Thailand: The Spark Goes Out in Burma

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October 6, 2007: The violence in the south continues at the same level, with a slight increase because of Ramadan (the annual Moslem month of prayer and fasting). Police raids are catching more terrorism participants, and more evidence of terrorist activities (from laptops, cell phones, documents and interrogations.) The veil of secrecy the Islamic terrorists have maintained for so long is crumbling.

October 1, 2007: In neighboring Myanmar (Burma), the military dictatorship shut down demonstrations led by Buddhist monks, mobilizing popular unrest over an increase in the price of fuel. The unrest was suppressed with by arrests, raids on monasteries and shutting down cell phone and Internet service. Several hundred demonstrators have been killed. Similar disturbances in 1998 resulted in violence that left over 3,000 dead (mostly demonstrators). The military are not just killing people, but very effectively shutting down any organization the demonstrators have. The army and police have planned for this sort of thing better than the demonstrators. Thailand expects more political refugees to show up at the border over the next month or so. Nothing much is expected to change inside neighboring Burma.

September 30, 2007: A crude bomb went off outside army headquarters in Bangkok, wounding two soldiers. This was believed related to opposition to the military government, not the Moslem unrest in the south.

 

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