Non-protest in Shan State not indifference

No.02 - 9/2007
6 September 2007
Politics
 
Non-protest in Shan State not indifference
 
Since mid August, protests against skyhigh fuel prices have been going on in the rest of Burma but not in Shan State, which does not mean the people here are unfeeling to other people's sufferings, say residents of Tachilek, opposite Thailand's Maesai, yesterday.
 
The fact they say is that vehicles in Shan State, the biggest state in Burma, are long used to expensive combustibles coming from Thailand and China that rising prices of Burmese fuel they hardly have a chance to buy or use effect them very little.
 
"In fact, fuel prices here are still higher than the new prices set by the military government," one of the residents who operates a private gas station explained.
 
For instance, leaded gasoline imported from Thailand is sold at 102 baht ($3) or 4,080 kyat per gallon which is already almost twice as much as the recent price, 2,500 kyat ($1.9) fixed by the generals in Pyinmana, Burma's new capital.
 
It is however still cheaper than in Thailand from where fuel oil is imported, as Pyinmana levies lower tax than in the kingdom. "Even Thai cars going to Kengtung are filling their tanks in Tachilek," said a businessman in Maesai.
 

"Which means if there is a 100% increase in fuel prices here in Tachilek, we'll probably have to protest against the Thai government," quipped a Tachilek resident.
 
The Ethnic Youth Network Group (EYNG), which New Generation Shan State (NGSS) is a member, recently reported it had been doing what it could to support the protestors. The exiled Shan Democratic Union (SDU) also issued a statement on Tuesday, 4 September, expressing its full support for the "just struggle" in Burma.