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Yawdserk warns Shans against meddling in Thai politics
Shans show their true colors
Chula to hold Shan conference
No Shans among freed prisoners
Southern Wa singled out for surrender
Shan groups in exile condemn regimes’ mass prisoner release
Hamburger and 'New Politics': the end of liberal democracy & SDU response
Ceasefire leader’s kin murdered

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Yawdserk warns Shans against meddling in Thai politics
Thai-Burma Relations
www.ShanLand.org - No.17-9/2008
27 September 2008

Shan State Army (SSA) South leader Col Yawdserk has issued a statement urging Shans living in Thailand to stay away from ongoing troubled Thai politics.

The statement in Shan dated 24 September 2008 was in response to accusation by a Chiangmai-based FW broadcasting station on 20 September that a Shan group backed by the SSA South had been joining hands with a Thai group against the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) led by anti-Thaksin civic leaders.

“We earnestly pray for a speedy reconciliation (in Thailand),” said the announcement.
 
Col Yawdserk

An officer close to Col Yawdserk remarked that it was strange the station had chosen to accuse him of taking sides with the anti-PAD forces. “My boss is a personal friend of Sondhi Limthongkul (one of the PAD leaders),” he said. “It is therefore hard to believe he would go against Sondhi, even if he were asked to take sides.”

Most Shans interviewed by S.H.A.N. expressed only concern about their future. “We came to Thailand, because of war and strife in our country, while there was peace in Thailand,” said a construction worker. “Where else can we go if Thailand becomes a battlefield?”

The majority of Shans, uneducated, are able to live and work in Thailand as their languages are akin to each other. The only other country that speaks the same tongue is Laos.

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Shans show their true colors
www.ShanLand.org - No.15-9/2008 - General
25 September 2008

To the surprise of no one at the Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.), the majority (60.5%) of the respondents to its readership poll conducted in July and August had chosen yellow, green and red, the colors of their state flag to be used for the cover of its monthly publication, according to the results.

9.25% of the 162 respondents had also wanted blue and white for the cover of SHAN’s bilingual (Shan and Burmese) Independence and 1.85% black. The rest of them (39.5%) said they could not care less about the cover as long as the contents were okay.

The tri-colored flag with a white circle in the middle was officially approved and declared as the state flag by the Palaung prince of Tawngpeng Hkun Pan Sing, then the President of the Shan States Council, on 11 February 1947, one day before the signing of the historic Panglong Agreement which banded the British Frontier Areas with Burma.

Shan States flag

National flag as chosen by the military

“I think the Shans are totally hooked to yellow, green and red now,” says Pawnli, who reports in Shan.

SHAN had included the question on the colors of Independence’s cover, after observations by its distributors that issues with somber covers did not sell too well, even though it was almost always the only Shan language publication with the most information on current Shan and other ethnic affairs on hand.

“There’ll be only one problem to deal with though,” comments SHAN’s deputy editor in chief Hsengzuen, also known as U Sein Kyi to his Burmese friends, who edits the paper. “The SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) has adopted the same colors for the national flag.”

The draft charter ratified by the ruling military junta in May following a nationwide referendum, condemned by observers as a pointless exercise, had also settled upon yellow, green and white as the colors of the country’s future flag. The only difference is whereas the Shan State flag has a white circle, representing the moon in the middle, the military’s has a white star.

Scientific study shows that colour psychology is a simple and effective clue of who you really are, wrote Dr Alfred W. Munzert in 1980. “Colour can actually be a key to unlocking the secrets of your personality,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have anybody qualified to do that here,” apologizes SHAN’s editor in chief Khuensai Jaiyen.

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Chula to hold Shan conference
www.ShanLand.org - No.14-9/2008 - Culture/ General
25 September 2008

Thailand’s prestigious Chulalongkorn University is organizing the First International Conference on Shan Studies (ICSS) in the upcoming year, according to Chiangmai-based Shan Literature and Culture Society.

Muantip Khongchuen who had attended a meeting with Dr Sunait Chutintaranond, Director of the Institute of Asian Studies (IAS) who had worked with MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, director of the blockbuster movie “Legend of King Naresuan,” reported to the meeting of the Society last Saturday that the organizers would expect the involvement of the Shan community. “We would need to form a work team to work with Chula,” he said.

The conference seeks to bring together scholars of Shan studies from all over the world to share their knowledge and discoveries as well as to meet and promote their cooperation, according to a handout he had brought.

Dr Sunait Chutintaranond (third from left) with MC Chatrichalerm Yukol (second from left)
Photo: www.kingnaresuanmovie.com

The main activities of the conference being planned are academic panels, performing arts and exhibitions. A DVD on the Mon History Conference “Rediscovery of Rama desa,” which was hosted by the IAS in October 2007 was shown to give the Shans an idea of what was expected. “They (the Thai scholars) were very happy with the Mon conference,” said Muantip. “We certainly cannot afford to do less than the Mons.”

Apart from classical dances and Shan orchestra to be performed by Shans, the Faculty of Fine Arts is planning to do a well-known historical short play Chao Ying Saenwi (Princess of Hsenwi) at the Chulalongkorn Auditorium.

“Rajadiraj, the play performed last year by the Faculty about a famous Mon king, was reported to be a great success with the audience,” he said.

The Shan community had suggested to the organizing team that it would be ideal to hold the Shan conference around the Shan New Year’s Day, which falls on Tuesday, 18 November this year, as most Shans in Bangkok would be free to participate in the event. The IAS has initially planned to hold the conference in October, when most classes are off. “We have to find a way to deal with the congestion inside the campus first before we can come out with a definite date,” Dr Sunait was quoted as saying.

The Institute of Asian Studies has already hosted 3 events with regards to Burma: Arakan History Workshop in 2005, Rohingya Consultation in 2006 and Mon History Conference in 2007.

Chiangmai’s Shan Literature and Culture Society is headed by Saengmuang Mangkorn, youngest son of the late Shan resistance leader Sao Noi (1927-96) who is working with Migrant Assistance Programme (MAP) Foundation, whereas Bangkok’s Shan community is headed by General Phon Wanakamon, a retired Thai general of Shan origin.

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No Shans among freed prisoners
www.ShanLand.org - No.11-9/2008 - Politics
24 September 2008

Finding none of their leaders among the 9,002 prisoners released by junta authorities on Tuesday, Shans both inside and outside Burma have settled down to a period of depression.

“We are delighted U Win Tin (one of the co-founders of the National League for Democracy leader who had been imprisoned since 1989) and others are finally out,” said Sai Lake, spokesperson for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD). “But we also find it extremely disappointing that none of our leaders are among them.”

He was referring to the surviving 8 Shan activists who were arrested and sentenced to long-term jail sentences in 2005, from 13-106 years.

Shans in exile also issued a statement denouncing the regime’s mass prisoner release as “a publicity stunt.” Amnesty International meanwhile argues that 2,100 political prisoners still remain behind bars.

“The junta has missed another opportunity to bring about national reconciliation,” remarked a former SNLD member who has been making a living in Thailand for a number of years.
 
The Special Bureau officials had during the past few months visited at least Khun Tun Oo, leader of the SNLD and elected Member of Parliament in 1990, and Sai Nyunt Lwin, the party’s general secretary 4 times, according to a senior SNLD member. “Both were asked whether they were ready to quit politics,” he said. “But both had declined to take up the offer.”

Khun Tun Oo aka Hkun Htoon Oo, who is serving 93 years in Putao, Burma’s northernmost town, is said to be highly respected by the inmates, among whom are former followers of the deposed prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt. Sai Nood aka Sai Nyunt Lwin, sentenced to 85 years, in the meanwhile, is said to be sharing a prison cell in Kalemyo with two former brigadier generals: Than Tun and Tin Hla.

Others are:

Maj-Gen Hso Ten, 106 years, in Khamti
Sai Hla Aung, 79 years, in Kyaukphyu
Tun Nyo, 79 years, in Buthidaung
Nyi Nyi Moe, 79 years, in Pakokku
Myo Win Tun, 79 years, in Myingyan
and Sao Oo Kya, 13 years, in Mandalay.

One of their colleagues “Math” Myint Than died on 2 May 2006 in Sandoway while serving 79 years.

“The only one who got off scot-free was Sao Tha Oo,” according to a senior SNLD member. “He agreed to become a witness for the prosecution and gave false statements as dictated by the junta authorities. Being Judas, he’s no more seen around Shan circles nowadays.”

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Southern Wa singled out for surrender
www.ShanLand.org - No.12-9/2008 - Politics
24 September 2008

The United Wa State Army (UWSA)’s southern command that operates along the Thai-Burma border has recently been urged again by the Burmese military authorities to “exchange arms for peace,” a euphemism for surrender, according to Thai and Shan sources.

Commanders of the UWSA’s 6 brigades, led by Wei Xueying, younger brother of Wei Xuegang, wanted in both US and Thailand on drug charges, met junta commanders led by Brig-Gen Way Lin, Deputy Commander of the Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command, at Wanhong, Monghsat township, opposite Chiangmai province on 18 September.

He was reportedly accompanied by commanders of Monghsat-based Military Operations Command (MOC) 14, Mongton and Loilang area commands and Infantry Battalion 133.

Paw Htao Hsarm, as Wei Xueying is locally known, had responded by saying that the decision whether or not to surrender lay not with the Wa southern command but with Panghsang, the Wa capital on the Sino-Burma border.

The Wa also told Way Lin it would be extremely ill-advised to move back to the north almost 20 years after they were encouraged to move down to the south to fight against the Burma Army’s main enemies, the defunct Mong Tai Army (MTA) led by the late Khun Sa and now the Shan State Army (SSA) South led by Yawd Serk. “We have invested billions (of kyat) in several livestock and agricultural projects since,” one commander was quoted as saying. “We won’t move an inch unless and until there is adequate compensation for our sweat and tears.”

The Wa have certainly sunk hundreds of millions of baht in reforestation as well as plantations of longan, orange, coffee, tea, grape and especially rubber, according to Thai sources.

Some veteran Thai security officials are of the opinion that the Burma Army is not ready to fight two fronts at the same time: one against its urban opposition and the other against armed ceasefire armies. “For one thing, we have yet to see any indicators that it is mounting an offensive,” said one this morning. “And the other is that the Army has issued orders that all regional commands try their best to maintain good relations with the ceasefire groups.”

A Shan ceasefire officer conceded that he had also received the same information. “However, the news have rather kept us on the lookout,” he said, “as it could be a ploy designed to catch us off guard.”

Burma’s ruling junta announced on 9 February that the new general elections would be held in 2010 following the approval of its draft constitution by a national referendum in May. Since then all ceasefire groups have been under pressure to give up their arms and form political parties to stand for elections. The groups have so far resisted opting to deal with the next government of Burma on the issue.

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Shan groups in exile condemn regimes’ mass prisoner release
By Hseng Khio Fah
www.ShanLand.org - No.13-9/2008 - Politics
24 September 2008

Shan groups in exile say the regimes’ mass prisoner release is a publicity stunt and demand immediate, unconditional release of all political prisoners in Burma, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the Shan State leaders imprisoned since 2005, according to the press statement released by Shan groups yesterday.

Although a handful of political prisoners, including U Win Tin, a founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD), have been released, there still remain 2,100 prisoners in Burma, said the statement.

The statement also questioned why the ailing 73-year-old Shan leader Sao Hso Ten, sentenced to 106 years in Hkamti Prison, has not also been released, while 79-year-old U Win Tin appeared to have been released because of his age.

The statement said the regime was claiming that the prisoners were released so that they could “contribute to the building of a new nation” and “participate in the 2010 election,” when elected Members of Parliament from the last 1990 elections continue to languish in prison on trumped-up charges. For example, 65-year-old Hkun Htun Oo, leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, the party which won the second highest number of seats in 1990, is serving a 93-year prison sentence in Putao, northernmost Kachin State. He is suffering from prostate problems, diabetes and high blood pressure, but has been denied proper medical treatment.

“His left ear is also having trouble hearing,” said a source close to the family.

The statement also mentioned about activists who took part in the Saffron Revolution and in Nargis relief efforts have continued to be unjustly arrested and sentenced to long imprisonment.

“It is thus very clear that this recent mass prisoner release is a mere sham, aimed to present a benevolent face to the international community and gain support for their roadmap to ‘disciplined’ democracy in Burma.”

The statement urges the international community to maintain pressure on the regime, and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Burma.

The exiled Shan groups that jointly released the press statement are Shan Health Committee, Shan Human Rights Foundation, Shan Overseas Community, Australia, Shan Refugees Organzation, Malaysia, Shan Relief and Development Committee, Shan Sapawa Environment Organization, Shan State Nationality for Democracy, Japan, Shan State Organization, Shan Women’s Action, Network, Shan Youth Network Group and Shan Youth Power.

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Hamburger and 'New Politics': the end of liberal democracy & SDU response
www.ShanLand.org - No.05-9/2008
23 September 2008

Mailbox:
This is the opinion and analysis forum for our readers. Opinions expressed here are those of the authors. To contributors, please attach a short account of yourselves at the end of your articles. SHAN will respect the authors right to use pseudonyms.

Dear Mr.Korn Chatikavanij:

Congratulation for your insightful piece in Bangkok Post.

I agree with you that the democratisation process in Thailand needs fine tuning, or should we say adjustment.

While the wish of the majority is paramount in a democratic society, it is also not the sole criterion that matters in realpolitik point of view. Especially, in case like what is happening in Thailand, a new approach or digesting the Thailand's recent democratic process, of say the past one or two decades, is needed. In other words, we should confront the uneasy question of "What went wrong with the rule of majority?".

The simple answer would be that more awareness-building of democratic principle within the public is needed, or else we would continue to face the upsurge of populist politicians taking the lead.

That exactly is the point, which lead us to toy with the idea of "New Politics", or should we say rearranging the priorities. To put it another way, the transition period to full blown democracy would need partly elected and partly appointed body to govern, while the awareness-building of democratisation process should go parallel for a couple of legislative period.

Besides, Thailand has a vast pool of educated and able individual, who are in tune with altruism and shouldn't be a problem of filling up the appointed body to help in governing and democratisation.

In short, I believe the "New Politics", or rearranging the priorities should be the way to go.

Sai Wansai

(Sai Wansai is the General Secretary of the exiled Shan Democratic Union - Editor)

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SHADOW BOXING
Hamburger and 'New Politics': the end of liberal democracy
Korn Chatikavanij
Bangkok Post - Tuesday. 23 September 2008

Talk of the reformation of our political system is all the rage at the moment. After all, can any of us seriously, hand on heart, say that we are happy with the result of democracy and what it has achieved for Thailand?

It is easy to conclude that a system that gave us Samak as Prime Minister, Chalerm as Interior Minister and Chai Chidchob as House Speaker must be fatally flawed. The democratic system is meant to provide us with, at worst, political leaders of average competence. What we got, however, was the most toxic combination of leaders that we could possibly imagine. Is the logical conclusion, therefore, that the system itself is flawed?

One argument I could immediately make to refute this line of thought is that at least the system was good enough to allow them a very limited term of only seven months. In other, non-democratic systems, populations are forced to live with toxic leaders for years, if not for a whole generation; think Stalin and think of Kim Jong-Il. In the end, recent change for us came through a combination of the rule of law, exercised through an independent judicial process, combined with the need to acknowledge public opinion. Perhaps thus we can conclude that even if our flawed democracy means we can get the worst possible leaders, it also at least allows for their prompt removal.

Arguably, though, no change would have occurred had politicians not been scared of the potential reaction of the military to the re-selection of Samak as prime minister. Fear of a coup remained in the air and this has forced the politicians to behave in a way that is more sensitive to public opinion. The talk among politicians last week was very much "unless we get our own house in order someone might come and take it away from us".

So much for democracy providing a safety valve. So, while a full-blown coup is something everyone wants to avoid, it would appear that an unspoken threat of a coup was necessary for the right decision to have been made by politicians. Thus what we are left with is a flawed selection system and a far from ideal check and balance system. No wonder there is talk of the need for reform.

During the past two weeks, our political crisis competed for attention with the crisis unfolding in the US financial markets - an event Thais have come to call the "Hamburger Crisis", as payback for having the Asian crisis of 1997 labelled "Tom Yum Goong" by the West. Indeed, the irony of the demise of Lehman Brothers is not lost on Thais who remember Lehman's role as a beneficiary of our crisis a decade ago. Once the dust settles though, the disappearance of the likes of Lehman, Bear Stern, AIG and even Freddie and Fannie will be less of an issue, than the questioning of the cult of the free-marketeer. The contention that governments should not meddle with free markets will not again be taken seriously for at least a generation. The reality is that market players are motivated by both greed and fear and will do everything to promote their interests within the frame of what they think they can get away with. The debt bubble that has led to the financial crisis is the latest example that without strict laws and regulations market players cannot be trusted to behave. Worse - governments cannot even allow them to pay the full consequences without needing to be involved.

The same is true for politicians - left to rules and regulations that cannot be enforced, politicians will do anything and everything to promote their interests. The more we rely on the free market (liberal democracy) the more we can bet that the system will be abused.

Intervention is required, just as it is required in financial markets, and that is why there is so much talk of the need for political reform. The reality is that the damage caused by "free market", whether in financial markets or the market for votes, is too great on society as a whole to be ignored.

That is not to say that we should restrict political free markets altogether, and this is why trying to find the right balance is so hard.

Abhisit Vejjajiva led a team of Democrat MPs to visit and attempt to bring some relief to the flood-stricken population of Lop Buri and Saraburi on Saturday. We were guided by our local representatives, both coincidentally female and both who had won their seats the hard way. In politics the hard way means having no money to use, and therefore receiving little help from local leaders. They both had to endure more than one electoral loss before finally prevailing, and both are now clearly adored by their electorates.

I mention this because seeing them at work reminds me of electoral politics - the political free market - at its best. They are ever sensitive to the needs of their constituencies, and their public responds to them with votes without the need for financial compensation. I couldn't help but think that at least a part of the problem, if not the main one, was that there were just not enough politicians of this kind for the electorate to choose from. Similarly, there are not enough responsible financial institutions that can be trusted not to abuse the freedom given them. The question is, why are such good politicians so hard to come by?

While we ponder this question, we are left with the reality of an imperfect system, and frankly, one that has clearly been a hindrance to the development of our society and the economic welfare of our people. I am not one to believe that fairness always means the view of the majority - I have seen the majority at work in Parliament over the past four years to know how flawed they can be. I am thus apt to believe that while the majority view should be given first priority, a good system requires other mechanisms to provide the check and balance necessary. This is why I was always a supporter of the part-elected, part-selected Upper House - there is no reason why we should have the Upper and Lower Houses filled with people of the same DNA. The question today, however, is whether we should go further - should the Lower House also be partly selected and, if not, should its powers be curbed?

I can tell you as an elected MP that it is humbling to have to acknowledge that the questions have validity. In my opinion, if we are to seek to amend the Constitution, these are the issues we should be focusing on, not ones related to questions relevant to the survival of existing political parties or politicians.

Similarly, amendments to financial regulations should concentrate on the avoidance of future calamity, not the bailing out of those that committed past sins. In both the political and financial arenas, it is important not to take short-cuts to problems by being too heavy-handed in the restriction of the freedom of individuals to make decisions on what they think is best.

In politics, we also need to learn the lesson of the value of a politically active population. We cannot leave politics simply to politicians and the activism of the people deserves a leadership that is not only true to their cause but is also seen to be true. This is why nobody should be above the law - and why the law itself needs to be sensitive to local needs and culture.

If we can build from this a genuinely committed and active general public, supported by an active and unbiased media, then I do believe we can withstand much of the shortcomings of our flawed political system.

Be in no doubt, an apathetic population suits the needs of the worst kind of politicians. The question we need to answer is: what else do we need to do to curb the politicians' instinct to abuse a liberal system? Opinions are welcome; this is, after all, a democracy!

-----
Korn Chatikavanij is Shadow Finance Minister.

Email: korn.chatikavanij@ gmail.com

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Ceasefire leader’s kin murdered
www.ShanLand.org
23 September 2008
By Hseng Khio Fah

A nephew of a Shan ceasefire leader in northern Shan State was killed by unknown perpetrator after returning from hanging out with a group of friends, but local authorities failed to find out the culprit, according to sources from northern Shan State.

On 15 September, a Shan State Army-North leader Col Gaifah’s nephew, Sai Aung Si, 28, was stabbed to death in the evening after returning from drinking with a group of his friends and watching football matches in Muse, said one of his relatives.

“Some people came along with a jeep to pick him while he was drinking,” said a resident who wishes to remain anonymous.

On the following day, the dead body of Sai Aung Si was found near Ho Nawng village on the way to Lawn In village and later his body was taken by the local police to the temple of Pawkkart, Muse.

“If the authorities were really serious about the case, the perpetrator would have been found by now,” commented a resident in Lashio. “There has been no response from both the local authorities and the SSA side.”

His funeral was held on 17 September.

A group of his friends who were drinking with him, Sai Yee Kawn from Kawng Nawng village, Sai Kyaw Aye from Pawkkart and Sai Pan Phwe Hoong were detained until now, said a shopkeeper in Muse. A footballer, Sai Hsarm Ann whose namecard was found on the dead body was also arrested.

Sai Aung Si was reportedly visiting Muse to ask for the debts about Kyat 5,000,000 (US$ 4,167) owed to him over a shipment of silver ore, said a driver whose car runs between Lashio and Muse.

Col Gaifah is Deputy Commander in Chief of the Shan State Army-North known as an able field commander before the ceasefire in 1989. The SSA- North is one of the major anti-junta armed groups that concluded ceasefire agreement with Rangoon in 1989. It was one of 13 ceasefire groups that had jointly presented a demand for greater say in the state affairs in 2004 at the National Convention. Their demand was dismissed by the Convention's organizers.

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