Word: thailand
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...signs of internal dissent within the armed forces are quickly suppressed. General Khin Nyunt, the former head of military intelligence who was once hailed as a potential reformer for suggesting dialogue with democracy leader Suu Kyi, now languishes under house arrest on corruption charges. Dissident groups in neighboring Thailand are peopled with former army officers who had the temerity to suggest alternative ways to run the country. "Burma's military is a breed apart, and its biggest accomplishment is the sense of loyalty that it has bred," says Josef Silverstein, a Burma expert and retired professor at Rutgers University...
...leadership of the movement, on Wednesday Sept. 26 the regime unleashed a violent crackdown on the protesters - a potentially dangerous move in this deeply devout nation. "The monks are the only ones who really have the trust of the people," says Khin Omar, an exiled dissident now living in Thailand. "When they speak up, people listen...
...contrast to the increased connectivity of the Burmese people. Technology has revolutionized dissent. Cell phones can now be rented for $50 a month, and a click of a button sends pictures of protests to the outside world. Aung Zaw, an exiled student activist who edits the Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based publication that covers Burmese affairs, recalls how it took nearly a month for word of student protests in the early 1990s to reach Thailand. "Now we get information about protests almost instantly," he says, "and it's then sent back to people in Burma so they know what's going...
...there may be some cracks in the military's façade. "Than Shwe or senior military leaders might not care about international opinion or the feelings of the people, but some middle- and lower-ranking officers surely do," says Win Min, a Burmese military analyst based in northern Thailand. "These younger officers don't want to be hated by the people for the next 30 years...
...some in the Buddhist clergy, as evidenced by their symbolic visit to her house. "Even if they are not political, the monks hear stories about the daily struggles of the Burmese people and the repression of the junta," says Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst based in Thailand. "They feel their pain, and they cannot just sit back idly." The NLD, even with its ranks ravaged by imprisonment and exile, may be the only political alternative Burma has - and many monks know...