Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Thai Coup Brings Border Blues for Traders

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 05:26 AM PDT

Empty boats sit on the shore at an informal border crossing point along the Moei River between Mae Sot and Myawaddy. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy)

MAE SOT, Thailand — Merchants with a stake in the enormous off-the-books trade at the border crossing here say their business has taken a hit since the Thai military staged a coup last month.

Legal two-way border trade across the Moei River has resumed after a brief interruption in the immediate aftermath of the coup, but currently only goods from Thailand can be transported into Burma at the so-called "informal trading centers." Burmese goods are not being allowed to enter Thailand through these channels.

Regarding the flow of people between the two countries, formal crossings over the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge are proceeding as usual, but the so-called "informal crossings" via boats have ceased since the military coup in Thailand on May 22.

The informal trading centers at the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border were shut down for two days following the coup, reopening early last week. Merchants on the border said trading conditions remain restricted under the new junta government in Bangkok, although goods ranging from vehicles and vegetable oil to cement and petrol have continued to pass from Thailand to Burma, both formally and informally.

"We can send the goods from Thailand, but within a limited time set by the Thai military, and it is not as free as in the past," said a merchant, who declined to be named, some 12 days after the Thai coup.

Much of the trade conducted between the two countries is carried out informally, as this allows for more timely transactions that also bypass some of the duties levied by the respective governments.

Hein Thu, a border-based merchant in Mae Sot, told The Irrawaddy that "it is not yet back to a free trading situation as before," adding that traders were wrapping up their day's work earlier as a result of the Thai military's decision to curb the window in which cross-border transactions are allowed.

Traders are seeing "less demand," Hein Thu said, pointing to the automobile market as an example. Usually, car dealers or other buyers from the Burmese side cross into Thailand and choose whatever they want and negotiate prices.

Traders on the border said that before the coup, dealers transported goods to the Burma side up until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. at informal trading centers, depending on market demand. Now trading closes at 4 p.m. every day.

Myawaddy residents told The Irrawaddy that the prices of Thai goods in Myawaddy are almost no different than before the Thai coup, but that the slowdown in border commerce was beginning to have knock-on effects, including crimping the livelihoods of many people who rely on the transportation needs of those involved in trading.

"I have not heard of much increase in prices yet on Thai products and have seen the goods and products of Thailand are being imported via the bridge," said Sein Bo, a Myawaddy resident.

The new arrangements at the Mae Sot-Myawaddy crossing do not appear to apply across the other four official border crossings between Thailand and Burma.

Another border checkpoint, at Three Pagodas Pass in Sangkhlaburi Township, is completely closed and no Burmese are being allowed to enter the Kingdom there.

But a Tachileik resident told The Irrawaddy that the Mae Sai-Tachileik friendship bridges remained opened as usual.

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Karen Groups Back Suu Kyi Constitutional Reform Campaign

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 05:22 AM PDT

Myanmar ethnic conflict, Myanmar democracy, Karen Myanmar, Burma democracy

Karen organization representatives address the 10th Karen National Unity Seminar this weekend. (Photo: Facebook / Susanna Soe)

RANGOON — Karen political parties, armed groups and civil society organizations meeting in eastern Karen State last weekend have reiterated calls for the creation of a federal union, while offering support for Aung San Suu Kyi's constitutional reform campaign.

"The Karen's political stance is to work towards a federal union based on self-determination, national equality and democracy, under the leadership of Karen National Union (KNU)," said a joint statement from the 10th Karen National Unity Seminar, which was held in the KNU-controlled area of Lay Wah in eastern Hpa-an District.

"The representatives at the seminar greatly support amendments to the Constitution and cooperation with political parties and democratic forces," the statement said.

Karen Women’s Action Group director Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, who participated in the seminar, said Karen groups are keen to support the current constitutional reform campaign of National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society.

"Ethnic people demand self-determination and a federal [system], which the current 2008 Constitution cannot grant. That's why amendments are needed," she told The Irrawaddy. "What the NLD and the 88 Generation are doing is to [try to] amend Article 436, which is the key to amending other articles."

The NLD and the 88 Generation activist started a campaign this month calling for amendments to military-drafted Constitution, which prevents Suu Kyi from becoming president and gives the Burma Army political powers and control in ethnic areas.

She said the seminar representatives agreed to be under the leadership of the KNU because it "existed for more than 60 years. Karen people rely on this organization… It's also a democratic organization where the leaders are selected by votes. Decisions are made through meetings."

The KNU, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and the Karen Peace Council gathered with representatives of more than 60 Karen political parties, youth groups and community-based organizations based in Burma and abroad to discuss the issues facing the ethnic Karen people, who live in Karen State and other parts of eastern Burma, and in Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta.

The KNU and DKBA signed ceasefire agreements with the government in 2012, and Karen areas in eastern Burma have since enjoyed a period of relative calm after decades of civil war.

A recent Karen Human Rights Group report said rights abuses associated with conflict, such as forced labor, landmine contamination and army attacks on civilians have decreased. But these trends have been offset by a worsening of drug problems and the influx of investment projects that have led to land grabbing and environmental destruction affecting communities.

The seminar statement said the government should not allow any large investment projects in Karen areas until a comprehensive peace agreement is signed. Participants also agreed to work together to fight against the increase in drug use and trafficking in the area.

Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe said the KNU-government ceasefire agreement reportedly includes government guarantees that no large-scale investment would be approved before a peace agreement has been reached.

"Sometimes we hear about projects—sometimes just rumors, sometimes real—such as plans to build [Salween River] dams, or a cement factory that will demolish a mountain. This is getting local residents worried," she said.

She added that the approximately 150,000 Karen refugees living in camps on the Thai-Burma border should not be forced to return before there is peace.

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Group to Target Unhealthy School Snacks in Burma

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 05:11 AM PDT

A snack shop on Sule Pagoda Road in Rangoon. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — A Rangoon-based consumer advocacy group will inspect food shops on school grounds in Burma to root out foods and drinks that are potentially harmful to health, the group's chairman says.

Burma's Consumer Protection Association (CPA) has claimed recently that certain imported fish sauces, instant coffee mixes, cooking oils and cold drinks contain harmful chemicals and additives.

"We will start inspecting schools in Mandalay, Sagaing and Bago divisions in the middle of this month, and after that we will do it in Rangoon," the group's chairman and founder Ba Oak Khine told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

He said the CPA began visiting food shops at schools in Rangoon last year, urging them to stop selling unhealthy foods and drinks.

"We educated the shop owners," he said. "When we went back to check again, we found that some were still selling foods that are harmful to health."

He said 80 percent of products sold at schools in Burma's former capital were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"This time, we will remind the owners first if we find them selling unhealthy foods and drinks. If the owners keep selling these products, we will sue them with National Food Law," he said.

The CPA has approval from the Ministry of Education to conduct the inspections at schools, according to CPA member Soe Kalar Htike.

"Children will be safer if we can collaborate more with parents, students, shop owners, headmasters and the officials," she said.

Headmasters typically grant permission for shop owners to sell products on school grounds.

According to an article published in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday, education authorities last year prohibited the sale of Chinese snacks on school grounds, but the ban was not enforced.

The newspaper reported that many snacks sold in the local market contain banned dyes including Orange II, Sudan III and Rhodamine B. Frequent consumption of these dyes can lead to stomach ulcers and cancers, the newspaper warned.

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Suu Kyi’s Attendance ‘Unsure’ at Planned Sittwe Reform Rally

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 12:21 AM PDT

Sittwe

Aung San Su Kyi gives a speech about constitutional reform in Rangoon to thousands of supporters on May 17. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Aung San Suu Kyi's constitutional reform roadshow is due to hit Sittwe sometime over the coming weeks, but it is not yet confirmed whether the opposition leader will speak in the troubled Arakan State capital.

"It is not sure yet whether The Lady will travel," said Kyi Toe, a senior member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), referring to Suu Kyi by her popular nickname.

"We are still in planning," Kyi Toe told The Irrawaddy on Monday. With Suu Kyi, an MP, currently attending the recently reconvened Parliament in Naypyidaw, June 28 and July 12 dates have been proposed for the event.

Burma's biggest opposition party, the NLD, along with the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, a group of prominent former student dissidents, are jointly campaigning to have Burma's 2008 Constitution amended, saying the charter gives Burma's military too much say in politics.

Sittwe is the regional capital of Arakan State in western Burma and, until mid-2012, was a mixed town, with Arakanese Buddhists and Muslims living and working in close proximity. Riots in June 2012 saw most of the towns Rohingya Muslims expelled into grim ghettoes at the town's edge, where they now live in shacks and depend on aid delivered by the United Nations and other relief organizations.

Most of those displaced and living in camps outside Sittwe and elsewhere in Arakan State are Rohingya Muslims, a group thought to number anywhere from 800,000 to 1 million people. Suu Kyi, a former Nobel peace laureate and for a time the world's best-known prisoner of conscience, has been criticized internationally for failing to speak up for the Rohingya, who live under discriminatory laws and are labeled "Bengali," or foreigners, by the region's ethnic Arakanese and most Burmese politicians.

Despite this reticence, Suu Kyi is seemingly unpopular among the Arakanese, who perceive the opposition leader as aligned with Western criticisms of how Rohingya are treated in Burma.

During a recent interview in Sittwe, Thein Khine, a member of the recently formed Arakan National Party (ANP), slammed Suu Kyi for what he described as "seeking equally treatment between Buddhist and Muslim."

"We don't want this," Thein Khine said, linking the NLD's perceived stance on Arakan State as similar to that of foreign aid organizations, which were attacked en masse by Arakanese mobs in March after being accused of favoring Rohingya in their provision of humanitarian aid. UN figures show that all but 5,000 of the almost 140,000 people left homeless by violence in Arakan State since 2012 are Rohingya.

Asked if Suu Kyi would receive a warm welcome in Sittwe, should she travel there to speak at the reform event, Aye Maung, the former leader of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), now merged into the ANP, said "I don't know."

The RNDP made submissions to have the Constitution amended, including Article 436, Aye Maung said, telling The Irrawaddy that at the moment there are no plans for the ANP to take part in the proposed NLD/88 Generation event in Sittwe. It would follow recent rallies attended by tens of thousands of people in Rangoon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw.

But for Rohingya like Myo Win, the proposed constitutional reform rally will be a reminder of their second-class status.

"Even if the Constitution is changed, it might not give us any hope," said Myo Win, speaking by telephone from Aung Mingalar, a Muslim district of Sittwe that has been cordoned off by police. "We will not able to attend the event, and I don't think we will be able to sign any petition for change."

While Article 59(f) currently bars Suu Kyi from becoming president even if her NLD wins elections scheduled for late 2015, the reform campaign has of late focused on Article 436, which outlines the tricky process by which constitutional changes can take place.

A committee of MPs set up to examine reform has said it will recommend revising Article 436. To pass, the amendment will require at least 75 percent of MPs to back it—as laid out in Article 436—meaning at least one "yes" vote from the 25 percent bloc of unelected soldiers in Parliament will be needed for a change that would likely reduce the military's political role.

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Despite Reforms, Burma’s Schools Resume With Textbook and Teacher Shortages

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 12:12 AM PDT

education

Students listen in class at Shwe Pin Shwe Thee private school in Rangoon. (JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON— As students return to classes after the summer holiday in Burma, the government says that despite education reforms, some public schools are still understaffed and have been unable to provide adequate supplies of textbooks.

Classes resumed across the country on Monday at Burma's public schools. For the first time this academic year, the government plans to enforce a compulsory primary education policy, state-run media reported, adding that "doubts persist [whether] preparations have been efficient."

"Despite the government's pledges to enroll all school-aged children this term for basic education, in a move aimed at boosting the country's literacy level, many parents have complained about the lack of learning material and qualified teachers," the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Tuesday.

The teacher-student ratio in government schools is about 1:29, the newspaper reported, but at some schools the situation is worse. "My class has 75 students this year. We have requested more teachers to be able to provide adequate education, but we have been accustomed to these situations for some years," Su Su, a fifth grade teacher, was quoted as saying.

Parents, meanwhile, complained to the newspaper that their children had not received textbooks for certain subjects, although the government did provide some free books for others.

Public primary and secondary schools in Burma do not charge tuition, but families are often forced to pay for other school-related fees, such as uniforms, textbooks and school repairs.

Education reform has begun under President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government, with efforts to hire additional teachers and make schools accessible to low-income students. Starting in 2011, the government promised to produce a new textbook in every subject for every child.

"They managed to do it," Julian Watson, an education consultant for the Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR), under the Ministry of Education, told The Irrawaddy last year. "It was 40 million books, and every one of those was bound by hand. The books were delivered."

As part of reform efforts, the government is also drafting new education legislation and considering changes to school curricula.

However, some teachers and civil society groups say the reform process has not been inclusive.

Sai Naw Kham, from the Rural Development Foundation of Shan State, said government education officials were not familiar with the educational challenges in remote ethnic states, where students often walk long distances to school and may struggle to understand lessons because they speak ethnic languages at home.

"They don't know what is really happening on the ground," he told The Irrawaddy of government officials.

The Ministry of Education has held consultation meetings with civil society groups, but it is unclear how open those meetings have been.

"There was limited time for questions and limited room for us to give our opinions," said Saw Kapi, who attended one meeting as executive director of Thabyay Education Foundation, a Thailand-registered foundation that focuses on education in Burma.

Saw Kapi, who is also a member of the Myanmar Indigenous Network for Education (MINE), said he worried Parliament would pass an education law that allowed the central government to control most aspects of education, rather than decentralizing authority to the state and divisional levels. "Centralization is my biggest concern," he said.

Unicef, which is supporting Burma's education reform process along with other international development partners, called on the government on Monday to be more inclusive.

"Although much progress has been made by the government with support from partners, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that the reforms address and respond to the needs of all children, especially children who are living with disabilities, who are living in remote areas, who do not speak Myanmar [Burmese] language at home, who are poor and/or working and who are affected by conflict and emergencies," the UN agency said in a statement.

The agency urged the government to provide greater support to teachers, to reinforce "pro-poor policies toward education," and to increase the education budget.

"In addition, exciting new efforts to decentralize the management of education processes at state, township and community levels should be further strengthened so that the combined efforts from all stakeholders across Myanmar [Burma] can ensure all children are able to enjoy their rights to the best quality education," it said.

The post Despite Reforms, Burma's Schools Resume With Textbook and Teacher Shortages appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thilawa Residents Formally Complain to Tokyo

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT

Japan

A man looks at his watermelon field near the Thilawa economic zone outside Rangoon in October 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — Three residents from the Thilawa Special Economic Zone near Rangoon have filed a formal complaint to Tokyo about the negative effects of Japanese investment in the area.

It is the first formal complaint filed under the objection procedures of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) since the restructuring of Japan's international aid body in 2008, according to NGOs Thilawa Social Development Group and Mekong Watch.

An objection letter has been received by JICA examiner Dr. Sachihiko Harashina in person, the NGOs said in a statement on Monday.

"The objection outlines damages that the villagers from the 400 ha. area of Phase 1 of the project have incurred in their relocation from their homes and land," the NGOs said in the statement. These damages included "loss of farmland and access to farmland, loss of livelihood opportunities, impoverishment, loss of educational opportunities for the villagers' children, substandard housing and basic infrastructure in the Myaing Tha Yar resettlement site and loss of access to clean water."

The statement warned that residents from another 2,000 hectare area that will be used in a later phase of the project would likely face similar problems.

"The government and authorities are not listening to us villagers," said Mya Hlaing, one of the three residents who filed the complaint, according to the statement. "We have tried to tell JICA how things really are in Thilawa by repeatedly submitting letters to JICA requesting appropriate resettlement and compensation measures, as required by their guidelines and international standards. JICA has not listened to our voices."

Minari Tsuchikawa, from Mekong Watch, a Japanese NGO that monitors Japan-related projects in Mekong Region, was quoted as saying, "Even while the examiners carry out their investigation, the Japanese government and JICA must take steps to ensure that there is no further deterioration in the standard of living of the affected people, and urgent measures are needed to understand and address the villagers' living conditions and concerns."

She added, "How JICA handles this case will be a litmus test for other projects in [Burma]."

JICA has a 10 percent stake in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, while three Japanese companies hold 39 percent stake. The Burmese government and a joint venture of nine Burmese companies have invested the remaining 10 percent and 41 percent, respectively.

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‘The Hope of Tomorrows’ Paintings Exhibition to Open in Rangoon

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT

Paintings by Burmese artist Win Lwin Aung will be shown at his first solo exhibition, named "The Hope of Tomorrows," at Lokanat Art Gallery this week.

Burmese artist Win Lwin Aung is holding his first solo exhibition, named "The Hope of Tomorrows," at Lokanat Art Gallery in downtown Rangoon this week.

The 14 paintings currently on show will depict dreams of Burmese children, parents, novices and so on. The prices range from US $1,500 (3'x4') to $ 2,000 (4'x5').

A brochure of the show said that the artist Win Lwin Aung showcases the nature of Burmese peoples' everyday lives in a surreal style. The exhibition will stay open until June 6 and is being organized by Myanmar Ink Gallery.

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‘Without Knowledge, We Can’t Attempt to Develop’

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 05:04 PM PDT

Pa-o

Khun San Lwin, chairman of the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone, speaks to The Irrawaddy in Ho Pong, Shan State. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy)

HO PONG, Shan State — Khun San Lwin serves as chairman of one of Burma's six self-administered zones, where the majority ethnic Pa-O population in Shan State were granted a degree of autonomy under the 2008 Constitution.

Formerly a member of the Pa-O National Organization, which signed a ceasefire with the government in 1991, Khun San Lwin speaks to The Irrawaddy about efforts to improve the region's school system, and explains the important role that monastic education plays in the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone.

Question: What is the population of the Pa-O region?

Answer: There are more than 400,000 people in these three townships and sub-townships. Under the 2008 Constitution, if there are more than half ethnic minorities in a given region, it can be recognized as self-administered. There are five self-administered regions in Shan State: Danu, Pa-O, Palaung, Wa and Kokang.

Q: How many monastic schools and students are there in this region?

A: The most influential and biggest monastic school here is Naung Taung Tat Oo School. Now the Naung Taung sayadaw [abbot] is try to help his fellow monks to open monastic schools like this school in Hsi Hseng and Pinlaung townships. We want to promote monastic schools in this region to develop an all-inclusive education sector. In this region, there are many orphanages; some poor parents want their children to go to school. There are more than 1,000 students at the Naung Taung school.

Q: Comparing government schools with monastic schools, which are more effective?

A: There are different types of systems for students here. Government schools have already set up the [curricular] framework. The government education system is changing as reforms aim to achieve an international standard. But the difference between the schools is that the monastic schools are not only teaching students, but also providing food and accommodation. Students must follow the monastery's rules.

Q: With the political and policy reforms of the last few years, do you see the role of monastic education declining?

A: We need strong support for this education to meet this [international] standard. The free education system is a success in our country. Monastic schools are also participating in this system as much as they can.

Q: What percentage of the population in this region can read and write?

A: At minimum, 85 to 90 percent of the population can read and write in this region. We've been trying hard to reach this goal.

Q: What are the Pa-O people's aspirations regarding their children's education?

A: Since 1991—after we dropped our weapons in exchange for peace with the government—we've learned about the condition of education in this region. I've learned that without knowledge, we can't attempt to develop our region.

I've tried to ensure that all children can go to school. I've seen there are many Pa-O residents who want to improve their situation, to take advantage of the changed situation. We still have a long way to go. Everybody has a responsibility to improve their children's education future. We want all people to inclusively participate in our education goals.

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Unilever Banners in Burma Used Extremist Symbol

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 10:16 PM PDT

anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar, advertising in Myanmar

A sticker showing the symbol of the Buddhist nationalist 969 movement is displayed at a shop in Minhla Township in March 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

Rangoon — Consumer products giant Unilever scrambled on Monday to remove advertising banners from shops in western Burma that prominently displayed the symbol of the Buddhist extremist movement blamed for a wave of bloody attacks against minority Muslims.

Photos viewed by The Associated Press showed the large green banners stretched over storefronts in the Arakan State capital, Sittwe. Unilever confirmed stores were using the banners.

Sher Mazari, external affairs director for the multinational, which makes everything from Colgate toothpaste to Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, said the symbol was included in the advertising without the company’s authorization.

"We don’t get involved in any political activities," he said. "We are against discrimination of any form, religion, ethnic, whatsoever, so this was done completely without our knowledge."

Sittwe has been the hotbed for sectarian violence that has killed about 280 people and forced another 140,000 to flee their homes in the last two years. Most of the victims have been stateless Rohingya Muslims chased down by Buddhist mobs.

Burma only recently emerged from a half-century of brutal military rule and self-imposed isolation.

With the lifting of international sanctions in the last three years, some of the world’s biggest companies have started doing business in the predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million, including Unilever.

The banners advertising the company’s Knorr products were removed Monday, said Nandar Thaung, an official in Unilever's Rangoon office, and replaced with new advertisements.

Mazari said by telephone from Bangkok that some business owners decided on their own to ask a Unilever contractor to include the symbol next to their shop names on the banners.

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Thai Army Rulers Prepare Emergency Economic Measures

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 10:10 PM PDT

Thai economy, Thai junta

Thai Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha, center, arrives to give a news conference at the Army Club in Bangkok on May 20, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

BANGKOK — The military junta running Thailand has drawn up a list of emergency measures such as price caps on fuel and loan guarantees for small firms to kick-start an economy threatened by recession after months of political turmoil.

The plans, outlined by Air Chief Marshal Prajin Juntong late on Sunday after a meeting with officials at economic ministries, take in longer-term measures such as the development of special economic zones on the borders with Burma, Laos and Malaysia.

The military toppled the remnants of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration on May 22 after months of protests that had forced government ministries to close, hurt business confidence and caused the economy to shrink.

The coup was the latest convulsion in a decade-long conflict that pits the Bangkok-based royalist establishment, dominated by the military, old-money families and the bureaucracy, against supporters of Yingluck’s elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who is adored by the poor in the north and northeast.

Yingluck herself was ordered to step down two weeks before the coup when a court found her guilty of abuse of power.

Considered the power behind Yingluck’s government, former telecommunications tycoon Thaksin was ousted as prime minister in a coup in 2006 and has lived in self-imposed exile since fleeing a 2008 conviction for abuse of power.

Air Chief Marshal Prajin, who is overseeing economic matters for the junta, said 30 urgent proposals on the economy would be discussed with coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Among them, Prajin mentioned a form of price insurance for rice farmers. This would replace a costly buying scheme run under Yingluck that collapsed when her caretaker government was unable to find funding, leaving hundreds of thousands of farmers unpaid for months.

The military rulers said they would also tackle the problem of loan sharks, made worse by the hardship suffered by farmers because of the rice fiasco, and are looking at low-cost home loans to be offered through the Government Housing Bank.

Prajin said he had told the Finance Ministry to look at a complete overhaul of the tax structure and report to him next week.

State Enterprises

The Nation newspaper said state enterprises, including Thai Airways International Pcl and the State Railway of Thailand, would put investment plans to Prajin on Monday and these would also be discussed with Prayuth this week.

TMB Bank said the economy should pick up under the new government and it expected its loan book to grow 10 percent this year rather than 6 to 8 percent. It used to be known as Thai Military Bank and the armed forces retain a small stake, with Prayuth sitting on its board.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Thailand’s Baa1 credit rating on Monday with a stable outlook, based on the country’s manageable debt profile, its fiscal controls, the strength of economic bodies such as the Bank of Thailand and a likely current account surplus this year.

In a commentary on May 26, it had expressed concern about the repeated political disruption in Thailand, saying it had held back economic development over the longer term.

Prayuth, in a televised address on Friday, said the military would need time to reconcile Thailand’s antagonistic political forces and push through reforms, indicating there would be no general election for about 15 months.

The United States, European Union countries and others have called for the military to restore democracy quickly, release political detainees and end censorship.

As well as working to revive the economy, the military council has moved to suppress criticism of the coup and nip protests in the bud.

Yingluck, as well as prominent supporters of the Shinawatras, have been briefly detained and warned against any anti-military activities.

On Sunday, the army council sent 5,700 troops and police into central Bangkok to stop anti-coup protests, which were mostly limited to small gatherings held around shopping malls.

The military has banned political gatherings of five or more people and protests that have taken place in Bangkok since the May 22 putsch have been small and brief.

On Saturday, as on the two previous days, the authorities closed normally busy roads around Victory Monument, which was becoming a focal point for opposition to the coup. The area was flooded with police and troops but no protesters turned up.

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Thai Police Criticized for Posing as Journalists

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 09:57 PM PDT

anti-coup protests in Thailand

Protesters in Bangkok hold up three fingers as a sign of their opposition to Thailand's military junta. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

BANGKOK — Thailand’s main press association said on Monday it is gravely concerned that undercover police appear to be posing as journalists after a video circulated showing a man with official press ID arresting an anti-coup protester in the capital.

It was one of two videos showing apparent arrests by undercover officers Sunday in Bangkok that sparked outrage on social media. The other shows two men pushing a woman at a peaceful protest into a moving taxi.

Police did not return several phone calls seeking comment.

Thailand’s ruling military junta has launched a major campaign to suppress dissent since staging a coup on May 22. On Sunday, authorities said about 5,700 soldiers and police were deployed around Bangkok to stop planned anti-coup demonstrations.

On the sidelines of one of the protests, several plainclothes men escorted a woman to a motorcycle as she frantically called for help and asked them, "What right do you have to arrest me?" according to a video posted on the website of the Thai newspaper Matichon.

One of the men is wearing a black badge around his neck that says "PRESS" along with a green cloth that looks like an arm band issued to reporters by the Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association. The woman is told, "Get on the bike," as the man leads her to a waiting motorcycle and drives off with her.

The Thai Journalists Association said it was "gravely concerned" by the tactic. Association spokesman Manop Thip-osod called on police to "revise their strategy of sending plainclothes police officers pretending to be journalists to arrest protesters or to seek intelligence in the protest area."

He said the tactic would have an "immense impact" on both the safety and credibility of the media in Thailand.

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Grisly Murders Highlight Social Strains in Modi’s India

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 09:48 PM PDT

rape in India

Women workers of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party burn an effigy of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav during a protest against the recent killings of two girls, in Allahabad on May 31, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

KATRA SHAHADATGANJ, India — When a farm laborer in this hardscrabble village in northern India went to the police last week to report that his daughter and her cousin had gone missing, a constable slapped him in the face and sent him away.

Hours later he found the two girls, hanging by their necks from a mango tree. A post-mortem found they had been raped.

Three men were arrested for the crime in Uttar Pradesh state that underscored the enduring culture of sexual assault in India and the capacity for appalling violence between Hindu castes. Two policemen were held on suspicion of attempting to cover up the killings.

One of the biggest challenges facing India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi, will be making a break from the ineffectual responses of governments to heinous crimes like this and the gang rape and murder in December 2012 of a young woman in the capital, which provoked a rash of street protests, much of it over the authorities’ apparent indifference.

"When these incidents occur, like the one in Delhi in 2012, there is public outrage," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "Then the state responds, but it gets left behind at the level of rhetoric."

On Monday, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party sought to make political capital. Workers from the party accused the Uttar Pradesh state government, headed by a rival party, of negligence over the crimes and of being unfit to govern.

Police fired water cannon at the protesters, who were demanding the state government be dismissed and the imposition of direct, presidential rule.

Four of the five suspects arrested in last week’s case are from the powerful Yadav community, a land-owning Hindu caste that holds political sway in Uttar Pradesh. Police declined to confirm reports that three had confessed.

The victims were, like Modi, from a lowly caste. They were Shakyas, by tradition peasant farmers who are often vulnerable to exploitation by the Yadavs.

"The nature of it shouts out caste atrocity," said Kavita Krishnan, a prominent women’s rights activist and left-wing politician. "It's meant to have a terrorizing effect."

Caste divisions, baked into society over generations despite official efforts to remove them, could be as much a problem for the prime minister as the tensions between Hindus and minority Muslims that critics fear he could inflame.

Critics fault Modi, a Hindu nationalist, for pursuing a majoritarian agenda: More than two-thirds of his cabinet ministers belong to a powerful Hindu grassroots movement, raising doubts that he can close social rifts and govern in the interests of all Indians.

While inter-caste violence is an age-old symptom of social oppression, it is also a sign of social change as marginalized groups seek democratic rights and a share in India’s rising prosperity.

"There’s a sense of changing India," said Krishnan, seeing in the violence "a need to reinforce caste hierarchies."

After the two young cousins were raped and strung up in Katra Shahadatganj, villagers refused to let their bodies be cut down until the men they accuse of the killings were arrested.

Images of the girls—still roped to sturdy branches, a crowd gathered below—went around the world, transforming what would have become a forgotten crime into a symbol of sexual and caste oppression in India’s most populous state.

Police Protection

It was just after 7 pm on Tuesday when an uncle of the girls heard their cries as he was coming in from the fields.

He flashed a torch and spotted four men, recognizing one. He confronted them, but fled after being threatened with a handgun, he told Reuters on Saturday at the victims' family home.

The uncle and the girls' father went to the local police post to report the girls missing. Indian law does not allow rape victims and their relatives to be identified by the media.

There, they were asked their caste and told that the person the uncle had recognized by torchlight was an "honest man."

"I fell to their feet," said the father, pleading with them to find his daughter and niece. That’s when he was slapped.

"They said the girls will reach your home in a couple of hours," said the father, lying outside his cramped brick house, his face a mask of grief and exhaustion.

Katra Shahadatganj is a dirt-poor village like so many in Uttar Pradesh, the northern state in the Ganges river basin that is home to one in every six of India’s 1.2 billion people.

Its roads are potholed, and green sludge courses through open sewers. Power supplies are sporadic, medical facilities are feeble and teachers rarely turn up at the local school.

Surender Sakhya, a farmer from a nearby district, said the Yadavs get protection from the police.

"And it’s not just police, but political parties," he said, complaining that Yadavs steal the crops of many farmers.

All five suspects were being held in a jail in the nearby town of Budaun. A guard and three other officers said it was not possible to talk to the men.

Officials at the local magistrates court said the suspects did not yet have a lawyer. Their relatives had fled the village, and it was not immediately possible to contact them.

The grief-stricken mother of one of the girls, veiled in a magenta sari, was clear: "I want them hanged," she said.

Boys Will Be Boys

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, are—as their family name implies—also Yadavs. A nephew of Mulayam was elected as a member of Parliament for Budaun in last month’s election.

Mulayam caused outrage by criticizing changes in the law that allowed the death penalty for gang rape. "Boys commit mistakes. Will they be hanged for rape?" he said in a campaign speech.

The law was tightened after the 2012 New Delhi rape case. In March, the Delhi High Court upheld death sentences for four men convicted last September.

Around Katra Shahadatganj, local people say many such crimes against girls and women take place and go unpunished. "What about my daughter?" asked Sukhdevi, a woman from a nearby village whose 13-year-old daughter disappeared in February and has not been heard of since. A couple of men were briefly held and then let go, she said.

"I held her in my womb, washed her clothes, cared for her," Sukhdevi said, her voice trembling. "We are so poor. This happens."

Families of rape victims often face harassment in Uttar Pradesh when trying to report crimes. Last year, police locked up a 10-year-old girl after her family pressed rape charges.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has come under fire for snapping "you’re not in danger, are you?" at a TV reporter who asked him a question about last week’s killings.

His state government has since sought to limit the damage by calling for the murders to be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s counterpart to the US FBI.

No one from Modi’s party has visited the village where the two girls were murdered. A cabinet minister from an allied party on Monday became the first representative of Modi’s government to go to the scene.

"The whole country is shaken, but neither the chief minister nor any minister who are there has come to this place," said Ram Vilas Paswan, minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution.

"This means that either they are scared of the public or they are trying to protect the culprits."

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow and Nita Bhalla in New Delhi contributed reporting.

The post Grisly Murders Highlight Social Strains in Modi’s India appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.
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