Weekly Diary, No. 248 (5 – 11 May 2007)

Weekly Diary, No. 248 (5 – 11 May 2007)
 

• MONS BEMOAN LOSS OF NATION HOOD!

• A NATION GOES HUNGRY!

• SHANS PROTESTS 'MARTIAL LAW'!

• UNDER WATER WORLD!

• FORMER LAHU FIGHTER FADES AWAY!

 
Think Piece
A nation is good and strong when it lets ever more people live together at peace and willingly. A nation is weak and wrong  when it needs an army to fight against itself. Such a nation must change or fail.

The Water Margin, Classic Chinese romance

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The World
6 May 2007
^{Nicolas Sarkozy}
Capitalist Nicolas Sarkozy beats Socialist Segolene Royal in France's presidential elections. (Agencies)
 
9 May 2007
^{Jose Ramos-Horta}
East Timor elects Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta as president. (Agencies)

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International Relations
6 May 2007
^{Syed Hamid Albar}
Malaysian FM Syed Hamid Albar urges Burma to free Aung San Suu Kyi in the interests of reconciliation. (AFP)
 
8 May 2007
Bangladesh authorities arrest Habibu Rahman, 24, who confesses that he is an agent for Burma. He has been sent to collect information on sacral issues. A number of important papers are also seized from him. (Narinjara)
 
9 May 2007
^{Admiral Sureesh Mehra}
India's naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehra begins 9-day tour of Burma and Singapore. He is the second navy chief to visit Burma in a year's time. (Mizzima)
 
9 May 2007
Washington-based Heritage Foundation think tank calls on France's President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy to adopt a foreign policy that places human rights at its heart, starting with a ban on French investment in Burma. (Irrawaddy)
 
10 May 2007
Freedom House names 17 nations, including Burma, among the most repressive countries in the world. (UPI)
 
10 May 2007
^{Aung San Suu Kyi}
14 UN human rights experts call on Burma to unconditionally release Aung San Suu Kyi. (AFP)

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Thai-Burma Relations
7 May 2007
^{Gen Watanachai Chaimuenwong}
Gen Watanachai Chaimuenwong, former Third Army commander, who came up with the idea of erecting the King Naresuan statue at Ban Payangpataek in Maesai after a border clash with Burma in 2001, has consented to change the design to make it "less provocative to Burma." The new design will see the king holding a lance that points to the sky rather than a sword. The construction site faces the statue of King Bayinnaung, who conquered Ayuddya in 1569, in Tachilek. Gen Watanachai visited Maesai on 2 May. (Bangkok Post)
 
8 May 2007
Mons in Thailand marks the 250th anniversary of the fall of Hongsawaddy at Sangklaburi near the Three Pagodas Pass. (Network Media Group)
 
9 May 2007
Some 800 migrant workers, including their children arrested in Maesod. (NMG)
 
11 May 2007
Migrant workers and labor activists in Chiangmai submits a letter to the provincial government to protest the plan for draconian restrictions on migrant workers, which includes:

• a ban on public gathering of more than 5 without prior permission

• a ban on the use of mobile phones, motorcycles and cars

• curfew on migrant workers that restricts them to their living quarters from 8pm-6am.

There are more than 100,000 migrants, the majority of them Shans. (Irrawaddy)

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Politics/ Inside Burma
7 May 2007
Maj General Hueng Ngai, a Chin national, has taken over the post of commander and head of Chin State. He is the second Chin to be promoted to the rank after Taung Za Khai during the Ne Win era. Unlike most Chins, he is also a Buddhist. (Khonumthung)
 
7 May 2007
^{Col Khun Okker}
Col Khun Okker, vice chairman of the Federal Constitution Drafting and Coordinating Committee, says the second draft of the federal constitution will be completed by July. (Mizzima)

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Shans/ Shan State
9-10 May 2007
Col Yawdserk, leader of the Shan State Army 'South' calls on Shan monks to stay above politics. Extra-clerical activities are not helping the cause at all, he says at a two-day meeting with 47 monks coming from Shan State. (SHAN)

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Economy/ Business
5 May 2007
A bottle of rice gruel, which cost 100 kyat ($0.8), is shared among family members or a piece of Bein Moke, pancake made of rice and jaggery, constitutes the daily meal for some of the people in Rangoon's satellite towns. (DVB)
 
8 May 2007
Daewoo, the main developer of two gas blocks off the Arakan coast, has objected Burma's intention to sell to China the gas at $ 4 per million British thermal units (mBtu). It will also collect a $ 150 million pipeline transit fee from China. The South Korean company believes it has a say in who buys the gas and at what price. India and Japan are offering between $ 5 and $ 6 per mBtu. (Irrawaddy)

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Human Rights
9 May 2007
Human Rights Watch urges Malaysia to disband Rela, uniformed volunteers used to round up illegal migrant workers and responsible for violence and numerous cases of illegal detentions. (AP)

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Environment
5 May 2007
The junta will team up with China Power Investment Corp( CPI) to construct 7 hydro-electric plants in Kachin State. All together will generate 13,360 megawatts surpassing power capacity of 7,100 megawatts from the Tasang project, which is expected to be ready in 2012. (AFP)
 
4-6 May 2007
Rangoon hit by heaviest rain in decades. Some areas are 2-3 feet under water. At least 4 people killed when floods caused a short circuit. (AFP)
 
8 May 2007

Half a million residents living on the mouth of the Salween will suffer if dams are built, says In the Balance, a new report by Mon Youth Progress Organization. They will lose fresh drinking water, agricultural productivity and fish. (Mizzima)
 
8 May 2007
Many areas of Burma, including Rangoon and Pegu divisions, are still under water following the 4-6 May heavy rains. (Irrawaddy)
 
9 May 2007
Tests by World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the existence of polio in western Arakan State, says New Light of Myanmar. (AFP)

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Drugs
5 May 2007
1.5 kg of heroin and 1,000 yaba pills seized by police from a boat docked at Arakan's Sittwe port. (Mizzima)
 
6 May 2007
Crystal methamphetamine known as Ice is particularly sought after as it is one of the precursor drugs for making speed pills, Thailand's Office of Narcotics Control Board source said. More drugs are expected to enter Thailand and more drugmakers in Shan State have relocated their refineries to areas closer to Mae Hong Son after China stepped up drug suppression along the border with Burma. (Bangkok Post)
 
9 May 2007
^{Kitti Limchaikij}
Kitti Limchaikij, Secretary General of Thailand's Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), says 5 million pills have been stored in neighboring countries and ready to be carried into Thailand. (Irrawaddy)

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War
6 May 2007
Talks are on at various levels between governments of the three countries to speed up re-opening the 1,726 km Stilwell Road that connects India's Assam to Kunming after cutting through Burma. (AFP)
 
7 May 2007
The Burmese military has recently measured a 200 acre area near Zee Hna Pin, 15 miles east of Thanbyuzayat, alongside the motor road to Three Pagodas Pass. It has been named an air defense battalion base. (IMNA)

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Obituary
4 May 2007
^{Phya Ja Eu}
Phya Ja Eu, 85, leader of the Lahu resistance in 1973, passes away on the border. His funeral is on 9 May. (NMG)

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