Thu Tha [near LIB 434 base] they were asked by Burmese soldiers to take two of their men who stepped on a landmine to the battalion’s base,” said the villager.
“The Thai boats refused to take them as they were on orders to send their officials upriver. One of the boat captains, a Thai soldier known as Ah Young who spoke Burmese, was talking to a Burmese soldier [on the river bank] and when he returned to the boat, he was shot multiple times in the back by the corporal.”
The villager said Ah Young was a friend of the Burmese soldiers and had helped them previously. The Burmese corporal who carried out the shooting was reportedly drunk at the time.
DVB was unable to contact Thai authorities.
Saw Steve of Thailand-based Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) said similar incidents occur often at the border area.
“These happen quite often. Normally, boats will not dare to travel in the river for one to two days following this. However, both sides will start using the river again when [the problem] is over.”
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