Weekly Diary, No. 334 (10 – 16 January 2009)

• ANOTHER ACTIVIST GETS MORE THAN 100 YEARS IN PRISON!
• BOAT PEOPLE FORCED TO SEA BY THAILAND!
• RIVAL GOVERNMENT TO CHOOSE NEW PM!
• SSA-JUNTA FIGHT IT OUT!

 
Cartoon
Tips for Thailand


Think Piece
When the desires of men are curbed, there will be peace
And the world will settle down of its own accord.
_{Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37}

The World
13 January 2009
World carbon emissions will have to drop to near zero by 2050 and go negative after that, reports Worldwatch Institute, a deeper cut than called for by Barack Obama who favors an 80% drop by mid-century. (Reuters)
 
15 January 2009
_{Kim Jong il}
North Korean leader Kim Jong il has nominated his third son Jong-un, 24, as his successor, Yonhap news agency reports. (AFP)

International Relations
9 January 2009
A North Korean weapons specialist working in a secret research facility in central Burma dies on his way to Meikhtila hospital. (DVB)

11 January 2009
_{Jose Ramos-Horta}
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta urges US and EU to review their sanctions policy. Burma’s democratization process will require military participation as in Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia, he says. (AFP)
 
15 January 2009
Burma VJ, a chronicle of the 2007 Burmese monks uprising, has been nabbed by the HBO. It won top prizes at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam. (Variety)

15 January 2009
_{Bishow Parajuli}
Full Nargis recovery will take 3-4 years, depending on the availability of funds, says Bishow Parajuli, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. (IRIN)

15 January 2009
US Treasury Department adds two people and 14 companies in its list of sanctions. The two are Zaw Zaw of Max Myanmar and Win Aung of Dagon International. (AFP)

16 January 2009
www.ashinmettacara.org hosted by the monk studying in Sri Lanka, has bagged The Best Asia Blog award for 2008. (Mizzima)

Thai-Burma Relations
12 January 2009
_{Abhisit Vejjasjiva}
PM Abhisit Vejjasjiva rules out sanctions. Goals are not different but measures may be different, he says. He does not say what steps Thailand may take to push to change in Burma. (AFP)
 
12 January 2009
100 women, 19 children and 52 men at a shrimp factory in Mahachai, Samut Sakhorn province, arrested leaving the factory with only 20 workers. (Independent Mon News Agency)
 
14 January 2009
Thai soldiers are detaining illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Burma, and forcing them back out to sea in boats without engines, say survivors. (BBC)

Politics/ Inside Burma
9 January 2009
Family members of political prisoners in remote prisons turned back without meeting them:

• Zagana                               Myitkyina
• Zaw Thet Htwe                  Taunggyi
• Nila Thein                           Thayet

(Mizzima)
 
12 January 2009
Mandalay lawyer Myint Thein is planning to appeal lengthy prison sentences given to 11 students before 24 January deadline. One of them Bo Min Yu, leader of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) for Upper Burma, received over 100 years sentence. (DVB) He was sentenced on 3 January to 104 years. (AP) Gen Hso Ten of Shan State Peace Council got 106 years – Editor
 
12 January 2009
Kachin students mark Kachin State Day by pasting and distributing 600 posters and handouts in 4 townships: Myitkyina, Waingmaw, Mohyin and Danai. The five point demands include rejection of 2010 elections, unconditional release of political prisoners and stopping the dam projects on the Irrawaddy. (Kachin News Group)
 
12 January 2009
Lawyers defending 2 MPs Nyi Pu and Tin Win Tut denied entry to the prison courtroom at Insein. They are Kyaw Ho, Maung Maung Latt and Sithumaung. (DVB)
 
13 January 2009
Riot police and soldiers are placed at important junctions and corners in Rangoon’s downtown area, following distribution of anti-junta leaflets last week. (Irrawaddy)
 
14 December 2008
_{Capt Nay Soe Mya}
The late Gen Bo Mya’s son Capt Nay Soe Mya flew to Naypyitaw from Bangkok, according to a family source. (NEJ)
 
14 January 2009
The second half of the 10-day meeting of MPU in Ireland this month will be attended by Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC), among others. More than 30 MPs will be electing a new prime minister. (Mizzima)
 
14 January 2009
_{U Thant}
The 100th anniversary of U Thant’s birthday will be held at the NLD Malaysia branch office on 22 January. (Statement)
 
14 January 2009
6 out of 9 NLD youth members who were detained 2 weeks earlier released after signing pledges they would not protest again. The 9 had marched through the streets demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi on 30 December. (Mizzima)
 
15 January 2009
Farmers in Thonegwa township, Rangoon division, are being encouraged to join the USDA, to get loans. They are giving loans of K 5,000 per acre. (DVB)

Shans/ Shan State
12 January 2009
Shan State Army (SSA) South issues statement:

• There is nothing to hope for in the upcoming 2010 elections. It is just as hopeless as the 1993-2007 National Convention. Nothing came out of it.
• A genuine federation can be built up only on the following roadmap:
• Amnesty for all ceasefire, non-ceasefire and exile groups
• Freedom to set up political parties
• A coalition government to draw up a constitution

The SSA also designated all ceasefire groups as allies on 29 December. (SHAN)

Economy/ Business
12 January 2009
Due to the global financial crisis, the junta is struggling to maintain a solvent state budget by exploiting every option available to them:

• Introduction of prepaid cellular phone system last month
• Normally export items like seafood and agricultural produce flocking into domestic markets
• State-run gem acutions

(DVB)
 
12 January 2009
Burma will be granting 4 more gem blocks:

• Monghsu                          Shan State
• Namya                             Shan State
• Mohnyin                           Kachin State
• Mawhan Mawlu               Sagaing Division

(Xinhua)
 
12 January 2009
The black market price for fuel is down:
                                                Official                                         Black
Gasoline                                   K 2,500                                         K 2,200 per gallon
Diesel                                      K 3,000                                         K 2,600 per gallon
(Irrawaddy)
 
14 January 2009
Global financial continues to undermine trade and economy, says Khin Maung Nyo, a Rangoon-based analyst:

• Consumers are not buying much
• Many business sectors letting workers go
• Some are reducing wages by cutting normal working hours
• Orders for new consignments from garment factories have been reduced
• More than 100,000 garment workers laid off

(Irrawaddy)

Human Rights
10-11 January 2009
_{Dr Thein Lwin}
Education seminar in Chiangmai discusses, among others, experience on the application of Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT) methods. The meeting is organized by Thinking Classroom Foundation (TCF) founded by Dr Thein Lwin. (SHAN)
 
12 January 2009
Drivers are being made to pay after the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) seized 140 sacks of rice, each weighing 50kg, in Kya Inn Seikkyi and Three Pagodas Pass townships on 26 December and 4 January. The shipments were bound for the Burma Army. (Independent Mon News Agency)
 
15 January 2009
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) condemns Rangoon for ordering at least 100 churches to stop holding worship services. (CSW)

Environment
12 January 2009
Food crisis continues in Chin State following rat infestation, says Joseph Win Hlaing Oo, director of Country Agency for Rural Development.

• 70,000 people suffering
• 75% of crops destroyed
• 30% of villagers forced to leave their fields
• Rats measure about 1.5ft long

(AFP)
 
14 January 2009
A Chinese company is digging for nickel and uranium in Mwe Taung mountain, 15 km from Kalemyo, Sagaing division. (Khonumthung)

Drugs

War
7 January 2009
For the first time in history, 3 generals have been appointed as state/division ministers on 20 November:

• Maj-Gen Tin Ngwe
• Maj-Gen Kyaw Swe
• Maj-Gen Myint Swe

(New Era Journal)
 
13 January 2009
Violent clashes between the SSA South and the Burma Army west of the Mongkeung-Hsipaw highway. Heavy casualties on the junta side. Few details coming out. (SHAN)
 
14 January 2009
Five 10-wheel military trucks, labeled Sino Truck, double the size of FAW and Dong Feng tricks earlier given to Burma, cross the border into Burma through Jiegao-Manwiang gate. “They will be used for carrying cannons,” says one eyewitness. (Mizzima)

Obituary
15 January 2009

Khun Lu Khun Ka, 71, “deputy foreign minister” of the “Shan Government” set up in 2005, cremated in a quiet ceremony in Chiangmai. He passed away on 12 January. (SHAN)