The BBC recently ran a five-part series of articles about life inside Burma, written by Kate McGeown. In all honesty, the articles were pretty good. I thought, finally, a journalist traveling to Burma for the first time was able to offer a reasonably balanced perspective, acknowledging that what happens there is not apparent on the surface. Sure, it didn't go into much depth as far the ethnic minorities go, but as far as they're writing for people with only a cursory knowledge of the country, it was pretty informative. And you know, the BBC does a pretty good job of covering Burma, so kudos to them.

That's why I was all the more disappointed when I read the final installment of the articles, where Kate answered readers' questions about the country. It was all going pretty well, until I got to this question:

Your description of Burma sounds somewhat like North Korea. How would you compare the situation there to other countries you have (or have not) visited?

And, in particular, her response:   more »

The 19th marked Aung San Suu Kyi's 61st birthday, another birthday spent under house arrest in Rangoon. This post is obviously a day late, but the post I wrote yesterday was eaten by the internet, and this is not an occasion that should be allowed to slip by without mention.

So here's wishing good health and well-being to Daw Suu for the year to come, and hope that she'll soon see the fruits of her sacrifice. This will have been her 10th or 11th birthday spent under house arrest. Demonstrations and events from L.A. to Dhaka were held to honor The Lady's birthday, with demonstrators calling for the junta to release her from house arrest and for the world to push for democracy in Burma. Daw Suu herself seems prepared to wait under house arrest until real changes towards democracy are implemented.   more »

The Burmese government recently invited local and foreign journalists to go along on a tour of development projects being conducted in Karen and Mon States. Following this show, they held a question and answer session. The New Light of Myanmar has printed this Q & A in English. Thanks to the poster who brough the article to my attention over at the Democracy for Burma group at Yahoo. I've attached the original PDF of the NLM for your entertainment - but their six column format makes for annoying reading. I actually have very little commentary to offer here - I think the text will speak for itself, so I've cut and pasted the choice bits. To quote Minister Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan "A party or organization cannot conceal its nature and essence for a long time. Time will reveal its nature and essence." So will fatuously verbose propaganda that gets posted all over the internet.   more »

H.M.King Bhumibol Adulyadej celebrated his 60th anniversary as the King of Thailand on Friday, an occasion that was marked with celebrations and visits from dignitaries and royalty from around the world. His Majesty is the currently the longest reigning monarch in the world.

One would be hard pressed to find a ruler who so completely holds the hearts and minds of a nation. In 60 years, the kind has implemented over 3000 development projects, and while it would foolish to think 3000 projects have never seen a failure, there's something inspiring about the idea of a leader who weilds so much power and influence devoting his life to improving the welfare of his people, and not to the expansion of his own power.   more »

Sometimes I get to a point where I think that there's nothing more I could read about Burma that would shock me. And then, I come across an article that makes me go, "What the $#$%?!!". Upon closer examination, I decide that in fact, I probably shouldn't be surprised, because this bit of news isn't really any worse than any other bit of news, but still, I remain both shocked and galled.

The Shan Herald Agency for News has recently reported that 17 people were summarily executed by the United Wa State Army in the Wa controlled area of Shan State, opposite Thailand's Maehongson Province, on May 31st.   more »