Kaowao News No. 111
Newsletter for social justice and freedom
in Burma
May 28-
Readers’ Front
Children working in underground lottery
Villagers forced to build motor road
Migrant woman dies in car accident
Burmese Authorities close
Taxis barred from
crossing border after Thai-Burmese clash
Thai authorities raid Mon office in Maesot
Security
Council resolution: Canadian support essential for democracy in
Lessons from another revolution
Scholarship to Mon monks
Kaowao volunteer needed
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Readers’
front
Dear
readers,
We invite
comments and suggestions on improvements to Kaowao
newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kaowao News
will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice
in
Regards,
Editor
Kaowao News
[email protected], www.kaowao.org
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Children working in underground
lottery
(Kaowao:
In Kawkreik
A community leader from the Mon village
told Kaowao that among those who are making a profit
on the underground lottery are young teenagers who sell tickets to earn a
commission rate.
Many people gather at local teashops or
in the market place to listen on the radio from
“The Chae is
even played in
Nai Blai said that in his
village of about 500 households, there are 2 to 3 lottery agents earning about
two million Kyats. The sellers earn the money on a commission rate on the
amount of the money and some people earn about 20,000-30,000 Kyats (18-25
Originally from
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Villagers forced to build motor road
(Kaowao:
Ye –The Burma Army has ordered
civilians in Southern Mon State to build a motor road to connect the villages
in the area.
Nai Pu from Hangam
said, “every household was assigned their quotas, but
the road is mainly for the use of the SPDC’s troops to attack the Mon guerilla
group.” The Burmese Army Commander ordered the road to be completed when
the military offensive began to wipe out Mon armed group led by Nai Hloin and Nai
Bin in December 2003.
A member of Hamgam
Village Peace and Development Council who spoke under the condition of
anonymity said even they (VPDC) is not wiling to order the villages for the
construction, they cannot oppose the Burmese Army (BA) and must follow the
orders.
Some villagers complained after the
VPDC and BA gave penalties to the villagers who did not finish their
quotas. According to a villager from the Khawza
sub-town of south Ye, Union Solidarity and Development Association or USDA
members were given a break from repairing the motor road while non-members were
forced to provide lumber for the construction of wooden bridges and stones to
provide foundation alongside the motor road.
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Migrant woman dies in car accident
(Kaowao:
A motor vehicle accident killed a woman
passenger and left others injured yesterday morning according to a source from
the Thai authority.
A vehicle carrying 52 migrant workers,
mostly Mon nationals from
All migrants are believed to hail from Gu-Bao, near the
“It is not known whether the driver was
under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but he lost control after speeding up
thinking that the Thai border police had detected them and were on their
trail,” said a local resident.
During this rainy season, many migrants
have been waiting at Gubao and Tomdot
Poi villages near the
According to a Mon social worker, many
migrants trying to get into
************************************************
Burmese Authorities close
(Kaowao:
Sangkhalaburi -- Burmese authorities for an unknown reason closed
three
“The closure of the border started at
The local business community complained
that the furniture industries on the
Restrictions on trade and frequent
border closures limit border trade on the eastern border of
*************************************************
Taxis barred from crossing border after
Thai-Burmese clash
(IMNA:
A fracas involving Burmese policemen
and two Thai nationals snowballed into a serious clash yesterday near the
Following the riotous situation,
motorcycle taxis on the Burmese side have been barred from crossing the border
by Thai authorities.
The trouble began when two Thai men who
were trying to avoid paying taxes while importing furniture beat two Burmese
policemen.
The two Thai men beat up two Burmese
policemen who demanded tax for furniture they were importing near a small
village. The two sides had an argument over payment of tax, according to local
people. After beating them up the two Thai men handcuffed the Burmese police
personnel and took them to a Thai police station on the Thai side, they said.
Senior Burmese officers went to the
Thai police station to sort out the matter but could do little. At about that
time about 20 men including Burmese policemen and Burmese taxi drivers barged
into the Thai police station near the bus station and severely beat up the two
Thais, local people said.
Thai policemen in the station fled and
the two Thai men were seriously injured. Both of them were sent to hospital.
According to sources, senior Thai
authorities investigated the incident today but the matter is yet to be sorted
out.
Local sources believe Thai authorities
banned taxis because Burmese taxi drivers along with Burmese policemen got
involved in the counter assault on the Thais in
*************************************************
Thai authorities raid Mon office in Maesot
(Kaowao:
The Mon community office in Maesot was raided by the Thai border police force
yesterday.
According to the office staff of the Mon
National League for Consolidation and Aiding (MNLCA), a unit from the border
police force and local authorities in full uniform raided the Mon office on May
29 around 2:30 pm local time.
The Thai officers checked the building
and took photos of the Mon community office and its members during the
raid. Nai Agga, the
Mon community leader, said, “the Thai authorities came
to the office after they heard we were having an opening ceremony for Mon
migrant children at the Mon school. The news of about 300 people gathering here
reached the Burmese junta in Myawaddy border town (opposite of Maesot) and they may have requested the Thai
to put pressure on us during the ceremony.”
“There were no arrests and the
authorities did not order us to close down the school,” he added.
Migrant workers and activists seeking
to promote solidarity among the Mon community on the border formed the Mon
National League for Consolidation and Aiding (MNLCA). It has been active
in reaching out to other ethnic and democratic forces.
About 70 Mon children are enrolled
to learn Mon, Thai, Burmese and English headed by 6 volunteers who are managing
the self-supported school. About 300 supporters and community leaders,
including exiled politician Nai Thaung Shein (Members
of Parliament) from
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Security
Council resolution, Canadian support essential for democracy in Burma
(Rights
& Democracy:
The
recent renewal of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention under
house arrest, which now totals more than 10 years, and the internal
displacement of more than 13,000 Karen villagers after recent military assaults
are two of the latest developments in Burma that necessitate a firm and
unequivocal Security Council resolution in defence of human rights and
democracy there.
“International
interventions to bring peace to
Rights
& Democracy’s letter joins a growing international campaign in support of a
recent report commissioned by former Czech Republic President, Vaclav Havel, and South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Bishop
Desmond Tutu. The report, titled Threat to the Peace: A Call for the UN
Security Council to Act in
Rights
& Democracy said a UNSC resolution should include to immediately end SPDC’s
attacks on ethnic minorities and release Aung San Suu Kyi and all
political prisoners; to allow international humanitarian assistance to reach
the most vulnerable groups of the population; and to plan for national
reconciliation in order to restore democracy while respecting the results of
the May 1990 elections;
Rights
& Democracy has also written
Rights
& Democracy’s involvement in
*************************************************************
Lessons from another revolution
(By Maxmilian
Wechsler: Czech Press -
Perhaps to the disappointment of some
in the exile community and the delight of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) – unless it has acquired a taste for news and photos
of exiled opposition leaders – I have decided to terminate my writings for the
New Era Journal (NEJ).
This does not mean a total break from
my writing about
The decision to quit was not reached
overnight, but has been building up for some time. It would be inappropriate to
go into the specific details here, but I will mention a few reasons. For the
rest you will have to read “between the lines”. I have no wish to upset some
opposition people who would then accuse me of working for the SPDC.
First of all, I think it is time that
someone else – preferably Burmese – should take over the reportorial role I
have played at NEJ. Second, I am disappointed with the way some exiles carry on
their struggle for democracy in
My writing for the NEJ has been without
payment (at my request) and I have spent my money over the years on travel,
assistance and so on. As I have found, writers and contributors whether in
Yet, I was surprised to discover that –
and I double-checked this – no one will even give information or photos unless
they are paid. This was for me a disappointing discovery. If it was standard
practice for everyone in movements against totalitarian regimes to work on a
cash-only basis then today we would still have the
I thought – and I now see that I was
probably naive all those years – that a vibrant press should assume its role in
bringing about change without the need to reward every supplier of bits of
information, photos or articles.
The first article I wrote for the NEJ
was titled: “Lessons for
My initial objective was to give
publicity to individuals and groups that had been sidelined in the main-stream
opposition media. This aim, I believe, was achieved.
In fact, there are not so many
Europeans who are still writing about the exile community. Most of my
colleagues stopped a long time ago. They are willing to write an anti-SPDC
article, but not a pro-exile piece, which can be tricky. I know why others have
stopped writing about exiles, but it would be inappropriate to explain
precisely or to name the journalists.
As I began to meet more and more exiles and
opposition figures in the course of my journalistic work, I started to have
mixed feelings about their motives, aims and intentions.
I have met with, interviewed and spoken
candidly with many different types of people in exile. Some treat it as a job
to pursue for their own benefit, spending most of the time looking for money.
These people like to pose as “big revolutionaries” when in fact they are
opportunists who think only of themselves.
The existence of the SPDC and its
predecessors actually helps these people. They would be out of business
if there were democracy in
In fact I have learned from “inside”
sources that the people of
There is another group of people–
fortunately in the majority – which are dedicated and want to help their country,
but unfortunately they don’t usually have the financial resources and
connections to gain them much influence.
Those in the first ‘greedy’ group enjoy
comfortable and happy lives compared with the second group of ‘principled’
exiles, who usually lack the money and resources necessary for a decent life. I
am thinking especially of 120,000 people living in refugee camps and the
unknown number of Internally Displaced People, not to mention the 60 million or
so ordinary Burmese.
It has come to my attention that
everything really revolves around the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
governments who fund the dissidents.
And while on this subject, despite an
almost 6-year effort I have failed to find a single staffer or NGO leader who
was willing to talk on the record about the true role of their organization in
funding Burmese opposition groups.
They have given me a variety of reasons
and excuses for their silence. Usually I have been told that they have some
kind of an agreement to talk only to a one particular authority in Thailand and
that they can’t disclose their activities for fear of
retaliation.
During my time covering the opposition
movement I have met and spoken with many exiles, both rank-and-file members and
their so-called leaders.
Some gave interviews to help their
people; some wanted to help themselves. Some interviewees asked to see a story
before it was printed so that they could “correct” dates or the spelling of
names, but really they were afraid of what I might write because they didn’t
trust me. Only rarely did anyone thank me for putting their views to a wider
audience.
My relations with the NEJ began in 1998
when I met the founder and one of the leading opposition figures in exile, Mr.
Tin Maung Win who passed away on
During my years in writing, I have
tried to write factually and objectively, and to avoid sounding like
propaganda. I regret to say that the latter may sometimes have been the case.
In some instances – I was to discover – the people I interviewed were, to say
it mildly, not completely truthful and honest.
Altogether, I must say that I have
gained some really good friends in the opposition movement.
The NEJ management has never censored
any of my articles or told me what I should or shouldn’t write. NEJ is an
independent newspaper without any affiliation to any political group or
organization. This is something that many “big leaders” don’t appreciate
because they can’t use this particular publication for their own benefit.
I won’t speculate on the future of
But I must say that the movement is
riddled with hypocrisy. Many times I heard this or that “big leader” say
something officially and then something completely different in private, after
asking me to switch off the tape.
In meeting dozens of exiles over the
years, I have uncovered many different schemes and goals, most of them dressed
up as part of the fight for democracy, but I haven’t been able to discover any
coherent strategy on how to bring about democracy in their country. What about
a united front?
Please read again my first article!
When someone complains they can’t do this or do that because they are afraid, I
usually respond by telling them that if we in
So please listen to these words from a
freelance journalist – one-sided propaganda benefits neither the exiles nor the
democratic movement. Everyone should try to be objective and to admit when they
make mistakes. It should be admitted especially that the opposition
movement is plagued with corruption.
The exiles are very sensitive to a
criticism and usually retaliate swiftly and fire back. My life has been
threatened on several occasions. One of these threats was conveyed in the
person of a former commander of a Mon armed group who has since migrated with
his family to the
One prominent exile told me recently:
“The opposition should accept constructive criticism and shouldn’t be afraid to
criticize. If a person is sick and refuses medicine, how can he fight the
disease? And this applies to our movement. If we are not well how can we fight
the enemy?
“It is time for our capable and
dedicated men and women to expose and oust corrupted people, to join with the
oppressed masses in our country, and to turn the tide of revolution in our
favor. The movement should be shaped up,” he stressed.
Another one said that a number of
exiles frequently travel abroad and refuse to tell their fellow opposition
members for what purpose and what they have achieved. “They always say that it
is secret,” he said, and cited a recent trip by several top exiles to Japan.
I have written this article not to
scorn the exiles but to remind them of their responsibilities to their country
and their people.
Finally, I haven’t mentioned here the
misbehavior and wrongdoing of the SPDC because these can be found every day in
opposition newspapers and websites.
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Announcement
Scholarship to Mon monks
This coming
One of the scholarship recipients is Phra Suchart of Wat Wangwiwekaram (Ven. Uttama's monastery in Sangkhlaburi) who has been studying at Wat
Asasongkram in Phrapradeang
and who has just passed the highest monastic examination (Parian 9 Prayok) in
According to the preparation
meeting last Saturday on
If you would like to make donation for
the education of these young Buddhists, please contact Ven.
Dhamma, the abbot of Wat Sudhammawady directly or contact Nai
Sumit via e-mail; [email protected] or phone at +66-0-5079-9089
_____________________________________
Kaowao Volunteers Needed
Kaowao is seeking to recruit Mon students (or
others who have a passion for
Kaowao
Editorial Team
KAOWAO NEWS GROUP
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Tel: + 66 7 169-0971 (
Tel: + 1-
403 - 248 2027 (Canada)
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Kao Wao News
archive: http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1215&lo=d&sl=0
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