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[sabaijai]

churchill, on 2009-05-17 17:23:42, said:

Patong Bob, on 2009-05-17 16:20:18, said:

Can we have some different subject titles in the Myanmar forum. One is not enough.

Also I walked past the Daw's home in University Avenue some years ago. Is there really a lake there ? Or didn't I notice it ?

There doesn't seem to be on Google Earth.

"Can we have some different subject titles in the Myanmar forum. One is not enough"

Agreed

We've been through this before. During and after the 2007 anti-government protests in Myanmar and again with Nargis the number of separate threads on Myanmar were overwhelming the Southeast Asia subforum. From time to time there is a also a rash of political topics, as is the case now with the renewal of ASSK's house arrest and the lake swimmer. To keep the threads more manageable admin decided to put all news topics in one thread and all political topics (political opinion that is) in another.

Anyone who has a problem with it being done this way can PM myself or admins, or both, with complaints and we'll consider it again. Please don't post further on this topic in this thread or elsewhere in the subforum. All future posts stating opinions on the matter of multiple Myanmar news threads will be deleted.

Separate threads on other Myanmar topics (eg, travel, history, culture, nature) are welcome.

Thanks for your cooperation.

[sabaijai]

DragonQuest, on 2009-05-17 12:58:47, said:

I just got back from Burma and some hotel guy threatened me, he told me this was not a demoracy and that I cannot leave burma. Because he wanted to charge me 5 dollars extra for bringing a visitor to my room..... He ruined my vacation so Im never going back, few days later I boarded the plane with no problems.

It's common practice to charge extra for visitors at some hotels in Thailand as well.

[sabaijai]

Patong Bob, on 2009-05-17 16:20:18, said:

Can we have some different subject titles in the Myanmar forum. One is not enough.

Also I walked past the Daw's home in University Avenue some years ago. Is there really a lake there ? Or didn't I notice it ?

There doesn't seem to be on Google Earth.

There's sizeable Inya Lake behind her house.

[churchill]

PM demands Suu Kyi's release

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called on the ruling military junta of Burma to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners as soon as possible to promote democracy and national reconciliation as agreed at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said on Tuesday that the prime minister, as the Asean chairman, released a statement expressing grave concern about opposition party leader Suu Kyi who recently faced charges of violating the terms of her house arrest.

Mr Panitan said the Thai government is ready to work with the Burmese government and other countries to bring about peace and order in Burma.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/14...suu-kyi-release
-- Bangkok Post 19/05/09

[churchill]

Asean: Grave concern over Suu Kyi trial

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) expressed "grave concern'' but ruled out sanctions in its first official reaction to the trial of Burma pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday.

The regional bloc, which rarely speaks out on the domestic political issues of its 10 members, issued a statement through current chair Thailand to urge the immediate release of the detained Nobel Peace laureate.

"Thailand, as the Asean Chair, expresses grave concern about recent developments relating to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, given her fragile health,'' said the statement, issued five days after the charges against her were first filed.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/14...r-suu-kyi-trial
-- Bangkok Post 19/05/09

[churchill]

Burma lashes out at Thailand over Suu Kyi

Burma lashed out at Thailand on Sunday for interfering in its internal affairs after the government called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
.

Burma said the statement last wBack to exile? Suu Kyi under house arrest.eek by the Foreign Miinstry "deviated from the practice of Asean," under which countries supposedly must not criticise other members.

"It is tantamount to interfering in Myanmar's internal affairs," said the Burmese statement, printed by the mouthpiece media. Independent reporting is banned in Burma.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/14426...nd-over-suu-kyi
-- Bangkok Post 25/05/09

[churchill]

EU praises ASEAN's "remarkable" statement on Myanmar

continued at http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asi...ent_on_Myanmar_

[sabaijai]

Just to clarify, the statement was by Thailand's prime minister, who happens to be the current Asean chair.

[churchill]

Throwing Burma out of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would not be an appropriate way to pressure the country to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Wednesday.

He said maintaining good relations among Asean country members and showing a proper stance was the best way to deal with the problem.

Thailand was not the only country affected by the political situation in Burma, since other the Asean leaders agreed on this issue.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/14...urma-from-asean
-- Bangkok Post 27/05/09

[churchill]

updated at http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/14451...an-not-solution

[jumnien]

It's unlikely that the junta-installed Abhisit is going to take action against a neighboring junta. He may request a few pointers from them on muzzling the media!

[ilovefashionTV]

Strange the way theyre so up for a ruck with Cambodia over a church or temple or whatever people who bizarelly follow some crappy religion call a building .... but not so interested in fighting for a slightly more moral cause. ie freedom for ones neighbours.

[geriatrickid]

ilovefashionTV, on 2009-05-27 18:52:49, said:

Strange the way theyre so up for a ruck with Cambodia over a church or temple or whatever people who bizarelly follow some crappy religion call a building .... but not so interested in fighting for a slightly more moral cause. ie freedom for ones neighbours.

Maybe it has something to do with all that petro energy that flows from Burma to Thailand.
Can't upset energy supply and more importantly, the profits.

[churchill]

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi urgently needs medical attention in the prison where she is being held during her trial, her party said Friday.

A party statement said it was ''gravely concerned'' about the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's health, saying she cannot sleep well because she suffers from leg cramps.

Suu Kyi, 63, was treated for dehydration and low blood pressure in early May, a few days after an American intruder was arrested for sneaking into her home. The military government has accused her of violating the terms of her house arrest for harboring the American, and if found guilty she could spend up to five years in prison.

In her courtroom appearance Tuesday, Suu Kyi looked pale and weak.

Closing arguments in the trial were rescheduled from next Monday to the following Friday, said Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's lawyers. The reason was not immediately known, and court authorities were not available for comment.

Myanmar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that Suu Kyi, who is being held in a prison ''guest house,'' is being ''provided with adequate health care and she is in good health.'' The government earlier said a team of doctors was taking care of her.

The trial has drawn outrage from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry that the military junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through next year's elections. Her party overwhelmingly won the last elections in 1990 but was not allowed to take power by the military, which has run the country since 1962.

Suu Kyi has pleaded not guilty. Her defense team acknowledges that 53-year-old John W. Yettaw swam to her lakeside home, where he stayed for two days. But they argue it was the duty of government guards outside her closely watched house to prevent intruders.

Yettaw, who was taken to Suu Kyi's home Thursday by officials to re-enact his visit, told the court Wednesday he had been sent by God to warn Suu Kyi of his premonition that she would be assassinated by terrorists, Nyan Win said.

Yettaw also secretly went to Suu Kyi's home late last year but did not meet her. He testified that security personnel observed him during both visits but did not try to stop him, Nyan Win said.

Yettaw and two female party members who live with Suu Kyi face the same charge as Suu Kyi and have also pleaded not guilty.

The defense's main argument appears to be that the charge against Suu Kyi is unlawful. Her lawyers say it cites a law that refers to a 1974 constitution which was annulled when the military took power in 1988.

However, supporters fear Suu Kyi may be found guilty because the courts are under the influence of the ruling junta and usually mete out harsh punishments to political dissidents.

Nyan Win said Thursday night he was ''very confident of victory if the trial is carried out according to law.''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/05/29...wt=nytimesworld

[Maigo6]

Maybe a coalition of western countries will invade Myanmar and free the opressed people......

Oh no, that will never happen, they have no oil.

[thunder30101]

Actually burma has alot of oil and gas, where do you think thailand gets all its gas from ? All this bs about her health is a smokescreen that doesnt help her case any, the bbc was reporting last week from diplomats visiting and in court that she was in excellant health. Way overdue for someone else to come up in burmese politics as she will never be able to be unbiased towards the military there and thats why they will never let her free and the burmese people will suffer for another 19 years over one person.

[abdulrahman]

thunder30101, on 2009-05-29 22:14:58, said:

Actually Burma has alot of oil and gas, where do you think thailand gets all its gas from ? All this bs about her health is a smokescreen that doesnt help her case any, the bbc was reporting last week from diplomats visiting and in court that she was in excellant health. Way overdue for someone else to come up in burmese politics as she will never be able to be unbiased towards the military there and thats why they will never let her free and the burmese people will suffer for another 19 years over one person.

So,now it's the fault of the Lady if the Burmese people suffer,not of the Generals!
Maybe her Party and her Government would have been no different from the others in the region:corrupt,elitist,greedy.I don't know,and nobody knows,she never had a chance to prove herself.
Now,you say it's time for younger blood in Burmese politics:with all the opposition to the military regime in prison or,at best,obstracised,who do you propose,the colonels or the subaltern officers?

[sabaijai]

KNLA Brigade 7 HQ Falls—Thailand Repatriates Refugees
By SAW YAN NAING Monday, June 22, 2009


A joint force of Burmese army troops and soldiers of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) seized the headquarters of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 7 on Sunday, its most important victory in a weeks-long offensive in the Burmese-Thai border area,

As fighting raged, Karen sources said the Thai authorities are forcibly repatriating refugees who had fled to Thailand.

The fall of the brigade headquarters of the Karen National Union (KNU) military wing was confirmed by Maj Hla Ngwe, joint secretary (1) of the KNU, who said KNLA forces would now resort to “guerrilla tactics.” only one KNLA Brigade 7 base remained intact, he said.

Hla Ngwe said seven soldiers of the attacking force had died when the assault on the Brigade 7 headquarters began on June 19.

KNU sources say the KNLA’s Brigade 7 has also lost three battalion bases—21, 22 and 101. Half of the battalion 202 base has also been taken.

Hla Ngwe said the loss of the KNLA Brigade 7 headquarters could have an effect on the work of Burmese opposition organizations based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

About 4,000 Karen refugees have fled to Thailand since the offensive began in the first week of June. Many are being forced by the Thai authorities to return to Burma, according to local sources.

The Karen Women Organization (KWO) issued a statement on Monday saying it was deeply concerned about the repatriation of Karen families from Tha Song Yang in Thailand’s Tak Province, and appealing for international action to help the refugees.

Aid groups, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Thai authorities are now discussing the problem.

KWO Secretary Dah Eh Kler said: “Thai authorities should at least wait and assess the situation. Forcing these people to return during the rainy season and to places where they still have every reason to fear for their lives is inhuman and a violation of their rights.”

The KWO said the repatriated Karen faced human rights abuses and even death.
“Women are vulnerable to rape if they are forced to return,” said the KWO statement, drawing attention to the rape and murder last week of two young Karen women by Burmese soldiers.

The two women, aged 17 and 18, were caught by Burmese army soldiers in Kwee Law Plo village in Pa-an district when their husbands fled into the jungle. The soldiers, from Infantry Battalion 205, raped and then murdered the women, one of whom was pregnant and the other was the mother of a six-months-old baby.


Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org

[Harcourt]

sabaijai, on 2009-06-24 21:44:07, said:

KNLA Brigade 7 HQ Falls—Thailand Repatriates Refugees
By SAW YAN NAING Monday, June 22, 2009


A joint force of Burmese army troops and soldiers of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) seized the headquarters of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 7 on Sunday, its most important victory in a weeks-long offensive in the Burmese-Thai border area,

As fighting raged, Karen sources said the Thai authorities are forcibly repatriating refugees who had fled to Thailand.

The fall of the brigade headquarters of the Karen National Union (KNU) military wing was confirmed by Maj Hla Ngwe, joint secretary (1) of the KNU, who said KNLA forces would now resort to "guerrilla tactics." only one KNLA Brigade 7 base remained intact, he said.

Hla Ngwe said seven soldiers of the attacking force had died when the assault on the Brigade 7 headquarters began on June 19.

KNU sources say the KNLA's Brigade 7 has also lost three battalion bases—21, 22 and 101. Half of the battalion 202 base has also been taken.

Hla Ngwe said the loss of the KNLA Brigade 7 headquarters could have an effect on the work of Burmese opposition organizations based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

About 4,000 Karen refugees have fled to Thailand since the offensive began in the first week of June. Many are being forced by the Thai authorities to return to Burma, according to local sources.

The Karen Women Organization (KWO) issued a statement on Monday saying it was deeply concerned about the repatriation of Karen families from Tha Song Yang in Thailand's Tak Province, and appealing for international action to help the refugees.

Aid groups, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and Thai authorities are now discussing the problem.

KWO Secretary Dah Eh Kler said: "Thai authorities should at least wait and assess the situation. Forcing these people to return during the rainy season and to places where they still have every reason to fear for their lives is inhuman and a violation of their rights."

The KWO said the repatriated Karen faced human rights abuses and even death.
"Women are vulnerable to rape if they are forced to return," said the KWO statement, drawing attention to the rape and murder last week of two young Karen women by Burmese soldiers.

The two women, aged 17 and 18, were caught by Burmese army soldiers in Kwee Law Plo village in Pa-an district when their husbands fled into the jungle. The soldiers, from Infantry Battalion 205, raped and then murdered the women, one of whom was pregnant and the other was the mother of a six-months-old baby.


Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org

I'm a bit confised over how current this story is. Dateline June 22, 2009, but copyright 2008?

Or is the report of June 22, 2009 just rehashing an older story?

[sabaijai]

Dateline is correct, copyright notice old.

Original link:

http://www.irrawaddy...hp?art_id=16149

[george]

Myanmar marks 21 years since student uprising

BANGKOK: -- Exiled Myanmar nationals in Bangkok on Saturday called for democracy at home as they marked the 21st anniversary of the 1988 uprising with their leader Aung San Suu Kyi behind bars.

Some 50 activists outside the Myanmar embassy in the Thai capital donned white T-shirts and red head scarves, shouting: "We want democracy!", with similar actions planned around the world, including Japan, Canada and France.

-- Agencies 2009-08-08

[george]

Myanmar may have to leave ASEAN if it has nuclear plant

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan

JAKARTA, Indonesia: -- Myanmar may be forced to abandon its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) membership if it is found to have a nuclear reactor in the country, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said on Saturday.

So far there is no clear evidence that the Southeast Asian country, Thailand’s neighbour to the west, has such a facility but if it does, it will be forced to leave the organisation because operating a nuclear plant violates a regional pact which states that ASEAN will be a nuclear free zone, said Mr Surin.

Mr Surin was responding to Western media reports which said recently that impoverished Myanmar was building a secret nuclear reactor and plutonium facilities with the help of North Korea and aims to have a nuclear bomb in five years.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the ASEAN meeting in Thailand’s Phuket last month also warned about possible nuclear links between the two countries. She said the communist-state could be sharing atomic technology with military-ruled Myanmar which could pose a major threat to the region.

“ASEAN (government) leaders will have to jointly consider on the issue. If (Myanmar) is found guilty then it will be forced to leave ASEAN,” said Mr. Surin, adding that so far there is no sign that the country has built such facilities.

Myanmar along with Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are ASEAN members.

Touching on the court delay in issuing a verdict against Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and two housekeepers following
the May 3 incident in which American John William Yettaw allegedly swam across a lake to her home and stayed there for two days, Mr Surin said he believed the postponement probably so the verdict to be issued would not impact the feelings of the international community.

The verdict must be transparent before general elections, otherwise Myanmar authorities would not have reason to back their claims to the international community, and it would also put pressure on ASEAN, he said.

If convicted, Mrs Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been under house arrest since 1989 could face up to five years in prison, which would prevent her from participating the general elections that the junta has scheduled for 2010.

Myanmar court has postponed the verdict until Tuesday.


-- TNA 2009-08-08

[erg]

An interesting post, I hope that Hillary can find someone interested in "Birma" with or without nucleair Plantations, the world should give a lot more attention to the helpless people in Birma.
The whole world should be ashamed of what is going on there for many many years allready.
As allways, money is the keyword, it does not bring enough for the democratic world to really do something. Or we could hurt the rest of the comunist world, who are a big buyers of our goods...........bla bla bla..........
Crazy that Birma is accepted in the ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations anyway.
I feel sorry for the beautifull people in Birma.
Tumbs up for Mr. ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan.
Lets swim to Mrs. Ang Suu Kyi's house with a thousand Thai visa members and see what happens next.

erwin.

[monoli87]

If it's true Myanmar operates the nuclear programme.... then it's a BIG THREATEN for all of ASEAN members!!!!!
I pray to god that this is not happened here!!!!

However by terminating the ASEAN membership for Myanmar, I think it'll be the case become more worst than ever... because Myanmar can freely develop his nuclear programme without thinking of any sensitivity among neighbour....

although by terminating the membership means that Burma will isolated by all mean in terms of economic relation... yeah, we hope to pressure the top official junta regime.... but i think the top leader of that regime don't felt any differences.... they can dictates Burma much like before....

and the poor Burma citizens will become poorer than before... the organized crime by Myanmar junta regime will become obvious... poor Burma will suffer terribly without any protection by neighbour......

so... by all mean, we have to wait until the general election 2010 held freely without any interferes by junta regime... if they failed to do so... then drastic reaction should occur.... like persuade or pressure China to pressure Myanmar junta regime....

The last choice that we have is together all of community in the world stand united with United State of America to invade and defeat The Myanmar junta regime..... convicted the top leaders as war criminal.... for sure if this happened the Burmese will be very welcome to all world troops....

just my opinion.... BTW i used Myanmar as represent the regime and the Burma is for beautiful and innocent people....

[Mosha]

So Thailand when it get's it's nuclear power station will also have to leave, no?