Thanks for your many serious comments. I deliberately tried to avoid referring to the second hand writings as much as I possibly can so that the readers can witness the actions of direct participants in the sad affairs of our country, Burma, from their first hand writings.
Who else but TheinPhe Myint, Kyaw Nyein, Slim, and Bo Kyaw Zaw themselves were the actual players in those periods. I didn’t change a single word from their respective books. Readers can make up their own minds.
The advantage I have over non-Burmese experts is I am a Burmese and so I can access the writings of Burmese. Even if they can read Burmese they do not have that blood-and-flesh attachment to Burma like we Burmese have.
And I myself and my own family have shed blood and tears for this sad place and living hell now called Myanmar. (What a stupid name? In Thai Mar is Dog and my Thai mates teased me when they first heard of that name.)
As far as I know no Burmese has ever done what I am trying to do now, may be I am wrong . My purpose is only one thing. That is to show the world how stupid we Burmese are that we’ve been killing each other for last 60 years for just trivial reasons and so there is a massive room for reconciliation and eventual peace among the Communists, Socialists, and the army.
I pray for peace in our Burma so that I can go home and die in peace!
1) trade sanctions – well they worked for Mandela.
2) it’s not only the US which ignores Thai HR violations – just about every major / middle Power does.
Australia certainly does.
As an American said to me in Pantip Plaza one time – “it’s amazing what the Thais are allowed to get away with”.
Due – in no small part – to their strategic position, and other IOU factors.
MARK COLVIN: Very few of the tens of thousands of Australians who go to Thailand every year end up in the country’s south near the border of Malaysia so there’s little awareness here of the long-running conflict in the region.
In the last four years nearly 4,400 people have been killed and over 7,000 people injured on both sides in the Malay Pattani region.
Because many attacks have targeted schools it’s one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a teacher.
Human Rights Watch is trying to draw people’s attention to the problem.
The deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division Phil Robertson spoke to me.
Ko Hla Oo,
Your article is an interesting read, but you seem to glorify the annexation of Burma by the British and you have written in unnecessary length to the exploits of Maung Htaw Lay, Maung Khine and Sir Maung Khin etc, all British apologists. The Mon were a dwindling race before the British annexation of Lower Burma and Rangoon and they welcomed the British to counterbalance the Burmese presence. However, the Indian predominated Rangoon which was called an Indian city before the World War II. Indian constituted more than half of the Rangoon population in the 1930s. It was fortunate that Rangoon became the capital of independent Burma and all the races of the union could live side by side in peace. The anti-Chinese riots were instigated by the BSPP and Beijing. Both were guilty of inflaming racial riots in the 1960s. The anti-Muslim riots too were instigated by the BSPP.
Your right Neptunian. Read Sakmongkol AK47’s article on Najib and the budget (Link here). He reaffirms what your saying. These mega projects come as ideas from businessmen who use “fixers” to get it to Najib. Then – like magic – they are in the budget.
I’m just astounded that despite the obvious contempt that most Malaysians have for mega projects, Najib still has the audacity to propose them.
Not sure if Susan Morgan is the first scholar writing about Anna Leonowens work to explore her understanding of “romance”–as in the title of her second book on Siam–and her connection with Nathaniel Hawthorne (!) and Harriet Beecher Stowe (!!) . . . But this is just remarkable material.
As a follow up to my call for an open and fact-based look at who is behind the Bangkok bombings, I wanted to point out this article in Asia Sentinel.
Deadly Bombs Make Bangkok Unsafe
But who’s setting them off remains a mystery
Security officials blame frustrated pro-democracy Red Shirt revolutionaries for what they characterize as bloody revenge assaults after the military crushed the nine-week insurrection last spring, leaving 91 people dead — mostly civilians — and more than 1,500 injured. However, some critics blame police and military officials themselves, especially after the disappearance of considerable amounts of explosives and weapons from presumably well-guarded armories. Bombings have included 40-mm, M-67, M-26, MK-2, RGD-5 and rocket-propelled grenades, police said.
Ko Hla Oo,
Thank you. I did not say you are a liar; I just said I did not find your father’s name in the autobiographies mentioned. Another reason for confusion is the name Bo Tun Hla. We know he was the P.A. of Bogyoke Aung San and a famous writer Tekkatho Ne Win.
As for the saying of turncoats or surrendered persons in Burma’s politics we have to take it with a grain of salt. How can we believe the saying or writing of such men like Thakhin Tin Mya, U Tin Shwe (Yebaw Chan Aye or Maung Suesan), Yebaw Mya, Yebaw Ba Khet when they had relinquished their party loyalty and conviction. This applied to U Thein Pa Myint as he was expelled from the CPB after 1948. He could be a pseudocommunist at most.
I wonder why you quoted a lot from Thein Pe Myint’s book ” Kyaw Nyein” written with a foreword by U Kyaw Nyein himself. Thanks.
But, for the last time, and for the record, it shouldn’t take that long for you to prepare your case and offer it for publication. I’m sure you understand our constraints. Let’s have that full discussion of “Isan Issara”. We only need, say, 800 words. And, just to be clear, we will discontinue publishing your off-handed remarks on the topic until you meet the challenge. I think we have been generous, and then some. Until you convince us otherwise it seems pretty clear to me (and probably to most others) that not everything is related to your northeast break-away scenario…
This is not unexpected. The wheeling and dealings for the mega-projects had been on-going for a while now. If any interested readers want to listen to the UMNO wheeling and dealing rumour mill, just go to the Pan Pacific hotel coffee house – annex of Putra world trade centre.
Projects etc are discussed openly for all to hear. This place seems to be a where umnoputras show off their connections.
Ko Hla Oo,
Your mention of Thakhin Mya and General Aung San conspiring to kill Galon U Saw was outrageous and unproven. Yangon Ba Swe had admitted that he and U Mya Hlaing in the guise of Pyithu Yebaw uniforms attempted the murder on U Saw under the order of Bo Ne Win and Bo Aung Gyi. It was told to Dr Kyin Hoe or Dr Win Naing of Florida, USA by none other than one of the culprits U Mya Hlaing and it’s available on the Internet. Why would a true assassin reveal his identity if he were really attempting a real murder? U Mya Hlaing told Dr Kyin Hoe that they were instructed to just injure U Saw and not to kill him so as to let him suspect Bogyoke Aung San as the culprits were in the PVO uniforms! Please check your statements for facts before being printed.
I hope your are not calling me a liar about the story of my own bloody father.
You definitely read a lot, but not carefully I have to say.
Understandably the CPB cadres have a deliberate policy of not writing down favorable things about their former comrades who surrendered. But sometimes they slipped or deliberately mentioned their former comrades in nostalgia.
Bo Myo Myint (Ah-thar-mae) didn’t mention my father, his close friend and brother-in-arm for almost 20 years, deliberately in his autobiography. But he slipped twice and mentioned my father in his article about Japanese Revolution on the CPB website.
Please go read it quick before they remove or delete my father’s name. Link is down here and the pages are 13 and 20.
Ko Hla Oo,
Thank you for your reply. I’m not a Communist and I do not belong to any political party. It’s just that I have read a lot of literature on Burmese politics. I don’t think your father was a racist if he were a communist. I have read CPB Myo Myint’s autobiography and he did not mention your father’s name. Bo Kyaw Zaw did not either in his autobiography.Your description of your father personally killing the Japanese instructor during anti-Japanese Resistance is therefore hearsay and not a first hand account. However, what you write is interesting and please continue writing. Thank you.
I never say or even remotely inferred that Samai is a hero, I said how would you feel if you are shot in the cheek and your friend die beside you on the same night? Samai is more of a victim who want some sort of justice to me and unfortunately for him he didn’t get that from the Thai court so he had to resort to this. After the May crackdown we found death bodies of other red shirt everywhere, did you remember the 21 years old red shirt from Chieng Mai who was shot while walking home with his girl friend? Who do you think is responsible of his death?
I said that the government shouldn’t think they can monopolized on violence because people can turn violence if they got push too far, that is not a statement to glorify Samai, but a simple warning to the government. Matter of fact that word is not even mine but it has been used by many academics throughout history. I never claimed that the bombing is just and call for, you put that word in my mouth which is grossly inappropriate. I suggest you to study more about the bloody crackdown of 6 October 1976 what follow afterward, you will understand what I was trying to say.
I don’t have to be in the Red shirt rally to get all the info, like I told you again, I got most of the info from the mainstream media.
You’ve had a very good run with this line of argument. We now look forward to your comprehensive account of the Isan “uprising” scenario. The long delays in presenting your case are, I’m sure, wearing the patience of many NM readers.
Further to Andrew’s point # 33 ”
YOUR economic flow would be largely – though perhaps not wholly – irrelevant in the event of an uprising in Isaarn – and Lao PDR troops crossing the border in support.
They would, at least temporarily, seize all Thai assets.
That would n’t necessarily change the economic equation so much – but it would definitely change the political one.
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Burma in Limbo, part 4
Ko Maung Maung,
Thanks for your many serious comments. I deliberately tried to avoid referring to the second hand writings as much as I possibly can so that the readers can witness the actions of direct participants in the sad affairs of our country, Burma, from their first hand writings.
Who else but TheinPhe Myint, Kyaw Nyein, Slim, and Bo Kyaw Zaw themselves were the actual players in those periods. I didn’t change a single word from their respective books. Readers can make up their own minds.
The advantage I have over non-Burmese experts is I am a Burmese and so I can access the writings of Burmese. Even if they can read Burmese they do not have that blood-and-flesh attachment to Burma like we Burmese have.
And I myself and my own family have shed blood and tears for this sad place and living hell now called Myanmar. (What a stupid name? In Thai Mar is Dog and my Thai mates teased me when they first heard of that name.)
As far as I know no Burmese has ever done what I am trying to do now, may be I am wrong . My purpose is only one thing. That is to show the world how stupid we Burmese are that we’ve been killing each other for last 60 years for just trivial reasons and so there is a massive room for reconciliation and eventual peace among the Communists, Socialists, and the army.
I pray for peace in our Burma so that I can go home and die in peace!
US sanctions and human rights in Thailand
Michael #5 :
1) trade sanctions – well they worked for Mandela.
2) it’s not only the US which ignores Thai HR violations – just about every major / middle Power does.
Australia certainly does.
As an American said to me in Pantip Plaza one time – “it’s amazing what the Thais are allowed to get away with”.
Due – in no small part – to their strategic position, and other IOU factors.
Discussion on “resurgent Thailand”
On the ABC’s PM program last night the topic was “Insurgent Thailand”
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s3042708.htm
MARK COLVIN: Very few of the tens of thousands of Australians who go to Thailand every year end up in the country’s south near the border of Malaysia so there’s little awareness here of the long-running conflict in the region.
In the last four years nearly 4,400 people have been killed and over 7,000 people injured on both sides in the Malay Pattani region.
Because many attacks have targeted schools it’s one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a teacher.
Human Rights Watch is trying to draw people’s attention to the problem.
The deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division Phil Robertson spoke to me.
Discussion on “resurgent Thailand”
From the title I had thought it was going to be the resurgent reds… but if it’s to be given by His Excellency… I guess not, huh?
Burma in Limbo, Part 2
Ko Hla Oo,
Your article is an interesting read, but you seem to glorify the annexation of Burma by the British and you have written in unnecessary length to the exploits of Maung Htaw Lay, Maung Khine and Sir Maung Khin etc, all British apologists. The Mon were a dwindling race before the British annexation of Lower Burma and Rangoon and they welcomed the British to counterbalance the Burmese presence. However, the Indian predominated Rangoon which was called an Indian city before the World War II. Indian constituted more than half of the Rangoon population in the 1930s. It was fortunate that Rangoon became the capital of independent Burma and all the races of the union could live side by side in peace. The anti-Chinese riots were instigated by the BSPP and Beijing. Both were guilty of inflaming racial riots in the 1960s. The anti-Muslim riots too were instigated by the BSPP.
Malaysia Budget 2011 – Mahathirism back with a vengence!
Your right Neptunian. Read Sakmongkol AK47’s article on Najib and the budget (Link here). He reaffirms what your saying. These mega projects come as ideas from businessmen who use “fixers” to get it to Najib. Then – like magic – they are in the budget.
I’m just astounded that despite the obvious contempt that most Malaysians have for mega projects, Najib still has the audacity to propose them.
God help Malaysia.
Review of Bombay Anna
Not sure if Susan Morgan is the first scholar writing about Anna Leonowens work to explore her understanding of “romance”–as in the title of her second book on Siam–and her connection with Nathaniel Hawthorne (!) and Harriet Beecher Stowe (!!) . . . But this is just remarkable material.
Topics for future discussion on New Mandala
Nich #38 : it’s simply not the right time for it – yet
Topics for future discussion on New Mandala
Futures of socialism in GMS countries as what happened in Thailand was far worse that State Socialism for freedom
Topics for future discussion on New Mandala
As a follow up to my call for an open and fact-based look at who is behind the Bangkok bombings, I wanted to point out this article in Asia Sentinel.
Deadly Bombs Make Bangkok Unsafe
But who’s setting them off remains a mystery
Security officials blame frustrated pro-democracy Red Shirt revolutionaries for what they characterize as bloody revenge assaults after the military crushed the nine-week insurrection last spring, leaving 91 people dead — mostly civilians — and more than 1,500 injured. However, some critics blame police and military officials themselves, especially after the disappearance of considerable amounts of explosives and weapons from presumably well-guarded armories. Bombings have included 40-mm, M-67, M-26, MK-2, RGD-5 and rocket-propelled grenades, police said.
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2752&Itemid=392
It took about five minutes to load and kept flashing the MICT website, but I did eventually get it.
Not a great article, but asking the right questions.
Burma in Limbo, part 4
Ko Hla Oo,
Thank you. I did not say you are a liar; I just said I did not find your father’s name in the autobiographies mentioned. Another reason for confusion is the name Bo Tun Hla. We know he was the P.A. of Bogyoke Aung San and a famous writer Tekkatho Ne Win.
As for the saying of turncoats or surrendered persons in Burma’s politics we have to take it with a grain of salt. How can we believe the saying or writing of such men like Thakhin Tin Mya, U Tin Shwe (Yebaw Chan Aye or Maung Suesan), Yebaw Mya, Yebaw Ba Khet when they had relinquished their party loyalty and conviction. This applied to U Thein Pa Myint as he was expelled from the CPB after 1948. He could be a pseudocommunist at most.
I wonder why you quoted a lot from Thein Pe Myint’s book ” Kyaw Nyein” written with a foreword by U Kyaw Nyein himself. Thanks.
Topics for future discussion on New Mandala
Thanks Chris,
But, for the last time, and for the record, it shouldn’t take that long for you to prepare your case and offer it for publication. I’m sure you understand our constraints. Let’s have that full discussion of “Isan Issara”. We only need, say, 800 words. And, just to be clear, we will discontinue publishing your off-handed remarks on the topic until you meet the challenge. I think we have been generous, and then some. Until you convince us otherwise it seems pretty clear to me (and probably to most others) that not everything is related to your northeast break-away scenario…
Looking forward to your 800 words…
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Topics for future discussion on New Mandala
Nich #36 :
the same was said as East Timor struggled to break free.
Freedom takes a long time.
Malaysia Budget 2011 – Mahathirism back with a vengence!
This is not unexpected. The wheeling and dealings for the mega-projects had been on-going for a while now. If any interested readers want to listen to the UMNO wheeling and dealing rumour mill, just go to the Pan Pacific hotel coffee house – annex of Putra world trade centre.
Projects etc are discussed openly for all to hear. This place seems to be a where umnoputras show off their connections.
Burma in Limbo, Part 2
Ko Hla Oo,
Your mention of Thakhin Mya and General Aung San conspiring to kill Galon U Saw was outrageous and unproven. Yangon Ba Swe had admitted that he and U Mya Hlaing in the guise of Pyithu Yebaw uniforms attempted the murder on U Saw under the order of Bo Ne Win and Bo Aung Gyi. It was told to Dr Kyin Hoe or Dr Win Naing of Florida, USA by none other than one of the culprits U Mya Hlaing and it’s available on the Internet. Why would a true assassin reveal his identity if he were really attempting a real murder? U Mya Hlaing told Dr Kyin Hoe that they were instructed to just injure U Saw and not to kill him so as to let him suspect Bogyoke Aung San as the culprits were in the PVO uniforms! Please check your statements for facts before being printed.
Burma in Limbo, part 4
Ko Maung Maung,
I hope your are not calling me a liar about the story of my own bloody father.
You definitely read a lot, but not carefully I have to say.
Understandably the CPB cadres have a deliberate policy of not writing down favorable things about their former comrades who surrendered. But sometimes they slipped or deliberately mentioned their former comrades in nostalgia.
Bo Myo Myint (Ah-thar-mae) didn’t mention my father, his close friend and brother-in-arm for almost 20 years, deliberately in his autobiography. But he slipped twice and mentioned my father in his article about Japanese Revolution on the CPB website.
Please go read it quick before they remove or delete my father’s name. Link is down here and the pages are 13 and 20.
http://cpburma.org/60thJapRevolution/60afmag2.pdf
Burma in Limbo, part 4
Ko Hla Oo,
Thank you for your reply. I’m not a Communist and I do not belong to any political party. It’s just that I have read a lot of literature on Burmese politics. I don’t think your father was a racist if he were a communist. I have read CPB Myo Myint’s autobiography and he did not mention your father’s name. Bo Kyaw Zaw did not either in his autobiography.Your description of your father personally killing the Japanese instructor during anti-Japanese Resistance is therefore hearsay and not a first hand account. However, what you write is interesting and please continue writing. Thank you.
Red art: Democracy Monument April 12 2010
VichiN – 48
I never say or even remotely inferred that Samai is a hero, I said how would you feel if you are shot in the cheek and your friend die beside you on the same night? Samai is more of a victim who want some sort of justice to me and unfortunately for him he didn’t get that from the Thai court so he had to resort to this. After the May crackdown we found death bodies of other red shirt everywhere, did you remember the 21 years old red shirt from Chieng Mai who was shot while walking home with his girl friend? Who do you think is responsible of his death?
I said that the government shouldn’t think they can monopolized on violence because people can turn violence if they got push too far, that is not a statement to glorify Samai, but a simple warning to the government. Matter of fact that word is not even mine but it has been used by many academics throughout history. I never claimed that the bombing is just and call for, you put that word in my mouth which is grossly inappropriate. I suggest you to study more about the bloody crackdown of 6 October 1976 what follow afterward, you will understand what I was trying to say.
I don’t have to be in the Red shirt rally to get all the info, like I told you again, I got most of the info from the mainstream media.
Topics for future discussion on New Mandala
Thanks Chris,
You’ve had a very good run with this line of argument. We now look forward to your comprehensive account of the Isan “uprising” scenario. The long delays in presenting your case are, I’m sure, wearing the patience of many NM readers.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Topics for future discussion on New Mandala
Further to Andrew’s point # 33 ”
YOUR economic flow would be largely – though perhaps not wholly – irrelevant in the event of an uprising in Isaarn – and Lao PDR troops crossing the border in support.
They would, at least temporarily, seize all Thai assets.
That would n’t necessarily change the economic equation so much – but it would definitely change the political one.