51 Protesters Wounded in Bangkok Explosions

By AMBIKA AHUJA/ AP WRITER

BANGKOK— At least 51 anti-government protesters were wounded in sevveral explosions early Sunday, raising fears of widening confrontations in a standoff that has strangled Thailand's economy and shut down its airports.

An injured anti-government protester is carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance after the bomb blast during a protest at government house in Bangkok, November 30, 2008. (Photo: AP)

The first blast went off inside Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's office compound, which protesters seized in August and have held ever since. At least 49 people were hurt, including nine who were hospitalized, said Surachet Sathitniramai at the Narenthorn Medical Center. He said four were in serious condition.

Suriyasai Katasiya, a spokesman for the protest group, said a grenade landed on the roof of a tent under which protesters were resting. It rolled down and fell to the ground before exploding, he said.

The demonstrators, who call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy, accuse the government of being a puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup and fled overseas to escape corruption charges.

The protesters overran Bangkok's international Suvarnabhumi airport Tuesday night as part of their campaign to force Somchai from office. They seized the Don Muang airport a day later, severing the capital from all commercial air traffic and virtually paralyzing the government.

The demonstrators say they will not leave until Somchai resigns, and have refused to enter any negotiations.

The closure of the airports has taken a heavy toll on Thailand's economy and reputation. According to Thai media reports, some 100,000 tourists are stranded, and schedules of airlines around the world have been disrupted.

Twenty-minutes after the compound attack, two more blasts rocked an anti-government television station but there were no injuries, Suriyasai said.

In another pre-dawn strike, an explosive device detonated on the road near the main entrance to Don Muang. Surachet and an Associated Press television cameraman said two people were wounded.

Police were unable to verify the accounts.

It was not immediately known who was behind the attacks.

The protest group has been attacked several times by small bombs and grenades, including a blast earlier this month that killed one person and wounded 29.

Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat, who oversees economic affairs, said the number of foreign tourist arrivals next year was expected to fall by half to about 6 million, resulting in 1 million job losses in the crucial tourism industry.

The Federation of Thai Industries has estimated the takeover of the airports is costing the country $57 million to $85 million a day.

"The situation has gone from bad to worse, signaling that it (the government) is incompetent at ensuring peace and order," the Thai Chamber of Commerce said in a statement Saturday.

About 400 protesters, traveling in a convoy of cars from the occupied international airport, attacked a police checkpoint staffed by more than 100 officers Saturday. The perimeter, which was put in place earlier in the day, had raised expectations authorities were preparing for a raid to end the four-day-old siege.

But instead, the dramatic four-minute assault effectively broke the cordon around the airport.

The protesters, carrying metal rods and some guns, smashed windshields and threw what appeared to be firecrackers at the police. Video footage of the attack appeared to show a protester firing a handgun toward a police van filled with officers.

Police Col. Wuttipong Petchkumnerd said there were no injuries on either side.

"We left the area immediately because we did not want any confrontation," he told The Associated Press.

"The police are constantly provoked, which is why only senior policemen are armed. We do not want to use violence," he said. He said four police trucks were damaged.

So far security forces have only issued a warning to the protesters to leave. It was not clear if the assault will result in a changed strategy.

Earlier Saturday, police spokesman Maj. Gen. Amnuay Nimmano said the protesters would be told to leave the airports. If they did not, a deadline will be issued with another warning, "the last one before we take action," he said.

The hidden power of the puppeteer

Judicial Crackdown in Burma Continues

By SAW YAN NAING

Fifteen detainees, including two journalists, were given harsh prison sentences on Friday, according to sources in Rangoon.

Thet Zin, 42, an editor for the weekly journal, Myanmar Nation, and his manager, Sein Win Maung, both received seven-year prison sentences on Friday at a court in Thingangyun Township in Rangoon, said their relatives in Rangoon.

Thet Zin founded the Myanmar Nation in 2006. He is a former political prisoner and had previously worked as a reporter and editor for several weekly journals, including News Watch and Ah Lin Tan.

Thet Zin and Sein Win Maung were arrested in February in a raid in which military intelligence officers seized UN Special Rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro's report on Burma, Shan ethnic leader Shwe Ohn’s book on federalism and a VCD containing footage of the 2007 September uprising.

At a special court in Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison, thirteen members of the 88 Generation Students group, including six women, were each sentenced to six years in prison on Friday, according to sources.

They were all sentenced under charges of threatening creating instability under Section 505 (b) of the Burmese penal code. Some of them had previously received prison terms ranging from three to five years.

The 13 were named as: Thein Than Htun, Thaw Zin Htun, Zaw Htet Ko Ko, Pyi Than, Saw Myo Min Hlaing, Aung Theik Soe, Chit Ko Lin, San San Tin, Lay Lay Mon, Noble Aye, Nwe Hnin Yi, Tharapi Theint Theint Htun and Aye Thida.

The judicial crackdown followed the severe sentencing of 14 members of the 88 Generation Students group on November 11. The 14 were among about 40 dissidents each given prison terms of 65 years for their political activity against the Burmese military government.

Burmese courts have recently handed down increasingly harsh sentences on those dissidents suspected of leading the 2007 uprising, including Buddhist monks, lawyers, relief workers and journalists. A prominent Buddhist monk, Ashin Gambira, received the longest prison sentence to date—68 years.

Sources in Rangoon estimate there are still 40 detained activists, monks and cyclone volunteer relief workers still awaiting trail.

On Thursday, a special court in Insein Prison handed down an additional sentence to Burma’s best-known comedian, Zarganar, and two journalists, Zaw Thet Htwe and Thant Zin Aung. Zarganar has now been sentenced to a total of 59 years in prison while Zaw Thet Htwe was given 19 years and Thant Zin Aung got 18 years.

More than 100 of the jailed dissidents have been transferred by Burmese authorities from Insein prison to remote prisons around Burma, creating difficulties for detainees’ relatives to make prison visits.

Also on Friday, a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, Dee Nyein Lin, appeared at a court in Htantapin Township in Rangoon Division, said sources.

Shan Celebrate New Year in Chiang Mai

By LAWI WENG

About 2,000 ethnic Shan living in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, began a two-day New Year celebration at the city’s Wat Kau Tao on Thursday.

Scenes from the Shan New Year festivities in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

Nang Shang Oo, one of the organizers of the celebrations at the Shan temple, said the festival was an occasion to demonstrate Shan unity.

Chiang Mai has a large Shan community, most of whom work on construction sites and in domestic service.

One festivalgoer, 25-year-old Mon Zan, said the New Year celebrations gave him the chance to wear his traditional Shan costume. “I am very proud of it,” he said.

The festivities, which start on the first day of the first lunar month of the Shan calendar, include traditional dances and songs, and fireworks displays.

An increasing number of young people celebrate Shan New Year. Many work in Chiang Mai after fleeing from Burma.

Mon Zan came to Thailand when he was 10. “I feel Thailand is my home now, although I miss my real homeland,” he said. “I will go back there one day when I’ve saved a lot of money.”

An important part of the Shan festival is the merit-making donation of traditional food to the Wat Kau Tao monks, who bless the participants, wishing them luck in the year ahead. Typical offerings are rice with fish and root vegetables, wrapped in banana leaves.

The new moon festivities are one of two New Year festivals celebrated by the Shan. The other is the traditional water festival in April, which has a more religious significance.

Burmese Impacted by Thailand’s Crisis

By WAI MOE

Like other airlines and travelers who use Thai airports, Burma’s Myanmar Airways International (MAI) and Burmese who travel abroad have been impacted by Thailand’s ongoing political crisis.

An official at MAI, Burma’s only international airline, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that MAI has cancelled all flights between Rangoon and Bangkok.

“MAI has, like other airlines, stopped flying to Bangkok since November 26,” she said. “But our flights to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore still continue as usual. When we resume the Bangkok flight depends on the situation at the Thai airport.”

She said most Burmese use the Bangkok International Airport as a transit point when they travel out of Burma. “But now the Bangkok International Airport has closed so many people are switching flights to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.”

MAI and several other international carriers including Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways and Air Asia run flights between the two cities.

All the airlines canceled their Bangkok flights when tens of thousands of anti-government protesters, led by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), took control of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, according to Rangoon’s Biweekly journal.

For the past three days, the Thai government has proven ineffective in taking back control the airport and appears comfortable to let the airport remain in the hands of protesters for now.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Surin Pitsuwan, who is Thai, failed to attend the Tripartite Meeting of Asean, the United Nations and the Burmese junta on November 26 in Rangoon for discussions on the Cyclone Nargis relief effort. Some observers said it was because of the political unrest in his homeland.

The PAD has repeatedly vowed it will continue to hold Bangkok’s two main air hubs, Suvanabhumi and Don Mueang Domestic Airport, until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat steps down. Somchai has refused to step down, and the government has imposed a state of emergency at the two airports.

Clashes between anti-government protesters who wear yellow colors and pro-government groups who wear red colors have occurred in Bangkok and the northern city Chiang Mai. The father of a PAD activist was killed by a pro-government group in Chiang Mai on Wednesday.

Burmese students and migrant workers in Thailand have issued warnings not to wear either yellow or red colors to avoid becoming drawn into the conflict between the two groups.

“On Thursday, I wore a red shirt when I took a taxi in Bangkok,” said a Burmese female student. “A taxi driver who seemed to be pro-PAD scared me with his expression.”

More than 2.5 million Burmese migrant workers live in Thailand and hundreds of Burmese students study at universities.

Inside Burma, people are also following events through satellite television and shortwave radios, according to sources in Rangoon.

“In Rangoon’s tea-shops, people talk about it, such as who are the PAD protesters, when the government might resign and is a military coup possible,” said a businessman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We also compare the different mentalities between the Thai and Burmese armies. The Thai army is very careful of people’s lives. They don’t want a bloodbath to occur in their country.”
The state-run Burmese newspapers have run no stories about the ongoing political crisis in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Burmese exiles in Thailand are less vocal about the crisis and generally seek to maintain a neutral position. In the past, Thailand’s politicians have influenced many Burmese pro-democracy activists as a model for compromising in political disputes.

“If all parties in the Thai crisis can compromise and resolve the crisis peacefully, it will be great for all. Thais can escape a bloodbath in their country,” said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political commentator based in Chiang Mai.

Economic Slowdown Hits Burmese Migrant Workers in Thailand

By SAW YAN NAING

Thousands of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand are returning home after losing their jobs or being put on half pay as local factories cut production and labor forces because of the economic slowdown.

About 3,000 migrant workers in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot had lost their jobs this month, according to Moe Joe, chairman of the Joint Action Committee for Burmese Affairs.

Another local official, Moe Swe, head of the Mae Sot-based Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association, said Burmese migrant workers employed by the Lian Tong Knitting Co., Ltd in Mae Sot had been told to leave the company compound.

About 1, 500 were now living in temporary shelters they had built near the bridge connecting Mae Sot with the Burmese border town Myawaddy.

Many Burmese migrant workers in Mahachai in Thailand’s Samut Sakhon Province—most of them employed in the fishing industry—have had their hours and overtime cut.

Min Thint Lwin, a Burmese migrant worker in Mahachai, said he knew of about 30 Burmese workers in his housing block who hadn’t had regular employment since the beginning of November. There are 15 blocks housing Burmese migrant workers in Mahachai.

Burmese migrant workers at the Three Pagodas Pass, on the Thai-Burma border, said their work schedules had been cut to 20 days a month. An estimated 13,000 Burmese migrants work in Thai clothing factories in the area of the Three Pagodas Pass.

“I can earn only about 100 baht (US $3) a day at the moment. Before, I could earn about 200 baht ($6) a day,” said one migrant worker.

Burmese migrant workers at rubber plantations in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani also report a drop in earnings and fear they will lose their jobs because of falling rubber prices.

“I can’t send money to my family any more,” said Ah Zaw, a rubber plantation worker. “I don’t think I can stay any longer in Thailand.”

A cash transfer agent in Mon State in southern Burma said transfers of money from Burmese migrant workers in Surat Thani had dried up in November.

Burmese rubber plantation workers usually transfer a large percentage of their wages back to their families in Burma using the informal “hundi” money transfer agencies. One “hundi” agent in Mon State said he had transferred only 2 million kyat ($1,650) in October, compared to a normal monthly amount of 20 million kyat ($16,500).

There are an estimated 2 million registered and unregistered Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, according to labor rights groups

Weekly Business Roundup (November 28, 2008)

By WILLIAM BOOT

India, Burma Reach Tax Cooperation Deal

One of the more interesting agreements reached at a top-level trade and political relations meeting between India and Burma is a tax cooperation deal.

The two countries have agreed on ensuring “avoidance of double taxation for investors from the two countries and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.”

Economists who monitor Burma’s blacklisted international financial dealings wonder how New Delhi envisages integrating such a policy.

India has recently agreed to undertake some major infrastructure developments in Burma—including hydrodam projects and redevelopment of the west coast port of Sittwe—involving a number of Indian companies.

Key members of the Burmese junta and various enterprises are under economic sanctions by the United States. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have put Burma on blacklists for non-payment of loans; and the United Nations recently admitted that it was losing millions of Cyclone Nargis aid dollars through an enforced exchange rate implemented by a junta-designated bank.

Burmese Tourism Increases a ‘Little’

Two reports paint different pictures of the state of Burma’s tourism industry.

According to the one report, foreign tourist visits to one of the country’s world famous sights halved in the six months after May’s Cyclone Nargis.

Numbers visiting Rangoon’s Shwedagon pagoda—often seen as a barometer of tourism—dropped to 25,380 in that period, compared with almost 54,000 in the same period of 2007, the Weekly Eleven journal quoted Ministry of Hotels and Tourism figures as saying.

But another report citing the ministry said foreign tourists numbers in recent months have “picked up a little.”

The number of visitors entering through Rangoon Airport was 11,245 in September, rising to 17,848 in October, said the overseas-based Burmese news agency Mizzima.

The bulk of foreigners entering Burma remain Chinese and Thais and many are repeat entries who travel no farther than the casinos on the Burmese side of the border.

“Most real tourists go to Rangoon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake,” said a travel agent in Bangkok who declined to be named. “In those places, there is a little recovery post Nargis. But the beach resorts are hurting, and some hotels that cater exclusively to Westerners have closed down recently.”

After Cyclone Nargis an international tour operator, Exotissimo Travel, based in Bangkok, did a deal with the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism to provide visas on arrival in the country. The aim was to encourage more visitors by eliminating paperwork at Burmese embassies.

In the aftermath of Nargis, which came on top of the bloody crackdown in September 2007 on street protests, the Tourism Entrepreneurs Association in Burma reported tourist numbers had plummeted 90 percent.

Talks Postponement Coincides with Daewoo Drilling

Energy industry analysts say the announcement that Bangladesh and Burma will not meet again until January to discuss disputed maritime boundaries coincides with the completion of the working schedule of oil and gas explorer Daewoo International of South Korea.

Daewoo was at the center of the recent naval confrontation between Burma and Bangladesh when the Bangladeshis challenged an exploratory drilling rig operating on behalf of the South Koreans in Bay of Bengal coastal waters.

After a military face off and diplomatic protests, Daewoo packed up and left the disputed site—which is not far from the major Burmese Shwe gas field.

The two neighboring countries met in November to try to resolve their longstanding territorial dispute, but talks ended without agreement with a decision to meet again before January.

“That’s curious given, the urgency of this issue, because it about coincides with the end of the five-month exploratory offshore drilling period that Daewoo announced in September,” oil and gas services consultant Collin Reynolds in Bangkok told The Irrawaddy this week. Daewoo moved away from the contentious site earlier this month, but it is unclear whether it is drilling elsewhere.

In September, Daewoo announced it had won unspecified drilling rights from the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

It hired the U.S. firm Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor that hires out specialist equipment and technicians, and said it would explore in the area for five months.

Asean Summit Could be Postponed: Thai FM

By THE IRRAWADDY

The longer the political standoff continues in Bangkok, the more likelihood the Asean summit planned for Chiang Mai on December 15-17 will be postponed, according to the Thai foreign minister.

Speaking from Frankfurt and unable to secure a flight back to Thailand because of the Thai capital’s international airport has been taken over by anti-government protesters, Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat said that the Thai government was considering a suggestion from Asean members that Thailand postpone the group's upcoming summit due to the political unrest in the country.

Thailand holds the rotating chair for the regional grouping and plans to hold its summit in the northern city of Chiang Mai on December 15-17.

Government leaders from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam wrote to the Asean headquarters in Jakarta asking Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan to consult the Thai government on the possibility of postponing the summit.

Surin, himself a previous Thai foreign minister, appealed for "maximum restraint on all sides for the sake of the country."

Several Asean nations expressed concern over the political chaos in Thailand and Singapore asked its citizens not to travel to Thailand.

Speaking to Channel News Asia, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said, “We are very troubled by it. We hope that all groups in Thailand will have the political will to compromise and find a way out for the country. The tourism industry is badly affected. I worry that the Asean summit will be affected."

Thailand's English daily The Nation’s senior editor Kavi Chongkittavorn called for postponement of the summit, writing on Friday: “The summit's delay would be a better option for the country instead of insisting on with the scheduled meetings.

“At this moment, the government must have the courage to acknowledge that the country is in transition and would require some time to set its house in order.”

Chiang Mai is a base for many Burmese NGOs, civil society groups and dissidents, several of which say they will consider shutting their offices if the Asean meeting is held in the city. Thai security officials who monitor Burmese migrants in the city said that they are not concerned about the presence of Burmese who have lived here for decades, but they are concerned with the ongoing Thai political situation, the instability and the possibility of terrorists who may attack the summit.

Thailand Braces for Economic Backlash

By STEPHEN WRIGHT / AP WRITER

BANGKOK—Thailand's already faltering economy is bracing for a fresh blow as the shutdown of the country's main airport by protesters entered its third day, stranding thousands during the tourist high season, disrupting exports and spooking investors.

Tourism losses alone in the remainder of this year could run to 150 billion baht ($4.2 billion), equal to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, with "devastating repercussions" for the economy, CIMB economist Kasem Prunratanamala said on Thursday.

Other vital pillars of the economy are also being hit, with exports of fresh produce and electronic components hurt as dozens of airlines cancel flights, and foreign investors pulling funds from a stock market already stricken by the global financial turmoil.

"If this crisis goes further, we will lose much more," said Thai Chamber of Commerce President Pramon Sutheewong.

"The confidence in Thai exporters is deteriorating, foreign importers are in doubt about our ability in deliver products on time and there is a high tendency that they will divert their orders to some place else," Pramon said. "That's what we are concerned about the most."

Beyond deterring tourists, the airport shutdown also halts exports of perishable produce such as fruit and vegetables and shipments of electronics components to places like Japan, said Federation of Thai Industries chairman Santi Vilassakdanont.

"After one, two or three days there will be a production problem for electronics makers because their stockpiles of unsent goods will become too high," he said.

Losses on outbound shipments of car parts, fresh fruit and vegetables, live fish and orchids could run 2 billion to 3 billion baht a day ($57 million to $85 million), said Tanit Sorat, the federation's vice chairman.

All flights in and out of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi were canceled after protesters took over terminals Tuesday in an attempt to unseat Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's government, which they claim is a puppet for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. It was the latest escalation in a sometimes violent four-month campaign by protesters to bring down the government.

On Wednesday night, protesters overran a second smaller airport that mainly serves domestic routes, cutting off all commercial flights to the capital of Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy—an important manufacturing hub for automakers like Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Corp.

Thailand's economy is already in a fragile state, growing at 4 percent in the third quarter —the slowest pace in more than three years—because of the political unrest and the global financial crisis. Some economists say growth next year will slump to about 2.5 percent from the 4.5 percent expected for this year—a forecast that doesn't factor in the latest woes.

Tourism, a vital industry that makes up 6 percent of the economy, will take the main hit from the airport shutdown.

CIMB's Kasem Prunratanamala said about half of 4 million tourists expected between now and the end of the year could cancel their trips, with spillover affects outside tourism such as lower spending at shopping malls and other retailers. The effects will linger into 2009, he said.

Up to 20 percent of the 1 million employed directly and indirectly by tourism could lose their jobs, said Tourism Council of Thailand boss Kongkrit Hiranyakit.

Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said airport closures not only drain the coffers of airports and airlines but deprive the country of 80,000 free-spending tourists each day and, most troubling, tarnish the country's image as safe place to travel.

"If we can't solve this problem soon enough, the memory of people in general about traveling in Thailand will be heavily damaged," Weerasak said.

Neighboring countries have voiced concern that Thailand may not be able to host the annual Asean summit for 10 southeast Asian nations, scheduled to take place Dec. 15-18 in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Thailand insisted on Thursday that the meeting will go ahead as planned.

Jittery foreign investors pulled a net 1.5 billion baht from the market on Wednesday, the second highest selling by foreigners this month, adding to the 150 billion baht that they have withdrawn from the market this year. On Thursday, Thailand's benchmark stock index sank 1.4 percent—even as most other Asian markets advanced.

"It's a nightmare scenario. I can't tell clients to buy Thai shares if they can't even get into the country," said Andrew Yates, a vice president of foreign institutional sales at Asia Plus Securities in Bangkok. "It seems like it's easier to get into North Korea than it is to Thailand."

Thai Govt Backs off Threat to Remove Protesters, Calls for Talks

By AMBIKA AHUJA and CHRIS BLAKE / AP WRITERS

BANGKOK — Thailand's government backed off Friday from its threat to forcibly remove protesters occupying Bangkok's two airports in their campaign to oust the prime minister, saying police would avoid violence and attempt to negotiate.

Thousands of tourists have been left stranded since anti-government protesters occupied the main international Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday and the smaller Don Muang airport on Wednesday. Both airports are now shut down and the capital completely cut off to air traffic.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency at the airports, authorizing police to take back the terminals. The order appeared to indicate that a crackdown was imminent against the members of the People's Alliance for Democracy.

But eight hours later, Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-Kau told The Associated Press that police have been instructed to get the protesters out of airports "as soon as possible" in a "peaceful manner."

"Firstly, the police should open negotiation with the protester. If they refuse to go, police should do whatever is necessary to open the airports on the basis of nonviolence," he said.

The new soft line, and the government's failure to send in security forces so far, has raised doubts about whether Somchai has the support of security forces and the army, a powerful institution that has traditionally played a key role in the country's politics.

Army commander Gen. Anupong Paochinda has so far been neutral in the political turmoil, and even suggested that Somchai call new elections, triggering speculation that a military coup could take place. The whispers were further fueled by press reports Thursday of tank movements that the military later said were only a training exercise.

In an address to the nation Thursday night to announce the emergency, Somchai said that navy and air force personnel would help the police, but was vague about any participation by the army, saying only the government would also ask the army "to help take care of the people."

The state of emergency also empowers the government to suspend some civil liberties, including restricting the movement of people and prohibiting mass assembly.

Emergency was declared once before in the three months since the protesters seized the prime minister's office, but there was no move to take advantage of its provisions, apparently because the army was reluctant to take on the alliance, which at the time enjoyed greater popularity.

The protesters remained defiant on Friday.

"We are ready to defend ourselves against any government's operations to get us out of those places," Parnthep Wongpuapan, a spokesman of the People's Alliance for Democracy, told the AP.

"We are going to stay at the airports until Somchai resigns," he said.

Protesters at the international airport donned goggles and helmets, and first aid stations handed out surgical masks in anticipation of a police raid. The group's "guards" were patrolling the area with slingshots and metal batons. Many also carry concealed handguns.

Speakers from a makeshift stage repeatedly yelled: "Are you scared?" The crowd roared back: "We're not scared!"

They alliance's protest grew out of its hatred of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a brother-in-law of Somchai. Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless military coup in September 2006 after months of protests by the alliance.

It accused Thaksin and his allies of corruption and abuse of power. Thaksin is in exile, a fugitive from a conviction for violating a conflict of interest law. The group says Somchai is merely a Thaksin puppet and should go.

However, Somchai has stood his ground, saying his departure would be a blow to democracy.

In his televised address Thursday from the northern city of Chiang Mai, Somchai accused the alliance of "holding the country hostage and the public hostage." Somchai has been in the pro-government stronghold since he returned from a summit in Peru on Wednesday.

The protests, which gathered pace three months ago when demonstrators overran the prime minister's offices, have paralyzed the government, battered the stock market, spooked foreign investors and dealt a serious blow to the tourism industry.

"If the government uses an emergency decree and decides to crack down on protesters, the army may decide to intervene to prevent that," said Panithan Wattanayagorn, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

Until now, Somchai has not tried to forcibly oust protesters from his office compound and urged police to exercise restraint during the group's forays outside the walls. Still, at least six people have been killed thus far in political violence.

The Bell Tolls for Burma

By YENI

The latest insult to the intelligence of the Burmese people was the excessive sentences handed down recently to pro-democracy activists—including Buddhist monks, social workers, lawyers and women—by the Burmese military authorities under the guise of "national reconciliation" between the regime and the opposition movement.

Burma's dictator-in-chief, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, has forced the populace to accept his "seven-step road map" political process, whereby he calls the shots and locks up any opposition while at the same time saying he wants "to build a peaceful, modern and developed new democratic nation with flourishing discipline."

The response from the international community has been weak and fractious.

The United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee last week passed a resolution critical of human rights conditions in Burma. However, it was only approved by a vote of 89 in favor, 29 against and 63 abstentions after an intense round of disagreement among its members. Hardly a strong and united message.

While the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which includes Burma, has nothing to say about the recent judicial crackdown on the Burmese opposition, China and India are free to move in again and secure their business ties with the Burmese junta, exploiting both the country’s economy and its natural resources.

China recently announced that the project to build an oil and gas pipeline from Yunnan Province in southwestern China to the bay of Bengal on Burma's Arakan coast would go ahead as planned, starting in early 2009.

For its part, India won a concession for the construction and operation of a multi-modal transit and transport facility on the Kaladan River connecting the port of Sittwe, capital of Arakan State, with the Indian state of Mizoram.

Although the US and the EU countries routinely condemn the regime and maintain economic sanctions, it is clear the White House is preoccupied with the ongoing financial crisis, the transition to Barack Obama’s administration and its disastrous military action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Some US lobbyists have suggested that the serious human rights abuses in Burma should be prioritized in Obama's foreign policy with bipartisan support from the US Congress and Senate. We shall see.

But when the political pundits can only shrug and utter comments like “Something is better than nothing,” you know Burma is facing its darkest night.

Many of them have criticized the politicking of detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the leaders of 88 Generation Students, calling it a "strategic failure."

Those so-called experts have also come to believe that a "space" would open up following the 2010 election and the subsequent realization of provisions under the constitution.

However, in Naypyidaw’s eyes, there isn’t even enough space in the government for the existing junta and its emerging ranks, never mind allowing civilians into the club.

Meanwhile those "pragmatics" say there are different approach between the "insiders" and "outsiders" of the country, and the exiles can only criticize but they don’t face the stark reality of daily life in the country.

Certainly the pro-democracy activists who were recently sentenced to 65 years in prison know the difference between "insiders" and "outsiders" in the struggle for liberty. They will wake up to it every day in dark, dirty cells.

In fact, there is no alternative. To break the political deadlock, we must follow the path of dialogue and compromise.

Burmese people know that the dawn of democracy is not tomorrow—in the words of UN Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana, the "restoration of democracy cannot happen overnight. It will take generations."

In today’s world, the new generation is looking toward young, energetic leaders such as US President-elect Obama. The word "change" rings out like a bell tolling hope for people around the world.

But Burma has already sacrificed generations in this struggle—young people shot in the streets, imprisoned or forced to flee the country.

Perhaps that's why Min Zeya, a leading member of the 88 Generation Students group, openly ridiculed the Burmese court when his sentenced was pronounced. “What? Only 65 years?” he shouted.

The world is moving forward. It must not neglect the brave political prisoners of Burma, nor allow them to die forgotten in remote prison cells.

Thailand Waves Goodbye to Tourism

Zarganar and Journalist Associates Receive Additional Sentences

By SAW YAN NAING

Burma’s best-known comedian, Zarganar, and two journalist friends were given additional prison terms by a special court in Rangoon’s Insein Prison on Thursday, according to reliable sources.

Zarganar, who was sentenced to 45 years imprisonment in an earlier court appearance last week, received an additional 14 year prison term for offences under four sections of the criminal code—17/2, 32 (b), 295 (a) and 505 (b).

His journalist friend and associate in a mission to deliver aid to cyclone victims, Zaw Thet Htwe, who had earlier been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, received a further four years on Thursday for offences under sections 505 (b) and 295 (a).

Video journalist Thant Zin Aung, who had also been sentenced earlier to 15 years imprisonment, received an additional three years for infringements of section 32 (b).

Zaw Thet Htwe’s wife Khaing Cho complained that her husband had been jailed for helping people in need. “Everybody knows what is fair and unfair,” she told The Irrawaddy. “I was very disappointed that my husband was jailed for helping cyclone survivors.”

Khaing Cho said she would prepare an appeal against her husband’s conviction and sentencing.

A leading member of the All Burma Federation Students Union, Dee Nyein Lin, also appeared before a court in Rangoon’s Dagon Township on Thursday, and is scheduled to appear again before a court in Htantapin Township in Rangoon Division on Friday, sources said.

Zarganar was arrested in June in a raid in which Burmese authorities seized his computer and about US $1,000 (1,140,000 kyat) in cash.

During the raid, authorities also seized three CDs containing footage of May’s cyclone devastation, the opulent wedding of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s youngest daughter Thandar Shwe, and the film “Rambo 4,” in which Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone fights Burmese government soldiers in a mission to rescue kidnapped westerners.

Court proceedings against 13 members of the 88 Generation Students group are due to continue on Friday. About 40 detained activists, monks, and cyclone volunteer relief workers are still awaiting trail, said sources in Rangoon.

More than 100 of the jailed dissidents have been transferred by Burmese authorities from Insein prison to remote prisons around Burma.

Burma Crackdown Could be Convenient for China

By WAI MOE

Small countries often serve as playgrounds for powerful countries in geopolitics. Is this true in Burma’s case?

Burma and China recently signed a US $2.5 billion project for the construction of oil and gas pipelines between Burma’s southwestern port of Kyaukpyu and China’s Yunnan Province. Work is due to start in early 2009.

According to analysts, Burma is important for China economically and strategically as a trading outlet to the Indian Ocean for its landlocked inland provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan and as a factor in its “two oceans” objective.

“Myanmar [Burma] is part and parcel of China’s grand strategic design to achieve its goal of becoming a great power in the 21st century,” said Poon Kim Shee, a scholar in international relations, in a paper, Political Economy of China-Myanmar Relations: Strategic and Economic Dimension.

China and Burma have had friendly relations since the Chinese Communists came to power in October 1949. Burma recognized the Chinese Communist regime in December 1949.

Following the Communist takeover in China, the Chinese nationalists, the Kuomintang, invaded eastern Burma to create resistance bases. There were numerous armed clashes with Burmese troops, and China’s Red Army eventually moved into the border area to subdue Chinese nationalist forces in Burma.

Analysts trace the rise of the Burmese military to the clashes with the Kuomintang army and the outbreak of civil war among armed ethnic groups.

From 1949 to 1962, Sino-Burmese relations were stable, but broke down after the military coup in 1962, led by the late dictator Ne Win. The Chinese regime openly supported the Communist Party of Burma militarily and financially in the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1967, Chinese-Burmese riots broke out in several Burmese cities, claiming the lives of an estimated 100 people, but relations between the two countries steadily improved from the early 1980s onwards.

After the 1988 military coup in Burma, China became an important strategic ally for the ruling generals. The Chinese provided arms, aircraft and other material to the Burmese armed forces when Western countries stopped selling arms to the junta. The Chinese military also trains Burmese officers.

“The price Myanmar [Burma] will have to pay for deviating from its strategic neutrality principle might be to potentially become a useful pawn for China’s long-term strategic interests,” Poon Kim Shee said.

During Burma’s current period of military rule, China has also become one of the junta’s main business partners. Chinese migration to Burma has grown steadily since 1988 following the opening of the border to trade.

Economic life in Burma’s second largest city, Mandalay, and other towns in the north is now heavily influenced by Chinese businessmen, leading in some circles to an increase in Burmese nationalistic sentiment and resentment of Chinese influence.

Burmese writers and cartoonists sometimes reflect on the situation directly and indirectly. Published short stories and cartoons have noted ironically that that there are more Chinese than Burmese in central Mandalay, where the Chinese language is widely spoken and an increasing number of signs are written in Chinese.

“If you want to see and hear Burmese, you should go outside of Mandalay,” a famous Burmese cartoonist commented in one of his drawings.

Chan Tun, a former Burmese ambassador to China, said that anti-Chinese sentiment in Burma is not good for the two countries. “Burma and China are geographically neighbors,” he said. “We need each other, and we need to depend on each other.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese government is also trying to placate Western calls for more democracy and greater respect for human rights in Burma.

During the 7th Summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, leaders of Asian and European countries urged the junta to “engage all stakeholders in an inclusive political process,” and called for the lifting of restrictions placed on political parties and the early release of political prisoners.

“I think the Chinese policy is to have good relations with the Burmese government whoever is in control,” said Ohn Maung, a veteran politician in Rangoon.

Following the landslide victory by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in the May 1990 election, China’s ambassador to Burma also made his country’s first diplomatic visit to the party to congratulate it on its success.

However, the recent harsh sentences handed down by Burmese courts to political prisoners have raised the stakes for China, with many of the world’s governments expressing outrage over the lack of a fair judicial process.

One leading US newspaper, The Washington Post, suggested the courts’ crackdown and the protests it had provoked presented a convenient opportunity for Beijing.

“For China's Communist Party, repression in Burma is not an obstacle but a convenience, enabling the exploitation of natural resources with a minimum of well-targeted corruption,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

Apart from China, another giant neighbor, India, has also reached multiple trading and security agreements with the Burmese junta. India’s external affairs sectary Shiv Shankar Menon and Burma’s deputy foreign minister Kyaw Thu signed contracts on November 23 in Burma.

“India and China simply believe that their own business interests and strategic competition is more important, which has made Burma an unwilling battleground,” David Scott Mathieson, a Burma researcher for the New York-based Human Rights Watch, told The Irrawaddy by e-mail.

The struggle of two giants, China and India, to obtain natural gas and other valuable resources from Burma was symbolic of just what little regard both countries had for the basic freedoms of the people of Burma, he said.

Asean Summit in Thailand Questioned

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANGKOK—Thailand insisted on Thursday that it will be able to host a regional Asean summit in December, even after three neighboring countries raised concerns that ongoing political turmoil in the Thai capital could force the meeting's cancellation.

In recent days, protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat have stormed Thailand's two main international airports, forcing their closure and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. They have occupied the prime minister's office since August, vowing to stay put until Somchai and his government step down.

Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos voiced fears on Thursday that Thailand may not be able to host the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, scheduled to take place December 15 to 18 in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan must consider postponing the summit "to ensure the successful outcome ... given the current political situation in Thailand," the three countries said in a statement.

Surin was not available for comment on Thursday.

Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the summit would not be rescheduled.

"Everything is still going ahead as planned, and we are still ready to host the summit," Tharit said.

The 10-nation Asean bloc comprises Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The summit venue already has been shifted from the capital, Bangkok, to Chiang Mai. The foreign ministry has denied the move was to avoid the anti-government protests, insisting it was because the weather is nicer in the north.

Thailand's powerful army commander stepped into the fray on Wednesday, urging Somchai to step down and asking protesters to leave Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Neither side heeded his calls, leaving the country paralyzed.

Thailand Shuts Down Second Airport as PM Refuses to Quit

By VIJAY JOSHI / AP WRITER

BANGKOK — Thai authorities shut down Bangkok's second airport Thursday after it was overrun by anti-government protesters, completely cutting off the capital from air traffic as the prime minister rejected their demands to resign, deepening the country's crisis.

Thailand's powerful army commander, who has remained neutral in the conflict, stepped into the fray Wednesday, urging Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down.

He also asked thousands of protesters to end their siege of the main international Suwarnabhumi airport since Tuesday night, which has forced authorities to shut down the facility and cancel hundreds of flights, drawing world attention to a turmoil that has reduced Thailand to a dysfunctional nation.

The anti-government protests, which gathered pace four months ago, have paralyzed the government, battered the stock market, spooked foreign investors and dealt a serious blow to the tourism industry.

The crisis worsened early Thursday as authorities shut down the Don Muang domestic airport, which had been receiving some diverted flights from Suwarnabhumi.

Serirat Prasutanont, chief of Thailand Airport Authority, said authorities feared that protesters who stormed the terminal building late Wednesday might harm passengers and aircraft.

He said authorities might consider using the U Ta Pao air force base, 140 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Bangkok.

"We will also alert all of airports nationwide to be ready to receive more diverted flights," he said.

The protests are being led by a loose coalition known as the People's Alliance for Democracy. It accuses Somchai of acting as the puppet for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a September 2006 military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power. Thaksin is in exile, a fugitive from a conviction for violating a conflict of interest law. Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law.

But Somchai, who returned from Peru on Wednesday but was forced to land in the northern city of Chiang Mai, remained defiant.

Somchai said in an address to the nation that he came to power through elections and has "a job to protect democracy for the people of Thailand."

The statement amounted to a rejection of Army Gen. Anupong Paochinda's suggestion to quit, which seemed to put him on a collision course with the military, although the general has said he would not launch a coup.

Somsak Kosaisuk, a key protest alliance leader, said protesters stormed Don Muang airport because they want to prevent members of Somchai's Cabinet from flying to Chiang Mai for a proposed emergency Cabinet meeting Thursday.

The drive from Bangkok to Chiang Mai takes about eight hours.

Still, government spokesman Nattawut Saikau said the emergency meeting would go ahead. "The key issue is how to deal with escalating violence in the country," he told The Associated Press.

The People's Alliance for Democracy insists it would continue its airport occupation and other protest activities until Somchai resigns. It rejected the general's proposal for new elections, pushing instead for the appointment of a temporary government.

As the deadlock continued, political violence spread Wednesday to Chiang Mai, where government supporters attacked a radio station aligned with the protesters. Separately, there were unconfirmed reports that one man was killed and several people assaulted in an attack on the city's local airport.

Thousands of travelers were stranded in Bangkok when members of the alliance swarmed the airport Tuesday night, forcing a halt to virtually all outgoing flights.

Several thousands passengers were bused to city hotels Wednesday to await developments, but many other passengers spent a second night at the airport after a day of behind-the-scenes negotiations failed. All flights have been suspended until further notice.

Among those stranded were Americans trying to get home for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

Cheryl Turner, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, had asked neighbors to pull an 18-pound turkey from her freezer a day ahead of time to defrost so she could cook it for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

"My turkey is sitting in the sink at home," she said.

The protest alliance launched its current campaign in late August, storming the grounds of the prime minister's office, which they continue to use as their stronghold. The group has also tried twice to blockade Parliament, in one case setting off a daylong street battle with police that left two people dead and hundreds injured.

Skirmishes on Bangkok streets Tuesday and Wednesday left more than a dozen people hurt. The action came as the protest alliance's public support seemed to wane, and they appeared to be seeking confrontations to up the ante in their struggle.

Heading For Mobocracy in Thailand?

By MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR / IPS WRITER

BANGKOK — Thailand surged towards mob rule after a right-wing, anti-government protest movement threatened more mayhem after storming Bangkok’s international airport, forcing it to shut down.

Leaders of the Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD), despite the name, want to roll back electoral democracy and are calling for a military coup. They announced Wednesday that shutting down Suvarnabhumi airport was part of a strategy to bring down the six-party coalition government.

An attempt by the country’s powerful army chief, Gen. Anupong Paojinda, to offer a solution to reduce the political temperature was promptly rejected by the PAD. At a late afternoon press conference, Anupong urged the government, led by the People’s Power Party (PPP), to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections as a way out.

But the PAD has already dismissed the idea. Shortly before Anupong met the press Wednesday, Sondhi Limthongkul, media firebrand and leader of the PAD, said that there is no space for negotiations until Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat resigns. The PAD repeated that message after Anupong spoke.

The government has already hinted that giving in to the right-wing PAD would not be healthy for the country’s democracy. The current coalition was elected at a December 2007 poll, marking a return to democracy after a September 2006 coup, Thailand’s 18th military putsch.

Anupong, in fact, ruled out the military intervention that the PAD prefers. "We cannot stage a coup," he said. "We have talked with many people from the government, private and academic sector and they say that a coup is not the solution."

But while the country waits for the next moves from the government and the PAD, consensus here is that the storming of the airport has smashed a big hole in Thailand’s already struggling tourism sector.

All flights have been cancelled at the four billion US dollar new airport, opened in 2006, to serve the nearly 15 million tourists expected to pass through its cavernous terminal annually.

Over 15 countries have already issued travel warnings following chaotic scenes at the airport, where over 3,000 tourists were left stranded and many Thai staff manning booths fled the scene. Compounding the problem has been the evasive stance by the airport authorities to assist foreign airlines with flights into and out of Bangkok, an Asian airline official said. "The situation has gone from bad to worse."

The country stands to lose 400 million baht (US $13.2 million) in tourist revenues for every day the current airport crisis continues, one report here estimated.

That comes on top of existing bad news, adds the ‘Bangkok Post’ newspaper, which stated that due to "higher cost of travelling and our domestic disturbance, foreign tourist arrivals were down 16.5 percent, while the average rate of occupancy at hotels around the country dropped to 45 percent."

Revenue from tourism account for six percent of the country’s economy and was expected to hit 700 billion baht (US $21 billion) this year—"a goal that is unlikely to be met now"—the Post added in its Wednesday edition.

The airport siege began on Tuesday night, when hundreds of PAD supporters, sporting yellow shirts in a sign of loyalty to the country’s monarch, arrived in a convoy of vehicles and blocked two ends of a road in front of the terminal.

While PAD leaders mounted a mobile stage to rant against the government, thuggish-looking PAD men, armed with wooden clubs, iron bars and knives walked into the terminal to assert their authority. Some of the men wore black balaclavas, with faces covered, to conceal their identity.

On Tuesday night, hundreds of policemen, armed with riot gear, gave in to a PAD mob in the same way they had given in to thousands of PAD protesters who had laid siege to parliament on Monday to block the legislature from sitting. On that day, the PAD also stormed the old airport, north of Bangkok, to stop a cabinet meeting.

Such tactics have grown out of the PAD’s success in late August, when it forcefully took over Government House, the prime minister’s office, and converted it into a staging area for protests.

The PAD draws its support from urban elites, royalists and the conservative bureaucrats. Its ability to break the law with impunity stems from the backing it has got from very influential figures in this kingdom.

The PAD’s storming of the airport "has taken protests here to a new level. It is anarchist," says Laurent Malespine, head of Don’t Blink, a political and media research company. "The disruption of normal life is worse than before. This is something Thais cannot accept."

Others are harsher following this week’s turn of events. "This is the biggest form of political blackmail ever experienced in Thailand," says Sunai Phasuk, Thai researcher for Human Rights Watch, the global rights lobby. "They are holding the entire country hostage."

"The PAD has committed grave violations of domestic law and violated domestic and international human rights principles," Sunai told IPS. "They have been using weapons to attack people with the aim to kill. This movement is turning into a criminal gang."

This week saw such a confrontation, when armed PAD guards were captured on camera shooting at pro-government supporters with live rounds of bullets. Behind the men firing with revolvers was another PAD supporter holding up a picture of the country’s monarch.

The PAD, too, has seen two of its supporters die and hundreds injured during a confrontation with the police in early October when it surrounded the parliament to stop the legislature from sitting. There have also been other clashes between PAD guards, armed with clubs and revolvers, and pro-government supporters, some armed with knives.

The PAD’s campaign is aimed at stopping former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, now living in exile to escape being arrested for crimes he allegedly committed during his term from 2001-2006, from returning to politics.

According to the PAD, the current government is a ''puppet'' of Thaksin, who was ousted by the military in the 2006 coup.

No Laughing Matter

By AUNG ZAW

Be warned—if you crack a joke, Burma’s military leaders usually don’t laugh. Instead, they send you to prison.

Burma’s most famous comedian, Zarganar, committed the heinous crime of telling jokes as he was helping people in Irrawaddy delta after they had been devastated by Cyclone Nargis.

Zarganar spent time in prison in the early 1990s for making wisecracks. In May, he and his relief team of volunteers went to villages in the delta to deliver humanitarian assistance while the UN and the INGOs sat waiting in Thailand for visas.

Zarganar not only delivered aid, but he was able to speak to media groups inside and outside the country and recount what he had witnessed. He encouraged others to garner relief supplies and brought home to the outside world the horror of what had happened in the delta.

He went further than most by criticizing the UN—a name not often highly regarded in Burma. He was straightforward and truthful. He spoke about people he had seen who were traumatized, destitute and without food and water.

But while Zarganar was getting serious, the regime’s mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar spun its own version of a sick joke.

In one editorial, the newspaper said that cyclone survivors in the delta didn’t need foreign aid. It opined that those who had lost their families, friends, homes and farms could survive on fruit and fish, and even encouraged cyclone survivors to rummage around the reeds at night and hunt frogs for dinner. The editorial went on to predict that the delta would prosper again next year with vast golden fields of paddy.

When I spoke to Zarganar by telephone, he gave me his reaction to the New Light of Myanmar’s editorial.

“I have no idea whether the survivors can catch edible fish and frogs,” he said. “We renamed the Irrawaddy River and Bogalay River by the color of the water. The rivers are a chalky white color. We call it ‘Nargis color.’ There are many dead bodies and carcasses of cattle floating in the rivers. We call that the ‘Nargis odor.’ The stink clings to us when we come back from the villages. Nobody can stand it and it causes some people to vomit. How could people find edible fish and frogs in that environment?”

Listening to Zarganar on the phone in Rangoon, I feared he would be arrested soon. I was not wrong. A few days later the security forces came for him. I got the sense that he was prepared for it.

The comedian received a 45-year sentence effectively for criticizing the regime’s response to the humanitarian disaster in the delta.

Some foreign aid workers associated with UN agencies inside Burma expressed doubts as to whether Zarganar was involved in humanitarian operations in the delta or campaigning for the opposition instead.

However, nothing justifies the harsh sentences handed down to those like Zarganar.

Despite his crucial role in assisting cyclone survivors, Zarganar and many of the local aid groups may well have been supporters of the pro-democracy movement and this has made them the target of an ongoing crackdown on activities deemed inimical to the interests of the country’s ruling regime.

To date, twenty-two volunteer aid workers have been arrested and detained in connection with their relief work in the Irrawaddy delta.

Recently, six of the detained volunteers—Zarganar, Zaw Thet Htwe, Ein Khaing Oo, Tin Maung Aye, Thant Zin Aung and Kyaw Kyaw Thint—received lengthy prison sentences for their generous efforts on behalf of the victims of the disaster.

Activists Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, monk Gambira and Su Su Nway were sentenced on a dozen charges, including infringements of the Electronic Act, 505 b.

Min Ko Naing and eight other dissidents from the 88 Generation Students group were each sentenced on November 11 at a court in Maubin to 65 years in prison for their roles in the anti-government uprising last year.

I am sure political activists and prisoners have heard the news that Zarganar may be coming to join them. For those inmates he meets, I don’t doubt he will make their lives more bearable. He will make them laugh as he did the prison wardens during his incarceration in Insein Prison.

Last weekend, ageing dictator Than Shwe thought he could deliver a punch line of his won and leave everyone rolling in the aisles. The senior general urged the people of Burma to support the election in 2010 in his National Day message last Saturday. But no one laughed.

Now I have a serious question to ask you. If humanitarian workers, comedians and peaceful activists are given sentences that stretch beyond their life spans for helping refugees and nonviolently asking for democratic and economic reforms in the country, how many years incarceration would Than Shwe merit if he were put on trial?

Welcome to Thailand

Trials and Prison Transfers Continue in Rangoon

By SAW YAN NAING

The Burmese regime continued on Wednesday with its program of sending newly convicted political dissidents to prisons in remote parts of the country.

They included two Buddhist monks, Sandar Thiri and Kawvida, of Maggin monastery in Rangoon’s Thingangyun Township, who were transferred from Insein Prison to Buthidaung prison in Arakan State, according to reliable sources.

A youth member of the opposition National League for Democracy, Thein Swe, and Sithu Maung, a member of the All Burma Federation Students Union (ABFSU), were transferred from Insein Prison to Sittwe prison in Arakan State, while a third detainee, Htar Htar Thet, was transferred to Pegu prison in central Burma.

The five had been given sentences of up to 19 years imprisonment.

More than 30 activists sentenced in the recent series of trials were transferred on Monday and Tuesday from Insein Prison to isolated prisons around Burma.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) says that more than 100 of the 143 dissidents convicted so far have been sent to remote prisons. By transferring the convicted dissidents to prisons far from Rangoon, the regime is making it difficult for family members and friends to visit them, isolating them still further from the outside world.

Court proceedings continued this week against 13 members of the 88 Generation Students group, who have already been sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from three to five years.

An ABFSU member, Dee Nyein Lin, who has already been sentenced to six and a half years imprisonment, also appeared again in court in Htantapin Township in Pegu Division on Wednesday. No additional sentence was pronounced, sources said.

Court proceedings against 13 members of the 88 Generation Students group are due to continue on Friday. Sources say about 40 dissidents, including volunteers who distributed aid to Cyclone Nargis victims, are still awaiting trial.

Burma’s best-known comedian Zarganar, who has received a sentence of 45 years imprisonment, will reappear in court in Insein Prison on Thursday, sources said. Court proceedings against two who helped him in his relief work, Zaw Thet Htwe and video journalist Thant Zin Aung, who both received 15 years prison terms, will also reappear in court on Thursday.

On Monday, Kyaw Oo and Saw Maung, two members of the dissident group known as Generation Wave, were sentenced to eight year prison terms for offences under Section 13/1 of the Immigration Act and Section 17/1 of the Illegal Organization Act.

The severest punishment handed out by the Insein Court in the current series of trials was 68 years imprisonment, imposed on the prominent Buddhist monk Ashin Gambira, who led the nationwide uprising in September 2007. Fourteen members of the 88 Generation Students group were sentenced to terms of 65 years imprisonment.

Drug-Dealing Junta Crony Gets 15 Years

By MIN LWIN

Maung Weik—who was until recently a favorite business crony of Burma’s generals—has been sentenced at Lanmadaw Township Court in Rangoon to 15 years imprisonment on drug trafficking charges, according to a member of his staff and sources in Rangoon.

Maung Weik, 35, the founder member of the Maung Weik & Family business group, was previously involved in international trade and real estate, but in recent years had allegedly begun importing chemical-based stimulants, such as Ecstasy and Ketamine, to Burma, which he then offered or sold to his peers—wealthy young socialites and sons of the generals.

According to members of the Rangoon business community, Maung Weik was taken in for interrogation in late May by police, in relation to his involvement in a case concerning Aung Zaw Ye Myint, one of a top general's sons.

"Maung Weik and Aung Zaw Ye Myint used drugs together and sold them to movie stars and young socialites,” said a former business partner of Maung Weik.

A Rangoon police source said that Burmese special forces raided Aung Zaw Ye Myint’s office at Yetagun Tower in Rangoon on May 29 and founded illegal drugs and six guns.

In early July—along with alleged associates Nay Tun Lwin, Aung Min, Kyaw Phone Naing, Kyaw Hlaing, Kyaw Kyaw Win and Malaysian national Peter Too Huat Haw—Maung Weik was charged with drug trafficking.

According to a source, Aung Zaw Ye Myint—the son of Ret Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the former chief of the Bureau of Special Operation (BSO No.1)—was soon after brought to No.66 Light Infantry Division in Innma, Pegu Division, but was released without charge. To date, Aung Zaw Ye Myint has not been charged with any offence.

Maung Weik is known as a generous donor to projects sponsored by the Burmese junta, once giving 270 million kyat (nearly US $235,000) for restoration work on Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma’s most famous religious site.

In recent years, Maung Waik was seen as attempting to strengthen his ties to the regime through marriage. According to a relative of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, Maung Waik began courting the general’s daughter, Khin Pyone Shwe.

According to members of Rangoon’s business community, Maung Weik divorced his wife, Yin Min Thee, in the hope of marrying Than Shwe’s daughter.

However, alarm bells went off instead of wedding bells when Maung Waik was arrested in late May. His mother and ex-wife fled to Singapore, although they have since returned to Rangoon.

Protesters Bring Thailand's Main Airport to A Halt in Showdown

By CHRIS BLAKE / AP WRITER

BANGKOK — Protesters commandeering Thailand's main airport forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and stranded thousands of travelers Wednesday in a major escalation of their 4-month-old campaign to oust the prime minister.

The bold takeover—carried out while Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was attending the Asia-Pacific summit in Peru—raised the stakes in a standoff that has seen a spike in violence in recent days and has given the tourism-dependent country a massive black eye.

Airport director Serirat Prasutanont said authorities were trying to negotiate with the protesters to allow some of the 4,000 passengers stranded at the Bangkok airport to fly out.

"The incident has damaged Thailand's reputation and its economy beyond repair," he said.

The protesters appeared intent on forcing the military to intervene and bring down the elected regime. Army commander Gen Anupong Paochinda has repeatedly ruled out a coup, though he has also said the army "will keep peace and order to protect the public and uphold important institutions like the monarchy."

The armed forces called an urgent meeting Wednesday afternoon with high-level government officials, academics, representatives from the private sector, economists and security officials, said army spokeswoman Col Sirichan Ngathong.

"The army wants to hear from different people about how to resolve this crisis. We will not use violence, but the situation needs to be resolved," she said.

In an urgent meeting, Gen Anupong Paochinda has told the government it should call a new election to end the country's political crisis.

"We are not pressuring the government," Anupong insisted. "[But] the government should give the public a chance to decide in a fresh election."

Street clashes between supporters and opponents of the government Tuesday included the first open use of firearms by the anti-government protesters. Police said 11 government supporters were injured, some with gunshot wounds.

Early Wednesday, assailants threw four explosives at anti-government protesters, including one targeting a group about a half-mile (1 kilometer) from the airport.

A second was tossed into a crowd of supporters gathered at the domestic Don Muang airport, injuring three others, police said. Two other explosives were thrown in Bangkok but no one was injured.

In addition to travelers seeking to fly into the world's 18th-busiest airport, about 4,000 people were stranded in Suvarnabhumi Airport's white, sail-like terminals, where they sprawled across suitcases, luggage carts and even security conveyor belts in largely unsuccessful attempts to sleep. The airport averages 700 flights a day and handled over 40 million passengers in 2007.

Protesters, dressed in yellow, the royal color, walked around distributing food, ham sandwiches and packets of rice.

"We'd rather they just go home so we can go home," said Kay Spitler, 58, from Glendale, Arizona.

Cheryl Turner, 63, of Scottsdale, Arizona, needed to get home to cook a Thanksgiving holiday feast for her family Thursday. She had asked neighbors to pull a turkey from her freezer a day ahead of time.

"My turkey is sitting in the sink at home," she said.

Shortly after noon Wednesday, an announcement over the loudspeaker informed passengers that a free shuttle and hotels would be provided to all passengers, with an update on flight information expected later in the day.

Hundreds of passengers were ushered down stairs and escalators to waiting buses.

Demonstrators—some masked and armed with metal rods—had swarmed the international airport overnight, breaking through police lines and spilling into the passenger terminal.

Group Capt. Chokchai Saranon, a control tower official, said 50 masked protesters armed with metal rods demanded to enter the control tower Wednesday, seeking the prime minister's flight schedule. Three were allowed in, but with flights canceled, there were no controllers to provide the information and the protesters eventually left. In any case, Somchai was to land later Wednesday at a separate, military airport.

Twenty flights were diverted to Bangkok's Don Muang airport, the former international airport that now normally handles domestic traffic, and a dozen others were rerouted to U Taphao military airport about 190 kilometers (118 miles) east of Bangkok, as well as to Hong Kong and Singapore airports, airport officials said.

The People's Alliance for Democracy has been trying to topple Somchai, accusing him of being the puppet of a disgraced fugitive predecessor, billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra. The alliance said protesters would keep the airport closed until Somchai quits.

The alliance has staged a number of dramatic actions in recent months. It took over the prime minister's office in late August and twice blockaded Parliament—one time setting off street battles with police that left two people dead and hundreds injured.

Support for the alliance has been waning, and the group appeared to be edging toward bigger confrontations—involving fewer though more aggressive followers—to create chaos.

"Now, they are openly creating instability and provoking a military coup," said Thitinan Pongsidhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

The airport blockade is a fresh blow to Thailand's $16 billion-a-year tourism industry, already suffering from months of political unrest and the global financial crisis.

"We don't have an estimate of financial loss, but it is greatly damaging," said Vijit Naranong, honorary chairman of Tourism Council of Thailand.

An Australian couple was stranded at the airport since following a two-week honeymoon on the resort island of Phuket.

"Our main concern is to get the first flight home and never come back," said newlywed Robert Grieve, 32, of Melbourne, drinking a can of Heineken as he leaned against a vacated Thai Airways check-in counter.

The protesters are mostly better educated, more affluent, urban Thais demanding that the country move away from a Western-style electoral system, which they say Thaksin exploited to buy votes. They favor a system in which some representatives are chosen by certain professions and social groups.

They are vastly outnumbered by Thaksin's supporters in the rural majority, who delivered his party two resounding election victories. Their loyalty was sealed by generous social and economic welfare programs for previously neglected areas.

The anti-government forces are well organized, and have the behind-the-scenes support of elements of the military and parties close the royal palace, the country's most influential institution.

Asia Well-placed to Weather Global Economy Storm

By ERIKA KINETZ / AP WRITER

MUMBAI — There is more pain to come for Asia, as growth slows, defaults rise, and stock markets sink even lower, but the region will prove more resilient than most in withstanding the global economic downturn, Standard & Poor's said Wednesday.

"2009 will not be an outstanding year by any means, but it will reflect the region's resilience and collective ability to moderate fluctuations around a strong growth trend rate," Subir Gokarn, Standard & Poor's Asia-Pacific chief economist, said in a statement.

While the US and euro-zone economies will likely shrink in 2009—by 0.9 percent and up to 0.5 percent respectively—almost all Asian countries will continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace, he said.

Japan and Singapore are the only two Asian economies expected to contract, S&P predicted. Japan's economic growth will be flat to slightly negative, while Singapore's will contract by 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent, the credit rating agency said.

Resilient growth and strong demand in India and China, along with rising regional trade and enlightened, pro-growth policymaking will bolster the region, he said in comments to reporters on a conference call that were also stressed in a statement.

China will post 7.8 percent to 8.3 percent growth in 2009, down from 9.3 percent to 9.8 percent in 2008, and India will clock 6.5 percent to 7.0 percent growth next year, down from 7.3 percent to 8.8 percent, S&P projected.

However, companies will continue to find it difficult and expensive to raise funds, and the number of defaults will climb, the credit rating agency said.

"We're likely to see an increase in delinquencies and defaults for the full year ahead," Ian Thompson, S&P's regional chief credit officer said during the conference call.

Ratings with a negative outlook or a negative credit watch outnumber those with a positive bias by four to one, he added.

Companies that expanded aggressively and are highly leveraged or dependent on exports will be hardest hit, he said. Chinese real estate companies, South Korean construction companies, and shipping and consumer goods and services companies across the region are among the most vulnerable, he said.

In the coming months, regional equity markets could breach their October lows, before staging a mild recovery in the second half of next year, Lorraine Tan, S&P's director of equity research, said on the conference call.

"Although the economic and corporate news is likely to remain negative—and uncertainty still pervades the global financial system—we see that markets will have retraced in line with, and in some cases exceeded, movements in previous bear markets in terms of both value and time frame," she said in an statement.

Tourists Stranded amid Thai Political Protests

By STEPHEN WRIGHT and CHRIS BLAKE / AP WRITERS

BANGKOK—Thousands of bleary-eyed tourists mingled with yellow-clad protesters who brought flights to a halt at Bangkok's international airport on Wednesday, dealing a major blow to Thailand's tourism industry during its peak season.

The tourism industry, which makes up 6 percent of the economy and employs about a million people, was already flagging after protesters in late August shut down airports serving popular beach resorts in Thailand's south.

With the latest unrest paralyzing the airport—which handles about 40 million passengers a year—during the peak tourist season, and TV networks broadcasting images of the chaos worldwide, the damage this time is likely to be more severe.

"Our main concern is to get the first flight home and never come back," said Australian newlywed Robert Grieve, 32, drinking a can of Heineken at 9 a.m. as he leaned against a vacated Thai Airways check-in counter. "I haven't even seen any staff since last night."

Fred Thierry, a Shanghai-based French executive with a printing materials company, had been stranded at the airport since 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

"I have some meetings in Shanghai today," he said. "I had a big meeting with big customers."

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport was shut down on Tuesday after thousands of protesters—dressed in yellow to symbolize loyalty to Thailand's revered king—stormed the complex. Some of them were masked and carrying metal rods.

The takeover is the latest escalation in a sometimes violent four-month campaign by the People's Alliance for Democracy to topple Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's government, which they claim is a puppet for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The billionaire businessman turned populist politician was deposed by the military in a 2006 coup following months of street protests against his alleged corruption and abuse of power.

Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines Ltd. and dozens of other carriers canceled flights in and out of Bangkok, a major airline hub in Asia.

Inside the airport, exhausted travelers were sleeping everywhere: on their suitcases, on luggage carts, on security conveyer belts and behind vacated check-in counters. Protesters in yellow shirts—considered the royal color—walked around distributing food, ham sandwiches and packets of rice.

Airport director Serirat Prasutanont said authorities were trying to negotiate with the protesters to allow some of the 4,000 passengers stranded at the Bangkok airport to fly out.

Singapore's foreign ministry advised citizens to postpone all but urgent travel to Bangkok.

The airport chaos could inflict broader damage on Thailand's economy, which grew at its slowest pace in more than three years in the latest quarter because of the political unrest and the global financial crisis.

"We were thinking of having a new investment here but now we will probably do it in China," said Thierry, a 44-year-old Frenchman, in town to check on his company's Bangkok factory. "The situation is too unstable."

The political protests have already hurt tourism in the country, famous for its beaches and Buddhist temples. But the airport shutdown will deter even more visitors from coming, tourism executives said.

Tourist income during the high season—from late October to February—could slump to about half the expected 240 billion baht ($6.8 billion), said Kongkrit Hiranyakit, head of the Tourism Council of Thailand.

In late August, when antigovernment protesters shut down the airport on the resort island of Phuket, tourist arrivals at it and nearby resorts plummeted by 17 percent, he said. Fallout from the closure of Bangkok's main airport will likely be worse and could last six months or more, he said.

"We don't know when it will recover," said Kongrit. "The government should be taking steps to solve this problem. Otherwise, we can not survive with this situation."

Diplomatic Terms

By SHWE YOE

The barber is sitting patiently, waiting for customers on a rainy day. The little bells on the door chimed as U Ba walks in. He is tall and dignified with a snobbish air and a carefully cultivated moustache.

The barber shudders when he sees him. U Ba is such an arrogant bore. The barber has long noticed that U Ba talks down to anyone below him on the social ladder, but kowtows pathetically in front of higher officials.

He was formerly a diplomat in an Eastern European country and liked to think of himself as worldly and wise.

Resigned to having to spend 30 long minutes with U Ba, the barber picked up his scissors and ushered him into a chair without a word. He tied a bib tightly around the old diplomat’s neck and immediately began cutting his hair without a word.

U Ba stared back at him in the mirror with contempt in his eyes.

Then he smiled devilishly.

“I suppose you read my article in New Light of Myanmar last week?” U Ba asked.

“Yes!” the barber replied. “An excellent piece.”

His voice was raised high in a sarcastic feign of interest.
The ex-diplomat ignored the tone of voice and thundered out the headline from his column: “The Myth of Suu Kyi!”

No reply from the barber as he snip-snipped at the older man’s head.

U Ba carried on regardless: “I’m afraid I have resigned from my job as a regular columnist at New Light,” he said. “I’m getting on, you know. I guess I’ll just be a consultant from now on,” he rattled on.

“A highly paid consultant, of course,” he added with a smirk.

“So, we will no longer have the pleasure of reading your groveling government rhetoric in the newspaper,” the barber responded. “Oh dear! That IS a shock.”

U Ba ignored him with a sniff. “Yes, consultant I am now. Consultant. I offer advice on business for foreign investors, sign MoUs for our partners in the NGOs, that kind of thing,” he snorted.

“Indeed!” exclaimed the barber. “MoUs for the NGOs of the SPDC? Why, you must be a VIP,” teased the barber.

U Ba didn’t pick up on the joke. He thought the barber had realized at last what a big shot he was.

“I’m getting paid in US dollars, of course,” he continued. “Helping to revive the Myanmar economy. At least, I’m doing my best,” he said with a humble shrug of the shoulders.

“You truly are the backbone of this country,” chuckled the barber. “What would we Burmese do without you?” he exclaimed as he whipped the bib from U Ba’s neck.

U Ba stared at the barber for a moment, not knowing if he were serious.

“Yes, quite,” he said.

That night at home the old diplomat’s wife noticed the bald line running through her husband’s head. It was as if the barber had shaved a road from the back of his neck to his crown. His wife couldn’t resist a laugh, but U Ba did not see the funny side at all.

The next morning he returned to the barber shop to give the barber a piece of his mind.

When he got there the shop was closed. In the window was a sign: “Why is it the spineless ones who think they are the backbone of our country???”

Can Asean Learn to Put People First?

By POKPONG LAWANSIRI

Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand, the country currently holding the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), came up with a campaign to call the regional grouping’s recently ratified charter the “Asean Charter for Asean Peoples.”

Some observers saw this as signalling a new and positive change for Asean, which has often been criticized for being a “governments’ club” that lacks the involvement of ordinary people.

On October 21, following the ratification of the charter by Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, Asean’s secretary general, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, reiterated that “Asean will be a rules-based, people-oriented and more integrated entity.”

It is in the chapter relating to the purposes of Asean that the charter vows to “promote a people-oriented Asean in which all sectors of society are encouraged to participate in, and benefit from … Asean integration and community building.”

While this is one of the more positive points within the charter, civil society groups are still sceptical whether Asean will actually live up to its promise of becoming a more people-oriented body. They point to the fact that civil society groups have never been informed of Asean processes as evidence of the association’s reluctance to embrace greater popular participation. They add that when they want to raise certain issues regionally or internationally, they typically bypass Asean and go directly to UN bodies.

As Asean increases its use of “people-first” rhetoric, civil society groups are asking themselves if the charter will actually succeed in making the intergovernmental body more receptive to the involvement of ordinary people in decision-making processes, and whether the charter will have the power to inspire people to demand a greater role in shaping their future.

A network of more than 40 civil society organisations has been monitoring the work of Asean to try to answer these questions. The Solidarity for Asian Peoples’ Advocacy (SAPA) Working Group on Asean examined the charter last year prior to its signing, and concluded that it was “a disappointment [since] it is a document that falls short of what is needed to establish a people-centred [Asean].”

Although the charter emphasizes Asean’s commitment to promoting and protecting human rights and espouses many other positive principles, such as social justice, respect for the rule of law, good governance, and respect for the UN Charter and international law, the grouping still insists that its core principles are non-interference and respect for consensus among member states.

The absurdity of clinging to the principle of non-interference in the affairs of countries belonging to the grouping is nowhere more evident than in Burma, where the human rights situation continues to deteriorate even as Asean professes to promote the fundamental rights of people throughout the region.

Asean has yet to assess the human rights situation in Burma since the country joined the association in 1997. The detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political prisoners, the continuing use of child soldiers, and the recent imposition of long prison sentences on dozens of Burmese human rights defenders, including Buddhist monks and leaders of the 88 Generation Students group who participated in protests last year, all serve to highlight the fact that Asean membership has had absolutely no positive influence on Burma’s military rulers.

When we look at the charter chapter by chapter, we can see that its vision of the grouping is still fundamentally state-centric, being written by government officials without genuine consultation with civic groups.

There is, for instance, no mention of the need for an institutionalised mechanism like the NGO Consultative Status to the UN, which would allow civil society to contribute to or comment on Asean’s decision-making process. Such a mechanism is not mentioned in chapters relating to the work of the Asean Summit, the Asean Coordinating Council, Asean Community Councils or the Asean Secretariat. The role of civil society is only mentioned in the chapter on the Asean Foundation, where the role of the foundation is described as promoting greater awareness of “Asean identity [and] close collaboration among the business sector, civil society, academia and other stakeholders in Asean.”

Asean leaders see civil society’s place as limited to the socio-cultural sphere, where they are allowed to discuss Asean policies among themselves. But civic groups are not permitted to play an important part in the decision-making process in the areas where they are most affected—namely, in the political-security and economic spheres.

Asean should take note that many civil society groups have a strong interest in seeing the association become a more relevant body in addressing issues that impact on people throughout the region, especially trans-boundary concerns such as migrant workers, human trafficking and the treatment of refugees, among others. This is especially pertinent to Asean’s plan to establish a human rights body.

The upcoming Asean Peoples’ Forum/4th Asean Civil Society Conference, which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand on December 12-14, prior to the 14th Asean Summit in Chiang Mai, is an important venue for Asean leaders and governments to actually listen to what people want Asean to be and to do.

The Asean Charter, while it is not the charter that the people actually wish to see, could be a start to making this body more people-oriented. Asean needs to open up to the people more in all its deliberations. This effort is a must for Asean governments if they wish to push for a more comprehensive and radical change. If not, the association will fail to achieve its professed goal of putting people at the center of the organization.

Pokpong Lawansiri is Southeast Asia Program Officer with the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA).

Burma’s HIV/AIDS Crisis in Red Alert: MSF

By WAI MOE

About 25,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2007 in Burma and 76,000 out of an estimated 240,000 people who are thought to be carrying HIV/AIDS urgently need antiretroviral treatment (ART), the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said on Tuesday.

The Geneva-based humanitarian aid organization said in its latest report “A Preventable Fate: The Failure of ART Scale-up in Myanmar,” that the situation for many people living with HIV/AIDS in the Southeast Asian Nation is critical due to a severe lack of lifesaving ART.

“Last year, around 25,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses. A similar number of people could suffer the same fate in 2008 unless there is a significant increase in accessible antiretroviral treatment (ART),” MSF Operations Manager Joe Belliveau said in a press release.

The MSF said that during its five years of operation in the country, the Burmese regime and International Community’s response to the most serious HIV/AIDS epidemics in Asia has remained minimal.

The MSF added it can only provide medicine to 20 percent, or about 11,000 of the 76,000 people who need treatment immediately. The Burmese regime and other nongovernmental organizations supply 4,000 people with ART, it said.

However, the MSF said that it has recently been forced to make the painful decision to drastically reduce the number of new patients it can treat.

“It is unacceptable that a single NGO is treating the vast majority of HIV patients in a crisis of this magnitude,” Belliveau said.

According to the report, in the last two years, Burma’s Department of Health has treated only an estimated 1,800 patients with ART in 22 hospitals across the country.

The organization called upon the Burmese authorities and the International Community to mobilize quickly in order to address the situation. The Burmese military regime currently spends an estimated 0.3 percent of the gross domestic product on health, which the lowest amount in the world.

“In 2007, the Government of Myanmar spent just US $0.7 per person on healthcare, with a paltry $200,000 allocated for HIV/AIDS in 2008,” the MSF said.

The level of international humanitarian aid also is strikingly low, around $3 per person, one of the lowest rates worldwide, according to the report.

The cost of monthly first-line ART from a private pharmacy is US $29 in Burma where a majority of more than 50 million Burmese survive on $1.2 per day income.

The MSF said if people can find a way to afford ART, many become indebted and are soon force to stop taking the medicine.

It also said that governmental constraints and bureaucratic procedures may be challenges for aid organizations by noting that in some areas in the country, such as Kayah [Kareni] State, the MSF has not been permitted to start AIDS treatment.

The report quoted a 28-year-old male patient, “I think that I am going to die. I cannot do anything to get better. Even if there is a treatment, I am not able to afford it, as I do not have money. So I think that I will die from HIV.”