The KIA didn’t want to become a BGF “Border Guard Force”. Parts of the DBKA became BGF’s. Just imagine the 30,000 strong UWSA becoming a BGF (for Burma or for China? lol)
The long Burmese border is a Pandora Box. No one wants to have a clear transparent situation. Too many illegal activities at stake. It’s not simply a matter of ethnic “sauvage noble” against the brutal ethnic-cleansing “Tatmataw”, but Burmese are good at sweeping things under the carpet (at least for a while!)
“North Korean escapees forced to return home, to rights groups’ concern: Nine young North Korean refugees were forcibly returned to Pyongyang after escaping to Laos.”
‘Some observers see Beijing’s influence in the Lao government’s decision to return the group.
Experts say that Laos has, over the past ten years, been transformed into a de facto satellite state of China. Beijing holds sway over the tiny, agrarian Southeast Asian state of 6 million people with its countless hydropower and natural resource investments…
Laos, in exchange, tends to follow China’s foreign policy line, which this episode has shown can include Beijing’s approach to North Korean refugees.’
I very much appreciate the optimism in your comments Nich – the people of the north-east utterly deserve peace and progress. And I am very open to the idea that “talking up the peace” can genuinely push the agenda forward.
Possibly a failure of my own imagination, but in the current circs I struggle to envision:
– the KIA as a part of the Tatmadaw
– the KIO as a government economic partner, while retaining its (new-found) popular support
– any Kachin agreement somehow signalling a “nationwide peace”.
What the people need right now from informed people like yourself is more politics and less religion.
Nationwide peace isn’t worthy of high praise; that should be the norm. As betelspitter has pointed out the people getting the kudos for peace are the people who have perpetuated the fighting.
Still, any time people aren’t being killed or having their villages destroyed, it’s a good thing.
Laos is an abominable tyrannical state, not much better than North Korea. Under a tyranny, the citizens of Laos are powerless and at the mercy of ‘invisible’ thugs who run its government.
Dissent in Laos is not allowed and dissenters are harrassed and intimidated and maybe worse .. with many ‘disappeareds’ including Sombath Somphone.
And now this: 9 young North Korean refugees who were trying to cross to freedom (to Thailand) were returned by the Laos regime to the North Korean regime.
There may be a ceasefire, but combat on squad and platoon levels is still ongoing. The SPDC has been, and will continue to, probe the Kachin defensive lines, looking for areas that they can exploit.
The Karenni Army is also having the same problem, as is the KNLA.
Ceasefire proclamations by the SPDC are just words on paper, kept when it’s convenient, broken when it’s convenient.
Some ‘forces’ can (should) never be trusted. (sofar) Myanmar’s facelift is merely aesthetic. I base myself on what I see/hear everyday, very close to the subject.
Of course we don’t forget that. But I’m afraid you must live in a funny world if generating the prospect of nationwide peace in Myanmar isn’t deserving of high praise. If they pull it off I see no reason key government, ethnic and other leaders won’t deserve all the kudos the international community can offer. Myanmar’s history shows that peace is much harder than war.
let’s not forget that previous long-standing ceasefire was breached by the very same people who according to you deserve nobel peace prize. you seem to be a believer, i’m not.
Two op-ed pieces from the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University on corruption in Malaysia and the recent general elections, and some solutions to go forward.
I love this article and the discussions that it produce. Does anyone know if Thailand’s progress is the result of foreign governments and NGO’s needing to modernize Thailand and the rest of the mainland SE Asia?
It may be the case that more grass-roots work needs to be done to reach out to the people of Sabah and Sarawak (and also in the Peninsular). PR is mainly an urban coalition in these two states, and possibly throughout Malaysia. Only PAS really has a rural base.
If the US Govt fear that, I wonder what they think of the current on-going persecution of opposition leaders and any other dissenting voices by the BN Govt.
Continuous arrest of individuals based on a 1942 law!
Of course, the authors cannot put these articles on academia.edu, right? One more set of articles for academics at rich universities. So, just ignore them…
The caption of the image accompanying the article you supplied here – “Thailand has achieved many of its millennium development goal targets, but pockets of poverty still exist.” – is quite true, and does not contradict to what i have been saying all along.
*Pockets of poverty*.
Not *wide spread poverty*.
Many western European countries have nowadays increasing pockets of poverty as well, increasing amounts of people that fall through the gaps of the once exemplary social systems there. It’s not anymore just the alcoholic that becomes homeless. It’s nowadays entire families who end up in emergency shelters, and/or who have to feed themselves in soup kitchens. Even in rich Germany.
My point still stands – Thailand does not do bad in the regional and even global comparison.
As to your intrusive assumptions on my personal life – i would suggest not to inform yourself from rags such as the sun about the life of European aristocrats in the 21st century. Most of us have nothing but the name left. This may still have some advantages in certain very conservative professions, such as in law, banking, business, or in the military. If i would have chosen either, i would hardly have the problems i have now – title or not.
But i take photos and write, where a title is of no use whatsoever. Nobody cares, apart from some uninformed gits, apparently.
I don’t know how you can so blithely dismiss the observation that corruption is epidemic in Laos. Indeed, all the evidence points to the opposite of your claim that Laos is “significantly less corrupt than ANY [sic] of its neighbors”.
According to Transparency International, as of 2012, Laos ranks 160th out of 174 in perception of corruption. Laos shares the same level of corruption as the war-torn countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya. The only country in SEA that ranks lower that Laos is Myanmar (172); Cambodia ranks 157th, Vietnam is 123rd, Indonesia is 118th, Thailand is 88th, Malaysia is 54th, and Brunei is 46th (a ranking it shares with Hungary).
I can only speculate as to your motivation to act as a cheerleader on this forum for the Laotian government; however, I find your cavalier dismissal of Soulivong’s comment concerning the realities of graft to be distasteful. Indeed, considering how divorced from reality your Laotian Politburo apologia is, I don’t see any reason to take anything you write seriously.
I find the take of a German aristocrat slumming it in Bangkok a bit hard to take sometimes. Forgive me. 😉
What I would say is the poor I’ve spoken to and met in Thailand, the slums, leper colonies, refugee camps, stateless persons’ villages I’ve visited, all tell a different story to the one you’re telling. I’ll go with them rather than a privileged Westerner telling me it ain’t so. I guess that will likely incense you further.
As for a more balanced article on how Thai poverty is measured take a look at this piece in the Guardian… it’s quite interesting.
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The Myanmar-Kachin truce
The KIA didn’t want to become a BGF “Border Guard Force”. Parts of the DBKA became BGF’s. Just imagine the 30,000 strong UWSA becoming a BGF (for Burma or for China? lol)
The long Burmese border is a Pandora Box. No one wants to have a clear transparent situation. Too many illegal activities at stake. It’s not simply a matter of ethnic “sauvage noble” against the brutal ethnic-cleansing “Tatmataw”, but Burmese are good at sweeping things under the carpet (at least for a while!)
Sombath Somphone’s disappearance
“North Korean escapees forced to return home, to rights groups’ concern: Nine young North Korean refugees were forcibly returned to Pyongyang after escaping to Laos.”
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/north-korea/130530/north-korea-defectors-laos-china
‘Some observers see Beijing’s influence in the Lao government’s decision to return the group.
Experts say that Laos has, over the past ten years, been transformed into a de facto satellite state of China. Beijing holds sway over the tiny, agrarian Southeast Asian state of 6 million people with its countless hydropower and natural resource investments…
Laos, in exchange, tends to follow China’s foreign policy line, which this episode has shown can include Beijing’s approach to North Korean refugees.’
The Myanmar-Kachin truce
I very much appreciate the optimism in your comments Nich – the people of the north-east utterly deserve peace and progress. And I am very open to the idea that “talking up the peace” can genuinely push the agenda forward.
Possibly a failure of my own imagination, but in the current circs I struggle to envision:
– the KIA as a part of the Tatmadaw
– the KIO as a government economic partner, while retaining its (new-found) popular support
– any Kachin agreement somehow signalling a “nationwide peace”.
What the people need right now from informed people like yourself is more politics and less religion.
The Myanmar-Kachin truce
Nationwide peace isn’t worthy of high praise; that should be the norm. As betelspitter has pointed out the people getting the kudos for peace are the people who have perpetuated the fighting.
Still, any time people aren’t being killed or having their villages destroyed, it’s a good thing.
Sombath Somphone’s disappearance
Laos is an abominable tyrannical state, not much better than North Korea. Under a tyranny, the citizens of Laos are powerless and at the mercy of ‘invisible’ thugs who run its government.
Dissent in Laos is not allowed and dissenters are harrassed and intimidated and maybe worse .. with many ‘disappeareds’ including Sombath Somphone.
And now this: 9 young North Korean refugees who were trying to cross to freedom (to Thailand) were returned by the Laos regime to the North Korean regime.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/31/world/asia/laos-north-korea-refugees/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
UMNO’s “great” moderation
Well UMNO is being sold as moderate by Najib mainly to the West. In Malaysia UMNO has out sourced it thuggery and racialism.
The Myanmar-Kachin truce
There may be a ceasefire, but combat on squad and platoon levels is still ongoing. The SPDC has been, and will continue to, probe the Kachin defensive lines, looking for areas that they can exploit.
The Karenni Army is also having the same problem, as is the KNLA.
Ceasefire proclamations by the SPDC are just words on paper, kept when it’s convenient, broken when it’s convenient.
Study of Burmese migrant experiences in Australia
i need a reason for burmese immigrants coming to australia please
The Myanmar-Kachin truce
Some ‘forces’ can (should) never be trusted. (sofar) Myanmar’s facelift is merely aesthetic. I base myself on what I see/hear everyday, very close to the subject.
The Myanmar-Kachin truce
Thanks “betelspitter”,
Of course we don’t forget that. But I’m afraid you must live in a funny world if generating the prospect of nationwide peace in Myanmar isn’t deserving of high praise. If they pull it off I see no reason key government, ethnic and other leaders won’t deserve all the kudos the international community can offer. Myanmar’s history shows that peace is much harder than war.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
The Myanmar-Kachin truce
let’s not forget that previous long-standing ceasefire was breached by the very same people who according to you deserve nobel peace prize. you seem to be a believer, i’m not.
UMNO’s “great” moderation
Two op-ed pieces from the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University on corruption in Malaysia and the recent general elections, and some solutions to go forward.
http://blog.chron.com/bakerblog/2013/05/malaysia-looking-forward/
and
http://blog.chron.com/bakerblog/2013/05/malaysia-at-election-time-corruption-remains-a-central-issue/
Middle Malaysia has arrived?
To some (perhaps a large) extent, these ‘divisions’ and ‘tensions’ have been manufactured to serve certain political purposes. (See my article below.) Malaysians ‘naturally’ are pretty cool and tolerant people. http://www.newmandala.org/2013/05/17/ways-of-seeing-malaysia-deconstructing-demographic-violence/
On the so-called ‘racial riots’ of 1969, see:
http://gbgerakbudaya.com/2012/02/may-13-declassified-documents/ and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uI7xB3d2rNA
The latter is in Malay, but enough is said in English for you to get an idea of the message, I think.
Desiring a pure people’s politics
I love this article and the discussions that it produce. Does anyone know if Thailand’s progress is the result of foreign governments and NGO’s needing to modernize Thailand and the rest of the mainland SE Asia?
Middle Malaysia has arrived?
It may be the case that more grass-roots work needs to be done to reach out to the people of Sabah and Sarawak (and also in the Peninsular). PR is mainly an urban coalition in these two states, and possibly throughout Malaysia. Only PAS really has a rural base.
Middle Malaysia has arrived?
If the US Govt fear that, I wonder what they think of the current on-going persecution of opposition leaders and any other dissenting voices by the BN Govt.
Continuous arrest of individuals based on a 1942 law!
Coups in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Of course, the authors cannot put these articles on academia.edu, right? One more set of articles for academics at rich universities. So, just ignore them…
Desiring a pure people’s politics
The caption of the image accompanying the article you supplied here – “Thailand has achieved many of its millennium development goal targets, but pockets of poverty still exist.” – is quite true, and does not contradict to what i have been saying all along.
*Pockets of poverty*.
Not *wide spread poverty*.
Many western European countries have nowadays increasing pockets of poverty as well, increasing amounts of people that fall through the gaps of the once exemplary social systems there. It’s not anymore just the alcoholic that becomes homeless. It’s nowadays entire families who end up in emergency shelters, and/or who have to feed themselves in soup kitchens. Even in rich Germany.
My point still stands – Thailand does not do bad in the regional and even global comparison.
As to your intrusive assumptions on my personal life – i would suggest not to inform yourself from rags such as the sun about the life of European aristocrats in the 21st century. Most of us have nothing but the name left. This may still have some advantages in certain very conservative professions, such as in law, banking, business, or in the military. If i would have chosen either, i would hardly have the problems i have now – title or not.
But i take photos and write, where a title is of no use whatsoever. Nobody cares, apart from some uninformed gits, apparently.
Fiscal folly or essential infrastructure
Mr. Newbrough
I don’t know how you can so blithely dismiss the observation that corruption is epidemic in Laos. Indeed, all the evidence points to the opposite of your claim that Laos is “significantly less corrupt than ANY [sic] of its neighbors”.
According to Transparency International, as of 2012, Laos ranks 160th out of 174 in perception of corruption. Laos shares the same level of corruption as the war-torn countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya. The only country in SEA that ranks lower that Laos is Myanmar (172); Cambodia ranks 157th, Vietnam is 123rd, Indonesia is 118th, Thailand is 88th, Malaysia is 54th, and Brunei is 46th (a ranking it shares with Hungary).
I can only speculate as to your motivation to act as a cheerleader on this forum for the Laotian government; however, I find your cavalier dismissal of Soulivong’s comment concerning the realities of graft to be distasteful. Indeed, considering how divorced from reality your Laotian Politburo apologia is, I don’t see any reason to take anything you write seriously.
Desiring a pure people’s politics
Sorry Nick
I find the take of a German aristocrat slumming it in Bangkok a bit hard to take sometimes. Forgive me. 😉
What I would say is the poor I’ve spoken to and met in Thailand, the slums, leper colonies, refugee camps, stateless persons’ villages I’ve visited, all tell a different story to the one you’re telling. I’ll go with them rather than a privileged Westerner telling me it ain’t so. I guess that will likely incense you further.
As for a more balanced article on how Thai poverty is measured take a look at this piece in the Guardian… it’s quite interesting.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/19/millennium-development-goals-poverty-definitions-thailand