The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Asean Disability Arts Festival to Begin This Week
- Army Chief Meets KNU, Says He Supports Stalled Ceasefire Process
- 6 Students to Face Charges For Education Protest
- Commuter Train Service to Begin on Strand Road
- Menace or Myth, Burma Frets Over Rohingya Militant Group
- ‘If They Can Do It, Why Can’t We?’
- China Activist Pleads Innocence in Chaotic Trial
- Hong Kong Protesters Clash With Police Near Heart of Financial District
- Thai Crown Prince Strips Wife’s Kin of Royal Name
| Asean Disability Arts Festival to Begin This Week Posted: 01 Dec 2014 04:30 AM PST  Artist Mg Shin Myat Soe shows his works at last year’s Myanmar Festival of Disabled Artists. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Artists and performers with disabilities from across all 10 Asean countries will showcase their talents at the Asean Disability Arts Festival in Burma this week. The opening ceremony of the festival will be held in Naypyidaw on Wednesday and the festival will continue at Rangoon's Myoma Parade Ground from Dec. 5-7, with 168 artists slated to entertain with dance performances, talent shows and music recitals. The festival will include stalls for artists to sell works and documentary screenings on the subject of disability rights in addition to nightly performance schedules. "It is the first arts festival for people with disabilities in the Asean region that will include people from all the Asean countries," said Nay Lin Soe, program director of the disability support group Myanmar Independent Living Initiative (MILI), which organized the festival alongside the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. Nay Lin Soe said that planning had been underway for the festival since Burma's Asean chairmanship was announced in 2012, and organizers hope to build upon the success of the first Burmese national arts festival for people with disabilities, held last year. "We would like to promote the fact that people with disabilities are as able as anyone else, and rally support for disability rights. We would also like to encourage people with disabilities through this festival," he said. Pyae Phyo Aung, a 26 year-old who relies on a wheelchair for mobility, said he would participate in a group wheelchair dance performance over the weekend. "I am very happy to participate in the festival," he said. "Although I wanted to participate in the arts, it was difficult to contribute to any events before now. The organizers didn't welcome us and the audiences joked and underestimated us." A musical performance by Pyae Phyo Aung during last year's Myanmar Festival of Disabled Artists was enthusiastically received by the audience, and one of his songs will be included in an upcoming album released by the Myanmar Independent Living Initiative. "The public saw our abilities and they started know to cheer for us at the festival. I hope that more talented disabled artists will now come out too," he said. The post Asean Disability Arts Festival to Begin This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Army Chief Meets KNU, Says He Supports Stalled Ceasefire Process Posted: 01 Dec 2014 02:40 AM PST  KNU chairman Mutu Say Poe (left) hugs Gen Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Nov. 29. (Photo: Senior General Min Aung Hlaing / Facebook) Burma Army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing met with leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) in Naypyidaw on Saturday and according to Karen representatives the commander reaffirmed his support for the stalled nationwide ceasefire process. It was the first meeting between the army chief and an ethnic armed group since a surprise army shelling of a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training school on Nov. 19 left 23 cadets from various rebel groups dead. Mahn Nyien Maung, a KNU executive committee who attended the meeting, said the commander briefly broached the issue of the attack. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing reportedly told the KNU: "We, the Tatmadaw, won’t publicly speak out about it because the problem will become bigger if we state our opinion." Mahn Nyein Maung added that Min Aung Hlaing maintained that if he publicly discussed the incident it could be viewed negatively by his troops based in Kachin State. KNU Chairman Mutu Say Poe and eight other KNU leaders, who met Min Aung Hlaing for the sixth time since the group signed a bilateral ceasefire with the government in February 2012, were told that the army chief is committed to achieving a nationwide ceasefire accord with an alliance of 16 ethnic groups. "He [Min Aung Hlaing] emphasized that he will work hard until he secures peace. He said it repeatedly. He said there will be no stability if there is no peace in the country. And if there is no stability in the country, we cannot practice a multi-party democracy," said Mahn Nyein Maung. "He also believes that the government and the NCCT [Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team] will overcome the difficulties that lay ahead," he said. The NCCT is a working group that represents the ethnic alliance, including the KNU and the KIA. Since mid-2013, the government, army and an alliance of ethnic groups have held several rounds of talks on a nationwide ceasefire, but in recent months talks have stalled after differences over fundamental issues, such as political autonomy and federalism, could not be bridged. Deadly fighting between the Burma Army and the KIA, Palaung rebels and other groups in Kachin and northern Shan states has flared up frequently in recent months. Last week, representatives of various groups said the deadly attack on the KIA camp had been a setback for the nationwide ceasefire process. Different ethnic groups voiced distrust over the army's intentions, but the KNU has been keen to maintain its relatively good relationship with Naypyidaw and the Burma Army. James Lum Dau, who is deputy chief of foreign affairs for the Kachin Independence Organization, the KIA's political wing, said Min Aung Hlaing's meeting with the KNU showed that the army was trying to create divisions among the ethnic groups, cultivating good relations with some while sidelining others. "It is obvious that they [the army] are not sincere. They are working on their own strategy. They try to convince the KNU first, so that other ethnic groups may follow later," said James Lum Dau. "If they [the army] are sincere in their desire to end nationwide conflict, why did they launch an attack [on the KIA base] while talking about peace with ethnic peace negotiators?" he added. "They have no honesty as they wage war in the frontline while talking about peace," said James Lum Dau, adding that Burma was unlikely to see an end to ethnic conflict unless the military-drafted Constitution is changed and minorities are granted more political autonomy and democracy. The post Army Chief Meets KNU, Says He Supports Stalled Ceasefire Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| 6 Students to Face Charges For Education Protest Posted: 01 Dec 2014 02:03 AM PST  Students protest against the National Education Law in Rangoon on Nov. 15, 2014. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY – Six students may face charges for leading a demonstration against a new education law in central Burma on Saturday, according to one protest leader. Min Thwe Thit, one of the six accused of organizing the rally in Taungoo, Pegu Division, told The Irrawaddy that police warned the students that they would be apprehended and charged with violating Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law. "The police came to the monastery where we stayed, and they said that six of us, who they believed were the protest leaders, will be arrested for unauthorized protests," Min Thwe Thit said. The students were told that they would only be jailed for one day during arraignment, and that they would then be eligible for release on bail, he added. He said that the group would not relinquish themselves to the court without arrest. "We told them that we would not accept bail, but they could arrest us. The police said that they needed to inform their superiors about the arrest, but then they never returned," he said. Min Thwe Thit said that the six students, who came to Taungoo for the protest, were from other parts of Burma and were soon to return home when police informed them of the pending charges. "We waited until 10pm at the Taungoo railway station, but they didn't show up and our train was leaving," he said. All six of the accused students, who are members of the All Burma Federation of Students' Unions (ABFSU), left Taungoo on Saturday night. None of the students have yet been arrested or charged, Min Thwe Thit said. The demonstration held in Taungoo on Saturday was the latest in a series of protests in denouncing the National Education Law, which critics have called undemocratic for its lack of consultation and apparent centralization of control over educational institutions. The controversial legislation was signed into law in late September, causing immediate outcry from students, educational experts and professionals. A Nationwide Students Emergency Conference was held in mid-November, which resulted in the creation of a 15-member students' movement organizing body comprising members of several established youth groups. Among them were the ABFSU, the Confederation of University Students' Unions and the Middle Myanmar Students' Union. Protests have since been held in several of Burma's major cities, but thus far none of the participants have faced charges. The post 6 Students to Face Charges For Education Protest appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Commuter Train Service to Begin on Strand Road Posted: 01 Dec 2014 01:31 AM PST
 A train at the Rangoon Central Railway Station in April. (Photo: Thaw Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Myanmar Railways will operate a commuter train along Strand Road in downtown Rangoon from this month, aiming to provide a partial solution to the city's rampant traffic congestion problems. The company will operate two passenger services on the road 14 times daily, said Tun Aung Thin, the general manager for Myanmar Railways (Lower Burma), on Saturday. Each service will carry a maximum of 120 passengers and tickets will cost 100 kyats. "The service is aimed at reducing the travel time for commuters along Strand Road, easing Rangoon's current traffic hold-ups and providing a sightseeing tour for foreigners along Strand Road," he said. Approximately 2.5 million people are entering Rangoon each day, with more than 100,000 people arriving through ports along Strand Road from Dala Township and Irrawaddy Division, according to Tun Aung Thin. Myanmar Railways plans to build stations for the commuter train service in Wa Dan Street, Sinn O Dan Street, Sule Pagoda Road and Thakhin Mya Garden. One platform has been completed for the service in Botahtaung Township, and construction will continue for other stations as the service becomes operational. The company also plans to eventually connect the service to Rangoon Central Railway Station and the circular railway line. At present, about 300 cargo trains utilize the Strand Road railway line each month to transport commodities from Rangoon's ports.
The post Commuter Train Service to Begin on Strand Road appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Menace or Myth, Burma Frets Over Rohingya Militant Group Posted: 30 Nov 2014 08:45 PM PST  A Rohingya boy and a man walk along the fence separating Burma and Bangladesh as they return from a fish market in Maungdaw town in northern Arakan State, November 11, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) MAUNGDAW — The fence stretches as far as the eye can see, its concrete pillars carrying coils of barbed wire across the mountains and marshes of western Burma. Beyond the fence, on the far bank of the Naf River, is a ragged horizon of mangroves: Bangladesh. There, say Burmese officials, lurks the armed militant group the fence was partly designed to keep out. The Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) takes its name from the mostly stateless Muslim minority living in Burma's troubled Arakan State. Burma officials blame it for recent attacks here and believe it could foment more violence. Most experts believe the RSO barely exists, with some saying it's being used to further oppress the Rohingya, who often live under apartheid-like conditions with little or no access to schools, jobs or healthcare. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled the region by boat since 2012, after violent clashes with ethnic Arakanese Buddhists killed hundreds and displaced 140,000 people, mostly Rohingya. The RSO is "essentially defunct as an armed organization," said the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, in an October report. The RSO was set up in the early 1980s in the wake of a large-scale operation by the Burmese military that drove about 200,000 Rohingya over the border into mainly Muslim Bangladesh. Until the 1990s, a small number of militants trained at remote RSO bases in Bangladesh opposite Burma's Maungdaw district. Burma officials blame the RSO for a series of deadly incursions in northern Arakan State, including an attack on May 17 that killed four members of Burma's Border Guard Police. Also jangling official nerves are threats against Burma by much more formidable militant groups. In July, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi told followers to "take revenge" against Burma and other countries where Muslims were abused. Then, in September, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri announced the formation of an Indian branch that would "raise the flag of jihad" across the subcontinent, including Burma. Within weeks, Burma's deputy home affairs minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Zan Myint, told parliament an extra 39 billion kyats (US$38 million) was needed for Arakan State security, most of it earmarked to extend the fence. If approved, this would constitute a doubling of the state's security budget of nearly 38 billion kyats. Village Cells The military began building the fence in 1995 and it is now 77 km (48 miles) long, said Kyi San, the head of Maungdaw Township. Its more remote stretches are routinely damaged by wild elephants or corroded by salt water. For Buddhist officials like Kyi San, the RSO poses an existential threat. Statewide, Arakanese Buddhists outnumber Rohingya Muslims by two to one. But only six percent of Maungdaw's 510,000 people are Arakanese or non-Muslim, Kyi San told Reuters during a rare visit to Maungdaw by a foreign reporter. Kyi San feared RSO agents could radicalize this large Muslim community. "They take recruits back to Bangladesh for training," he said. "They have cells in all the villages." The perceived threat extends beyond Arakan State. A roadside wanted poster near the capital Naypyitaw, in central Burma, features four RSO suspects, one of them an "explosives specialist." The poster didn't say what they were wanted for, and Burma's Special Branch, when contacted by Reuters, declined to elaborate for reasons of "national security". Militant 'Myth' The Crisis Group report challenged the notion that the Rohingya were "ripe for radicalization". The Rohingya see Western governments, not the global jihadi movement, as key supporters, and most of their religious leaders don't preach violence, it said. "Rohingya militancy is a myth," said Bertil Lintner, a journalist and author who has covered Burma for 30 years. The RSO once had a small camp in the Bangladeshi region of Ukhia, which borders Maungdaw district, but never had a presence in Burma, he told Reuters. Many of those who trained at Ukhia were not Rohingya but youths from other Bangladeshi militant outfits, he said. The RSO faded as the Bangladesh government cracked down on Islamist groups. "Today, it hardly exists," he said. Even though the RSO posed no real military threat, it provided a pretext to "squeeze and oppress Rohingya communities," said Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights, a Bangkok-based rights group. "The authorities are conducting violent spot checks and accusing villagers of involvement with RSO, dragging men off and forcing others to flee," said Smith. "This has increased in recent months." Maungdaw chief Kyi San denied the authorities were oppressing Muslims. "We have a duty to protect the weaker Rakhine [Arakanese] community," he said. The post Menace or Myth, Burma Frets Over Rohingya Militant Group appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘If They Can Do It, Why Can’t We?’ Posted: 30 Nov 2014 04:00 PM PST  May Myat Mon Win, general manager of Rangoon's luxurious Chatrium Hotel Royal. (Photo: Courtesy of Chatrium Hotel Royal) In early 2014, May Myat Mon Win became the general manager of the Chatrium Hotel Royal in Rangoon, making her Burma's first female head of a five-star hotel. Humble and energetic, skilled and passionate, May Myat Mon Win spoke with The Irrawaddy about what it takes to make it in Burma's booming hospitality sector and what the country can learn from its more experienced neighbors. Question: Burma's hospitality industry is on the rise. What are the sector's most pressing needs as it tries to catch up with some of our more developed neighbors? Answer: The thing we need most is human resources. We need a lot of skilled labor, and, of course, good management. Many new hotels will go into operation in 2015-2016, and we're already facing a shortage of skilled labor. A plan for career development and organizational training should really begin right away, because there is a huge generational gap in this line of work. The hotel industry was flourishing from about 1992-1993. At that time, most of the hotels were government-owned and only a few were private. There was very little foreign investment. That was when I began my career as an hotelier. In 1998, the market suddenly dropped. Most hotels were struggling to survive; we didn't even dare to dream of profit. Since the industry was so bad at that time, there weren't many new hotels or new investments by foreigners. Most of my friends left the industry for new careers. Some people wanted to stay in the hotel business but it just wasn't profitable, so many hoteliers went abroad. But suddenly the industry was booming again, starting around 2011, when foreign investors were eyeing the country. So there was a sudden shortage of skilled labor in the sector, because most people either left the industry or left the country over the past 20 years. Q: Do you think the human resource demands of Burma's hospitality sector can be met? A: If there aren't enough skilled local laborers, employers might bring in foreign labor. I think there's still time to train locals. I think we can meet demand domestically. But if we do have to import some labor, this is a good thing because we can learn from them. We must push ourselves with the motto: "If they can do it, why can't we?" We should aim to learn from foreign labor and set a target that in a year or two we need to be able to take over their responsibilities. Q: Based on your experience as a GM, how does local management differ from foreign management? A: Our neighbors now have many experts, both foreign and local. We have a lot of hotels in our country, and there are different conditions in different parts of the country. There should be a mix of local and foreign management depending on the needs of the area. Local management might benefit employees because they understand the needs of local workers, but foreign experts might have a different vision that locals don't see. Personally, I think I have the benefit of being able to communicate with my staff. This keeps operation smooth, as about 90 percent of our staff is local. But there is a lot that I can learn from foreign GMs. Q: What lessons can Burma learn from neighboring countries, like Thailand, which has a very developed hospitality sector? A: Of course, we can learn from our neighbors. In Thailand, they faced a similar situation: around 1994-1995, they had a hotel sector boom. There were a lot of new hotels, and that led to a price war. Prices for the best rooms in luxury hotels were only about $20-40, and the whole industry suffered losses. Nowadays, the industry is regulated and there are standard prices. If we want to develop a stable hospitality industry, we need to learn from their mistake and not have a price war. Q: Development can often have negative effects on culture and the environment. How do you think development will play out in Burma in terms of preserving tradition and the natural environment? A: I think it will ultimately depend on the vision of leadership and businessmen. In my view, we need to think about what kind of country we want to have in the future. In some of our neighboring countries, they have overdeveloped. They've chopped down the forests, expanded the cities, built skyscrapers and factories. What they are left with is a country with few trees and a ruined environment, and now they are looking to us, with our unspoiled nature. Our country has many unspoiled places that need to remain as they are. Inwa, for example, the beautiful ancient city in Mandalay Division, needs to be maintained. Installing modern buildings to speed up development will ruin the culture and the taste travelers want in the ancient city. There needs to be a balance between conservation, preservation of culture and development. The post 'If They Can Do It, Why Can't We?' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| China Activist Pleads Innocence in Chaotic Trial Posted: 30 Nov 2014 09:06 PM PST  A petitioner is taken away by plainclothes policemen outside a court where the trial of Chinese rights activist Guo Feixiong is taking place in Guangzhou. (Photo: Alex Lee / Reuters) BEIJING — A leading Chinese rights activist who organized rallies for media freedom pleaded not guilty to charges of disturbing public order in an all-night trial in which the judge rejected his requests for food, a lawyer said. The case against Yang Maodong, 48, comes amid a broadening crackdown on dissent. In January, a Beijing court sentenced legal activist Xu Zhiyong to four years in prison for leading a loosely organized civil movement. Several of his followers also were imprisoned. New York-based Human Rights Watch called on authorities to drop the charges against Yang, better known by his penname Guo Feixiong, and fellow defendant Sun Desheng, who was arrested for urging the Chinese government to grant more rights to its people and to disclose officials’ assets. Zhang Lei, lawyer for Yang, said on his microblog that the trials Friday against Yang and Sun at Tianhe District Court got off to a tense start when the court several times cut off arguments by the defense. The hearing ended only at 2:50 a.m. Saturday with the judge granting a recess after Yang nearly fainted from hunger. The court had repeatedly rejected earlier requests for food, Sun’s lawyer Chen Jinxue said. The lawyers said both Yang and Sun had been mistreated in detention. Yang was denied any outdoor break for 469 days, and Sun had his ankles and wrists shackled for a week before the trial, Zhang said. A court employee declined to confirm the trials, but he said a “special case” was taking place, without further elaboration. Rights lawyers and advocates said security was heavy around the courthouse and stretched as far as 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) out. Yang has advocated for greater political freedom and more civic engagement in China. In January 2013, Yang helped organize demonstrations and spoke in support of the editorial staff at the newspaper Southern Weekly in Guangzhou after its journalists said a New Year’s message that called for rule by the constitution was altered because of censorship. The charge alleges he gathered crowds to disrupt public order, but his supporters say the rallies were orderly. He also encouraged activists to hold up placards in several cities. To avoid confrontation with police, the activists typically did not linger but left quickly after taking photographs of their acts, then posting the images online. Authorities have found such acts unacceptable, and Chinese courts have actively prosecuted the quick protests. Sun was not involved with the Southern Weekly rallies, but his charge – the same as Yang’s – stems from his unfurling banners calling for public disclosure of officials’ assets and urging China’s legislature to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Sun’s lawyer Chen Jinxue said. The post China Activist Pleads Innocence in Chaotic Trial appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Hong Kong Protesters Clash With Police Near Heart of Financial District Posted: 30 Nov 2014 08:59 PM PST  Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists clash with police early as they try to encircle government headquarters, defying orders from authorities to retreat after more than two months of demonstrations.(Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG — Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists clashed with police early on Monday as they tried to encircle government headquarters, defying orders from authorities to retreat after more than two months of demonstrations. Chaos erupted as commuters made their way to work, with hundreds of protesters surrounding Admiralty Centre, which houses offices and retail outlets, in a tense stand-off with police. Many shops remained shut by mid-morning. The latest flare-up blocked access to key roads and government offices were closed on Monday morning. Riot police armed with batons and pepper spray had earlier charged protesters, forcing them off one road near government offices. Police had cleared that area more than a month ago during some of the most violent scenes since the demonstrations began in late September. The democracy movement represents one of the biggest threats for China's Communist Party leadership since its bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy student protests in and around Tiananmen Square in Beijing. On Monday, crowds chanting "Surround government headquarters!" and "Open the road!" made their way to the buildings in Admiralty, next to Hong Kong's central business district and some of the world's most expensive real estate. "I urge everyone to stay here until the morning to keep surrounding the government headquarters. Let's stop the government from functioning tomorrow," a protester clad in a black T-shirt shouted into a loud hailer. Scores of protesters with wooden shields and metal barricades charged police as officers warned them to retreat. Police, who have been accused of using excessive force, struck demonstrators with batons in a bid to push them back. Hong Kong media reported that 40 people had been arrested overnight. Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters are demanding free elections for the city's next leader in 2017 rather than the vote between pre-screened candidates that Beijing has said it would allow. Demonstrators threw bottles, helmets and umbrellas at police as tensions escalated overnight. Police used pepper spray in an attempt to disperse the protesters, dragging several to the ground before cuffing them with plastic ties and taking them away. Scores of demonstrators held up umbrellas, which have become a symbol of the pro-democracy movement, to protect themselves from the spray. The activists tried to reclaim Lung Wo Road in Admiralty, where police moved in on Monday, in running battles throughout the night. Two student groups who have led the disobedience campaign had urged supporters to escalate their actions at the main protest site in the Admiralty neighborhood. The flare-up comes after four nights of clashes in the working-class district of Mong Kok, across the harbor from Admiralty. Police had cleared the area—one of the city's largest and most volatile protest sites—on Wednesday. The latest clashes underscore the challenges authorities face as a restive younger generation contests Beijing's grip on the financial hub and demands greater democracy. Twenty-eight people were arrested in the unrest on Friday night and early Saturday in Mong Kok, which is packed with shops, street stalls, jewelry stores and restaurants. The Hong Kong rallies drew more than 100,000 onto the streets at their peak. Numbers have since dwindled to a few hundred and public support for the movement has waned. The post Hong Kong Protesters Clash With Police Near Heart of Financial District appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Thai Crown Prince Strips Wife’s Kin of Royal Name Posted: 30 Nov 2014 08:52 PM PST  Thailand’s Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn arrives to Siriraj Hospital to mark revered Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s coronation anniversary in Bangkok May 5, 2010. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand’s Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn has asked the government to strip his wife’s family of their royally issued surname, the latest development in a high-profile crackdown that involves senior members of the police force. The move came after at least three relatives of the crown prince’s wife, Princess Srirasm, were arrested last week as part of the corruption probe. The probe has attracted national attention in Thailand, where the private lives of the royal family are kept discreet. But many questions remain unanswered, primarily because of strict lese majeste laws that carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for insulting the monarchy. In a letter dated Friday but released over the weekend, the crown prince ordered the "cancellation of the royally bestowed family name 'Akrapongpreecha,'" which was issued after the pair married in 2001. The brief letter, which was sent to the Interior Ministry, gave no explanation for the action. National police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri confirmed the letter’s authenticity. Srirasm is the crown prince’s third wife and was last seen in public a week ago at a royal ceremony alongside her husband. They have a 9-year-old son, who is a presumed heir to the throne. The crackdown has included the arrest of at least eight police officers, who face serious charges ranging from bribery and extortion to defaming the monarchy. Thailand’s police department has a reputation as one of the country’s most corrupt institutions. The junta that has ruled the country since toppling an elected government on May 22 claims it is prioritizing the fight against corruption, but critics say graft remains institutionalized and the army’s real goal is to cripple political rivals led by self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. The crackdown comes at a sensitive time for the monarchy with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, in poor health. Worries about the king’s health and succession have contributed to Thailand’s political instability over the past eight years. As the wife of the crown prince, Srirasm would potentially become the next queen of Thailand. The post Thai Crown Prince Strips Wife’s Kin of Royal Name appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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