Shan leader: SSA must be people's army

No.08 - 5/2007
22 May 2007
Politics
 
Shan leader: SSA must be people's army
 
The Shan State Army (SSA) must strive to be a disciplined armed organization worth its salt, according to a prepared speech by Col Yawdserk, Chairman of its political arm Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) yesterday, the day the Shan resistance turned 49, to his troops at Loi Taileng, opposite Maehongson.
 
"If we don't have discipline, it's not worth the reliance placed upon us by the people," he said instructing wayward elements to reduce the burden off the people's shoulders.

^{Add Carabao with Col Yawdserk}

The SSA's mountain base is packed with visitors from the surrounding areas, according to a S.H.A.N. reporter. "Many of them express disappointment," he said. "News had earlier been abound that the event would be graced by Add Carabao (Thailand's song-for-life superstar and a personal friend of Yawdserk), but he couldn't make it due to his tight schedule."
 
The Shan resistance was first launched in 1958 by 31-young Shans led by 31 year old Sao Noi following the refusal of the Burma Army to withdraw from Shan State where it had previously been fighting against Kuomintang incursion from China but instead chose to become an occupying power itself.