# Burmese Overview **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 1, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849 "2009-03-01T04:32:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/1 "2009-03-01T04:32:30Z")
Rather than keep using [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467541), which started out as a Great Debate, I feel it more appropriate to start another thread for all things Burma. [Here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15209) we see the Burmese government is willing to take back some of the Rohingya boat people if they repackage themselves as Bengallis and not Rohingyas. And [here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15203) we see the possibility of the big US oil firms returning to Burma. It seems the new administration in Washington is not happy about China getting all the access to Burma’s energy sources and so may “adjust” the sanctions against the junta. I understand the concern about China, but I would not like to see any sanctions eased myself. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/2 "2009-03-01T14:17:44Z")
Darn. I was hoping this would be about Burmese cats. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/3 "2009-03-12T05:26:36Z")
There’s a good one [here](http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KC12Ae01.html) on how the Burmese military is actually a sort of Ponzi scheme. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/4 "2009-03-12T18:20:41Z")
“Myanmar” Is hard to rhyme I thought the old name Worked just fine Burma Shave ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/5 "2009-03-31T18:04:39Z")
Well, this sucks: [Burmese Rock Fans Arrested in Bangkok](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15417). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/6 "2009-04-03T05:36:34Z")
A sad report: [Dying, and Alone, in Burma](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/world/asia/01iht-myanmar.html?_r=1&emc=eta1). (I refuse to use “Myanmar.”) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/7 "2009-04-29T03:44:40Z")
[Burmese Migrants Handed Over to Human Traffickers](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15536). By Malaysian officials. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/8 "2009-05-11T04:01:36Z")
Been away for a week, so pardon if any of these have been mentioned elsewhere, especially Aung San Suu Kyi’s poor health. And she is indeed in poor health, with her doctor prevented from seeing her. Story [here](http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/10/myanmar.suukyi/index.html). Supposedly, an American man was arrested last week after swimming across a lake to Suu Kyi’s home, where she is under house arrest. This is being talked about all over Burma, with the truth of the report in question. Story [here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15610). And a little humor: [The mighty e-mail petition brings down the Burmese junta](http://www.notthenation.com/pages/news/getnews.php?id=781). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/9 "2009-05-13T03:28:59Z")
The plot thickens. IF the American man swimming across the lake to Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound is real, it seems he may have secretly visited before. See [here](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15616). There are fears now that Suu Kyi may be involved in something that could get her into further legal trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/10 "2009-05-14T04:50:21Z")
he plot is REALLY thickening. Aung San Suu Kyi has been removed from her home and taken to Insein Prison under armed escort. Word is she may be charged with treason; it’s related to the American who allegedly swam to her house. She’s apparently NOT going to be returned to her home, which means she’ll stay locked up in the jail, which by all accounts is bad even by Third World standards. She was reportedly ill and on a saline drip before this. Most of the above is from BBC TV, but there’s a story [here](http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/13/myanmar.suukyi/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/11 "2009-05-15T04:44:34Z")
The situation with Aung San Suu Kyi is spiralling, so I started a [new thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=517659) just for it. Hope that’s okay; this is a seriously grave matter now. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/12 "2009-05-29T17:37:31Z")
[Chevron CEO: Chevron Is ‘Constructive Force’ In Myanmar](http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200905271536DOWJONESDJONLINE000833_FORTUNE5.htm) Uh huh. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/13 "2009-06-09T04:35:20Z")
[Many Burmese See Pagoda Collapse as an Omen for the Junta](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/world/asia/07iht-burma.html?emc=eta1) \*\*"It cannot have pleased Myanmar’s ruling family: the collapse of a 2,300-year-old gold-domed pagoda into a pile of timbers just three weeks after the wife of the junta’s top general had helped reconsecrate it with a diamond orb and a sacred golden umbrella. “There is no country in Asia more superstitious than Myanmar, and the collapse of the temple was widely seen as something more portentous than shoddy construction work.”\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/14 "2009-06-17T04:45:16Z")
[Mystery Surrounds North Korean Tunnel-building in Burma](http://www.irrawaddy.org/interview_show.php?art_id=16019) **“North Korea has been helping Burma build an extensive network of tunnels in its new capital, Naypyidaw, and in Shan State, as an underground shelter for the government and “for other unknown purposes,” according to the Burma expert and author Bertil Lintner.”** Related are these from Yale Global: [Tunnels, Guns and Kimchi: North Korea’s Quest for Dollars, Part I: North Korea digs tunnels for Burma’s brutal, secretive regime](http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=12442) And [Part II](http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=12461), although it gets away from the Burma aspect. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/15 "2009-06-20T02:34:03Z")
[A Land the World Forgot](http://www.pulitzercenter.org/openitem.cfm?id=1638) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/16 "2009-06-23T19:55:30Z")
A North Korean ship is under watch, suspected of taking small arms banned under a UN resolution to Burma. An intercept is unlikely, unfortunately. Story [here](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iURO8fOyWVOA0ytFlaAGuC9F7R9wD98VS8A80). Should arrive maybe late in the week. And 1,750 pounds of hair was donated by 30,000 Burmese women to raise money for repairs on the route to a sacred Buddhist pagoda. Story [here](http://www.sandiego6.com/entertainment/weirdnews/story/Donated-hair-repairs-road/Os9LexGGp0Snik636Z26TA.cspx?rss=804). It will end up in wigs or dolls. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/17 "2009-06-30T17:24:57Z")
[Burmese Internet Users Share Video, Documents about North Korea](http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=16240) There seems to be a strengthening military alliance between Burma and North Korea. Banned small-arms shipments. Mysterious giant tunnels being dug by North Korean soldiers. But a video of a 1983 bombing in Rangoon that was blamed on North Korea has become popular among the ordinary citizens. The bombing was aimed at the visiting South Korean president. He escaped, but 19 died. Burma severed diplomatic relations with North Korea afterward, but they’ve been getting cozy with them for a decade now. Documents detailing some of the improving relations have also been leaked recently, presumably by army personnel not happy with the growing ties with North Korea. I think [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTgP8B-IGug) is the video in question. I’ve not seen it yet – it’s almost impossible for me to use YouTube, our service is so slow. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/18 "2009-07-01T03:38:37Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A North Korean ship is under watch, suspected of taking small arms banned under a UN resolution to Burma. An intercept is unlikely, unfortunately. Story [here](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iURO8fOyWVOA0ytFlaAGuC9F7R9wD98VS8A80). Should arrive maybe late in the week. Good news! BBC TV is reporting the US Navy hailed the ship off the coast of Vietnam, and it suddenly turned around. Looks like it’s heading back to North Korea. They must have been worried about being boarded. Or sunk, the bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/19 "2009-07-15T19:28:17Z")
A good _Wall Street Journal_ piece on the ineffectiveness of UN Chief Wimp Ban Ki-moon, especially regarding Burma: [The UN’s Invisible Man](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124752598527835381.html?mod=googlenews_wsj). And of course, there’s skepticism over the Burma’s “amnesty plan.” See [here](http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/14/myanmar.prisoner.amnesty/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849/20 "2009-07-21T04:46:16Z")
A new film opened in Britain last week that documents the 2007 street protests and military crackdown. Called _Burma VJ_. Info [here](http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSLH714449). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burmese-overview/487849.md?page=2)