War in the 'green hell' of Myanmar

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War in the 'green hell' of Myanmar

President Thein Sein proclaimed before the UN last week that his government places a high priority on ending ethnic conflicts, but that has proved elusive in ruggedly beautiful Kachin state, where the race to exploit abundant natural resources feeds a growing humanitarian crisis

Published: 30 Sep 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: Spectrum

A series of thundering explosions late in the night of June 9 last year woke up Labang Hkwan Tawng, a stout woman in her sixties, and her grandson while they were sleeping in Sang Grang, a tiny village of no more than 60 households in Kachin state.

BATTLE HARDENED: KIA soldiers wait on the top of a truck for their transfer to another place along the front around Laja Yang village on the outskirts of Laiza last month.

Instinctively, she knew what was going on. After a tense ceasefire that had lasted 17 years, the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) had resumed hostilities in the northern region.

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bluebottle
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Discussion 11 : 30 Sep 2012 at 18.2111
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So those of you who think force will solve the dispute in the south take note. This is how things could turn out if you keep postponing the inevitable. The talking needs to start now not 5 years down the line.
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spiceman
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Discussion 10 : 30 Sep 2012 at 16.0910
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Khun Svenviking #9, Korea, especially, S Korea is not always an independent nation until relatively recently. The same with Christian S Sudan, which has just declared its independent from Islamic N Sudan recently. The seeds of Christianity were planted, of course, by European and American missionaries long time ago. The same with China, whose Christian population is approaching 150 million today at a rate of growth of 50,000 a year. And for your information, the largest Christian church, Yoido Full Gospel Church, in the world is in Seoul, S Korea, with more than 1 million active members. Amazing, isn't it?
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svenviking
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Discussion 9 : 30 Sep 2012 at 14.519
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@6 Well it's not like S Korea is a totally independent nation you know. From who did they pick up this strange and foreign idea of Jesus Christ and got the idea to spread it across the globe? Aliens? Think not! Who is ruling that nation today? Riiiiiiight!
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bern1005
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Discussion 8 : 30 Sep 2012 at 14.148
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D2: All major religions have spread from their origins, to single out christian missionaries is to be deliberately misleading (unless you want to also condemn all religions).
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Shannilay
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Discussion 7 : 30 Sep 2012 at 14.057
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it's all about Kachin sufferings in the conflict zone but Bangkok post readers, including me, want to know more about Shan people who live in the conflict zone. what i understand is there are many Shan people living in Kachin State.
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spiceman
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Discussion 6 : 30 Sep 2012 at 13.366
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Khun Svenviking #2, why don't you direct your question to South Korea, which has been sending its Christian missionaries all over the world, including the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and Japan?
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svenviking
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Discussion 5 : 30 Sep 2012 at 11.415
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@4 What we have seen so far Aung San Suu Kyi is very willing to protect and endorse foreign entities right to gain a footstep into Myanmar. It still remains to be seen what she can and will do for the population.
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abbub
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Discussion 4 : 30 Sep 2012 at 10.004
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- "She added that if people see bad things happening they must speak out."

But they cannot, for fear of arrest, false charges (or "real" ones) torture or even murder. In Thailand people can speak out but not about everything. In Burma as far as free speech goes people had better keep their mouths shut about any sensitive issues at all.

I find it odd how Aung San Suu Kyi has become so silent on many issues as if, now that a small battle has been won she takes it for having won a war. Or possibly, she is after all no longer young, she really does just now want to leave a bit of political record behind.

Sven D2: Right about these missionaries, wherever they go they create trouble, sometimes on a small scale, sometimes not. But I think the oppressors in Burma are not the result of missionary work. In the meantime, people got a raw deal in Burma, come to Thailand and get another raw deal.
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Eggmeng
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Discussion 3 : 30 Sep 2012 at 09.153
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Great report, thank you for this.
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svenviking
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Discussion 2 : 30 Sep 2012 at 08.332
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And just how did they find the Christian God? Foreign missionaries doing the usual cultural imperialism and creating problems all over the world.
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