I've been falling behind a bit in keeping up with the news from Burma. Which isn't difficult as there's always a lot coming through the newswires. I was going to do a nice post dedicated to the martyrs of the struggle, in honor of Aung San Suu Kyi on the day of her 10th year under house arrest. But instead I was busy being sick and freaking out about going to Malaysia. RJ at Burma Watch.com has some good stuff, though. And you can google to news. In the grand tradition of blogging, I will proceed to post excerpts of someone else's writing, for your perusal and consideration.   more »

I decided several months ago that I would return home at Christmas. As much as I love Chiang Mai, I was quite happy with this decision, and I felt I left myself plenty of time to plan my strategy for leaving. Because it does take a strategy, as much as I'm sure that for all appearances I seem to be operating according to no plan at all. But leaving, and saying goodbye to people and places is a complicated process, the only advantage of which is that it is a fairly predictable process. There's a certian range of emotions one has to go through, from being excited about going, and seeing new things, (or old friends), to falling in love all over again with the place and the people you're leaving behind. In between of course, are all the feelings of sadness and guilt at having to say goodbye to people you care about. But, I find that if you plan in advance and give yourself enough time to manage all the emotions of leaving, makes it easier to say goodbye without any regrets. Having time makes it easier to deal with the emotions one at a time.   more »

Mizzima reports that officials are cracking down on 'illegal' workers in India's Mizoram State. As per State orders, the crackdown will continue for the next six months. A police superintendant stated that some of those in custody were drug traffickers. Those who are not traffickers, and have no legal working permits, or cash bribes, are being detained and taken back to the border. If the situation in Mizoram is anything like that in Thailand, those who are dropped at the border will probably pay more bribes to get right back across again.

This crackdown follows closely on the heels of an incident earlier this month, when Young Mizo Association members had blocked roads from the Burmese border into the capital of Aizawl, in an attempt to curb the entry the illegal migrants and drugs. The State Governor ordered them to reopen the roads.   more »

Time Asia has released its 2005 Asian Heroes. Actually, they released it a few weeks ago - but I've only just noticed. Its rare I get the opportunity to name-drop, so I have to take full advantage when I do.

One of the heroes is Charm Tong. I had the good fortune to be able to work with/for Charm Tong at the Shan School last year. She is as great as the article makes her out to be, and even though it is Time, (who put a chinese pop star on the edition's cover), the award is well deserved. I like to think of her as my friend, even though I don't get the chance to talk to her very often. And even though she's younger than I am, she's one of my heroes.

She's quite used to publicity, and often jets around the world attending big meetings and giving speeches, but she's certainly not the sort to seek out the limelight. I know she does what she does to bring much needed attention to the plight of Shan State and the people of Burma. So for her sake, go read and learn something today:
Shan Women's Action Network

The leaders of Asia are coming down with a collective case of ego-mania. Well, that's not true, they've probably always been ego-maniacs, but they suddenly seem to think its ok to impose their egos on the rest of us. After all the problems now with Thaksin sueing people, it seems Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen may ask for Thaksin's help in oppressing Cambodian journalists.

I tell you what, if I have to hear one more Prime Minister refer to activists as "troublemakers", I might scream. Someone needs to give these guys a clue. Communications technology is a lot more advanced than it was in the heyday of Asian dictators 30 years ago. They can't presume to tell other countries that these are 'internal affairs' or that these are isolated incidents or individuals causing trouble. We are well aware that people are collectively protesting the lawsuits and restrictions on free speech. It is not the US or the UN telling them to respect people's rights, it is their own people.

They also seem to be suffering under the delusion that outsiders defending the rights of the people as enshrined in their constitutions is 'meddling in internal affairs', but their neighbor's cooperation in the oppression of citizens outside their borders is not.

Wise up, guys. The media isn't going anywhere, and every effort you make to suppress or frighten it, only serves to make you look petty and whingey. Suck it up, you're leaders of democratic nations, if you want respect, then act respectable.

It seems Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Co., are single-handedly making Thailand as sue-happy as America. He currently has multiple (civil and criminal) lawsuits pending against various media figures.

The first lawsuit, filed last year, was lodged by Thaksin's own Shin Corp. against media reform activist Supinya Klangnarong. Shin Corp. is demanding 400 million baht in the civil case, alleging that Ms. Supinya had defamed the corporation by publishing comments that the companies profits had soared since Thaksin had taken office, and that certain government policies represented a conflict of interest, as they had directly benefited the PM's private businesses.   more »

The Kachin Independence Organizations, one of the cease-fire groups within Burma, has censored an environmental report due to be released by the Pan Kachin Development Organization here in Chiang Mai. The report assesses the impacts of development, particularly logging, on the environment of Kachin State.

The KIO, which won forestry and mining concessions in its cease-fire agreement with the junta, fears the report may harm its image and relationship with the junta.

The KIO is also one of the cease-fire groups which are refusing to lay down their weapons at the behest of Rangoon, expressing distrust in the junta's promises of protection and development.

The KIO can stand up to the junta with its guns, and call the generals dishonest, but they're worried an environmental report may damage the relationship?

Apparently, the UNHCR has begun advising activists not to be activists for their own good. Mizzima reports that Narinjara's editor-in-chief was advised last week that his organization could face 'strong action' from Bangladesh authorities if they continued their media work.

Since Burma's General Thura Shwe Mann visited Dhaka for high level discussions last month, Narinjara has been well aware that strenghthened relations between the junta and Bangladesh could have negative repercussions for the safety of refugees and exiled activists there. But, thanks to the UNHCR for offering their support, hey?   more »

It probably comes as no surprise that as far as internet censorship goes, the Burmese junta is one of the most restrictive in the world. Current figures put internet usage within the country at .6%, which is primarily dial-up. The vast majority of people must access the internet through cafes, which are also obliged to report on their clients' usage - as they also do in China.

The Open Net Initiative has released a detailed report on internet censorship in the country. You can read the full report here: http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/burma

There are primarily two ISP's within the country, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Bagan Cybertech, which is a semi-private company. The report indicates that the country has begun switching over to a 'Fortiguard', a filter and firewall product from Fortinet - a US company. Fortinet's spokesperson says that the company only sells to resalers, and therefore was unaware that they're product had been purchased by the Junta. However, the ONI researchers had this to say on the matter:
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Exploration is well under way by Daewoo of the natural gas feilds off the coast of Arakan State in western Burma. Arakan State borders Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal, and is home to the Arakanese (Rakhine) and the Rohingya, Burma's muslim minority. Read about it here: History of Arakan State.

For the last several months, I've been editing stories via email every day for Narinjara News, covering Arakan State. The stories are brief, and come plainly stating news that should all rights be shocking. Its been through bits and peices in these articles that I've learned about this place and the people there. Its only been with today's article on the Shwe Gas project, and my subsequent decision to finally google something, that the sequence of news events as they've been coming to me have seemed to coalesced into a disturbing pattern.

Daewoo stands to earn an annual profit of $100 million from the project. Here's what the people of Arakan state have gotten lately:   more »

Burma - Grace Under Pressure is an incredibly touching photo/flash website on Burma. If you've got 15 minutes to spare, go watch it now. If not, make time, because you have to see it.

The Irrawaddy has an excellent commentary piece by Amyotheryei U Win Naing, on the international community's efforts to help Burma. Amyotheryei U Win Naing is writing from within Rangoon, as the head of the pro-democracy National Politicians Group, Myanmar. The gist of his argument is this:

Any parties interested in Burma should maintain close ties with Burma’s government leaders and opposition groups alike. Representatives of foreign governments in Burma should talk to generals, democratic activists, and politicians. If they are not familiar with the perspectives of all sides, how will they assist us in finding a mutually acceptable solution to Burma’s problems? The head of a Western diplomatic mission in Rangoon recently returned home after a three-year stay in Burma. Not once did he meet with members of the democratic movement face to face.

Many representatives from Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries have made no effort to contact us either. Why? They have no interest in what we want for our people? They do not want to know what kind of relationships—immediate and future—we want to establish between their countries and ours?

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I came across an interesting article over at the Freedom Institute recently, concerning the need to rethink our strategic approach to Burma. You can read the full text here: Myanmar: Time for a rethink. The article made a few salient points, namely, that sanctions alone aren’t working, and the conflicting approaches of various nations are counterproductive. Which is, I suppose, what most of us have come to realise, isn’t it? But still, I find it encouraging that there seems to be some kind of dialogue/discourse developing on the topic.

But, I also find the article interesting for other reasons as well, in particular the way it represents a typical outsider/western viewpoint on the problems in Burma. As tends to be the case with outside perspectives, it can miss important details that are obvious from the inside. As tends to be the case with ‘Western’ perspectives, it takes a somewhat short-sighted view of the history and politics of the region. Coming from ‘modern’ nations, where our national identity tends to be linked more with the present and future than the past, we often forget the depth of history in Asia, and the importance it plays in the minds of the people. Don’t get me wrong, the author of the aforementioned article is obviously intelligent, and its a decent piece, but I will still proceed to poke holes in it.   more »

The news from Burma's been pretty busy lately, but some of us have been to busy cleaning up to blog. You can get your news updates here.

Chiang Mai was inundated with floods, again, last week. The first flood hit early in August, and was reportedly the worst in 40 years, with the Ping river reaching about 4.75 meters. About three weeks ago we had another, smaller, flood. Then this past week there was another one, even worse, with the river hitting 5 meters. Luckily, sort of, we had more warning and did not actually lose anything. Except the nice new paint job we did after the first flood. The government even gave us a goody bag of supplies, with some prawn mama noodles, toilet paper, sardines, and soy milk. Mmm..thanks Mr. Thaksin, but can I just have the 100 baht in cash next time?   more »