Word: burma
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...inner workings of Burma's repressive military government are a puzzle on par with that other hermit government, North Korea. It's a measure of the unfathomability that after last week's surprise leadership reshuffle, in which strongman General Than Shwe was replaced as Prime Minister by head of military intelligence General Khin Nyunt, Burma-watchers were convinced that a major change had taken place. What they couldn't tell was whether it was for better or worse...
...NOTEBOOK Burma: Mysterious Moves Milestones Verbatim Letters...
...even if the new Prime Minister evolves as the Dr. Jekyll of Burma, he's surrounded by plenty of Mr. Hydes. Than Shwe is still chairman of the powerful military-controlled State Peace and Development Council (SPCD) and commander-in-chief of the armed forces; he ordered Suu Kyi's most recent arrest. More ominous: the Orwellian-sounding position of Secretary One in the SPCD, a top post vacated by Khin Nyunt last week, was given to Soe Win, a known hard-liner. A vital piece of the puzzle is missing, though: Khin Nyunt may be Prime Minister...
...Lanka was rocked by waves of suicide bombers; in July 2001, Colombo's airport was hit. Then came 9/11, with anti-American demonstrations in its aftermath. Last October, bombs in Bali killed 202 people and wiped out much of what was left of tourism there. By early 2003, Burma was a recrudescent human-rights disaster; more than 2,000 drug suspects were gunned down in the streets of Bangkok, and Cambodians went on a violent rampage against the Thai. Armchair audiences overseas might as well have contemplated a holiday in hell...
...problem. The Western boom in Thai cuisine and a massive promotional campaign made the Thai kingdom a hot destination; the buoyant rise of tourism in Bali in the early 1990s encouraged the building of resorts in new destinations in the Indonesian archipelago, such as in neighboring Lombok. Even creepy Burma tried to polish its image and let in private tourism companies...